Etihad Guest has just made some major program changes. A few weeks ago, Etihad revealed that updates would be coming to award pricing, and they have been implemented as of today, March 10, 2023. While there’s some good news, these changes are overwhelmingly negative, at least for those who were good at maximizing miles.
Continue reading: Major Etihad Guest Award Changes March 2023
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ouch, goodbye to 25k mile redemptions for transcon F and 50k F to Europe and South America (not that it was readily available but once in a blue moon).
Was just looking at some AA Transcon, TATL in First. Better hurry.
Got an e-mail today from Etihad. They will partner with El Al. Guessing this is also part of the new partner awards pricing mystery.
Interesting. I only redeemed once for AA business from North America to Japan. It was 5 years ago, but the booking experience was bad enough to deter me from ever doing it again.
As a side note, some of the AA mileage redemption options are frigging amazing. If you're going from UAE to Japan, it's 40k miles in business. Tons of availability out of AUH, thanks to their Etihad partnership, but you have to transfer in India to Japan Airlines.
As for Etihad specifically, I'll pay more points if online functionality is added. That being said, partner airlines need to open up award inventory to Etihad (or all partners in general - that would be refreshing). We'll see. But, based on my experience, I'm not optimistic.
Regarding partner redemptions on AA, there needs to be saver award inventory. Every time that I've looked to book non-stop transcon, saver award inventory is either oh-dark-thirty, red-eye, or last minute . . . if at all. I gave up. Regarding international F, like most airlines, AA does not want to release any award inventory to partners. I've seen empty seats in F between JFK and LHR. Not even a gate upgrade. Sad.
NOW, AA is eliminating saver awards completely in favor of dynamic pricing. Not certain how partner redemptions will pay out. I've brought up the issue with a particular group within AA.
“Pricing seems fair”? What world do you live in, OMAT?
A o/w FC on AA transatlantic now goes from 50k to 160k.
Remove your tongue from Etihad’s backside and start being honest to your readers.
Is this already in effect or can we still book this a few more days? Hawaii lie flat on AA was always a solid use in the past.
I'm not sure there's any value left in the Etihad program. There're other distance-based award programs with better pricing that can be used for some of the same Etihad partner airline flights.
You have until 11:59 pm Abu Dhabi time today (March 7th) to make a booking under the old award charts.
Your comment to Lucky is a bit harsh. But I agree the new pricing, especially with partners, is horrible. I have no plans to redeem with Etihad guest after this. As an example MCT-ZRH in business on Oman air goes from 39k to 80k.
I just booked transcend flagship first for 25k with my last miles. bye bye Etihad
Now that AA transcontinental sweet spot redemption with Etihad 25k (U), 32.5k (Z) is gone, What is the cheapest way in points
(NOT using AA miles) to book AA transcontinental business (U) & first (Z) using partners.
Would be helpful to see a list of partners again. Being able to book premium economy on Etihad website is intriguing, if it actually works. Should apply to Air Canada, ANA, American, AirNZ and ITA?
I actually called its 3PM on March 8th Abu Dhabi Time so still some time to get some last minute bookings
As an expat based in the ME who often redeems EY miles for SV or GF biz flights, this chart is def. bettter.
Your world clock is way off. It's March 8th 14:58 local time in Abu Dhabi right now and I'm posting this many hours after your post.
yeh this is the most delusional drivel I have seen in a long time. These changes suck, there is nothing good about them. Oh BuT yOu CaN bOoK eXpEnSiVe AwArDs OnLiNe NoW lolz
While I understand that airlines need to update their award pricing from time to time, I really do not appreciate Etihad's move to significantly devaluate their miles' worth in just a couple days' time. Actually I don't recall receiving any email on this until I accidentally bumped into this article. Very, very disappointing.
Looking for best deals on EtiThad rom SEA-Europe. Preferably SEA-MUC, J. Have C1 mile 86k miles. Also looking Sea-HAN, SGN, MNL. Neither I nor Etithad can view mileage awards until I have points deposited in Etithad account which I don't want to do without knowing the award levels. Any ideas?
Can you point out the GOOD AA deals? I got 500k miles and want to fly Sea-MUC (or anywhere in EU) late April and Sea-MNL, SGN, HAN.
I've never redeemed through Etihad Guest before but with one award chart for all partners based on distance instead of one award chart per partner, wouldn't this make award redemptions across multiple partners easier if not finally possible?
IF those partners make award inventory available to Etihad. This is a big problem across carriers.
Ben, as of 10am ET on March 10th, this language is STILL on the Etihad Guest website for AA redemptions:
You can redeem your miles for reward flights by contacting the Etihad Guest Service Centre 24 hours before your date of departure.
No-notice/little-notice updates seem to be the industry pattern, whether airlines or hotels. No one likes it. So, it's get tough or die. This change is best called a re-valuation. Some will gain (see jessie's comment) and some will lose. For all of us, online access is a plus . . . IF Etihad has reasonable access to award inventory. (I have substantial skin in the game with Etihad.)
Ryan, Flagship First on transcon and international will *start* to be phased out in February 2024. On these routes, there will only be what is now called Flagship Business and it will be renamed to simply Flagship service. AA's new XLRs for transcon will only have Flagship service. So, no more F and one will only look to partners for business class redemptions on AA. Same with international. That being said, the seats/suites on the new XLRs are as good or better than the current Flagship First seats on the T-Birds. (Now, if AA would only work on the in-flight food.)
At JFK, Flagship service (whether transcon or international) will get you into the Greenwich Lounge. If a person traveling on a Flagship service flight has One World Emerald tier status, that garners access to the Soho Lounge. But, a person will not have access to the high-end Chelsea Lounge. At other locations, Flagship service will get you into the Flagship Lounge or Admirals Club but not Flagship First Dining (which will obviously need a new name). However, there will be an add-on (up-charge) to Flagship service called Flagship Premier or Flagship Premium. That will get you into JFK's Chelsea Lounge and (what is now called) Flagship First Dining *if* available at other locations. My sense is that this add-on will not be bookable via partners. Perhaps a cash charge at check-in if someone wants it.
But, in all of this, AA has been reluctant to release transcon award inventory to its partners (or F international for that matter). If it does, more often than not, it is a 7am or 11pm flight. For longer-tenured travelers (aka "old"), who seek different travel times, award inventory that is available to partners is not a reality . . . or, at least, not a *consistent* reality. My wife and I have 8-digits worth of BA points and have tried for years without success. Hence, my drum-beating on award inventory in other comments.
Best of luck in your pursuits.
Just glad that blogs won't be able to talk about the "too good to be true" Maroc & Brussels redemptions. These were not possible to actually book. I booked 3 separate flights and received confirmations from Etihad, only to have them cancelled days later and those seats gone. Terrible, 176k stranded there now
Devaluing the Etihad award table doesn't really matter when there are no awards to be found anyway.
Well this is just insane. A few weeks back i was checking out LHR-SEZ for a one-way reward ready to book it for June next year and it was coming in at 230k for 2 seats. No saver awards now and I now need 1.3m (yes, 1.3 million!!) miles. What the heck has just happened?
My interest in EY is award space in First on A380 and on the B787 DreamLiner AUH - IAD.
I’ve done SYD AUH ON A380 using AA miles
Reading the comments (Thanks, Lee!) it seems trips home with now cost 220,000. Up from ~130,000 to IAD It’s be very prospective to fund now since I’m booked on planned RTW trips until next spring I better deal could come along