Many OMAAT readers are probably familiar with the great value of redeeming American AAdvantage miles for travel on Etihad, but fewer are probably aware of the great value of redeeming Etihad Guest miles on American. While it can be a headache and is definitely more of a niche redemption, there’s still value to be had.
In this post:
Basics of redeeming Etihad Guest miles on American
Why should you even care about redeeming Etihad Guest miles on American? Well, there are a few key benefits:
- American doesn’t partner with any major transferable points currencies, while Etihad Guest partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou
- For situations where American has its lowest level award pricing, premium cabin awards can cost significantly less through Etihad Guest than through American AAdvantage
- The catch is that you have to book these awards by phone with Etihad Guest, which can be a bit of a pain (from the US, Etihad Guest can be reached at 877-690-0767)
Let’s go over some of the logistics.
Etihad Guest redemption rates on American
You can find the Etihad Guest award chart for travel on American Airlines here. Note that all pricing is not only one-way, but also per segment, meaning that if you’re traveling multiple segments in each direction, you’d pay for each of them individually.
Just to highlight a couple of the best redemption values, below is the award chart for travel on American originating in North America.
Below is the award chart for travel on American within the United States.
There are a few things to keep in mind when redeeming Etihad Guest miles on American:
- You have to book at least 24 hours in advance of your intended departure, so you can’t use this to lock-in a very last minute award, as that’s often when American releases award availability
- There shouldn’t be fuel surcharges, but the taxes and fees may be a bit higher than if booking through American; it shouldn’t be too substantial, but don’t expect them to exactly match what American charges
- The availability Etihad has access to should match the saver space which American is showing its own members, though sometimes there are discrepancies
- You have to book these awards by phone, and Etihad’s call center can be a bit frustrating to deal with
- You can change your itinerary for a fee of 100 AED (~$27), or you can redeposit an award up to 24 hours in advance for a fee equal to 10% of the miles redeemed
- Etihad Guest miles expire after 18 months of inactivity, though any activity can reset that expiration
Etihad Guest redemption sweet spots on American
What are the best values if you’re looking to redeem Etihad Guest miles on American? I think a few awards in particular stand out. Also keep in mind that we sometimes see transfer bonuses from transferable points currencies to Etihad Guest, which can stretch your points even further. In particular:
- You can book American’s A321T first class between New York and Los Angeles or San Francisco for 32,500 miles
- You can book American’s 777 first class from the United States to South America for 62,500 miles
- You can book American’s 777 first class from the United States to Europe for 62,500 miles
How favorably does this award pricing compare for first class? For travel between New York and Los Angeles, American AAdvantage would charge 43,500-50,000 miles.
For travel between New York and London, American AAdvantage would charge 85,000 miles
For travel between New York and Sao Paulo, American AAdvantage would charge 85,000 miles
Those are some pretty significant savings…
How to determine American award availability
What tends to confuse people the most about these redemptions is figuring out which flights should actually be bookable through Etihad Guest. Nowadays American prices many of its awards as “Web Special” awards, and these are exclusively bookable through American AAdvantage, and not through partners. How do you figure out if an award is a Web Special award or not?
Well, in order for an American flight to be bookable through a partner program:
- There needs to be “Z” class availability for first class
- There needs to be “U” class availability for business class
- There needs to be “T” class availability for economy class
Since Etihad’s website doesn’t let you search American award space, there are a couple of ways you could go about this. For one, you could search through another carrier’s website. For example, British Airways’ website shows American award availability, so if you see the space through British Airways, it should also be bookable through Etihad.
For example, below is a New York to Los Angeles first class award on American through British Airways’ website, which shows you that there’s availability. It’s a pretty great deal through Etihad Guest, since you’d pay 32,500 miles, rather than 51,500 Avios.
You can also check through American’s website, by specifically looking for the fare codes I listed above. For example, pulling up a New York to Los Angeles award, I clicked on the “Details” tab. When you look at the first class column, you’ll see that the award books into the “Z” class code, which means it should also be bookable through partners.
Meanwhile I pulled up another itinerary that initially seemed to have good first class pricing, but you’ll see that this one lists the first class fare as being in the “F” fare class, and shows it being a Web Special, which wouldn’t be bookable through a partner program.
Bottom line
While I’d definitely consider this to be a niche redemption, being able to redeem Etihad Guest miles for travel on American can be a great value, especially in premium cabins. Not only is the pricing often better, but it gives you the advantage of being able to book with transferable points currencies.
Now, keep in mind that American isn’t great about releasing award availability in first class at the saver level, which is why I think this is of limited use. However, for those situations where there is space, especially close to departure, this is an unbeatable deal for flying across the country or across the Atlantic.
Just be prepared for the hassle of having to book by phone. It’s not the end of the world, though it does require some patience.
If you’ve redeemed Etihad Guest miles on American, what was your experience like?
This article worked perfectly!!! I just purchased business class from Chicago to Nashville for 10,000 Etihad miles (+ $21 taxes). I confirmed on Expert Flyer that 'U' class was available on the date that I wanted. (Also showed available on the British Airways site as the article mentioned).
Called the Etihad agent. At first, the agent said, "I'm sorry, there is no availability". Then when I gave the exact flight number and said to...
This article worked perfectly!!! I just purchased business class from Chicago to Nashville for 10,000 Etihad miles (+ $21 taxes). I confirmed on Expert Flyer that 'U' class was available on the date that I wanted. (Also showed available on the British Airways site as the article mentioned).
Called the Etihad agent. At first, the agent said, "I'm sorry, there is no availability". Then when I gave the exact flight number and said to look at Business Class, she said, "You are right. I'm sorry".
To give some context of what a great bargain this is, 4 hours in the Etihad Business Class lounge is 17,510 miles. My recent round trip from Frankfurt to Jakarta earned me 14,240 miles. The ticket price currently for this flight would have been $245. So the point value for this flight was $0.0245/Etihad Mile!
This is the second time in a year that I have been able to use OMAAT's advice to use my Etihad miles to fly on American! Thank you!
Note: the Etihad redemption table for American is now based only on flight distance. For my 400 mile flight the ticket was 6,000 (Econ) or 10,000 (Business). JFK-LHR (3,452 flown miles) would have cost 45,000 (Econ) or 80,000 (Business)
I followed steps provided in this article to find available business award flight which showed up as U class at AA website and also shown available at British airways Avios search. However, the Ethiad agent told me that she could find any availability for her site. Does anyone encounter this problem? I am looking for business tickets from SFO to NRT anytime in March 2023.
As others have mentioned, the "premium" booking category is now defunct and both business and intl F both prices in the middle section. A great deal if you can find saver Z space on any route.
I think this post is oversimplified. As readers above said:
1) good only pet segment, not multi segment trips. Long ago that wasn’t the case and you can maybe find an untrained agent who won’t know this. Seems like it’s mainly manual booking (as opposed to computer). So potential to get more segments but very very unlikely.
2) I found AA first prices as business/first not premium.. which is great.
3) understated how variable and difficult the call center can be.
Any reason why premium is more expensive then business/first?
I think on Etihad’s award chart “Business/First” means business class or domestic first class. “Premium” means 3 cabin (or 4 if there’s premium economy, not including Main Cabin Extra) first class.
I have also been able to book JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO in F for 25k pionts. I booked far in advance, so I was able to find seats on dates I wanted with relative ease. In both cases, the telephone rep's seemed quite competent.
Totally wrong P is premium and Etihad sell for 62.5 as F is sold for 50 k, for some reasons Premium its more expensive than first class
I have booked one flight going this route and it was such a PIA that I just use Avios instead. Challenge outside of that is finding actual saver availability.
Ben, a big unknown going forward is this: 1) there must be Saver Award inventory for partner airline redemptions and 2) AA is eliminating Saver Awards this year. I have spoken to a management group within AA about this issue but have not heard about how this issue might be addressed.
I also booked First not Business on the A321T from BOS-LAX for 25,000 Etihad points. Oddly, they insisted on having valid passport information despite this being a domestic flight - it took getting a supervisor involved to waive the requirement
What booking class is required for premium economy on AA?
I have used this redemption a few times and it actually does work... in theory. I do just want to highlight that dealing with the agents is EXTREMELY difficult, and only the most savvy, patient points travelers with the greatest attention to detail should attempt to use this award. It is likely that at least one or more the following things will happen when trying to book this award: the agents won't speak English (yes,...
I have used this redemption a few times and it actually does work... in theory. I do just want to highlight that dealing with the agents is EXTREMELY difficult, and only the most savvy, patient points travelers with the greatest attention to detail should attempt to use this award. It is likely that at least one or more the following things will happen when trying to book this award: the agents won't speak English (yes, even if you call the Manchester center), they will flat out have no idea what you're talking about, quote you the wrong mileage amount, book the wrong flights, or spell someone's name wrong. At least one of these things happened to me over the course of (finally, successfully) booking 3 different trips to Sao Paulo, Madrid, and Rome at bargain rates (40k economy roundtrip). Additionally, keep in mind that the only values are on nonstop flights, once you add a connection the mileage rates shoot up (e.g. I'm driving from my home in DC to fly AA from Philadelphia to Rome). I would not recommend this redemption to someone that wasn't EXTREMELY savvy and capable with this stuff, but it does actually work!
In my experience transcon F only costs 25k Miles. I don‘t know why there‘s the premium sections for these flights, but the flight I booked two months ago from JFK to SFO wasn‘t 32,500.