Questions and Answers

Hello I was going to book a first class award redemption from London to Sydney but was wondering if I was allowed to fly Etihad First Class from London to Abu Dhabi followed by a 20 hour layover which would allow me to get to Dubai and fly Qantas’s Dubai-Sydney leg.
If I could not ticket this in one award then I would just book them both separately and maybe enjoy the UAE for awhile.

Thomas as you can see here: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/06/08/american-aadvantage-award-routing-rules/[/URL], you are only allowed to transit Asia 1 and 2 and Doha on your way from Europe to the South Pacific if you want to only pay for one award. So unfortunately you’d have to pay for two awards. Enjoy the UAE!

If that’s the case does that mean you can’t ticket a full Etihad Award from London to Sydney? And also why would American allow you to ticket Qantas flight 1/2 and 9/10 from Australia to London if it would stop it Dubai

However, if you’d like to go to Doha with a 20 hour layover, it would work and you could fly QR

You can certainly ticket both legs together, you’ll just get charged for two awards instead of a single award.

QF1 and 2 are one flight from LHR to SYD. You’re not actually connecting or changing planes in DXB. I know it feels the same as the scenario you’re shooting for but that technicality makes the difference. Hope this helps.

Well there’s no direct nonstop service from Europe to Australia and all flights that BA and QF operate stop in Dubai. American has to add that exception for this reason. These exceptions are basically forcing you to utilize oneworld partners instead of other airlines, which also include Cathay and JAL

Etihad isn’t part of oneworld and therefore American doesn’t feel the need to extend the 3rd region transit exception to their flights.

Alright thanks guys I think I would try flying Qatar or Qantas instead since it avoids the hassle

And welcome [USER=2574]@Thomas Wilkinson[/USER], by the way!