Questions and Answers

Hi lucky and everyone
I recently made a booking on Etihad First apartments on the A 380(AA miles)
From Melbourne to Abu Dhabi
There is also a 777 which flies this route
Etihad arbitrarily changed the booking to the 777. After I had changed that flight back to the A 380 apartments, etihad yet again changed it to the 777
Looks like they don’t want torelease the space on the Apartments
Has anyone else had a similr experience?

I just flew AUH-MEL the other day, no issue with my A380 reservation.

I’ve seen reports of this in the past. I would keep calling them back to get back on your original flight and complain to the Australian version of the DOT or consumer affairs if it happens again.

Mark , did you use your AA miles??using the new Mileage chart ?

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 23607, member: 79″]I’ve seen reports of this in the past. I would keep calling them back to get back on your original flight and complain to the Australian version of the DOT or consumer affairs if it happens again.[/QUOTE]
Thanks I will try but I am worried they will change it again, also AA said that the original flt is not available

[USER=2200]@Roger M[/USER] , yes AA miles pre-deval. 60K. A steal.

Did you have a confirmed ticket or was this reservation on hold?

Keep in mind that with AA’s generous change policy you could fly to SYD and then fly on the SYD-AUH a380 if there is space. (I’m not sure if your connecting flight would be on VA or QF)

Mark, both times they were fully ticketed and confirmed flights! This is why I find it infuriating!

Well AA has no control over EY’s equipment swaps and therefore cant force EY to open up space for you. Assuming that there is an A380 operating on one of the routes the day you need it, what you can try doing is try to get AA and EY on the phone on a 3 way call and see if they’re willing to accommodate you.

[USER=2317]@Hugh B[/USER] while AA’s change policies are generous, they require the origin and destination to be the same. If AUH-MEL was ticketed, changing it to AUH-SYD is a change in the destination, requiring a change fee. If it was re-ticketed as AUH-SYD-MEL with the Australia domestic segment a QF flight, AA considers that a change in award type, since youre going from a ticket where its all non-oneworld partner to a mixed partner ticket. AA has issues with that sometimes and charges a change fee.

[USER=29]@David W[/USER], I may be mistaken but I think the issue is not an equipment change but Etihad switching flights on him.

Well ,it looks like AA has an extremely stupid policy about schedule changes. If your AA ticketed award flight on an airline is scheduled to depart at lets say 22.20, and for whatever reason, Etihad changes the departure time to something like 22.50, AA automatically shifts you on to the next available flight, and they re ticket you! No attempt is made to return your booking to the original flight which usually becomes unavailable since somebody else comes along and takes that spot.what an unbelievably stupid system! Your only recourse is to the either take what they rebook you on, or try another date or get a refund!
Amazing!

Thats strange…one of my flights had a slight schedule change and AA didnt do anything beyond notifying me of the change. In this instance, I’d definitely get AA and EY on the phone together and work it out.

Yeah, I’ve had many schedule changes without AA making any changes to my reservation. I would definitely follow up on this.

I cant figure it out. Looks like they used the schedule change as an excuse to knock me off those flights. I think its etihad that requested this change . Maybe they have taken a dislike to me .

Come on. Which airlines like these mile-redeeming people? Name a few.
Business culture in Middle East is also different, they do what they want to do unless you are able to call in and yell at them in Arabic. Might be worth a try though.

Im not sure Etihad can modify or ask to modify a ticket that they didnt issue for a schedule change. Have you tried getting EY and AA on the phone simultaneously?

True , they don’t like redemption bookings . I am so sick of this whole thing that I am not going to bother calling them again , at the end of the day I guess Flying 1 st class on Etihad in the 777 with 60000 AA miles is still a pretty good deal !

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 23735, member: 29″]Im not sure Etihad can modify or ask to modify a ticket that they didnt issue for a schedule change. Have you tried getting EY and AA on the phone simultaneously?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=”SpoiledBrat, post: 23734, member: 215″]Come on. Which airlines like these mile-redeeming people? Name a few.
Business culture in Middle East is also different, they do what they want to do unless you are able to call in and yell at them in Arabic. Might be worth a try though.[/QUOTE]
Doubt that yelling at them in Arabic will get you anywhere!

You will be surprised how many issues in ME can be solved by this method.

But true, unlikely in this case. You have the option to cancel and avoid future paid travel on Etihad as well.

[ATTACH=full]190[/ATTACH] [QUOTE=”Roger M, post: 23739, member: 2200″]True , they don’t like redemption bookings . I am so sick of this whole thing that I am not going to bother calling them again , at the end of the day I guess Flying 1 st class on Etihad in the 777 with 60000 AA miles is still a pretty good deal ![/QUOTE]

I don’t agree that they don’t like redemptions. My flight time changed twice and they didn’t move me. Then I had an issue on the flight where the shower didn’t work. They knew I was on a redemption yet insisted I give my information to the agent in Melbourne. Within a couple days they credited my Etihad account with quite a few free points.

I wouldn’t give up. Be civil. Be professional. If the airlines didn’t want redemptions they wouldn’t release them. And just because you have one doesn’t mean they view you differently than a paying customer. Your ticket is paid for. Points cost something. The Apartment is an experience and typically once in a lifetime for most. Hang in there. You’ll be happy you did.