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If you've been holding your breath waiting for Air Canada to make Etihad premium award space available or for American Airlines to stop getting your hopes up by showing vast amounts of phantom space, we feel your pain.
There's nothing more frustrating than trying to book a specific award and hitting an error or coming up empty when searching for seats bookable with points. So, what's going on with Etihad's partner award space? Is there a new rule here?
Let's take a look at the latest updates.
What's Happening Between Etihad and Air Canada?
If one thing is clear, the feelings between Air Canada and Etihad aren't mutual. Booking Etihad's premium cabins with Aeroplan points has become virtually impossible. The availability just doesn't exist. Economy class is a separate story; you can't throw a rock without hitting a seat bookable with points.
But when you search Etihad Guest for Air Canada flights, availability is anything but sparse. In a matter of minutes, business-class awards are at your fingertips — like this one from Toronto (YYZ) to Copenhagen (CPH):
So, what could possibly be going on?
In the past, we've guessed that the incongruent availability has been attributable to either a technical issue with Aeroplan or a byproduct of Air Canada's partnership with other Gulf airlines, such as Emirates and FlyDubai. It's also possible that the reimbursement rates for Etihad premium award seats are just too high for Air Canada to work out, meaning these awards aren't economically feasible.
The long and short of it is that nobody knows for sure. But for now, don't bank on using Aeroplan points to book Etihad's premium cabins.
Related: Airlines You Can Book With Aeroplan Points
What's Happening Between Etihad and American Airlines?
The situation between Etihad and American Airlines is also confusing, but we've now got a clearer picture of what's happening.
In the past, American has shown availability for most long- and short-haul Etihad flights in all cabins. Unfortunately, most of the premium cabin space hasn't been bookable. An error message would pop up when you tried to reserve a first- or business-class seat. Economy class has long been easier to book and still is.
One common workaround for booking a premium seat was calling a foreign American Airlines call center, many of which had access to Etihad award space that U.S. domestic centers did not. This has all changed.
As One Mile at a Time caught in December 2023, Etihad's premium cabins became bookable options on American Airlines' website — but only within 60 days of departure. No matter the route, you could only see first- and business-class award space 60 days out. This has also changed, as the booking window now appears to be just 30 days.
For example, consider Malé (MLE) to Abu Dhabi (AUH). Sure enough, there's nothing past 30 days from the date of our search (March 20, 2024, from a search on February 19, 2024).
The same goes for Etihad first class between London (LHR) and Abu Dhabi (AUH):
And for Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Washington, D.C. (IAD) — also in first class:
As to why this is the case, we still don't know for sure. A likely conclusion is that Etihad is more interested in encouraging bookings through its Etihad Guest program. If you're trying to reserve a premium seat more than 30 days out, you might have to book that way. And maybe that's the point.
Related: Airlines You Can Book Using American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
Our Take
Etihad's relationship with Air Canada is a bit more confusing than the relationship with American Airlines. While no answers are written in stone, we've at least gotten more clarity on the situation with the two relationships.
TL;DR (too long; didn't read)? If you want to book Etihad's premium cabins, your best bet is doing it with AAdvantage miles. Just note you can only do so 30 days out at this point.
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