Etihad Guest miles be used to book Virgin Domestic?

[Lewis]

Hi All, can Etihad Guest miles be used to book Virgin CNS to BNE follow on to GLT

 

[AIRwin]

EYes!

 

[Formal Hall]

The availability Etihad Guest has on VA is odd though - for example for online booking MEL-SYD it will only show the first few flights of the day, even though availability is wide open all day on Velocity. Has anyone had better luck by calling?

 

[repete]

Slightly 'better luck', although certainly mixed experiences. I had an agent recently on the phone find something in the afternoon but unable to see many morning options. Oddly the one they ended up giving me in the afternoon was the one showing as most expensive via Velocity points - I would have thought the cheaper ones would be there!

 

[Mattg]

You can book this using Etihad Guest miles, but you would need to call to get this onto one ticket. The Etihad website won't let you search for CNS-GLT.

Oddly the one they ended up giving me in the afternoon was the one showing as most expensive via Velocity points - I would have thought the cheaper ones would be there!

This makes no difference. Any reward seat available via Velocity at any price point will also be available to book via partners including EY.

 

[AIRwin]

The Etihad website won't let you search for CNS-GLT.

Multi-city?

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Hi. I just tried to book a Virgin Australia flight via Etihad Guest. The Etihad partner award table says the redemption should cost 10k points. When I go to select the flight via the Etihad website it shows a cost of 10,026 miles (from memory). A small difference, no drama. I then go and transfer my AMEX points to align with this amount. After returning to the Etihad website once the AMEX points have transferred I select the same flight at 10,026 however after entering in passenger details the price increases to 10,076 (or similar) plus taxes. So I therefore don't have enough points and have to go through the transfer process again.

I called Etihad and informed them of this however I didn't get a rational response as to why it is happening. Has anyone else had this issue? I don't care about the trivial points difference, I just can't stand the hassle and uncertainty of it.

Cheers
PC

 

[Mattg]

Hi. I just tried to book a Virgin Australia flight via Etihad Guest. The Etihad partner award table says the redemption should cost 10k points. When I go to select the flight via the Etihad website it shows a cost of 10,026 miles (from memory). A small difference, no drama. I then go and transfer my AMEX points to align with this amount. After returning to the Etihad website once the AMEX points have transferred I select the same flight at 10,026 however after entering in passenger details the price increases to 10,076 (or similar) plus taxes. So I therefore don't have enough points and have to go through the transfer process again.

I called Etihad and informed them of this however I didn't get a rational response as to why it is happening. Has anyone else had this issue? I don't care about the trivial points difference, I just can't stand the hassle and uncertainty of it.

Cheers
PC

I had a similar issue a few months ago and called Etihad to try to book over the phone at the correct price. The person wasn't able to book it in at 10k miles, nor were they able to explain why not. It's weird.

FWIW some other flights are slightly less than 10,000 miles. Go figure.

 

[PlaneCrazy]

I had a similar issue a few months ago and called Etihad to try to book over the phone at the correct price. The person wasn't able to book it in at 10k miles, nor were they able to explain why not. It's weird.

FWIW some other flights are slightly less than 10,000 miles. Go figure.

Thanks Mattg. Would you believe the exact same thing has happened today? The extra AMEX miles I transferred were deposited into my Etihad account, now the seats have gone up a further 100 points or so each! SO FRUSTRATING! I should just book via Virgin at the slightly higher points rate...

 

[Www]

The availability Etihad Guest has on VA is odd though - for example for online booking MEL-SYD it will only show the first few flights of the day, even though availability is wide open all day on Velocity. Has anyone had better luck by calling?

Any luck with this one? I am having the same issue. Search only show me the first few flights of the day. I want to book an afternoon flight, but not an option. Same on every date. Award flights are available on velocity website.

 

[Thibault]

Any luck with this one? I am having the same issue. Search only show me the first few flights of the day. I want to book an afternoon flight, but not an option. Same on every date. Award flights are available on velocity website.

I always call and try to book it over the phone - 50% success when I try so you might have to call several time to get it booked.

 

[Www]

I always call and try to book it over the phone - 50% success when I try so you might have to call several time to get it booked.

Thanks. I hadn’t tried to book since virgin available to book online. Seems like the online system still has bugs to be ironed out.

 

[Oxy]

Hi. I just tried to book a Virgin Australia flight via Etihad Guest. The Etihad partner award table says the redemption should cost 10k points. When I go to select the flight via the Etihad website it shows a cost of 10,026 miles (from memory). A small difference, no drama. I then go and transfer my AMEX points to align with this amount. After returning to the Etihad website once the AMEX points have transferred I select the same flight at 10,026 however after entering in passenger details the price increases to 10,076 (or similar) plus taxes. So I therefore don't have enough points and have to go through the transfer process again.

I called Etihad and informed them of this however I didn't get a rational response as to why it is happening. Has anyone else had this issue? I don't care about the trivial points difference, I just can't stand the hassle and uncertainty of it.

Cheers
PC

I'm having the same issue booking mel-per. Quoted 40k in the table, I have a few excess miles in my account. Can't book online for some reason as the booking page just freezes when logged in, on the app, and multiple browsers.
Anyway on the phone the agent says it's 40,502 miles which is around 300 more than what I have. He won't budge, and insists the table is just a guide for the minimum number of miles you may be quoted, and it depends on the flight chosen.
I'll make this booking but the value and hassle now with Etihad is not worth it.