How to redeem Etihad Guest miles for Virgin Australia flights

[Deleted member 26544]

Dont expect too much.

Or anything really. They've been useless in trying to sort out a partner offer issue.

 

[TSV]

Has anyone used the free change of date to bring a partner award redemption FORWARD to within the two week booking period?

Or do changes of date also need to be at least 2 weeks in advance?

Thanks!

 

[ywwol]

Has anyone used the free change of date to bring a partner award redemption FORWARD to within the two week booking period?

Or do changes of date also need to be at least 2 weeks in advance?

Thanks!

I have. VA flight.

 

[Ultan Lankford]

Etihad Customer Support staff can be really hit and miss when it comes to these redemptions.
I rang up today and asked for flights that I know have availability on the Virgin Website for award flights, the guy couldn't find any.
Gave them another city, same thing.
Gave them yet another city, same thing......

I remember I had the same issue last time. Rang up, the guy was clueless and couldn't find me any flights. Rang up the next day, the woman seemed knowledgeable and found flights for me that the other person couldn't find the day earlier.

I think its luck of the draw to see who you get.

 

[awkwardpaws]

Thanks Mattg for the excellent summary up top!

Quick question for those who have successfully used EY miles for SYD-ZQN - would it be correct to say you need to find VA metal availability for that? Searching on the VA website for SYD-ZQN keeps on giving me AirNZ metal which I'm assuming isnt bookable using EY miles?

 

[Ultan Lankford]

I just got off the phone with EY questioning the availability of VA flights to NZ in general. I think they are all operated by VA SE Asia who EY technically see as a code share there fore you cannot redeem your EY miles on this. So in essence its impossible to redeem your EY miles for any NZ flight. Some wires crossed somewhere. Anyone with any luck on this?

 

[Mattg]

Thanks Mattg for the excellent summary up top!

Quick question for those who have successfully used EY miles for SYD-ZQN - would it be correct to say you need to find VA metal availability for that? Searching on the VA website for SYD-ZQN keeps on giving me AirNZ metal which I'm assuming isnt bookable using EY miles?

My understanding is that there would need to be an award seat available through VA, although the VA & EY systems might not correspond exactly.

If you're having trouble finding VA awards on Virgin's website, you can try the Delta website.

I just got off the phone with EY questioning the availability of VA flights to NZ in general. I think they are all operated by VA SE Asia who EY technically see as a code share there fore you cannot redeem your EY miles on this. So in essence its impossible to redeem your EY miles for any NZ flight. Some wires crossed somewhere. Anyone with any luck on this?

That's a concerning development. It does appear that most (if not all?) of VA's SYD-ZQN are operated by "Virgin Australia Int'l for VA SE Asia" for some reason. But I don't see why this would mean you can't use your points. Did you the HUACA (hang up and call again) method?

 

[blueythecat]

Thanks Mattg for the excellent summary up top!

Quick question for those who have successfully used EY miles for SYD-ZQN - would it be correct to say you need to find VA metal availability for that? Searching on the VA website for SYD-ZQN keeps on giving me AirNZ metal which I'm assuming isnt bookable using EY miles?

I just got off the phone with EY questioning the availability of VA flights to NZ in general. I think they are all operated by VA SE Asia who EY technically see as a code share there fore you cannot redeem your EY miles on this. So in essence its impossible to redeem your EY miles for any NZ flight. Some wires crossed somewhere. Anyone with any luck on this?

My understanding is that there would need to be an award seat available through VA, although the VA & EY systems might not correspond exactly.

If you're having trouble finding VA awards on Virgin's website, you can try the Delta website.

That's a concerning development. It does appear that most (if not all?) of VA's SYD-ZQN are operated by "Virgin Australia Int'l for VA SE Asia" for some reason. But I don't see why this would mean you can't use your points. Did you the HUACA (hang up and call again) method?

If true, this would indeed be a concerning development. Whilst I haven't personally redeemed for the SYD-ZQN route I know somebody who has and had no problems getting it ticketed through EY - although this would be about a year ago now.

I've made quite of few redemptions on VA domestically using EY points and if there has been availability showing on the VA website EY have always been able to book it - perhaps I have just been lucky though. The hang up and call again method is always worth a try if you don't get the answer you are looking for. I have noticed some agents can take what seems like an eternity to book these flights - perhaps their system isn't super intuitive.

Regarding booking a VA codeshare on AirNZ metal using EY points, I'd be almost certain this can't be done - availability for these flights doesn't appear on the Delta site either as far as I can tell.

Good luck!

 

[Ultan Lankford]

That's a concerning development. It does appear that most (if not all?) of VA's SYD-ZQN are operated by "Virgin Australia Int'l for VA SE Asia" for some reason. But I don't see why this would mean you can't use your points. Did you the HUACA (hang up and call again) method?

I did not. Its worth noting that the person I was talking to seemed knowledgeable. I suppose you can make the point if you really want those flights, they may relent and give you the flight. Would be interesting is someone lately did indeed get those flights.

 

[TSV]

I rang this evening, spoke to a guy who seemed really efficient but was told no seats on the VA domestic flight I was after (I had checked and there was a business seat on Velocity site). Rang up and called again, got through to a woman who found it, got it done for me in a total of 17 minutes. I think hanging up and calling again if there is availability on generic VA flights (probably not the VA SE Asia) seems to be the go. I was about to book on VA website for twice the points but decided to check here first - thanks everyone!!

 

[exceladdict]

In terms of assessing availability of VA flights using Etihad guest program is it simply a matter of if an award ticket is available on Velocity then it will be able to be bought using Etihad guest miles?

I think that the Velocity website will give a good indication of what is available. But according to an Etihad rep I spoke to, there could be differences between what is available to Velocity members and what is available to EY members.

I believe that cross-checking on the Delta website would be a reasonably reliable way of checking for VA availability online, but the only way to be 100% sure is to call the Etihad call centre.

I rang up today and asked for flights that I know have availability on the Virgin Website for award flights, the guy couldn't find any.
<snip>Rang up the next day, the woman seemed knowledgeable and found flights for me that the other person couldn't find the day earlier.

If you're having trouble finding VA awards on Virgin's website, you can try the Delta website.My understanding is that there would need to be an award seat available through VA, although the VA & EY systems might not correspond exactly.

I've made quite of few redemptions on VA domestically using EY points and if there has been availability showing on the VA website EY have always been able to book it - perhaps I have just been lucky though. The hang up and call again method is always worth a try if you don't get the answer you are looking for. I have noticed some agents can take what seems like an eternity to book these flights - perhaps their system isn't super intuitive.

After an example of someone not being able to find me the seats I wanted, I was about to post to ask if there was a summary as to what works, but it seems to be the luck of the draw in the call centre. Would be very interested if anyone finds somewhere a direct correlation could be found.

EtihadAirways, any chance we can get the ability to book these online (pretty please?)

 

[Mattg]

Well I just made my first Etihad redemption using converted Flybuys points and I'm pretty happy with it. I got SYD-CNS in J for 13,800 miles + $28.18 in taxes. I actually worked out that I had to spend less at Coles to earn those miles than the cost of a paid J ticket on this flight!

Also, I enquired about the SYD-ZQN flights operated by "Virgin Australia Int'l for VA SE Asia" and the agent said that it is possible to book these flights using EY miles provided there is award availability.

 

[get me outta here]

Mattg, Just to check the process, it is move your Flybuys to EY, then call EY to book on VA? Which number did you use?

Well I just made my first Etihad redemption using converted Flybuys points and I'm pretty happy with it. I got SYD-CNS in J for 13,800 miles + $28.18 in taxes. I actually worked out that I had to spend less at Coles to earn those miles than the cost of a paid J ticket on this flight!

Also, I enquired about the SYD-ZQN flights operated by "Virgin Australia Int'l for VA SE Asia" and the agent said that it is possible to book these flights using EY miles provided there is award availability.

 

[Mattg]

Mattg, Just to check the process, it is move your Flybuys to EY, then call EY to book on VA? Which number did you use?

That's correct. It took 4 days for the points to reach my Etihad account after transferring them out of my Flybuys account.

I called Etihad on 1300 532 215.

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks for that, and the other good info.

That's correct. It took 4 days for the points to reach my Etihad account after transferring them out of my Flybuys account.

I called Etihad on 1300 532 215.

 

[Jack_OC]

I just got off the phone with EY questioning the availability of VA flights to NZ in general. I think they are all operated by VA SE Asia who EY technically see as a code share there fore you cannot redeem your EY miles on this. So in essence its impossible to redeem your EY miles for any NZ flight. Some wires crossed somewhere. Anyone with any luck on this?

If true, this would indeed be a concerning development. Whilst I haven't personally redeemed for the SYD-ZQN route I know somebody who has and had no problems getting it ticketed through EY - although this would be about a year ago now.

I've made quite of few redemptions on VA domestically using EY points and if there has been availability showing on the VA website EY have always been able to book it - perhaps I have just been lucky though. The hang up and call again method is always worth a try if you don't get the answer you are looking for. I have noticed some agents can take what seems like an eternity to book these flights - perhaps their system isn't super intuitive.

Regarding booking a VA codeshare on AirNZ metal using EY points, I'd be almost certain this can't be done - availability for these flights doesn't appear on the Delta site either as far as I can tell.

Good luck!

I did not. Its worth noting that the person I was talking to seemed knowledgeable. I suppose you can make the point if you really want those flights, they may relent and give you the flight. Would be interesting is someone lately did indeed get those flights.

Picking up on a somewhat old post here, but just to confirm that I successfully booked 4 x Y redemptions from MEL-AKL on VA metal using EY points. I had no issues at all in doing so - I simply phoned up, said what flights I wanted and booked them. the booking was made in July, for travel next month. So at least at that time, it was possible to book VA operated flights to NZ from MEL (whether flights originating in SYD, or going to ZQN would be different for some reason, I don't know, but if so it's not necessarily an issue with flights to NZ across the board). I was also able to phone up Velocity and get them to add my Velocity FF# to the booking, and get them to assign seats in the front row of economy, which was nice.

 

[Jack_OC]

On an unrelated (and less positive) note though, I just tried to book flights from MEL-ADL rtn in January. The flights on the days I want are wide open all day for both cash and Velocity reward bookings. In fact, the cash fares have been reduced to $119, which doesn't suggest they have sold many seats at all. However, after 5 minutes on the phone I was told there is no availability at all from MEL-ADL, and only a 6.05am departure from ADL-MEL. I also did a dummy search with Delta, as it was suggested that might give a better idea of what's available via EY. Delta also shows award availability on almost every flight on the days I was looking for.

I am going to try again to see if the problem was just an incompetent agent - but the fact that she did successfully find an available flight (albeit an unsuitable one) suggests that she did manage to search correctly.

 

[Jack_OC]

Finally got sorted. Here is a quick summary of the experience:
- Call 2: this time the agent requested my name and EY Guest # up front, and went through security questions to confirm it was me. The agent on the first call never asked for any details at any stage during the call. However, the agent then said there seems to be a problem with their system, and he is unable to search for flights right now. He took my phone number and said he'd call back as soon as the issue is resolved - hopefully within 5-10 minutes. Based on past experience with the EY call centre, I was never expecting any call back, and none had materialised after 45 minutes.
- Call 3: got through to the same agent I spoke to on the first call! So I tried HUACA.
- Call 4: spoke to a different agent, who straight off sounded confident and knowledgeable. Found the flights I wanted straight away and booked them within a couple of minutes. Just to be clear, he found availability on the same flights that I had specifically requested just an hour ago.

I think this confirms that it's all about who you speak to at EY. I have had the same experience when calling them for other reasons. If it's not going the way you want, HUACA is often the answer!

EDIT: the agent on Call 4 also proactively gave me the VA booking ref and told me I could use that for seat selection etc on the VA website. Very helpful, as the VA booking ref is not shown on the confirmation email.

 

[DJ737]

Also managed to book a J RTN MEL-PER & Y RTN MEL-ADL with not too many problems, Just keep calling back until you get someone from the Manchester office, who seem to know what they are doing.

 

[Ultan Lankford]

Is the Manchester office 24/7? I think as well last time I spoke to a lady in that office they said they can transfer you over to the Manchester office.