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The best free way to find award seats on Etihad Airways is to
sign-up for Etihad Guest, the airline’s mileage program. You do NOT need any miles in the program to perform an award search! 
Finding Award Seats Won’t Be Like a Game of Hide and Seek
The Ultimate Guide to Etihad Airways Index:
Part 1 – Where You Can Fly on Etihad
Part 2 - Using American Airlines Miles on Etihad
Part 3 – How to Find Etihad Award Seats
Part 4 – Using KVS to Find Award Seats
Enroll in Etihad Guest: Etihad Airway’s Frequent Flyer Program
Link: Enroll in Etihad Guest
Etihad sure has an interesting list of titles to choose from when entering your name! I was boring and went with “Mr.”
Maybe One Day I’ll Be a Baron…
After you have signed-up for your Etihad Guest account, you can log in by going to Etihad’s website and clicking
“My Etihad Guest Login.”
Log In From the Etihad Home page
Tip: I entered my Etihad account into AwardWallet, so I just clicked “Etihad Airways (Etihad Guest)” in my AwardWallet account to login!
Save Time by Adding Your Etihad Guest Account to AwardWallet
Search for Etihad Award Seats
You can look for award seats on Etihad using this link, or follow the steps below.
Step 1 – Click “How to Redeem”
Log into your Etihad Guest account.
Go to “Your Miles” on the left side of the page and click “How to Redeem.”
Step 1 – Click How to Redeem
Step 2 – Click “Click here to book flight”
Under the “Reward Flight” section, click on “Click here to book flight.”
Step 2 – Click on “Click here to book flight”
Let’s say you’re looking for 2 First Class award tickets from New York to the Maldives. What happens when you search for a trip from New York (JFK) to Malé (MLE)?
Can You Find 2 First Class Seats From New York to the Maldives?
Your search results implies that all First Class award seats are booked.
No First Class for You!
Fortunately, Million Miles Secrets readers know that you should try to search for award seats by each segment!
How to Search by Each Segment
So let’s search for 2 First Class tickets from New York to Abu Dhabi and then from Abu Dhabi to Malé.
Step 1 – Search for Your 1st Flight
We’ll 1st search for New York to Abu Dhabi for 2 people in October in First Class.
Step 1 – Enter Your Flight Information for Your First Flight
Step 2 - Search for an Available “GuestSeat”
Book a “GuestSeat” because you can get those seats with American Airlines miles. You can’t use American Airlines miles for “OpenSeat” award tickets.
Step 2 – You Can Use American Airlines Miles to Book “GuestSeats”
Don’t get scared by the number of miles required, 222,000 (for New York to Abu Dhabi). Those 220,000 miles are the number of Etihad miles that Etihad Guest members have to pay for these seats. American Airlines only charges 90,000 miles 1-way for the same First Class seat from New York and Abu Dhabi!
If you can’t find seats on the date you want, the calendar at the top of the page shows when award seats are available.
Step 3 – Search for Your 2nd Flight
Search for award seats from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives (Malé).
Note: This is a regional route, so there is only Business Class and coach available. If you search for First Class award seats between Abu Dhabi and Malé, the website will show no seats because First Class doesn’t exist!
Let’s search for Business Class seats between Abu Dhabi and Malé.
Step 3 – Enter Flight Details for Flight 2
Your search will reveal which seats are available.
2 Business Class Seats Are Available Everyday Except Sunday
Because 2 Business Class seats are available at the “GuestSeat” level, we can book those seats with American Airlines miles.
Write down the dates of the flights and call American Airlines at 800-882-8880.
The flights we found were:
Etihad 100 in First Class from New York to Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 18, 2014
Etihad 278 in Business Class from Abu Dhabi to Malé on Monday, October 20, 2014
I called American Airlines and gave those flights to the American Airlines agent who was able to hold the seats in only a few minutes. The total cost for 2 First Class tickets from New York to the Abu Dhabi and 2 Business Class tickets from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives was 90,000 miles + ~$4 in taxes a person 1-way!
Note that you will have to pay a telephone booking fee of $35.
US to the Maldives in First Class and Business Class for 90,000 Miles
Note: This itinerary requires an overnight stay in Abu Dhabi, which you have to pay for yourself. But Etihad includes chauffeur transfers to and from your hotel if you fly in First Class! If you fly in Business Class, you can use up to 2 chauffeur transfers on each journey.
Putting It All Together
Here’s another example, but this time in coach. Because I live in Austin which isn’t an Etihad gateway city, I need to get to a gateway city like Chicago (from which Etihad flies).
Fortunately, I can book flight on American Airlines from Austin to Chicago and pay the same amount of American Airlines miles (45,000 in coach to India!)
Step 1 – Find a Flight From Your City to an Etihad Gateway City
I search on the American Airlines website to find a flight from Austin to Chicago.
Step 1 – Find Flight to Etihad Gateway City
Step 2 – Find 1st Flight From Etihad Gateway to Stopover Destination
I can’t search for Etihad flights on the American Airlines website. But we know that you can find award seats on the Etihad website!
After logging into my Etihad Guest account, I search on the Etihad website for flights from Chicago to Abu Dhabi.
Step 2 – Find Your 1st Flight From Etihad Gateway City to Stopover Destination
Step 3 – Find 2nd Flight From Stopover Destination to Final Destination
Then I search for flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai.
Step 3 – Find Flight From Stopver Over to Final Destination
Step 4 – Call American Airlines & Book
Because I can’t book Etihad award seats online using American Airlines miles, I call American Airlines at 800-882-8880.
I give the agent the flights I found one-by-one:
American 2408 in coach from Austin to Chicago on Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Etihad 150 in coach from Chicago to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Etihad 204 in coach from Abu Dhabi on Thursday, April 17, 2014
My flights to India, including the flight from Austin to Chicago, cost 45,000 American Airlines miles + ~$30 taxes in coach! This is much better than using American Airlines miles to fly on British Airways to India, because I’d pay hundreds of dollars in fuel surcharges for that flight!
Bottom Line
You can search for award seats on Etihad’s website. But you have to have an Etihad Guest account.
An Etihad Guest account is free and easy to create. After you’ve created your Etihad Guest account you can search for award seats.
When using American Airlines miles, search for available “GuestSeat” award seats.
If you can’t find award seats, try searching for each flight segment separately.
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Related Stories
The Ultimate Guide to Etihad Airways: Part 2 – Using American Airlines Miles on Etihad
Will American Airlines Charge Me for Each Segment of My Award Trip?
The Ultimate Guide to Etihad Miles: Part 1 – Where You Can Fly on Etihad