Etihad redemptions on Garuda

[theblank]

It seems to me that Garuda does not release any domestic Indonesia reward seats to Etihad ever! Am interested to know if anyone else has any experience to share?
I have a need for these redemptions at least once a year.

The Awards chart looks like great redemption value to me, many flights for J work out to be cheaper than Y retail price (if 10000pts = $100)
http://www.etihadguest.com/en/spend-miles/airline-partners/garuda-indonesia/

I have been trying to find reward seats on:
DPS>SUB
SUB>CGK
CGK>DPS

One specific flight for example is GA402 CGK>DPS 06/11/17.

• Expert Flyer indicates to me that this flight is stone motherless empty, which isnt a surprise, scores of flights daily on this route.
• Flying Blue/KLM search shows reward seats available every day, from tomorrow to end of November.

Etihad Guest services have looked at all flights around 6/11 and also flights around 12/08 (this weekend ) and have drawn a complete blank.
This is the 3rd time i have run and searched different flights/dates, and every time its zero reward seats.

The operator checked with her helpdesk/seniors, and the response was that Garuda release very few seats, need to book far in advance, but gee I am looking at routes that are serviced 15x a day by Garuda. I think that they are not releasing domestic reward seats to Etihad anytime.

 

[Mattg]

My experience with trying to do this was the same as yours. No GA domestic seats whatsoever were available for redemption through Etihad Guest, despite tons of seats showing through Flying Blue.

 

[bam71]

Maybe try calling again and aim to get the Manchester call centre??

 

[theblank]

Maybe try calling again and aim to get the Manchester call centre??

Not confident that would help (how can you tell, i have never spoken to anyone with Arabic accent) Each time I have rung, I have been on the phone for 30mins plus, and they tell me they contacted Garuda in the background who respond with "No Availabilty".

I think Mattg has nailed it. I might write a complaint to Etihad that they should review their relationship OR, specify on their site that its International sectors only.

 

[Mattg]

I think Mattg has nailed it. I might write a complaint to Etihad that they should review their relationship OR, specify on their site that its International sectors only.

I would encourage you to do this, however based on my experiences with Etihad I would not expect to get anything more than a canned response, nor for the complaint to be passed on to somebody that can actually do something about it.

 

[im.daniel]

I would also try for the Manchester Call Centre. Search up availability on flying blue, tell them you see availability - and tell them exactly which flight you want. Ask them to create a waitlisted itinerary and ask for them to contact GA to release the seats to Etihad (given partner availability elsewhere).

This worked for me previously on Brussels Airlines (seats available on UA, expertflyer but unavailable on EY).