EY noob - EY or VA?

[kitkatff]

Hi all,

I usually fly oneworld, but due to costs (for work), given that EY was cheaper, I'll be doing a J return to Europe with it. First time I'll fly with them, and I don't really see myself flying them again for work as this was a one off.

So the question for me is where to credit the miles and/or status credit for that flight. I gather they're linked with VA, so that could be a local option. Last time I flew VA domestic was about 4 years ago so I don't see myself flying them much either, but could be a simpler way to make use of any mile I could get out of it.

So a few questions:
- If I record the trip with EY, would I get any status with EY for a J return MEL-AUH-BRU? I've looked at their explanation but can't make heads or tails of tier miles and couldn't find a page on how many tier miles give you what status (How to earn Miles - Etihad Guest) - maybe I missed it.
- Still with EY, I'm guessing I'd get 24-27K points, anything redeemable as domestic flight for that amount? And would it be similar to redemption with VA or is one better than the other?

- If going with VA, do I get status, and if yes what level? As noted I don't fly VA much at all, but it's the principle of not letting a J trip go to waste
- If going VA, I just record the booking on the VA site somewhere? I'll have to reset my password as I can't even remember the last time I used their site.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this.

Edit: bonus question: do they provide PJs on night flights, especially AUH-BRU and return, and AUH-MEL? And if not, how not amused would they be if I put on QF PJs?

 

[koco]

Flying in J Mel-Bru return will net you a 1.5 coefficient bonus, meaning that for the ~20000 miles actually flown, you will received 30,000 tier miles. This is enough to get you to Etihad Silver guest.

As for the actual number of redeemable miles earned, this will depend on your booking class in J. Your trip in J will give you from 26-37,000 points that you can use on VA flights. That will be enough for two return flights in Y from MEL to Hamilton Island for example.

Yes, there should be pjs for Auh-Mel. I would have no idea however for Auh-Bru.

 

[kitkatff]

Thanks Koco for the information.

 

[TomVexille]

If crediting to VA you'll earn 560 SC which is enough for SG, however you need 4 eligible sectors with VA to earn that status.

 

[futaris]

You can also credit Etihad to:

American Airlines AAdvantage
Korean Air Skypass

If you credit MEL-AUH-BRU in J to AA, you should get about 26,000 AA points. They don't count towards status though, since they aren't on Oneworld.

10k AA points will let you redeem anywhere oneway within Australia in QANTAS Economy.

 

[kitkatff]

Thanks both for that.
I've left the booking with EY, joined Guest just for this occasion. I don't think I'll fly 4 VA this year, so no SG for me in any case. I may however use the EY points on a domestic flight or two with VA for a free trip.

 

[kitkatff]

just as an update now that I've done the trip (J travel):
- the J seats were OK, out of 4 flights I got one in the middle section, the other 3 on the A or K seats and all window seats
- just one bad seat: CDG-AUH, I guess it was the older version of the J seats (smaller table), I am 1.80m and couldn't stretch my legs fully, must be hell for anybody taller. coughpy flight as there was a screaming child all night as well.
- PJs were provided for MEL-AUH and AUH-MEL, but not for AUH-BRU or CDG-AUH, even though those last 2 were night flights - I guess at 6-7 hours they don't think it's worthwhile?
- I like the PJs, better than QF's in fabric I thought, discrete branding and I liked the zip on the top, and the slippers are nice too
- Lounge and food menu in MEL and CDG were nice, AUH OK but I just wanted to have a shower and some fruit so that was fine
- amenity bags: also meh, the texture of the bag feels plasticky (I use the bags to carry other stuff after, cables, etc), and a mix of nice color schemes and really bad color combinations, luck of the draw I guess
- the on demand menu was nice, especially on AUH-MEL which leaves around 9AM, I could delay food service a bit to make it more like lunch time.
- on the first flight heading back (CDG-AUH), I had my headphones plugged in, got up to freshen up when the approach to AUH started, the FA put the seat back up for landing and tangled the cable, breaking the audio jack in the process (Bose QC25, I can replace it, was just annoying not to have it on the next much longer flight). She was very apologetic, took my card, and in the next flight to MEL the FA also mentioned the incident and told me I'd be contacted by Etihad's customer service. I'll see, but nice touch that on the next flight they knew about the issue. I'll email and see if I can get some miles or something.

- Didn't like: the points for the first 2 trips didn't credit straight away, at least not in the app. Actually 2 days after returning and still nothing showing in my Guest account, in browser or in the app. I can see the past trips in the app so it is linked to my account, just no point showing up when I go to "my account" (can't find where to see that in the browser, past transactions shows nothing). How long does it take? Not that I needed it, but I was just wondering if I could have upgraded to 1st for CDG-AUH after having done the first leg