Qantas Frequent Flyer - Oneworld intra Japan award issues

I am going to Japan on SQ in April and thought I would like to check out some of the ski fields in Hokkaido as a side trip whilst there.

My wife has some QFF points left and I am looking at NRT or Kansai to Sapporo travel sometime later that month.

I understand that you can only book 2 months in advance.

Can you book business class for intra Japan flights and what is the availability like at the 2 month point - should i have much trouble getting J seats at the right time if I book as soon as is possible ?

I understand that you can only book 2 months in advance.

Are you sure about that? And if yes, why?

Kezza's observations:

1. The 2 month thing -

Try a dummy commercial booking for a trip in May and you get the following error message from www.jal.co.jp >

Flight schedules are only available for travel within the next two months.
Please re-check your boarding date entries.

I am sure many other forums in Flyertalk that are associated with JAL and ANA can shed some more light on this. I recall when I lived in Japan, this was always the case as well.

2. Flights to Sapporo

Where are you flying into when you arrive in Japan? KIX and NRT are miles apart, the latter has hardly any flights per day to Hokkaido, most domestics depart from Haneda. If you are on a paid SQ ticket, you should seriously consider the ANA or Star Alliance pass, where you can buy internal flights in Japan for about $100 or so (minimum two coupons I believe)

3. If you want to consider the mileage redemption route...

No idea about Qantas, so this comparison may help. Northwest Airlines (via Worldperks) charges 15K miles for an internal JAL ticket in economy, and 19K for "business". I have never had any problems redeeming miles this way, but you do have to be flexible with flight times on the day you want to fly. And leave it to the last minute to book.

I am assuming the NWA 19K level applies to Class J - see the below. And quite surprised tonight to see that JAL is reintroducing 'First Class' on domestic routes! Maybe that could be a good use of Qantas points!

http://www.jal.co.jp/en/dom/

Again, no idea if Qantas redemption levels are comparable. Maybe in this case a paid commercial ticket could be the way to go.

4. If you need advice on skiing in Hokkaido, let me know. Depending on when you are going in April, the snow could all be gone. The season has not been that good this year, compared to previous years. But Hokkaido is a fabulous place, Sapporo is a buzzing city and the people, culture, nature and nightlife are all great.

Kezza

Ta for that .

My SQ ticket is mileage limited so cannot go beyond NRT.
I am interested in seeing Hokkaido more for historical reasons though i do plan to ski there next january february.

I understand that you just cannot book intra Japan flights more than 2 months ahead so i guess i am stuck with that.

I understand that i will need to travel from Tokyo to Haneda for most domestic flights .

Just back from Hokkaido and the snow is stunning.

Flew KIX-CTS-KIX in JL J class (about $80 more than whY). J cabins were full on both flights. No idea about the space down the back but both flights showed seats available at time of flight.

You might consider paid domestic JL J class as it pays Biz class SCs (and KIX-CTS = 60 SC). It cost about AUD$480 (IIRC). Dont expect any cabin service except for tea, coffee, soft drinks, small cake or rice cracker snacks. J seats are 2x2x2 in the 763 or 2x3x2 in the A300. Similar comfort to BA WT+. Watching the de-icing from the CTS food court is more entertaining than sitting in the the dreary domestic lounge.

I booked through BestFlights about 4 months out (but refuse to do any further business with them due to sloppy finances and bad customer service).