JALPak

well too bad then. If you have *A status, you can try looking into this

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/all-n...residents.html

It doesn't mention blackout dates but only bookable 14 days in advance

mt-i

Thanks for your reply! I don't think my booking is final yet (the company's travel agent is handling it), and it is likely to be in higher fare buckets as what you can get on JAL's website at the moment, but if I look at the booking codes on ITA for the same routing as found on JAL's website, here's what I get:

— the NRT-LHR-BRU component books into JL H, fare code HZAW1JP;
— the BRU-HEL-NRT component books into JL L, fare code LZAX1JP.

(The price given by the travel agent suggests that my actual ticket will be H both ways, but from what I understand, H and L should earn the same number of miles and FOP, right?).

I'm not too concerned by mileage earnings on the short hop from LHR to BRU, but more by the fact that the longer BRU-HEL JL-coded AY-operated segment displays as zero miles on JAL's website, which seems quite strange. Is it just a bug of the website, or does it reflect the actual mileage calculation?

On a related note, do you know whether the current "400 extra FOPs" promotion only applies to JL-operated flights or also to codeshares?

JALPak

What I meant was it depends on the BA coded flight's booking class. It is possible to have a different booking class on the BA flight say if that's booked as an add-on or something.

But yes, for JL coded flights, L and H both earn 70% miles and FOPs. But H is upgradable while L is not.

I just did a search on JAL Japan website, it does shows the JL coded AY operated NRT-HEL flights earn some miles. And for FOP bonus purpose, all JL coded flights are treated the same, i.e. JL7071/7070 will earn the 400 FOP bonus as long as it's booked under eligible booking class.

mt-i

I see, thanks. This doesn't seem to be the case here.

Indeed, in the previous itinerary HEL-NRT does earn miles; it's BRU-HEL that is shown as earning naught. Since it is a flight between two non-Japanese airports, it is not listed in the mileage earning table; I suppose that is why it is shown as zero on JAL's website at the time of booking. I'm just concerned that it might end up as zero in the actual calculation too. I guess I might ask JAL directly.

Great, that's nice!

waribai

Thanks for this. I am actually *A Gold. Is there any big advantage though in going via this option than GK. Obviously we would get lounge access but then we need to change from T2 to T1 while JL and GK both go from T2....

JALPak

miles, EQMs, lounge access, priority luggage, extra checked luggage allowance, etc. T1 and T2 are just a short bus ride apart. But it's up to you to see whether it worths the hassle (and possibly the extra cost?)

vincenth

I know this is not quite about JMB, but are Japan Air Commuter flights eligible for a Yokoso Japan booking? I want to go to Yakushima but the online booking service isn't offering me it as an option...

JALPak

I am afraid JAC flights aren't eligible for Yokoso and JAL Group flights to Yakushima are all operated by JAC.

http://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/online/ar/

ac737

I'm currently booked on a AA Business Award Ticket and I have a segment on JAL from BKK to NRT on 9/1. Right now they aren't showing any business availability for JL718 so me and my friend are in Y. That said, the seat map that you see if you were to book a saver paid business ticket looks to have a lot of seats open. Will JAL usually open those seats up for awards closer in to the date?

JALPak

The flight right now is wide open with C/9 J/9 D/9 X/9 I/0 Y/9 B/9 H/9 K/9 M/9 L/9 V/9 S/8 N/9 Q/0 O/0 G/0

More award seats probably will open up but as you might know there's no guarantee because that's really up to the inventory control. Personally I am not familiar with this route nor the holiday schedule in Thailand. So other FTers probably will have a better educated guess

Are you sure you want to travel on Sep 1 though? The seat map is currently showing a regional configured 777-200ER will be used on Sep 1, which means you will get the Skyluxe seats which are the previous generation recliner regional business class seats. They usually use the previous generation long-haul Shell Flat seats on this flight. The flight on Sep 2 right now has award seats available and the seat map is showing the Shell Flat seats will be used.

fakecd

so i am flying JAL Business class HKG-Tokyo. Corporate policy doesn't allow CX nor NH which I prefer. HKG-Tokyo leg on Haneda (JL28), no complaint there on a 777.

However return i'm concerened. I've been put on NRT flight back to HKG (JL735) however it appears it's using old crappy 767 let alone only available seat is row 5 which is immediately infront of Economy.... Can anyone enlighten me as to quality of their business product? Is this essentially comparable to CX regional Business class? Is this a bad enough product such that I should seriously consider fly on JL29 out of Haneda at a cost of additional PA hotel?

Also how likely is it I get a substitute equipment such as 777 back from NRT to HKG? my flight is on Sep 8th Saturday.

Also has anyone tried to change the flight to a CX-codeshare HND flight JL7039? My secretary tells me it's not possible but I wonder if JL ticketing agent will allow me to sneakly change to a CX flight (my ticket say "Valid on JL only" but i'm not sure if that means JL flight number or JL operated flight)

thanks

yerffej201

Hi,

I don't see anything on the forum about the if different classes and just wanted to ask: what are the different types of premium seats and on what routes are they used?

I know that for F they have the old pods and the new tempurpedic ones.
There are at least two long haul J configs and a bunch of regional ones.

Also if anyone has flown CX F/J can they tell me of the hard/soft product and service in comparison to JL? Thanks.

JALPak

You can find the seat info on the following pages. If you go to the page for individual seat, you can find the routes that have them at the bottom.

http://www.jal.co.jp/en/inflight/inter/first/
http://www.jal.co.jp/en/inflight/inter/executive/

I am extremely biased but I found JAL is superior to CX in F. CX F seat is quite uncomfortable. Yes it's wider but also narrower than the JAL Suite in some way because CX Suite has a triangular shape instead of a rectangular one. In the bed position, it was restricting my legs and quite uncomfortable. The bumps in the bed position also annoyed me quite a bit. I couldn't find a comfortable lounging position with the CX seat either. One of the biggest flaws of the seat is that you couldn't move the seat forward. Unless you have some super long legs, you won't be able to use the ottoman as your foot rest. Also no one-touch button to turn the seat into bed and vice versa. But their massage function is quite nice. I like the sliding table in JAL Suite. You can easily get out of your seat even during meal service and it's way more comfortable with the tempurpedic mattress in the bed position. Also, there were something wrong with the audio wiring with the CX F I was on, there was a constant whining noise in the IFE audio. They only gave you a cheap noise canceling headphones while JAL provides Bose noise canceling headphones in F. But CX probably has better IFE contents if you aren't into Japanese movies.

Soft product wise, I also prefer JAL F. The CAs are way more attentive and more proactive. They will check on you from the galley from time to time. If they found you awake, they will come check on you to see if you need anything, especially if you are reading the menu. That never happened on my CX flight. Also the chatting CX FA were talking quite loudly near L1. It was quite annoying.

But again I am extremely biased so take my opinions with a large grain of salt And CX F isn't that bad per se. I wouldn't mind flying that again but if given a choice I would take JL F over CX F on any day. Here's also a thread comparing JL and CX F that you can check out: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jal-m...rst-class.html. There are also people who found CX F is awesome: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...f-awesome.html. So I guess it really depends on your personal preferences when you are comparing two premium carriers at this level.

Also, JAL plans to roll out new seats in all cabin on its long-haul 773 and 763 fleet. So you will get even better seats from next year. You can find more info in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jal-m...an-2013-a.html

JALPak

JAL does not play music chairs like CX does with their aircrafts. I am 99.99% sure you will get 763 on JL735. Without knowing your fare rules, I can't comment on whether they will let you fly on the codeshare flight. You need to check your fare rules.

It's only a 5 hour non-redeye flight, Skyluxe is perfectly fine and you get full AVOD on JAL regional fleet too. But you don't like getting a non-flat seat for this short flight, you should probably change it to JL029 which gives you the old long-haul product.

fakecd

thanks JALpack. I ended up going for JL29. I don't care about lie-flat seat but 767 is older aircraft, monitor on skyluxe looks very tiny and seatings seems cramped (2-2-2 vs 2-1-2 for ANA or 2-3-2 on 777). Also going to Narita is a hassle just not my cup of tea (disclaimer i'm Japanese so i know my way around)