Been flying *A for the past 3 years, and was totally unaware of the Sakura lounge renovation until now (I haven't been to NRT T2 at all, actually).
I'm currently in the process of switching back over to the welcoming embrace of OW, on accuont of AA matching me to Emerald.
Has anyone heard any rumors regarding what JAL means by "Fall?" I'll probably be flying through NRT on a Friday in late August(after Obon), in one of the 10AM-ish AY/JL flights.
The AY flight is currently a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the JL flight, but if I'll be turned away from the FC lounge I'm willing to eat the price difference and fly JL instead. I could use the increased accrual after all. I'm assuming that once the renovation is complete, they'll start letting back non-JL elites again.
So any bets as to when the phase 2 renovations will be done? I've seen some reports of the lounge dragons currently letting partner elites into the JL lounges when it's not busy, but I'm guessing the NRT-HEL flights are all scheduled during the morning rush...