Originally Posted by
985X
Just a data point. Bought a HND-LAX ticket in main cabin back in June, for a flight in early Sept. Waitlisted. On the day of departure, app showed 1 seat, but it's blocked for whatever reason. Probably crew rest. I checked with agent, all told me business class was full. So I didn't get the upgrade. So now I have 2 SWU going to waste.. I'm thinking of buying a expertflyer subscription to make my life easier. But I bet it'd be impossible to find confirmed space on the 20 seat 788s.
I actually flew LAX-HND and back in March/April on SWUs. So, it's not impossible. But I was extremely flexible with my dates and I bought tickets on flights that had C space, and immediately called to confirm.
Also, don't use a seat map to determine availability. It's really inaccurate. A seat map might show empty seats even though there is no inventory.
The EF subscription is highly recommended.