Originally Posted by
winterpolaris
Planning on doing a Japan trip (TYO) beginning of April, want to get all my flights via awards. (LAX as home airport.) No status whatsoever, just miles, and I'm perfectly okay with economy seats (just looking for transport, not comfort tbh). A preliminary search is showing some pretty pricy redemptions (~65k via Starlux, one way, in economy with a TPE layover). I read on some articles and travel blogs that JL tends to release good last-minute redemptions (like 14 days or so before departure). I'm definitely willing to wait until closer to departure date to book, but just wanted to get advice from more experienced folks to see if waiting it out would change anything or if I should just book now (or look into low-cost airlines like ZipAir). Thanks!
You could see if it is true for flights in the next 10-14 days that JL releases last minute seats. I have no experience with JL and hopefully someone else can confirm or deny what you read elsewhere. If you have enough miles, you could book a more expensive award now and then wait for a cheaper JL award to materialize closer to departure. Awards can be refunded for free (you lose the partner booking fee if you cancel, but that’s peanuts. Perhaps it’s possible to change instead).