Originally Posted by
ellylex65
Thank you so much for clarification!!! I did not know that.
So for JAL (in this case - using AA miles) it is the question of availability.
Can you also suggest a way to see how full the flight on JAL is (so I can weigh in my chances). On American it is easy to see w/o any loggins - it shows the seat map (perhaps the picture is not right as well as some passengers buy ticket but do not choose a seat).
Did you notice the poster who was able to book JL J was because JL opened up availability Close In?
Dont expect you will see reasonable redemption until a week to 10 days before flight date. These days airlines tend to release seats very close in, between a month to the same week or even just a few days before. This is an across board regardless alliances phenomena in recent years. Just keep checking you may get lucky.