Originally Posted by
izzik
Disclaimer: I have not actually ticketed a RTW trip with JL. However, I have looked into it (as a JL elite with Diamond status).
- JL charges a fee (per this old post it was 5500 JPY) to book a new ticket or make changes, including date changes that don't normally trigger add'l cost. 5500 JPY is not terrible but it can add up if you are constantly making changes to your ticket.
- JL phone wait times can be lengthy, especially if you don't have JL elite status. Even as a Diamond, the longest I've had to wait was probably 10-20 minutes..
- JL phone agents will generally refuse to even price out a RTW ticket unless the first segment is on JL. They will instead point you to the online tool.
- As with most non-US airlines, JL agents are probably hesitant to take on a complex request like RTW pricing in a language other than Japanese. If you don't speak Japanese, I expect you would encounter a lot of passive resistance on the phone.
I've booked multiple RTWs with JL, both AONEx and DONEx, and, while doing so has its challenges, I've not experienced most of the above (the lengthly hold times is something I always run into). I call JL's U.S. number, where agents speak perfect English (many sounds like U.S. natives). On occasion I've called their Japan number (e.g., when the U.S. office is closed) and sometimes those agents do not feel comfortable enough in English for a complex issue and will bring a translator into the call. JL has never charged me a fee to create or modify an RTW, except for changing the ticketed points. They do like to recalculate the taxes, which sometimes results in a small additional charge and sometimes a small refund to my credit card. I haven't encountered any passive resistance to anything.
Originally Posted by
pianoperson
Well in my many years of booking RTW tickets I’ve never experienced any discrepancies between D and A class availability on Expertflyer booking via AA RTW desk until the past 2 years when there have been many - even when the OW RTW booking tool is showing that there is availability when ticketing with AA, Clearly OW carriers are restricting availability to partner airlines in many cases when they were not before. Makes for frustrations at times ! I much prefer usually to ticket via AA RTW desk as they are able to sort out changes at short notice and my biggest concern with JAL is just the unknown really in terms of making date changes/reissues . I”ve had pretty good experiences with Cathay in the past and my current RTW is issued by them and so far have been able to make reroutings etc without too much hassle. I might have to forsake JAL First and go with the other options that are available i I book via AA …
This is a new "feature" of the GDS where additional inventory restrictions can be placed based on type of fare or point of departure. It isn't a native airline vs partner airline issue. For example, on my most recent RTWs issued by JL, I've run into restrictions on 'A' and 'D' inventory that don't show up in EF or the oneworld RTW booking tool, but do show up with JL and AA, It's easy to tell: when an agent says a flight isn't available in 'D' or 'A', ask them to try booking in a new record; there will be inventory in that record but not in an RTW record.