Pulley

My wife and I are planning a trip to BKK next year to see our son. I have a couple of reward choices.
JAL - USA-NRT in F then on to BKK in J (their old seats and a 7 hour flight).
CX - USA- HKG 1 if F and 1 in J (hoping another F becomes available) then 3+ hours to BKK.

Any suggestions as to which is the better option? I know if the other CX F seat doesn't open I am spending 15-16 hours in J. With JAL there is only an hour connection in NRT so no lounge usage unless we miss the connecting flight.

We have flown CX F before and loved it and the lounge in HKG. We've never flown JAL.

Thanks!

macfadsj

Next week, after all of the holiday traffic is complete, go to ba.com for JAL and Qantas.com for CX.
check availability LAX-BKK and SFO-BKK for the period January 5-10 and in all likelihood, you will see the seats that both CX and JL make available to AS flyers. Note that there will be quite a few F seats open up out of LAX and only a few out of SFO. This pattern should continue through your departure date. If you take a J seat now, with the hopes that F will open up, best to do it through LAX. Best to arrive in LAX by 6pm, and be prepared to spend the night at an airport hotel, so as to take advantage of two F seats that may open up the next day.

Making a reservation change at the last minute is easy from here on your outbound flights, but on your return, it takes a bit more nerve, and perhaps a person here in the states that can call AS for you, as their international numbers can be hard to reach from Thailand. You are more likely to find two F seats on JAL than CX several months in advance. You may want to consider CX outbound and JL on the return.

I flew JAL F last week, and found it interesting, but not nearly as nice as CX.
I much prefer the 12-14 hour nonstops, which allows as much sleep as you want, over the shorter flights to NRT. And of course the Pier and Wing F lounges in HKG are among the best in the industry, and more pleasurable
than a short stay in the Sakura lounge at NRT.

Good luck.

crimsona

Is BA still blocking CX flights within a week? If so, checking next week is going to show nothing for Cathay

macfadsj

Point well taken. Better to use Qantas to see CX seats.

rufflesinc

Is CX HKG-BKK lie flat and JL NRT-BKK recliner? Then it is no brainer. JL F is nice and better than any J , CX F is significantly better. But more importantly, 3 hours in lie flat J > 7 hours lie flat J >> 7 hours in recliner.

If you only need one more F seat, you have a pretty good chance of getting it.
I am glad I have a wife who can't discern the difference

eponymous_coward

Narita is not getting the "good seats" for J to Bangkok.

Instead, Haneda is.

I would probably take the CX flights, especially if it got me any time to refresh at the Pier F lounge, even if it meant risking a seat in J (you'd be able to accompany your wife to the lounge, I believe).

Pulley

My wife has offered my the F seat if another doesn't open up.

Pulley

Great info! That sealed the deal for me CX tickets booked. I would rather spend 15 hours in CX J & have access their Pier F lounge rather than spending 7 hours in the JAL J Neo seat.

eponymous_coward

First includes one guest, so yeah.