Dec 30, 2019, 1:03 pm
Last edit by: Quail
Wiki for using AS (Alaska) Miles on JL (Japan Airlines)
All awards for domestic Japan will default to Economy (including international F or J award with domestic segments).
However, these can often be upgraded at reasonable cost at the ticket counter in the Japan connecting airport
Award Chart
If not listed it's not available - EXCEPTION: Hawaii-Asia awards are bookable, not yet on the chart, at the same prices as Continental U.S.-Asia
(As of March 2017, Premium Economy is no longer available)
(As of October 2019, stopovers are no longer allowed on intra Asia awards)
For 2021:
F awards are available again to book directly on AS website (no need to book J then try to change segment) as of June 12, 2021.
Class of Service One-way Round-trip:
U.S./Canada to Asia
Coach 35,000 70,000
Premium 40,000 80,000
Business 60,000 120,000
First 70,000 140,000
U.S./Canada to Southeast Asia
Coach 40,000 80,000
Premium 45,000 90,000
Business 65,000 130,000
First 75,000 150,000
Intra Asia
Coach 15,000 30,000
Premium 17,500 35,000
Business 25,000 50,000
First 30,000 60,000
International gateways
All AS valid destinations from Tokyo (HND/NRT), Osaka (KIX) or Nagoya (NGO).
PUS, GMP, ICN, DLC, PVG, SHA, PEK, TSA, TPE, KHH, CAN, HKG, MNL, HAN, SGN, BKK, SIN, KUL, CGK, DEL, HNL, KOA, YVR, SFO, SEA, LAX, SAN, ORD, DFW, BOS, JFK
USA
Boston - BOS
Chicago - ORD
Dallas - DFW
Honolulu - HNL
Kona -KOA
Los Angeles - LAX
New York - JFK
San Diego - SAN
San Francisco - SFO
Seattle - SEA
Canada
Vancouver - YVR
Asia
Delhi - DEL
Tokyo - HND & NRT
Osaka - KIX
Nagoya - NGO
Busan - PUS
Seoul - Gimpo GMP
Seoul - Incheon ICN
Southeast Asia (or listed as SE based on how awards are pricing)
Bangkok - BKK
Beijing - PEK
Dalian - DLC
Guangzhou - CAN
Hanoi - HAN
Ho Chi Minh City - SGN
Hong Kong - HKG
Jakarta - CGK
Kaohsiung - KHH
Kuala Lumpur - KUL
Manila - MNL
Shanghai - Hongqiao - SHA
Shanghai - Pudong - PVG
Singapore - SIN
Taipei - TPE
Taipei - Songshan - TSA
Tianjin - TSN (only from Nagoya, not very useful....)
All awards for domestic Japan will default to Economy (including international F or J award with domestic segments).
However, these can often be upgraded at reasonable cost at the ticket counter in the Japan connecting airport
Award Chart
If not listed it's not available - EXCEPTION: Hawaii-Asia awards are bookable, not yet on the chart, at the same prices as Continental U.S.-Asia
(As of March 2017, Premium Economy is no longer available)
(As of October 2019, stopovers are no longer allowed on intra Asia awards)
For 2021:
F awards are available again to book directly on AS website (no need to book J then try to change segment) as of June 12, 2021.
Class of Service One-way Round-trip:
U.S./Canada to Asia
Coach 35,000 70,000
Premium 40,000 80,000
Business 60,000 120,000
First 70,000 140,000
U.S./Canada to Southeast Asia
Coach 40,000 80,000
Premium 45,000 90,000
Business 65,000 130,000
First 75,000 150,000
Intra Asia
Coach 15,000 30,000
Premium 17,500 35,000
Business 25,000 50,000
First 30,000 60,000
International gateways
All AS valid destinations from Tokyo (HND/NRT), Osaka (KIX) or Nagoya (NGO).
PUS, GMP, ICN, DLC, PVG, SHA, PEK, TSA, TPE, KHH, CAN, HKG, MNL, HAN, SGN, BKK, SIN, KUL, CGK, DEL, HNL, KOA, YVR, SFO, SEA, LAX, SAN, ORD, DFW, BOS, JFK
USA
Boston - BOS
Chicago - ORD
Dallas - DFW
Honolulu - HNL
Kona -KOA
Los Angeles - LAX
New York - JFK
San Diego - SAN
San Francisco - SFO
Seattle - SEA
Canada
Vancouver - YVR
Asia
Delhi - DEL
Tokyo - HND & NRT
Osaka - KIX
Nagoya - NGO
Busan - PUS
Seoul - Gimpo GMP
Seoul - Incheon ICN
Southeast Asia (or listed as SE based on how awards are pricing)
Bangkok - BKK
Beijing - PEK
Dalian - DLC
Guangzhou - CAN
Hanoi - HAN
Ho Chi Minh City - SGN
Hong Kong - HKG
Jakarta - CGK
Kaohsiung - KHH
Kuala Lumpur - KUL
Manila - MNL
Shanghai - Hongqiao - SHA
Shanghai - Pudong - PVG
Singapore - SIN
Taipei - TPE
Taipei - Songshan - TSA
Tianjin - TSN (only from Nagoya, not very useful....)
Definitive "Booking Japan Airlines (JL) Using AS Miles" Thread (2020-2022)
Dec 27, 2020, 6:22 pm
#181
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 829
I think problem is no one using AS system can see the JL F seat, partner desk or not, since the system is not updated to handle that. Just wait until after the OW integration. You can't get into Japan anytime soon anyway.
Dec 27, 2020, 7:10 pm
#182
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
In fact I can actually prove that there's still an issue with fare codes in AS's system because by some stroke of luck I managed to find an open seat on their system a while ago and booked it and it shows up as "Coach" when I view it in AS's system despite clearly being a first class booking that cost 70K miles:
Dec 27, 2020, 8:40 pm
#183
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Air Canada A35K, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 169
With regards to the system not being updated, I'm aware that the tools that are publicly available on their website haven't been updated yet, but support techs see "the system" differently when they're using their internal software and depending on how knowledgeable the individual tech is. This is the case with all airlines and I've had plenty of instances where someone was able to make something happen for me over the phone when it was impossible booking through the website. At the end of the day it's just a matter of getting someone at AS to get some piece of software to make an API call with a single letter changed, so not outrageous to imagine that there could be someone there who can do it.
I literally have no idea. This is a bit of a bucket-list flight for me that I had booked for this year but got messed up by COVID, so I'm a bit obsessed with rebooking it and because of that have been searching for availability on AS's website and randomly had seats in F showing up on August 17 for that specific route for a period of a few weeks, a few months ago. I booked it when I could but I don't think I'll actually be able to make it on that date, so I'm still watching availability like a hawk. In the last month or so I've seen nothing (despite lots showing up on other partner airlines' sites).
Dec 27, 2020, 9:23 pm
#184
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,392
My understanding is that this isn't a matter of "magically opening award space on partners" since the award space is already open and can be confirmed on several other partner airlines. Rather, this is an issue of JL changing the fare code designation for F award space past April 1st from Z to A and AS not having updated their IT infrastructure yet to accommodate the change. Other airlines that had the same issue with JL F award space have since updated their systems and are showing availability in JL F again (including CX quite recently), but AS is not. As such, since the issue is on AS's end, it's entirely reasonable to imagine that someone at AS might have the ability to override the fare code used in the search engine for award space such that they can see the available seats.
In fact I can actually prove that there's still an issue with fare codes in AS's system because by some stroke of luck I managed to find an open seat on their system a while ago and booked it and it shows up as "Coach" when I view it in AS's system despite clearly being a first class booking that cost 70K miles:
Are you sure? I could swear that someone gave me a number to call several months ago when I had an issue with a JL booking through AS and it went directly through to someone who had a Japanese accent who was able to assist with the issues I had at the time, but unfortunately I didn't save the number... I thought it was someone at AS who specifically handled JL partner reservations but maybe it was a JL rep who I was talking to?
In fact I can actually prove that there's still an issue with fare codes in AS's system because by some stroke of luck I managed to find an open seat on their system a while ago and booked it and it shows up as "Coach" when I view it in AS's system despite clearly being a first class booking that cost 70K miles:
Are you sure? I could swear that someone gave me a number to call several months ago when I had an issue with a JL booking through AS and it went directly through to someone who had a Japanese accent who was able to assist with the issues I had at the time, but unfortunately I didn't save the number... I thought it was someone at AS who specifically handled JL partner reservations but maybe it was a JL rep who I was talking to?
There isn’t a direct line to the partner desk that gets handed out on FT. Go ahead and keep playing HUCA and see if the reps will escalate, I guess.
Also, most reps use the web interface. They’re not going to reprogram it in real time for you. Some reps MIGHT be able to do booking in SABRE like they do for CX, but the last time this got out on FT as a workaround it got shut down (you could book EK F that way, even if the web didn't show it- the magic words for what you need on JL are "can you long sell but instead of requesting award space in Z request it in A"- if the rep doesn't know what the hell you're talking about you struck out, but they might not do it even if they DO know). AS people got told “please don’t do that” once everyone and their cousin started doing it on FT for EK awards, as EK didn't actually want AS to have access to all that inventory, so I wouldn't be sure they'll do it for you.
Last edited by eponymous_coward; Dec 28, 2020 at 12:06 am
Dec 28, 2020, 7:22 am
#185
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Air Canada A35K, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 169
Good to know about the SABRE bookings, cheers!
Of course my intention is not to harass or cause issues for AS agents; they're literally the nicest support techs I've ever dealt with so I would never want that. But at the end of the day this is an IT issue (dare I use the word "bug"?) and as a software developer for "industrial" software myself, I'm familiar with the fact that these kinds of things can (depending on the root cause) often take less than an hour of a developer's time to fix but don't get addressed because nobody sees it as a priority until enough customers are politely calling in to ask about it. I also know that there are lots of things that I can do for customers who call me directly that our support techs can't, so I'm certainly not expecting someone to give me a magical phone number but I figure there's no harm in asking.
Dec 28, 2020, 9:41 am
#186
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
I literally have no idea. This is a bit of a bucket-list flight for me that I had booked for this year but got messed up by COVID, so I'm a bit obsessed with rebooking it and because of that have been searching for availability on AS's website and randomly had seats in F showing up on August 17 for that specific route for a period of a few weeks, a few months ago. I booked it when I could but I don't think I'll actually be able to make it on that date, so I'm still watching availability like a hawk. In the last month or so I've seen nothing (despite lots showing up on other partner airlines' sites).
Dec 28, 2020, 11:42 am
#187
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,392
Of course my intention is not to harass or cause issues for AS agents; they're literally the nicest support techs I've ever dealt with so I would never want that. But at the end of the day this is an IT issue (dare I use the word "bug"?) and as a software developer for "industrial" software myself, I'm familiar with the fact that these kinds of things can (depending on the root cause) often take less than an hour of a developer's time to fix but don't get addressed because nobody sees it as a priority until enough customers are politely calling in to ask about it. I also know that there are lots of things that I can do for customers who call me directly that our support techs can't, so I'm certainly not expecting someone to give me a magical phone number but I figure there's no harm in asking.
First, these aren't support techs. They're phone customer service agents who help people book ticket and awards. A lot of them are using the exact same website you would use. A subset of them know how to work in SABRE to issue direct commands to issue tickets, the back end ticketing engine AS is using, because that's what you need to issue a partner award on any partner that isn't hooked up to the website, like CX or LA. None of them are the actual people who do the programming. You might want to write into Customer Care about the website being broken as well as talking to phone reps.
Second, there's legitimate reasons I could see for "we're not fixing this right now"- since I'm in the industry too:
- We shut down any pushes to production for December/early January because that's when everyone in the department is taking vacation; anything we do that involves a push to fix an issue requires VP approval (and needs to be "it's on fire" level of bad- some tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is not remotely that level).
- The testing and work involved in this fix is going to slow down our update to have oneworld awards ready on 4/1, and our oneworld update has already fixed this- we're using JL A class correctly for F awards there. As such, the tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is going to have to wait 3 months. Sorry.
You really need to dig into the history of the forum. EK, CX, JL booking, etc. have all been down a number of times. It gets fixed eventually. Just not as fast as the "I would kill my grandma to fly F and drink Krug" crowd on FT would like most of the time. In the scheme of things we're a tiny portion of AS's customer base (and in some cases we're just buying miles and never actually flying the airline, as such we're barely tolerated as customers).
Dec 28, 2020, 2:47 pm
#188
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Air Canada A35K, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 169
Is your booking for August 17th 2021 (not 2020)? When did you originally make this booking (month/year) and how did you book it (online or call)? Did you ever change it after booking? If this is for 2021 I would like to figure out how others can replicate a booking like yours.
Let's stop right here.
First, these aren't support techs. They're phone customer service agents who help people book ticket and awards. A lot of them are using the exact same website you would use. A subset of them know how to work in SABRE to issue direct commands to issue tickets, the back end ticketing engine AS is using, because that's what you need to issue a partner award on any partner that isn't hooked up to the website, like CX or LA. None of them are the actual people who do the programming. You might want to write into Customer Care about the website being broken as well as talking to phone reps.
Second, there's legitimate reasons I could see for "we're not fixing this right now"- since I'm in the industry too:
- We shut down any pushes to production for December/early January because that's when everyone in the department is taking vacation; anything we do that involves a push to fix an issue requires VP approval (and needs to be "it's on fire" level of bad- some tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is not remotely that level).
- The testing and work involved in this fix is going to slow down our update to have oneworld awards ready on 4/1, and our oneworld update has already fixed this- we're using JL A class correctly for F awards there. As such, the tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is going to have to wait 3 months. Sorry.
You really need to dig into the history of the forum. EK, CX, JL booking, etc. have all been down a number of times. It gets fixed eventually. Just not as fast as the "I would kill my grandma to fly F and drink Krug" crowd on FT would like most of the time. In the scheme of things we're a tiny portion of AS's customer base (and in some cases we're just buying miles and never actually flying the airline, as such we're barely tolerated as customers).
First, these aren't support techs. They're phone customer service agents who help people book ticket and awards. A lot of them are using the exact same website you would use. A subset of them know how to work in SABRE to issue direct commands to issue tickets, the back end ticketing engine AS is using, because that's what you need to issue a partner award on any partner that isn't hooked up to the website, like CX or LA. None of them are the actual people who do the programming. You might want to write into Customer Care about the website being broken as well as talking to phone reps.
Second, there's legitimate reasons I could see for "we're not fixing this right now"- since I'm in the industry too:
- We shut down any pushes to production for December/early January because that's when everyone in the department is taking vacation; anything we do that involves a push to fix an issue requires VP approval (and needs to be "it's on fire" level of bad- some tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is not remotely that level).
- The testing and work involved in this fix is going to slow down our update to have oneworld awards ready on 4/1, and our oneworld update has already fixed this- we're using JL A class correctly for F awards there. As such, the tiny section of FT jonesing to book/rebook a ticket in JL F is going to have to wait 3 months. Sorry.
You really need to dig into the history of the forum. EK, CX, JL booking, etc. have all been down a number of times. It gets fixed eventually. Just not as fast as the "I would kill my grandma to fly F and drink Krug" crowd on FT would like most of the time. In the scheme of things we're a tiny portion of AS's customer base (and in some cases we're just buying miles and never actually flying the airline, as such we're barely tolerated as customers).
Dec 28, 2020, 5:46 pm
#189
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: NZ
Posts: 1,554
I agree with others that this isn't going to be fixed until AS joins OW.
It's not simply a case of looking for and booking A class instead of Z class, as there are many other processes that are also impacted, including flight changes, documentation, cancellations etc. They have other priorities....
It's not simply a case of looking for and booking A class instead of Z class, as there are many other processes that are also impacted, including flight changes, documentation, cancellations etc. They have other priorities....
Dec 29, 2020, 12:10 pm
#190
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,392
I agree with others that this isn't going to be fixed until AS joins OW.
It's not simply a case of looking for and booking A class instead of Z class, as there are many other processes that are also impacted, including flight changes, documentation, cancellations etc. They have other priorities....
It's not simply a case of looking for and booking A class instead of Z class, as there are many other processes that are also impacted, including flight changes, documentation, cancellations etc. They have other priorities....
That's something that they could have fixed, oh, anytime since they announced free changes in September- and it impacts more people (everyone who isn't an MVPG+) than "hey, I want to book an F award to someplace where nobody has a clue if they'll be admitting gaijin in a few months".
And yet, it's just as not fixed as it was 3 months ago. Ż\_(ツ)_/Ż
Dec 29, 2020, 2:33 pm
#191
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 940
Random side note: I see that 30k AS miles is enough for a one-way Intra asia award booking on JL, but does anyone have any examples of city pairs this would work for please?
edit: I meant to say in first class!
edit: I meant to say in first class!
Dec 29, 2020, 2:45 pm
#192
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,392
JL doesn't fly any 777 four class (F-equipped) planes intra-Asia. They haven't for some time now. It's J as the top cabin, really.
Dec 29, 2020, 4:05 pm
#193
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
James
Dec 29, 2020, 7:10 pm
#194
Join Date: May 2013
Location: west coast best coast
Programs: TINDER GOLD, STARBUCKS GOLD, COSTCO EXECUTIVE!!
Posts: 3,989
Also, most reps use the web interface. They’re not going to reprogram it in real time for you. Some reps MIGHT be able to do booking in SABRE like they do for CX, but the last time this got out on FT as a workaround it got shut down (you could book EK F that way, even if the web didn't show it- the magic words for what you need on JL are "can you long sell but instead of requesting award space in Z request it in A"- if the rep doesn't know what the hell you're talking about you struck out, but they might not do it even if they DO know). AS people got told “please don’t do that” once everyone and their cousin started doing it on FT for EK awards, as EK didn't actually want AS to have access to all that inventory, so I wouldn't be sure they'll do it for you.
Alaska was booking people into Emirates revenue A? How were these tickets not canceled?