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Definitive "Booking Japan Airlines (JL) Using AS Miles" Thread (2020-2022)

Old Dec 30, 2019, 1:03 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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....)


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Definitive "Booking Japan Airlines (JL) Using AS Miles" Thread (2020-2022)

Old Jul 22, 2022, 1:21 pm
  #646  
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: YVR/YYZ
Programs: AC50K, *A Gold, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 371
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
What dates are you using? It's working great for me. You need to pick the outbound at least a week before the return otherwise, if both flights are in the AS block window, you may not see results. I usually search the (reverse) outbound 3-4 weeks prior. You cannot go beyond the end of the AS calendar regardless and there must actually be availability on the day you are searching (check with AA since their calendar window is similar to AS).




Edit: Somebody just snagged the 6/15 LAX-HND F seat, hopefully you got it.
Thanks for this. Think I'm misunderstanding.

I see the 6/15 even selecting as a OW. Is this method not used to "open up" the future dates that are blocked in AS' calendar?
loganre17 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2022, 2:40 pm
  #647  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,386
Originally Posted by loganre17
Thanks for this. Think I'm misunderstanding.

I see the 6/15 even selecting as a OW. Is this method not used to "open up" the future dates that are blocked in AS' calendar?
It's complicated, but yeah, you cannot under any circumstances extend the AS booking calendar beyond what dates the calendar will show. The problem is JL availability usually does not show for the last few days of the AS calendar. This trick is to work around that AS block on JL availability in the last few days of their calendar. If you do a straight one-way search, Alaska blocks JL availability for the last few days of its schedule (4-6 days?). You can force those dates to show by using the reverse round-trip trick.

I was playing around to see how you found the one-way award near the end of the AS calendar. Unless you were doing some weird search method the only thing I came up with is that if another airline has an award available in the block period (last 6 days or so of the AS calendar) then AS will show all flights on that day including JL flights that would normally not be shown in that block window. Do you recall if their were other airline flights showing available on 6/15 when you searched one-way?

The only way to book beyond the AS calendar window is to book with another program like BA, CX, QF, that has a longer booking window.
skimthetrees is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2022, 6:19 pm
  #648  
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: YVR/YYZ
Programs: AC50K, *A Gold, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 371
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
It's complicated, but yeah, you cannot under any circumstances extend the AS booking calendar beyond what dates the calendar will show. The problem is JL availability usually does not show for the last few days of the AS calendar. This trick is to work around that AS block on JL availability in the last few days of their calendar. If you do a straight one-way search, Alaska blocks JL availability for the last few days of its schedule (4-6 days?). You can force those dates to show by using the reverse round-trip trick.

I was playing around to see how you found the one-way award near the end of the AS calendar. Unless you were doing some weird search method the only thing I came up with is that if another airline has an award available in the block period (last 6 days or so of the AS calendar) then AS will show all flights on that day including JL flights that would normally not be shown in that block window. Do you recall if their were other airline flights showing available on 6/15 when you searched one-way?

The only way to book beyond the AS calendar window is to book with another program like BA, CX, QF, that has a longer booking window.
Thanks, really appreciate it. My bad, I thought this trick would allow the calendar to show availability similar to BA/CX. Didn't even realize they blocked 4-6 days, too!

May as well go for BA this time around. Thanks!
loganre17 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 10:58 am
  #649  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
First time booking JAL with AS and had a few questions, for example, If made a booking for say June 1, 2023 and currently calendar only shown up to June 1, once they open up to June 20, can I change the booking at no charge? (Is there a limit on how many times you can change? Also, can I make it change online or do I need to call in? Thank you!
southbeach82 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 11:50 am
  #650  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, Fairmont Premier
Posts: 173
Originally Posted by southbeach82
First time booking JAL with AS and had a few questions, for example, If made a booking for say June 1, 2023 and currently calendar only shown up to June 1, once they open up to June 20, can I change the booking at no charge? (Is there a limit on how many times you can change? Also, can I make it change online or do I need to call in? Thank you!
Yes, as long as there is award availability on the segment you are trying to change to, you should be able to change for free online. If it involves any complexity, you will need to call in.
jch636 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 12:30 pm
  #651  
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,341
Originally Posted by southbeach82
First time booking JAL with AS and had a few questions, for example, If made a booking for say June 1, 2023 and currently calendar only shown up to June 1, once they open up to June 20, can I change the booking at no charge? (Is there a limit on how many times you can change? Also, can I make it change online or do I need to call in? Thank you!
I would suggest reading the last few pages of the thread, AS JL awards are difficult to book near the edge of the schedule at T-330, there are workarounds that are discussed by skimthetrees, you probably need to understand that or else you're going to be very frustrated with your booking attempts.

AS awards on JL are changeable online, though at some point if you do a huge number of changes + there are JL changes it will likely toast the booking record's ability to be displayed on the web and you'll need to call AS, so I don't think I'd just arbitrarily change the booking just because. Is there a reason you'd want to do a ton of changes to a booking?
eponymous_coward is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 3:28 pm
  #652  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
Originally Posted by eponymous_coward
I would suggest reading the last few pages of the thread, AS JL awards are difficult to book near the edge of the schedule at T-330, there are workarounds that are discussed by skimthetrees, you probably need to understand that or else you're going to be very frustrated with your booking attempts.

AS awards on JL are changeable online, though at some point if you do a huge number of changes + there are JL changes it will likely toast the booking record's ability to be displayed on the web and you'll need to call AS, so I don't think I'd just arbitrarily change the booking just because. Is there a reason you'd want to do a ton of changes to a booking?
I was hoping to use that T-330 trick to book a flight but that means I should cancel what I booked today. Im not planning to do tons of changes just wondering if it was limited to 1 since Japan borders arent officially open yet. Hopefully this all works out!
southbeach82 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 5:43 pm
  #653  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
I have a more questions since its my first time booking with AS. I see availability for YVR to NRT but I also want to go to SIN but no availability yet. Wanted to confirm that I can first book YVR to NRT and then later call to add NRT/HND to SIN? Would they automatically treat Tokyo as the free stopover? Also want to ask how can I calculate the Mikes required for YVR-NRT/HND-SIN. TIA!
southbeach82 is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 5:50 pm
  #654  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 7
Originally Posted by southbeach82
I have a more questions since its my first time booking with AS. I see availability for YVR to NRT but I also want to go to SIN but no availability yet. Wanted to confirm that I can first book YVR to NRT and then later call to add NRT/HND to SIN? Would they automatically treat Tokyo as the free stopover? Also want to ask how can I calculate the Mikes required for YVR-NRT/HND-SIN. TIA!
Yes, you can do exactly what you stated. I just did something similar last week, booked LAX-HND earlier this month then called in last week to add HND-SIN. If the initial agent you speak says there isnt any availability or cant book, request to speak with someone at the international partner award desk. It will be an additional 5,000 miles to add HND-SIN.
simpim is offline  
Old Jul 26, 2022, 5:56 pm
  #655  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
Originally Posted by simpim
Yes, you can do exactly what you stated. I just did something similar last week, booked LAX-HND earlier this month then called in last week to add HND-SIN. If the initial agent you speak says there isnt any availability or cant book, request to speak with someone at the international partner award desk. It will be an additional 5,000 miles to add HND-SIN.
Amazing, thank you so much! Will definitely do exactly that.
southbeach82 is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2022, 4:22 am
  #656  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 198
Flying BKK-JFK via HND on JAL in a few days and wanted to switch from J to F (HND-JFK segment) since I saw a seat open up. Went to make the change on Alaska but it's not letting me and I'm getting an error. Do I need to call or can this be done online (maybe I'm doing something wrong)?
dcht is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2022, 4:28 am
  #657  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
Im based out of YYZ and since JAL doesnt fly from here, does anyone have experience transiting from the cities that JAL flies from? Which one would be a better option? YVR, ORD or JFK. I was thinking YVR since that would eliminate US customs but ORD or JFK is closer.
southbeach82 is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2022, 7:52 am
  #658  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,587
Originally Posted by dcht
Flying BKK-JFK via HND on JAL in a few days and wanted to switch from J to F (HND-JFK segment) since I saw a seat open up. Went to make the change on Alaska but it's not letting me and I'm getting an error. Do I need to call or can this be done online (maybe I'm doing something wrong)?
You'll need to call to get it resolved. Sometimes with partner awards, they get in a state where they require a call.
WillTravel4Food is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2022, 8:03 am
  #659  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,587
Originally Posted by southbeach82
Im based out of YYZ and since JAL doesnt fly from here, does anyone have experience transiting from the cities that JAL flies from? Which one would be a better option? YVR, ORD or JFK. I was thinking YVR since that would eliminate US customs but ORD or JFK is closer.
I preface all this with knowing AS doesn't allow multiple partners on an award, so you my likely need to purchase a positioning flight to the JL gateway.

It would depend on the time of year you planned to fly. I wouldn't be too keen on connecting at ORD or JFK during winter or summer afternoons, due to weather. From a price perspective, I would go with whatever is cheapest. One option you should consider is taking Porter to BOS, then flying JL BOS-NRT. ORD would work much better than JFK, because JFK is a mess IMO. Doing the pre-clearance into the US at YYZ or YTZ will be much easier than doing so at ORD, JFK, or BOS. I don't see that as much of an issue. I think price on YYZ-YVR will be the downside there.
kalderlake and southbeach82 like this.
WillTravel4Food is offline  
Old Jul 27, 2022, 8:11 am
  #660  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: YYZ
Posts: 86
Just called AS to cancel a flight that I booked yesterday (less than 24 hours) - agent states that the $12.50 USD booking fee and partner fee is not refundable even within 24 hours of booking, is this correct?

When I went to the cancel page on the website - the $ that says is refundable is only the taxes and other fees - doesn't include the $37.50 USD booking fee. Is this correct? Or should I call again?

Update - HUCA and got everything refunded

Last edited by southbeach82; Jul 27, 2022 at 8:55 am Reason: update
southbeach82 is offline  

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