wdc

Tried that several times. every time phone agent says availability on website is not "live", which we all know is BS. I seem to remember in the old days they are able to make an request even if they don't see the inventory, and if the seats to exist, it would come back confirmed. Is this still a thing?

skimthetrees

More history would be helpful. What date, routing and class(es) did you originally book and what are you attempting to change to? Is there a stopover involved?

Are you calling the partner number?

wdc

I don't see why the date / routing is relevant? flight is booked from JFK-HND stopover, HND-CTS in J. i'm trying to change to a different HND-CTS flight on the same day also in J. the flight shows up when searching HND-CTS on AS/QF/BA/AA , as well as when i search JFK-HND stopover, HND-CTS, so it's definitely not a married segment issue.

I'm 99% sure it's an issue with the phone agent's system. In the past, I've successfully booked many flights on the website that agents were unable to see (multiple phone calls, so not an one off issue). If they didn't break the change flight tool, i wouldn't even have bothered calling. Again, 99% sure that the old change flight tool would've just worked ...

skimthetrees

The routing and dates would allow me to check availability independently in case there was some situation that wasn't mentioned in your vague description which caused a problem. What you have provided I think is enough to get a handle on it. With your JFK-HND, stopover, HND-CTS routing there should be no issue in changing to a different HND-CTS flight on the same day so long as it shows separate availability as you say. My guess is you are just running into poorly trained agents of which AS has many. Make sure to call the partner number during business hours. If they have trouble after you point them to their own website which shows availability and you also point out other partners are also showing availability and talking to a supervisor does not help, here is a technique I once used to prove to the agent that the availability is live and not phantom (requires extra miles in your account):

1) While the agent is on the line tell them you will book the HND-CTS flight you want separately to show that there is availability (best done if there is 2x the availability you need showing).
2) Book the new HND-CTS flight online separately and it should book and complete.
3) Point the agent to your new booking showing them the availability really is live and so they should be able to use it for your existing reservation.

When I have done this it proves to the agent beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were wrong about the availability and something is wrong on their side. They get a supervisor involved to sort it out, change the flight, cancel the useless booking used for proof, all ends well. It can be done but in some cases they will not do it because they believe it cannot be done and you have to prove to them that it can so that they are forced to spend the time to figure it out.

wdc

Thanks for this. Unfortunately, my reservation is for 2 pax, and there is only 3 seats available. But i will try your approach anyways and book 1 seat to prove to them that the availability is there and see how it goes.

for step 2, did you book with your name? If so, wouldn't there be any issues when the original itinerary is moved over to the same flight?

jch636

I have a slight twist to this question. I currently have an award booking for myself and two children from SFO-HND-SIN on one PNR. I would like to drop the SFO-HND segment for myself and one of the children but keep the HND-SIN segment (which I believe is allowed). The question is if Alaska would allow me to keep the 2nd child's full original itinerary intact - she is 14 yrs old. I'm not sure if she would be counted as an unaccompanied minor by Alaska Air or JL. She is not technically unaccompanied, as my wife is booked on the same flights on JL, but through AA.

WillTravel4Food

It's possible, but it'll result in a split PNR. Under typical circumstances, all passengers on a single PNR have to follow the same routing. As for the 14 y.o., at check-in you will notify the agent the child is accompanied then provide your wife's PNR. One other note, if you are not going to use the HND-SFO leg then cancel it after splitting the PNR. You will end up with a refund since you would then be on an intra-Asia award.

skimthetrees

Yes, I booked in my name. There is no immediate issue with two bookings on the same flight but on some airlines within a few days they will cancel one of the duplicate bookings so I always make sure to quickly cancel (within a day, usually ASAP) a conflicting booking myself so that the correct one gets canceled and I keep the one I want.

buylowsellhigh

Trying to see if anyone knows the "unspoken" policies when it comes to rebookings (and involuntary downgrades).

So I booked JAL Business from LAX-KIX-HND a flight T-180 out. Both segments were in business. At T-120 days i get a notification that my flight was cancelled. I was automatically rebooked for 24 hours later.

However, the second segment KIX-HND was rebooked as economy when business class seats are available for sale. Are they literally allowed to do that?

And what are my options if I want to keep the original date? I know LAX-KIX is cancelled, but they are still selling LAX-HND (final location). Is this a possibility?

skimthetrees

You should be able to get LAX-HND on your original date by calling Alaska and asking them to put in a request to their JAL liaison asking for you to be re-accommodated on the LAX-HND flight on your original date. It may take a couple of days to process the request but it should be approved.

ccna101

Greeting,
With the most update waiver to Japan on 10/22: for award booking say multi-city (SFO-x-SIN) or SFO-x-BKK) where x is any airport in Japan...
1. Can I plan for stop-over in x ? how long can it be allow ?
2. For planning of any of the above, do I need ITA matrix, with power tool and use AS website/ call to book ?
3. Expertflyer absolutely need to plan for award booking ( ie looking for Y-B-C-D fare) ?
4. Can I book award on J and F fare ?

TIA, EV-

skimthetrees

I am not sure I am completely understanding all your questions but I will try to answer based on my interpretation of your questions:

1) You can book a stopover on a JAL award through Japan using Alaska miles, assuming you will be allowed to enter Japan. You cannot backtrack though. No SFO-TYO-KIX, stop, KIX-TYO-BKK. You can do SFO-TYO, stop, TYO-SIN/BKK. Any length of stopover that is bookable in the open Alaska calendar window is allowed. The calendar runs for 330 days so if you book today both flight segments would have to be completed within 330 days from today. You could book a flight to TYO departing today with around a 328 ish day stopover before flying from TYO-SIN/BKK. So, virtually unlimited stopover duration.

2) No you do not need ITA matrix to book a JAL award using AS miles and as a matter of fact ITA matrix is useless for this since it does not search award inventory. Use AS to search for the flights (or other partners, AA is especially good since you can use the calendar award search to find one-way non-stop awards). You probably do not need to even call AS to book. Once you find availability for the flights you should be able to click on the "All search options", select multi-city search, use miles, put in your route and dates for both segments, and the search should allow you to book it online. Not sure if online works if you arrive and depart from a different airport in Tokyo (like arrive HND, depart NRT), but phone agents, I think should be able to handle that.

3) Expert Flyer is not much help. It will not search for JAL award inventory so you probably do not need Expert Flyer for this.

4) Yes, although there is a website bug that does not show J availability if returning a trip with an F flight in it so you will have to use workarounds to book one-way flights that have both F and J segments. You can find details in previous posts in this forum.

thecowgoesmoo

Tried searching the the thread but didn’t find anything about this: I’m running into a situation where other sites are showing partner availability in J, but when I search AS the entire column is simply missing—not N/A, it simply shows only two columns for Main and First. Is this just a combination of something AS does when there’s no partner business awards on any of the listed flights + phantom availability? Odd that they don’t do it for First…

TravelingZoomer

Took a few calls but I got this to ticket, all on one award. Did I win the longest amount of flying possible on an award for JAL?

SIN - HND - ITM (stopover)

HND - JFK - SAN (Couldn’t add the ITM back but it let me stopover in ITM)

freed0m

There are routes like HND-JFK-SEA-BOS, if you like a lot of AS flights.