flyingmusicianlax

Hi All,

Hoping to get some advice from those who are more experienced with AS awards than I am. It's a tricky situation.

My wife and I were ticketed to fly J on JL on 8/19, ORD-HND-BKK. AS emailed me a schedule change today: it is now ORD-NRT in J, HND-BKK in Y the following day. Forgetting about the change in cabin, transferring airports and adding an overnight stay would have been extremely inconvenient pre-COVID; it may not even be possible now because, as I understand it, you can't enter Japan unless you're part of a guided tour group.

Of course, there is nothing available as an alternative in J out of the US around that time. If I kept the first leg, now to NRT, there doesn't seem to be any J availability from NRT to BKK or a nearby city (could do SIN or KUL or HKG; we're trying to get to CNX).

What can I reasonably expect if I phone up AS? Ask them to request a long sell from JL in J on a flight to HND and onward to BKK? Ask if they'll make an exception and allow us to have multiple carriers on an award? I honestly have no idea what to do here and I am hoping there is more to it than just, "You're screwed, sucks to be you."

Thanks for reading,
FMLAX

williwaw

They have been making requests to JL to make space in these cases with success. Look at a JL itinerary you would be ok with and call in to request JL make space. The average CSR won’t know about this but partner awards agents know it. They will tell you the request takes a few days. In my case new space was made within three days of the request.

flyingmusicianlax

That's helpful, thank you! I will try that.

AKLifetimeFlyer

i remember seeing in another thread about this same issue, there was a specific phrase the traveler used that proved to be successful. I can’t remember it now but perhaps someone else will.

Long Train Runnin

At least with American the magic words are OneWorld partner liasion.

It took a few days but it opened up QR space for me on an Aadvantage award after a schedule change.

flytoeat

Ask for the Partner Desk's JAL liaison to make a request for you.

barabuski

I had a F ticket moved to J because of a craft swap. Now, a plane with F is flying (just to NRT instead of HND) at roughly the same time. Sadly, I called AS and the agent (who seemed very competent) talked to the JAL liaison desk; they came back and said they were not reoffering anyone back to the original class booked "since the business class ticket was already ticketed". The agent advised I never should have accepted the schedule change from F to J.. but I was originally (~3 weeks ago) told I didn't have a choice. Fun times..

williwaw

Depending on connections this might not work. But remaining F space is released 2-weeks before departure. If you can change that might be a way to get into F. But the connections are probably the harder part.

barabuski

My connection as it exists (to BKK) is already in Business, which is nice; sadly, given the coterminal situation, I'm sure this would be messy if I needed to change from a HND-BKK flight to a NRT-BKK flight last minute in J. I'm looking every now and then for availability, but definitely looks dry right now. Good tip, thank you - I'll continue looking close-in. I can be flexible between airports and dates +/- a day which hopefully helps. I'd probably be OK trading J for F on the long haul, even if it meant Y on the connecting flight.

williwaw

I was watching for a trip I recently took, and the J space on JL707 never seemed to pop up. But we did snag F on JL61 and it was certainly a treat.

flyingmusicianlax

Well, folks, here's the update: called AS and talked to the oneworld partner desk. She put the request in for business class (U) on JL 707, NRT-BKK. The segment showed up in the app as "standby," though didn't show up on the full AS site or on JL's site. A few days later, I received a notice saying the segment had been cancelled, which meant that JL had denied our request.

Here are the options I've come up with:
1.) Get back on the phone with the partner desk and ask that they speak to the JAL liaison and explain the situation. Obviously, given the current situation, we can't connect landside.

2.) Request NRT-SIN instead.

3.) Ask the partner desk to request a whole new itinerary. Unfortunately, the only flight departing out of HND is the 11:15 am flight that we're currently on and the latest arrival is 5 pm the previous day. The transit hotel is (still) closed and I'm not putting my wife through a night of sleeping in an airport. What could work is JFK-HND-KIX-BKK but that would be asking for all of those segments in J (or U). Not sure if that would fly.

4.) Wait and see? Maybe a landside connection will be possible in mid-August? Given the current situation, I'm not hopeful. And nothing is opening up close-in at the moment, so I don't think an award change on 8/15 (or whenever) is possible.

5.) Interestingly enough, JL re-ticketed the HND-BKK segment in D (which I originally thought was coach, but AS was just using their own fare codes) - it's revenue business. But the fare rules say changes aren't allowed and I don't even know who I'd talk to to try to change it, so that is probably my least viable option.

Thanks so much for all of the advice so far - it is an interesting journey, to say the least.

rosenkavalier

Any data points on a similar issue with BA? The extent of flight cancellations in Europe is unprecedented at the moment, and just want to know how far I can go if my F award on BA gets cancelled in July...I am familiar with BA's policies on 125- issued ticket stock, but not sure how far they are willing to help for awards issued by partners...

notquiteaff

Would that be allowed, since it presumably requires entering the country at HND and then flying a domestic flight to KIX? Or is the prohibition against leaving the airport?

flyingmusicianlax

You're correct - I didn't know about that, but that is indeed the case. Thanks for pointing it out.