AKLifetimeFlyer

How was the booking process? Were you able to do it all online or did it require a phone agent?

PDXPremier

Did the CXI stop go away for good? I always thought that would be an interesting flight to take if I ever had to get to NAN from HNL....

Bretmd

FWIW they released a lot of award space for this summer all at once last August.

robsaw

Booking was completely on-line & smooth. Was able to check Fiji confirmation code on their site within a few minutes and select seats. Could download and add flights to Fiji app on smartphone.

PurpleMonkey

I was able to book LAX-NAN-SYD roundtrip for 2 last August when they dumped a lot of space for Feb-March 2023. The return only had 1 seat available, but I booked one and checked a few days later another was available.

I was able to book everything online.

CeeCee101

So about 5 months out? I don’t want paid J to be gone if we have to end up paying. Not sure how long to wait before throwing in the towel and just buying. We can always use the miles of another trip but this just seemed ideal way to burn them. Thanks everyone.

John26

That seems highly unlikely. If revenue management is doing their job, there should be a couple of J seats avaipable for purchase until a day or two prior to departure (and certainly a week before departure) for last-minute transpac business travellers. Pricing of course is another story. I think the issue you may want to keep an eye out for for is for adjacent seat assignments as departure nears if that's critical to you. You can also purchase and cancel if award seats become available (often the week before departure) but check the cancellation penalties first of course.

hur88

It's not five months out. It's completely random when they release traunches of award space. Last major one was in August 2022.

pipeliner

I just did something similar with Fiji Air for a trip to New Zealand next January. Based on my experience, I'd plan on looking as soon as your earliest departure date shows as available on the Alaska website. I even started looking a month early, just to get a feel for what was being released. Check out of LAX, SFO & YVR. LAX is daily while SFO was Tues, Thurs, Fri while I was looking and YVR was Mon/Fri (outbound). On the outbound, we got one business class seat and one coach. I keep checking sporadically to see if another business class seat gets released. On the return, I scored two business class seats on the first date that my return would work. If you're checking more than 330 days in advance, you'll know when the seats are released (coach will always be available and they'll tell you if you're looking too soon). In the winter, it was for me, 3 AM Alaska Standard time, when the next day's seats became available. With daylight savings time, it is now 4 AM in AK when the seats furthest in advance (330 days?) are released. This will be 5 AM PDT. I am frequently awake in the middle of the night, so I would check periodically until the next available date showed up. If you're not an insomniac like me, I'd recommend checking as soon as you wake up in the morning. I know I scored those two return seats right after they were released. As of today (May 17), April 12, 2024, is the earliest you can get a ticket for next year. This morning there were two business awards, SFO to NAN, available for April 11, but they're gone now. There is one on April 9 still available. As already noted, Fiji Air does not release their data to Expert Flyer, but I set up a bunch of alerts for other potential flights on other airlines and so far nothing else has popped up. But I'd recommend playing with the website a year in advance to see what is being released and so you can get a feel for exactly when your earliest departure date will be available on the Alaska website. It appears that Fiji Air is releasing one or two seats at the maximum in advance, but then no more. Do your outbound & return separately and hopefully two seats will be available for you on the earliest date possible. Good Luck.

ellipsicon

Tons of availability out of LAX Jan (most days), Feb (most days), March (basically everyday), April (everyday), May (everyday), June (everyday until 331 out). Seeing 2+ seats. Get it while it lasts!

pipeliner

Thank you very much! Just scored two J seats in Jan for our layover on the way to New Zealand.

Happy

How do you book an itinerary with a stopover at NAN then onto AKL?

Whenever I used Multicity the LAX-NAN that had J availability turned to Main Cabin, versus having a Mixed Cabin award. Is the stopover must be a call in to book, cannot be booked online?

Flying for Fun

No need to call, I booked two J yesterday with a NAN stopover before NAN-SYD.

James

Happy

What is your routing?

The LAX-NAN as one way has J seats but LAX-NAN, NAN-AKL or SYD, when combined, removed the J seats on the long haul. I wonder if there is AS segment before the gateway makes a difference because a friend just booked a PDX-SFO-NAN, NAN-AKL online. The difference between his and my playing around is he started from an AS city while mine playing around started from Fiji gateway.

Flying for Fun

The awards I booked are from a Fiji gateway. Your post in the Flame Free thread is a cross post. Where would be best to reply?

James