g2929

Need Help with JAL redemption in First Class.

Has anyone noticed that most JAL first class with a stop in Tokyo do not offer a Business class in the second leg to Asian countries.

I am looking at trip to Singapore or Delhi and if there is a flight in First Class, it is only in the SFO-HND leg, then it drops to economy.

Is this the way JAL award seats are programmed in Alaska system? I don't see this problem in AA.
Is there a workaround that you might suggest?

Thanks in advance,

rustykettel

Checked that there's Business availability on the specific segment in AS? If so, take a look at
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33652050-post332.html

Lots of good information and very helpful folks in that thread!

Eurynom0s

Flight 525 to Seattle is still showing an 8:10 boarding time despite it being 8:30 and there still being no plane at the gate, not an encouraging sign...

And yup, now updated to 11:20. So arrive at the same time as the flight I'd specifically passed on to avoid a tight connection at SEA if this holds. 😔​​​
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Eurynom0s

And now it looks like most of our crew have wandered off, so not an awesome sign on them just setting this as a worst case scenario.

be_rettSEA

See if you can change to the other flight you wanted to avoid? looks like this one just updated to 12pm departure..

Eurynom0s

Yeah I already did, I was talking boarding times not departure times. At the gate they were telling me oh it's fine don't worry it'll only save you 10 minutes but it was a mechanical delay so I didn't want to gamble it, and on the phone the agent who helped me said what she was seeing was actually more info at 12, so feeling like I definitely made the right choice here. Especially since I went from an Airbus to a Boeing, so thinking it should be a lot easier for them to rustle up a replacement plane and/or pilot should something go wrong yet again with this new flight vs who knows if the Airbus pilot is going to time out by the time this all said and done.

I was willing to pony up the $50 for a day pass to get into the lounge and out of the crowded terminal because COVID (I feel a lot better on the planes than I do in the airports) but there's an LAX-specific promo of $25 day passes, which at least takes some of the sting out of that part of all this.

Eurynom0s

So yeah, sitting on 881 which is pushing back 25 minutes late but 525 is now showing a departure time of 6 PM so CLEARLY the right choice. I can't believe that gate agent insisted I should just stick with 525 since 881 was only going to leave 10 minutes earlier.

Now hopefully the rest of this goes smoothly and I get to the Seattle outbound gate in time to get my overhead space to Boston...

[edit] Actually right after I hit submit I got another notification that 525 went from 6 PM to just flat out cancelled.

Eurynom0s

Actually as far as I can tell the plane I'm for 881 on is the same plane that'll be taking me to Boston? 🤷‍♂️ Certainly convenient if correct.

Eurynom0s

Well this has now turned into a stressful enough shitshow that I'm going to be submitting a customer service complaint. It SHOULD be sorted (but still slightly anxious until I'm actually seated on 736 in an hour and a half), I called the MVP line using the wifi and a flight attendant confirmed she sees me as on the flight to Boston on her tablet, but I nearly had a heart attack.

I get an email shortly into flight 881 saying I've been upgraded to first. Very surprising because I was nowhere near high enough on the upgrade list to get upgraded for the flight to Boston, I think it's actually sold out 💫 otherwise full. So I open the email and it's an upgrade for SEA-SAN, which is an immediate red flag. I got to the reservation in the app and it says there's a change in the reservation that requires me calling in. So I look through the rest of the email and see they've automatically rebooked me on a three-legged itinerary; LAX-SEA this evening, SEA-SAN tonight (arriving at the same time as 736 arrives in Boston), and then after spending the night in San Diego SAN-BOS arriving 4 PM tomorrow. A doubly major what the hell considering I find this out while I'm in the air en route to Seattle, ostensibly on the same exact plane that's continuing on to Boston.
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​​​​​I know when I was on with the phone agent she was having trouble getting me onto 881 and she was saying it was because 525 had been released to airport control. So she apparently couldn't get 525 fully unattached from my itinerary, as also evidenced by the fact that I was still getting app notifications about it being delayed and finally cancelled. So I'm guessing that if that original gate agent had just rebooked me when I said that even the 10 minutes difference between 11:50 and 12 would be appreciated given my tight connection in Seattle instead of insisting oh no I'll be fine don't go crazy trying to save 10 minutes that this all could have been avoided, since she would have been making the changes from the airport control end. Plus the only reason I even found out about this was because I have more Altitude Reserve GoGo passes than I can burn before they expire so I didn't mind burning two today (one per leg) instead of just saving it for the transcon, otherwise I would have shown up in Seattle with my 17D almost certainly gone and probably stuck in a middle seat for the transcon, assuming they still even had room for me at all considering how close to boarding I'm gonna be back on the ground.
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Lesson learned on being more insistent with the gate agent and/or walking around to find a more helpful one in this sort of situation but oh man, what a terrible way to learn that lesson, I thought I was being clever calling the MVP line instead of standing in line to talk to another gate agent.

edgewood49

I think there are very few of us long time FF on here that have not encounter your ".... show" in one form or another, call it battle scars. Thats not saying we don't have sympathy for your predicament. I do agree with you getting the "right" agent is all important whether it's at the gate, ticket counter or on the phone this is especially important when booking international reward travel. For me I try not to press gate agents too hard, they have a hard time as it is. We travel in strange times.

jrl767

per FR24 this was indeed the case (N296AK)

seacarl

Didn't think that I would be saying that I miss the Cod. But I just had what they call the miso pork loin, but boy is it dried out and no miso that I can find. Miso pork loin is a catering miss. Next time I will try the grain bowl.

Eurynom0s

Yeah I was posting basically as it was happening so I wasn't exactly calm when I was writing those posts.

Anyhow...I haven't complained to them yet. So far what they've sent me unprompted is a $12 meal voucher that I couldn't use because of how little time I had at SEA and how late I arrived at BOS, and a $100 voucher. Would you guys push for more than the $100 or do you think that's appropriate seeing as I did ultimately arrive in Boston on time? There was also basically zero mask enforcement on the SEA-BOS flight and I was surrounded by kids who were clearly in the "old enough to need to wear a mask but not old enough to be vaccinated" age group (this was right before 5-12 was authorized)—three kids right behind me and multiple kids walking by me en route to the bathroom wearing their masks as chinstraps.

Eastbay1K

Seeing as how, if you cut my cod in a thin strip, it could have doubled as a rubber band, I'd put this on the ovens and the FAs, because both On Trays* have had great and not great reports based upon what seems to be how long they've been baked.

(* cf. when an airline serves you a main course not on a tray, it is not an On Tray )

jrl767

one of your more half-baked humo(u)r handouts here