Waitlisting on ANA on awards booking...?
 

Hi everyone, looking for some help here on redeeming ANA J or F for next year. I've never booked ANA before so I have no idea on their consistency on releasing premium spaces in advance. Based on my searches on their website, it looks like they release 2 J's about 360 days out? I will need to book 3 premium cabins (most likely 2 J's and 1 F) from JFK to HKG. Here are my questions.
1) I see 2 J's and 1 F open for outbound but the calendar isn't far enough for return (eg. 7/4/2020 JFK to HKG, but want to spend 3 weeks in Asia), so if I select a return date of 7/12/2020 which is being waitlisted, can I just change the return date to a later date when the calendar opens up to a farther out date (eg. 7/25/2020) and w/o changing the outbound date of 7/04/2020?

2) What if I book a flight as described above, but couldn't secure a firm return date, what are the chances of getting approved on the waitlist? And when does ANA normally approve/clear their waitlist--within 1 to 2 weeks of departure? If so, I'll be in Asia by this time and what will happen to my return flight--will ANA just assign me any seats?

Sorry I am coming across as a newbie on this--that's because I am.

Thanks!

Thanks Merlinrnr! So in my situation if I book outbound JFK--HKG on 7/04/2020 which has 2 J's and 1 F's open, but everything on return dates are waitlisted (J's)...which I must make a selection as ANA doesn't allow one way bookings on awards, then how will I be assigned my waitlisted seats if they don't clear?

I didn't think you could you book (ticket) in the first place if there's only waitlist availability? (As per ANA: "Tickets will be issued as soon as all sectors of the flight award itinerary can be reserved.")

You just want a "dummy" return, allowing you to lock in the outbound awards until your actual return date becomes bookable at 355 days out, right?

Hi Petdog, I see. Well I do want to lock in the outbound for sure, but since all return dates as shown on the available calendar are currently waitlisted, I wouldn't be able to book my Round Trip awards (in J) then. What's the best way to go about this? Any suggestions?

Sorry, but this is beyond my knowledge.

OP, NH does sometimes release > 2 J or F seats at ~360 days on some routes. I booked 3 NH J seats RT ORD-NRT HND-ORD a couple months ago.

Yes, I did see 3 F seats offered,

roberto99, thanks for that data! Good to know there's 3 J's available at 360 out. But my question, using your example, is, if you booked ORD-NRT at 360 days out, you wouldn't be able to book the HND-ORD return route at the time you booked the outbound right as the calender doesn't go beyond that far (unless you went to Japan for only a week)? How were you able to book the return route? Thanks!

The number of award seats depends on routes (and status).
Most US destinations have 3 F seats for general members on 355(not 360) days in advance.
If you are a platinum or above, usually 4 to 7 J seats are available for US destinations.

However, London and Frankfurt has only 1 F seat for all members (including Diamond).
And only 2 J seats for German destinations.

Thanks for that info, Wasabi Tofu! I do see 3 J's outbound from the US, but with ANA opening up space at 355 days in advance--how am I able to book the return flight as the return date will surely be more than 365 outs (generally people take 2-3 weeks for an Asian trip), so if the outbound is opened at 355 days, how do you book the return date? That's where I'm stuck. Thanks!

One option is to book an immediate return (e.g., leaving the next day), then switch it when the actual day you want becomes available.

I just went through this with booking my honeymoon.

I secured 2 F seats two days after the calender opened up for the departure. You have to wait 2 days after your intended depature dates to account for the change in time. Two days after my departure dates opened up on the calendar I booked a placeholder return. This secured the outbound availability. Once your Return dates open up on the calendar Call ANA to change the return portion of the flight to the dates you want. There's no charge or fee if you simply change the dates.

Things to note :
I found award space on my placeholder return dates, so my flight was ticketed upon booking and then was re-ticketed when my actual return dates with space available opened up.
You can not change the class of service or any airports without a 3000 mile fee. This also requires you to cancel the entire award and no way to confirm if space will reappear. It becomes a crap shoot if the return portion of your flight will have space available any time close to the return dates you want.

Thanks Petdog!

Thanks a bunch for that info Shadowfactor! Just to confirm if I am following what you've said. Is this similar to what Petdog mentioned--basically booking any return dates (aka placeholder return? not familiar w/the term) for the time being until the awards space open up for the actual date I want, then call ANA to change the return date portion? Obviously if the return date doesn't work out, then I can either cancel the whole booking (and pay the fee) and go through the same steps in booking to secure both outbound & inbound seats. Thanks for taking the time to confirm!