Aug 4, 2015, 1:37 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
GUIDE to redeeming AA miles for Japan Air Lines awards:
For 2012-2015 posts, please see
ARCHIVE: AA Award on JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (master thd)
For further information, see:
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
- JL awards are now shown show and can be booked on aa.com
- AwardNexus (free to FlyerTalk members for basic searches) will also reveal, and (for a fee) alert, on JL award seats
- AA awards on JL must be MileSAAver (AAnytime awards are only available on AA marketed and AA operated flights)
- There are no onerous fuel or carrier-imposed surcharges using AAdvantage miles for awards using JL
- JL initially releases awards to AAvantage members 330 days out at 10:00 am JST time (18:00 PDT, 17:00 PST). Note, JL award inventory is released to members of other FFPs 360 day out and updates award and revenue seat award availability once daily ~09:30-12:00 Pacific time
- JL may release 0-2 F and 0-4 J award seats initially; until taken they remain available up to three months from release
- No further seats are likely to be released until shortly (~14 days) prior to scheduled departure - but the last F seat will be retained for sale, not released into award inventory
- No stopovers are allowed on AA awards. Connections may be as long as 23:59.
- Only JAL Mileage Bank members can waitlist awards
- All awards for domestic Japan will default to Economy (including international F or J award with domestic segments); these can often be upgraded at reasonable cost at the ticket counter in the Japan connecting airport
- If JL & QF are showing availability, but AA can't see it, try calling the Australia AA center as it may be a point-of-sale issue
For 2012-2015 posts, please see
ARCHIVE: AA Award on JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (master thd)
For further information, see:
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
AAdvantage Award on JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (2016-2023)
Oct 18, 2018, 3:34 pm
#661
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,004
Looking to fly DFW-TYO in reward J sometime in January or February. I am signed up for the BA website to search award inventory. Generally speaking is it slim pickins' finding a J award seat on this route?
Oct 18, 2018, 4:02 pm
#662
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
For example, it appears 1/28 has J available, and 1/29 has availability through ORD.
Oct 18, 2018, 5:09 pm
#663
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,901
After placing 2 JAL (J/F) tickets SIN_NRT_JFK on hold 5 days ago I finalized booking 3 days ago (71 hours ago) and still no ticketing confirmation email.
Called AA yesterday evening and rep reassured me that the request was made and it might take some time to get ticketed.
AA web page displays "On Request"
Should I be concerned or it usually takes this long for ticketing.
Called AA yesterday evening and rep reassured me that the request was made and it might take some time to get ticketed.
AA web page displays "On Request"
Should I be concerned or it usually takes this long for ticketing.
Oct 18, 2018, 7:20 pm
#665
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,004
Thanks
Oct 19, 2018, 8:20 am
#666
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 805
It depends on when your departure date is. I called a few days ago and they have a large backlog, currently working through January dates right now so if you're not flying until the summer it'll be a while.
Oct 30, 2018, 12:42 am
#668
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Mountain View, CA (near SJC and SFO)
Programs: Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, and no status whatsoever on the airlines (!)
Posts: 468
Hmm! I am excited to be seeing some F availability on JL (via searching on AS) for SFO-HND for a potential last minute fun trip to Tokyo. I love Japan, but have never flown F on JL (or, really, intl F on many planes at all!)
I have enough AS miles for one way, but would need to use AA miles for the other direction. And given comments here about significant ticketing delays, I'm a bit worried whether this is pull-offable a few days in advance. Would appreciate your advice and/or reassurance!
I have enough AS miles for one way, but would need to use AA miles for the other direction. And given comments here about significant ticketing delays, I'm a bit worried whether this is pull-offable a few days in advance. Would appreciate your advice and/or reassurance!
Oct 30, 2018, 2:36 am
#669
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Hmm! I am excited to be seeing some F availability on JL (via searching on AS) for SFO-HND for a potential last minute fun trip to Tokyo. I love Japan, but have never flown F on JL (or, really, intl F on many planes at all!)
I have enough AS miles for one way, but would need to use AA miles for the other direction. And given comments here about significant ticketing delays, I'm a bit worried whether this is pull-offable a few days in advance. Would appreciate your advice and/or reassurance!
I have enough AS miles for one way, but would need to use AA miles for the other direction. And given comments here about significant ticketing delays, I'm a bit worried whether this is pull-offable a few days in advance. Would appreciate your advice and/or reassurance!
Oct 30, 2018, 9:50 am
#670
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
This is correct, though I still tend to be proactive and call in to see if they can expedite the ticketing if it hasn't happened within 12 hours for close-in travel, especially if partner airlines are involved.
Oct 31, 2018, 6:46 pm
#671
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Mountain View, CA (near SJC and SFO)
Programs: Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, and no status whatsoever on the airlines (!)
Posts: 468
Flyingeph12 and dkc192, thanks for the info and reassurance! Now here's hoping I actually find availability. This may be the first international trip I go on with just an outbound ticket 
Oct 31, 2018, 6:55 pm
#672
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: NY
Programs: DL DM, Ex-AA EXP, HZ Pres, MRT AMB/LTP
Posts: 130
Oct 31, 2018, 11:06 pm
#673
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Depending on where you’re going, you may need to show a return ticket. So I might be careful with this strategy.
Nov 1, 2018, 8:19 pm
#674
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Mountain View, CA (near SJC and SFO)
Programs: Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, and no status whatsoever on the airlines (!)
Posts: 468
In fact, a JAL SFO-HND F seat for Monday just opened up today (Thursday) and, yes, I snagged it for $80 + 80K AA points
.On another happy / surprising note: my itin was ticketed within an hour (!).
Last edited by ThatAdamGuy; Nov 1, 2018 at 8:19 pm Reason: typo
Nov 1, 2018, 8:52 pm
#675
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ *G; HH Diamond;
Posts: 1,644
For example, Timatic entry for US passport to enter Japan lists this:
Information as of 02NOV18 / 0248 UTC
National USA (US) /Embarkation USA (US)
Destination Japan (JP)
Japan (JP)
Passport required.
- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid on arrival.
Visa required, except for Nationals of USA for a maximum stay
of 90 days.
Warning:
- Visitors not holding return/onward tickets could be refused
entry.
National USA (US) /Embarkation USA (US)
Destination Japan (JP)
Japan (JP)
Passport required.
- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid on arrival.
Visa required, except for Nationals of USA for a maximum stay
of 90 days.
Warning:
- Visitors not holding return/onward tickets could be refused
entry.