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)
Sep 10, 2020, 12:08 am
#1531
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 113
So as everyone knows, JAL F wasn't bookable on AA for months. I just tried today and I got through. I was shocked. Just ticketed. I was hoping to redeem on Avios instead but booking Japan for olympics so a high demand award and can't wait. JAL F is still not bookable on Avios or Alaska.
Last edited by mcs26891; Sep 10, 2020 at 12:38 am
Sep 10, 2020, 6:08 am
#1532
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 1,576
So as everyone knows, JAL F wasn't bookable on AA for months. I just tried today and I got through. I was shocked. Just ticketed. I was hoping to redeem on Avios instead but booking Japan for olympics so a high demand award and can't wait. JAL F is still not bookable on Avios or Alaska.
Sep 10, 2020, 11:57 am
#1534
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 18
NRT-SEA Plane Type
I was happy for about 10 minutes when I manged to book a few J award seats in March for NRT-SEA for my family. However, after looking at the details it is showing a 767 for this flight. My understanding was that SEA-NRT was serviced by 787-8 (Apex Suite)?
Any chance this gets updated assuming travel starts to resume to more normal levels in the next few months? I was really looking forward to my first Apex Suite experience and not too thrilled about the 767.
Any chance this gets updated assuming travel starts to resume to more normal levels in the next few months? I was really looking forward to my first Apex Suite experience and not too thrilled about the 767.
Sep 10, 2020, 3:27 pm
#1535
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cape Cod
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,535
I was happy for about 10 minutes when I manged to book a few J award seats in March for NRT-SEA for my family. However, after looking at the details it is showing a 767 for this flight. My understanding was that SEA-NRT was serviced by 787-8 (Apex Suite)?
Any chance this gets updated assuming travel starts to resume to more normal levels in the next few months? I was really looking forward to my first Apex Suite experience and not too thrilled about the 767.
Any chance this gets updated assuming travel starts to resume to more normal levels in the next few months? I was really looking forward to my first Apex Suite experience and not too thrilled about the 767.
Sep 12, 2020, 11:51 am
#1536
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: SFO-OAK-SJC
Programs: AA Platinum, AK MVP
Posts: 81
Booked award ticket in F using AA miles, july 2021
Booked last night,
confirmed early this morning.
Flying First to HND
july 2021
Fingers crossed.
confirmed early this morning.
Flying First to HND
july 2021
Fingers crossed.
Sep 12, 2020, 3:48 pm
#1537
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 1,576
Jal has cancelled flight 4 through sept and oct. They automatically rebooked me with the same seat for flight 6 (the following day in my case).
Sep 14, 2020, 2:45 pm
#1538
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA, QR, SQ, BA, Marriott, IHG, Hilton
Posts: 30
JL just canceled 67 (SEA - NRT) for 10/24 but now I'm contemplating if I should continue to book this flight a couple of days later (in case they cancel that one) or just find another flight?
Sep 15, 2020, 4:33 pm
#1539
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 105
On Thursday, July 23th 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Friday, June 18th, Friday, May 21st, Friday, April 23rd for Spring/Summer 2021
On Friday, July 24, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Saturday, June 19th, Saturday, May 22nd, Saturday, April 24th for Spring/Summer 2021
On Saturday, July 25, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Sunday, June 20th, Sunday, May 23rd, Sunday, April 25th for Spring/Summer 2021
So you can see how the award travel date window shifts over by a day every 24 hours. Today is Tuesday, September 15th which means that you can only book an F award for Wednesday, June 16th and Wednesday, July 28th at the moment.
You can see in the image below from JAL's website today that Wednesday, July 28th is the only date available to book a F award in July with AA because it is not wait listed. But if you check tomorrow you'll see that all F awards for travel on July 28th will be "Wait listed", but that booking F for July 29th is available (assuming someone didn't already snag the seats of course)
Meanwhile AA says JAL F awards are available for all dates, but will error out if you actually try to book it. But if you happen to attempt booking a JAL F award for a travel day where the award windows is "open", then you can book a JAL award flight on the AA website without any issues. You can check to see what days have F availability by using the JAL website. So booking JAL F with the AA website isn't broken at all *if there is an award actually available from JAL*, but unfortunately AA displays a whole bunch of flights where a JAL F award is not actually available, which makes this so confusing and frustrating.
Last edited by BananaFusion; Jan 30, 2021 at 11:53 pm
Sep 15, 2020, 5:28 pm
#1540
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
It's ridiculously complicated, but currently JAL only releases F awards for travel on a particular day for 24 hours. When that window closes for that travel date, it remains closed for a few weeks.
On Thursday, July 23th 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Friday, June 18th, Friday, May 21st, Friday, April 23rd for Spring/Summer 2021
On Friday, July 24, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Saturday, June 19th, Saturday, May 22nd, Saturday, April 24th for Spring/Summer 2021
On Saturday, July 25, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Sunday, June 20th, Sunday, May 23rd, Sunday, April 25th for Spring/Summer 2021
So you can see how the award travel date window shifts over by a day every 24 hours. Today is Tuesday, September 15th which means that you can only book an F award for Wednesday, June 16th and Wednesday, July 28th at the moment.
You can see in the image below from JAL's website today that Wednesday, July 28th is the only date available to book a F award in July with AA because it is not wait listed. But if you check tomorrow you'll see that all F awards for travel on July 28th will be "Wait listed", but that booking F for July 29th is available (assuming someone didn't already snag the seats of course)
Meanwhile AA says JAL F awards are available for all dates, but will error out if you actually try to book it. But if you happen to attempt booking a JAL F award for a travel day where the award windows is "open", then you can book a JAL award flight on the AA website without any issues. You can check to see what days have F availability by using the JAL website. So booking JAL F with the AA website isn't broken at all *if there is an award actually available from JAL*, but unfortunately AA displays a whole bunch of flights were a JAL F award is not actually available, which makes this so much more confusing.
On Thursday, July 23th 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Friday, June 18th, Friday, May 21st, Friday, April 23rd for Spring/Summer 2021
On Friday, July 24, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Saturday, June 19th, Saturday, May 22nd, Saturday, April 24th for Spring/Summer 2021
On Saturday, July 25, 2020, F awards were only available for travel on Sunday, June 20th, Sunday, May 23rd, Sunday, April 25th for Spring/Summer 2021
So you can see how the award travel date window shifts over by a day every 24 hours. Today is Tuesday, September 15th which means that you can only book an F award for Wednesday, June 16th and Wednesday, July 28th at the moment.
You can see in the image below from JAL's website today that Wednesday, July 28th is the only date available to book a F award in July with AA because it is not wait listed. But if you check tomorrow you'll see that all F awards for travel on July 28th will be "Wait listed", but that booking F for July 29th is available (assuming someone didn't already snag the seats of course)
Meanwhile AA says JAL F awards are available for all dates, but will error out if you actually try to book it. But if you happen to attempt booking a JAL F award for a travel day where the award windows is "open", then you can book a JAL award flight on the AA website without any issues. You can check to see what days have F availability by using the JAL website. So booking JAL F with the AA website isn't broken at all *if there is an award actually available from JAL*, but unfortunately AA displays a whole bunch of flights were a JAL F award is not actually available, which makes this so much more confusing.
Sep 28, 2020, 8:06 am
#1541
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Houston
Posts: 441
AA Award on JAL
I have AA F award on JAL from HND to SYD in March 2021 on JL 51/52. Since I'm fully expecting that flight to either be downgraded or outright cancelled, I've been keeping an eye out for changes. A few days ago I logged into my AA account, and their is a notice that says their have been changes to your flight. Check back soon for more info. Anyone know how long it may take for it to update with the change information?
Edit: I just checked my account again, and noticed there is a flight time change on the HND-SYD leg. If I can only be so lucky to a time change only. I'm still expecting the hammer to drop shortly.
Edit: I just checked my account again, and noticed there is a flight time change on the HND-SYD leg. If I can only be so lucky to a time change only. I'm still expecting the hammer to drop shortly.
Last edited by diverg; Sep 28, 2020 at 8:33 am
Sep 28, 2020, 8:31 am
#1542
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BOS, BWI, DCA, IAD
Programs: American, Delta, JetBlue, United
Posts: 2,049
I have AA F award on JAL from HND to SYD in March 2021 on JL 51/52. Since I'm fully expecting that flight to either be downgraded or outright cancelled, I've been keeping an eye out for changes. A few days ago I logged into my AA account, and their is a notice that says their have been changes to your flight. Check back soon for more info. Anyone know how long it may take for it to update with the change information?
Sep 28, 2020, 8:36 am
#1543
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Houston
Posts: 441
I just did that, and it says no availability. The only flights from HND to Syd are on Fridays, and it isn't even non stop. Connecting in HKG with CX.
Sep 28, 2020, 8:49 am
#1544
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Programs: AA: CK
Posts: 2,230
What did AA say when you called them?
Sep 30, 2020, 8:46 am
#1545
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Houston
Posts: 441
One change that I noticed before calling, was that the outgoing flight times had changed by 20 minutes. No big deal, but when I mentioned this to the AA CSR she said that they needed to reissue the ticket with the correct times. On the return flight, the booking still shows as originally booked, and that is what showed to the CSR. Yet when I log into my account to check, I still get the message that that flight has changed, and to check back later.
Another thing that got my interest is that my calendar app on my iPhone notified me about the both changes. For the first flight it showed time changes. For my return flight it shows a date change. I wonder how the app would have that information, but it not show up on the manage booking function on the AA website. I also called JAL and their CSR says that she doesn't see any changes on her end.
Another thing that got my interest is that my calendar app on my iPhone notified me about the both changes. For the first flight it showed time changes. For my return flight it shows a date change. I wonder how the app would have that information, but it not show up on the manage booking function on the AA website. I also called JAL and their CSR says that she doesn't see any changes on her end.