Aug 4, 15, 1:37 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Link to earning AA miles on JL page on aa.com
Please see useful information including which JL affiliates can be used for AAdvantage award travel, Domestic Japan Awards, etc. in Post #1.
Please note the different earnings on international and domestic flight fare codes. Also note "JL flights 53 and 54 between Tokyo Narita and Nagoya, and flights 51 and 52 between Tokyo Narita and Osaka Kansai are considered international flights for the purpose of mileage accrual."
As always: Travel ticketed as an American Airlines marketed flight (booked as an AA flight number) and operated by Japan Airlines will earn AAdvantage base miles, Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) (and after 1/1/16, EQDs) according to the AA mileage accrual chart.[/quote]
For further information see: Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partner airlines 2016
Earning AA Award / "Redeemable" Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
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
Please see useful information including which JL affiliates can be used for AAdvantage award travel, Domestic Japan Awards, etc. in Post #1.
Please note the different earnings on international and domestic flight fare codes. Also note "JL flights 53 and 54 between Tokyo Narita and Nagoya, and flights 51 and 52 between Tokyo Narita and Osaka Kansai are considered international flights for the purpose of mileage accrual."
As always: Travel ticketed as an American Airlines marketed flight (booked as an AA flight number) and operated by Japan Airlines will earn AAdvantage base miles, Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) (and after 1/1/16, EQDs) according to the AA mileage accrual chart.[/quote]
For further information see: Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partner airlines 2016
Earning AA Award / "Redeemable" Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
GUIDE to redeeming AA miles for Japan Air Lines awards:
- JL awards are now shown show and can be booked on aa.com[
- See post #1 for useful information on JL awards
[/color] - 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 330 days out at 10:00 am JST / 18:00 PDT / 17:00 PST time
- JL now releases awards 360 days out. However AA will not allow you to book them until 330 days out.
- JL 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 ( https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30715035-post810.html ) as it may be a point-of-sale issue
Please refrain from posting questions about AA award redemptions on JL in the JAL Mileage Bank forum.
Information from AA AAdvantage and JAL Mileage Bank fora.
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 (master thread)
Mar 18, 23, 7:20 pm
#2251
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 86
Originally Posted by amm
Unable to manage my booking directly through JAL to select a seat but imagine I need to wait more than 10 minutes for this to be reflected on their end.
Mar 18, 23, 7:34 pm
#2252
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 8,836
Originally Posted by amm
Called AA to get a seat assignment but still unable to manage my booking on the JAL website more than 2 weeks later. Have tried on JAL app as well with same results. Flight isn’t until December so not the most urgent obviously but curious if anyone has had a similar experience.
Mar 18, 23, 9:39 pm
#2254
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 181
Anyone know if I can merge multiple ow airlines for reward travel? Trying to book PVG-tyo-dfw. Only Cathay is available between PVG-TYO (connecting via HK), and there's no seats available on jl. I see some availability on jl bw HND-dfw. If I mix operating airlines, are they seen as two separate award tickets or one?
Mar 18, 23, 9:53 pm
#2255
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: Honors/IHG Diamond
Posts: 2,382
Originally Posted by koi
Anyone know if I can merge multiple ow airlines for reward travel? Trying to book PVG-tyo-dfw. Only Cathay is available between PVG-TYO (connecting via HK), and there's no seats available on jl. I see some availability on jl bw HND-dfw. If I mix operating airlines, are they seen as two separate award tickets or one?
Mar 18, 23, 11:09 pm
#2256
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,680
Originally Posted by dtremit
Can someone with experience booking domestic connections on JL assist with the following?
I have an itinerary on hold BOS-JFK-HND with the BOS-JFK in Y on B6 and the JFK-HND in F on JL5.
I would really like to book BOS-JFK-HND-ITM (or KIX) — but ran into a phantom availability glitch on aa.com when trying to book the full itinerary. It shows as available, but halfway through the ticketing flow errors out. I put the BOS-JFK-HND on hold to make sure I didn't lose it.
Multiple HND-ITM flights are available as separate awards in either Y or J, and I was just able to get to seat selection on a BOS-JFK-NRT/HND-ITM booking (with an AA-operated BOS-JFK if that matters); that itinerary showed the HND-ITM award in F. It seems like this is a website issue, rather than a married segment or available fare issue.
Given all that — what's my best strategy for getting an agent to add that HND-ITM segment to our booking before I ticket it? Would I be better off placing a separate hold on that and asking them to merge them? The last time I tried to change a JL domestic segment I got nowhere with a confused phone rep, but that was 11 months out vs a few weeks for this.
I have an itinerary on hold BOS-JFK-HND with the BOS-JFK in Y on B6 and the JFK-HND in F on JL5.
I would really like to book BOS-JFK-HND-ITM (or KIX) — but ran into a phantom availability glitch on aa.com when trying to book the full itinerary. It shows as available, but halfway through the ticketing flow errors out. I put the BOS-JFK-HND on hold to make sure I didn't lose it.
Multiple HND-ITM flights are available as separate awards in either Y or J, and I was just able to get to seat selection on a BOS-JFK-NRT/HND-ITM booking (with an AA-operated BOS-JFK if that matters); that itinerary showed the HND-ITM award in F. It seems like this is a website issue, rather than a married segment or available fare issue.
Given all that — what's my best strategy for getting an agent to add that HND-ITM segment to our booking before I ticket it? Would I be better off placing a separate hold on that and asking them to merge them? The last time I tried to change a JL domestic segment I got nowhere with a confused phone rep, but that was 11 months out vs a few weeks for this.
YMMV
Mar 18, 23, 11:11 pm
#2257
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,680
Originally Posted by amm
Yeah even tried using the AA codeshare flight number and AA conf code. Feel like before I’ve been able to use the JL conf code no problem. May have to give AA a call tomorrow 🤷🏽♂️
Mar 19, 23, 12:23 am
#2258
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 8,836
Originally Posted by dtremit
Can someone with experience booking domestic connections on JL assist with the following?
I have an itinerary on hold BOS-JFK-HND with the BOS-JFK in Y on B6 and the JFK-HND in F on JL5.
I would really like to book BOS-JFK-HND-ITM (or KIX) — but ran into a phantom availability glitch on aa.com when trying to book the full itinerary. It shows as available, but halfway through the ticketing flow errors out. I put the BOS-JFK-HND on hold to make sure I didn't lose it.
Multiple HND-ITM flights are available as separate awards in either Y or J, and I was just able to get to seat selection on a BOS-JFK-NRT/HND-ITM booking (with an AA-operated BOS-JFK if that matters); that itinerary showed the HND-ITM award in F. It seems like this is a website issue, rather than a married segment or available fare issue.
Given all that — what's my best strategy for getting an agent to add that HND-ITM segment to our booking before I ticket it? Would I be better off placing a separate hold on that and asking them to merge them? The last time I tried to change a JL domestic segment I got nowhere with a confused phone rep, but that was 11 months out vs a few weeks for this.
I have an itinerary on hold BOS-JFK-HND with the BOS-JFK in Y on B6 and the JFK-HND in F on JL5.
I would really like to book BOS-JFK-HND-ITM (or KIX) — but ran into a phantom availability glitch on aa.com when trying to book the full itinerary. It shows as available, but halfway through the ticketing flow errors out. I put the BOS-JFK-HND on hold to make sure I didn't lose it.
Multiple HND-ITM flights are available as separate awards in either Y or J, and I was just able to get to seat selection on a BOS-JFK-NRT/HND-ITM booking (with an AA-operated BOS-JFK if that matters); that itinerary showed the HND-ITM award in F. It seems like this is a website issue, rather than a married segment or available fare issue.
Given all that — what's my best strategy for getting an agent to add that HND-ITM segment to our booking before I ticket it? Would I be better off placing a separate hold on that and asking them to merge them? The last time I tried to change a JL domestic segment I got nowhere with a confused phone rep, but that was 11 months out vs a few weeks for this.
Assuming that this is now allowed...
Do not use 2 holds. That just complicates things.
Hold BOS-JFK-NRT. Ensure that HND-ITM has availability. Call AA. Get a good agent (are you EXP? EXP line is great here). Tell them you would like to add HND-ITM to your held reservation and purchase it.
"Merging PNRs" is not really a thing, which is why you don't want 2 holds. An agent may try to cancel one of your holds, releasing availability, and then add it to the other PNR but there is no guarantee that partner inventory shows up immediately upon cancellation so for award tickets it's really better to just hold the long haul and then call to add the short haul.
Mar 19, 23, 7:02 pm
#2259
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: Marriott LTG, HHonors Diamond, Nat'l Exec
Posts: 3,561
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
First, as recently as last year, AA was not allowing award tickets that changed airports in Tokyo. So you could not fly into NRT and out of HND as a connection; the award would break at that point. I'm not sure if this is still the case.
Appreciate the advice, though — that is indeed what I will try. (Sadly nowhere close to EXP!)
Mar 19, 23, 8:30 pm
#2260
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,680
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
First, as recently as last year, AA was not allowing award tickets that changed airports in Tokyo. So you could not fly into NRT and out of HND as a connection; the award would break at that point. I'm not sure if this is still the case.
Assuming that this is now allowed...
Do not use 2 holds. That just complicates things.
Hold BOS-JFK-NRT. Ensure that HND-ITM has availability. Call AA. Get a good agent (are you EXP? EXP line is great here). Tell them you would like to add HND-ITM to your held reservation and purchase it.
"Merging PNRs" is not really a thing, which is why you don't want 2 holds. An agent may try to cancel one of your holds, releasing availability, and then add it to the other PNR but there is no guarantee that partner inventory shows up immediately upon cancellation so for award tickets it's really better to just hold the long haul and then call to add the short haul.
Assuming that this is now allowed...
Do not use 2 holds. That just complicates things.
Hold BOS-JFK-NRT. Ensure that HND-ITM has availability. Call AA. Get a good agent (are you EXP? EXP line is great here). Tell them you would like to add HND-ITM to your held reservation and purchase it.
"Merging PNRs" is not really a thing, which is why you don't want 2 holds. An agent may try to cancel one of your holds, releasing availability, and then add it to the other PNR but there is no guarantee that partner inventory shows up immediately upon cancellation so for award tickets it's really better to just hold the long haul and then call to add the short haul.
Then you have to transport yourself and your luggage to the other airport of course.
Mar 19, 23, 8:44 pm
#2261
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 8,836
Originally Posted by estnet
the reason for not allowing hnd-nrt transfers last year was because Japan was closed to tourists until around Oct. It is allowed now (just did it) Of course you have to go through immigration and a health check. Immigration took over an hour and there is no "priority" line for foreigners Then you have to transport yourself and your luggage to the other airport of course.
Then you have to transport yourself and your luggage to the other airport of course.It is generally not a requirement to be able to enter a country in order to purchase a ticket. The airlines check that when you try to check in.
Mar 20, 23, 5:59 pm
#2262
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by saaveraward
1 ticket. Provided it's valid routing.
Mar 20, 23, 7:33 pm
#2263
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 10,259
Originally Posted by koi
So, I just called them and I was told that PVG - TYO (Connecting through HKG) and TYO -DFW will cost as a separate ticket... Is that normal? I understand HKG routing may seem as it's going backward, but that's the only route available when I look through PVG - TYO option
So PVG-TYO-DFW would be no problem on JL/AA, and PVG-HKG-XXX-DFW would be no problem on CX/AA, but connecting in both HKG and TYO is (most likely) causing the issue.
That said, did the agent actually try to combine the flights and say it would cost extra? Also PVG is Asia 2 while TYO is Asia 1, so even if all the flights can be combined on a single award it will still cost more miles than your existing award from TYO.
Mar 20, 23, 9:21 pm
#2264
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Going backwards isn't the problem, the problem is that (most likely) the published fares for PVG-DFW do not allow a connection in both HKG and TYO. This is a lesser known rule that comes into play on some awards involving partners.
So PVG-TYO-DFW would be no problem on JL/AA, and PVG-HKG-XXX-DFW would be no problem on CX/AA, but connecting in both HKG and TYO is (most likely) causing the issue.
That said, did the agent actually try to combine the flights and say it would cost extra? Also PVG is Asia 2 while TYO is Asia 1, so even if all the flights can be combined on a single award it will still cost more miles than your existing award from TYO.
So PVG-TYO-DFW would be no problem on JL/AA, and PVG-HKG-XXX-DFW would be no problem on CX/AA, but connecting in both HKG and TYO is (most likely) causing the issue.
That said, did the agent actually try to combine the flights and say it would cost extra? Also PVG is Asia 2 while TYO is Asia 1, so even if all the flights can be combined on a single award it will still cost more miles than your existing award from TYO.
Mar 21, 23, 1:51 am
#2265
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 988
Originally Posted by koi
So, I just called them and I was told that PVG - TYO (Connecting through HKG) and TYO -DFW will cost as a separate ticket... Is that normal? I understand HKG routing may seem as it's going backward, but that's the only route available when I look through PVG - TYO option
Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Going backwards isn't the problem, the problem is that (most likely) the published fares for PVG-DFW do not allow a connection in both HKG and TYO. This is a lesser known rule that comes into play on some awards involving partners.
So PVG-TYO-DFW would be no problem on JL/AA, and PVG-HKG-XXX-DFW would be no problem on CX/AA, but connecting in both HKG and TYO is (most likely) causing the issue.
That said, did the agent actually try to combine the flights and say it would cost extra? Also PVG is Asia 2 while TYO is Asia 1, so even if all the flights can be combined on a single award it will still cost more miles than your existing award from TYO.
So PVG-TYO-DFW would be no problem on JL/AA, and PVG-HKG-XXX-DFW would be no problem on CX/AA, but connecting in both HKG and TYO is (most likely) causing the issue.
That said, did the agent actually try to combine the flights and say it would cost extra? Also PVG is Asia 2 while TYO is Asia 1, so even if all the flights can be combined on a single award it will still cost more miles than your existing award from TYO.
BOS-LGA on AA, JFK-NRT-PVG on JL, PVG-HKG on Dragonair, HKG-CGK on CX.
There were a total of 5 segments. I know AA have since capped international award flights to 4 segments for a one way journey.
So Koi's case seems odd as it looks like a totally valid itinerary. If you chose a US passenger hub of CX such as BOS/JFK/SFO/LAX, I wonder if it will ticket as one award.
