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 3, 2017, 2:43 pm
#406
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 207
ok, my 330 day window is approaching and I'm still confused. Due to lack of miles, I'd like to buy an economy seat and use miles to upgrade to business. Miles are all on AA, but I'd like to fly JAL metal. Is this doable as long as it's an AA flight number?
And can you book both outbound and return at the 330 day mark? Flights will be ORD to HKG, and then Tokyo to ORD.
Thanks!
And can you book both outbound and return at the 330 day mark? Flights will be ORD to HKG, and then Tokyo to ORD.
Thanks!
Oct 3, 2017, 3:48 pm
#407
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: LAX/IAD
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 162
anyone know when the 5a and 5c seats will be released for the 777-3 J skysuites? Expert flyer shows available but can't be selected on JAL's website
Oct 3, 2017, 7:10 pm
#408
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 449
ok, my 330 day window is approaching and I'm still confused. Due to lack of miles, I'd like to buy an economy seat and use miles to upgrade to business. Miles are all on AA, but I'd like to fly JAL metal. Is this doable as long as it's an AA flight number?
And can you book both outbound and return at the 330 day mark? Flights will be ORD to HKG, and then Tokyo to ORD.
Thanks!
And can you book both outbound and return at the 330 day mark? Flights will be ORD to HKG, and then Tokyo to ORD.
Thanks!
You can purchase your flight to Asia at 330 but not your flight back to the US. You would need to get the flight back 330 from the date you’ll be returning.
If you want to purchase a round trip ticket you would have to wait until 330 days from when you want to return. If you use miles you could book them as 2 one ways, each available to book at 330.
Oct 12, 2017, 6:38 pm
#410
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, IHG SA, AA ExP, UA Silver, O6 Gold
Posts: 21
Just wanted to report that I had a great experience redeeming miles for a last-minute (same day) domestic JL award ticket last week for just 7.5k miles (the cheapest paid fare was $445 USD). Booked 5 hours before departure and ticketed almost immediately.
At check-in, I attempted to upgrade to Class J (1000 JPY or about $10 USD). My flight was full in Class J, but the JL check-in agent was able to switch me to an earlier flight will Class J availability (despite being on an award booking). Excellent use of 7.5k miles and $10, in my opinion!
-FlyerBeek
At check-in, I attempted to upgrade to Class J (1000 JPY or about $10 USD). My flight was full in Class J, but the JL check-in agent was able to switch me to an earlier flight will Class J availability (despite being on an award booking). Excellent use of 7.5k miles and $10, in my opinion!
-FlyerBeek
Oct 19, 2017, 7:34 am
#411
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 181
What's the distinction between the F and A fare code in EF w/r/t JL? if it shows F5/A4 does that mean there are 5 or 4 seats left?
Oct 19, 2017, 9:13 am
#412
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
The former (5 seats left). More accurately, JL is willing to sell up to 5 seats in the full-fare F bucket, but only 4 in the discounted A bucket. As it is highly, highly unlikely that JL would overbook F, there are likely 5 empty seats in the F cabin.
Oct 30, 2017, 6:51 pm
#413
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Westchester county, NY
Programs: DL DM, MAR gold
Posts: 175
FWIW, I just booked two one-way J award seats JFK-HND for 60k + $5.60 each in June 2018. Checked availability on BA then called AA to book. Very quick and easy process - got seat assignments and JAL booking code on the spot. Now just need to watch for F to open up...
Oct 31, 2017, 1:00 pm
#414
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Washington DC
Programs: BA GLD, AA GLD 1MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 1,693
Warning if Booking Infant Under 2 With Seat
Last summer, I booked an AA award for my wife and <2 year old son to travel JFK-NRT and OSA-NRT-JFK. I was traveling with them on a separate revenue ticket, and all three of us were in business class, all on JL metal.
When we arrived at JFK, the check-in agent gave us "Ah, you must be the [last name] party.. there is an issue with your reservation" as soon as he saw us, without even showing ID (never a good sign). Apparently an issue arose because, although we booked our son his own seat, since he was under 2 somehow another reservation had been created with him as a lap child. Thus he had two reservations - one lap, one in his own seat. With a few minutes of typing the agent cleared this up and assured us were were all set.
Everything was fine until we arrived at KIX to start our journey home, where the agent went through the check in process and produced a boarding pass for my wife and then my son as a lap child. I presented our paperwork from American showing that our son had his own seat and they were very apologetic but said some type of system issue had caused the reservation to show that he was a lap child and it took probably 45 minutes or more for them to fix the issue so that we could board the KIX-NRT flight. We left without the onward flight fixed, but they called ahead to Tokyo and someone met us on the jet bridge at NRT to help us. Had we not left a lot of extra time, we probably would have missed the flight.
So I'm leaving this here as a caution that if you have a child under 2, but book him/her a seat, be very sure that there is not a duplicate or conflicting reservation for a lap child as happened to us. Everyone at JAL was very helpful in trying to fix the problem, but it did cause a bit of stress. This is also a great reminder of the Flyertalk wisdom to always have a printout of your travel documents with ticket number, as I think we would have been in much worse shape if we did not have that all handy.
When we arrived at JFK, the check-in agent gave us "Ah, you must be the [last name] party.. there is an issue with your reservation" as soon as he saw us, without even showing ID (never a good sign). Apparently an issue arose because, although we booked our son his own seat, since he was under 2 somehow another reservation had been created with him as a lap child. Thus he had two reservations - one lap, one in his own seat. With a few minutes of typing the agent cleared this up and assured us were were all set.
Everything was fine until we arrived at KIX to start our journey home, where the agent went through the check in process and produced a boarding pass for my wife and then my son as a lap child. I presented our paperwork from American showing that our son had his own seat and they were very apologetic but said some type of system issue had caused the reservation to show that he was a lap child and it took probably 45 minutes or more for them to fix the issue so that we could board the KIX-NRT flight. We left without the onward flight fixed, but they called ahead to Tokyo and someone met us on the jet bridge at NRT to help us. Had we not left a lot of extra time, we probably would have missed the flight.
So I'm leaving this here as a caution that if you have a child under 2, but book him/her a seat, be very sure that there is not a duplicate or conflicting reservation for a lap child as happened to us. Everyone at JAL was very helpful in trying to fix the problem, but it did cause a bit of stress. This is also a great reminder of the Flyertalk wisdom to always have a printout of your travel documents with ticket number, as I think we would have been in much worse shape if we did not have that all handy.
Last edited by River in Sight; Oct 31, 2017 at 10:09 pm
Oct 31, 2017, 1:20 pm
#415
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,222
Wow - weird. And there was nothing in your documentation from AA about a lap child? Was the lap child "reservation" on a completely separate PNR to your knowledge?
While I might normally guess that AA probably messed something up in the original reservation, a lap child on an international flight needs its own ticket and the cost is non-trivial especially in premium classes, and *especially* on award tickets (they sometimes try to charge 10% of the full J/F fare). Perhaps AA created the reservation for the lap child but it was never ticketed, but something like that should have been caught much earlier I would think.
While I might normally guess that AA probably messed something up in the original reservation, a lap child on an international flight needs its own ticket and the cost is non-trivial especially in premium classes, and *especially* on award tickets (they sometimes try to charge 10% of the full J/F fare). Perhaps AA created the reservation for the lap child but it was never ticketed, but something like that should have been caught much earlier I would think.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:08 pm
#416
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Washington DC
Programs: BA GLD, AA GLD 1MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 1,693
Nope, there was nothing about a lap child - and I watch my reservations like a hawk, normally checking every day or every other day, so I definitely would have noticed if something were amiss. I'm not quite sure if the lap reservation was on a separate PNR, the fellow at JFK fixed it without much discussion and at KIX the language barrier prevented much of a detailed discussion. So I'm not exactly sure on the details but did want to share this experience for others to be aware.
Nov 1, 2017, 6:07 am
#417
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,912
Just wanted to report that I had a great experience redeeming miles for a last-minute (same day) domestic JL award ticket last week for just 7.5k miles (the cheapest paid fare was $445 USD). Booked 5 hours before departure and ticketed almost immediately.
At check-in, I attempted to upgrade to Class J (1000 JPY or about $10 USD). My flight was full in Class J, but the JL check-in agent was able to switch me to an earlier flight will Class J availability (despite being on an award booking). Excellent use of 7.5k miles and $10, in my opinion!
-FlyerBeek
At check-in, I attempted to upgrade to Class J (1000 JPY or about $10 USD). My flight was full in Class J, but the JL check-in agent was able to switch me to an earlier flight will Class J availability (despite being on an award booking). Excellent use of 7.5k miles and $10, in my opinion!
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
Nov 1, 2017, 11:34 pm
#418
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: wurtulla,queensland,australia
Programs: hh diamond,Qantas club life,AA EX-explat.SPG plat.
Posts: 1,431
With JAL moving to Amadeus in 2 weeks are there any plans for online award bookings through AA.QF has announced that from mid 2018 you will be able to book JAL awards online.Also MH onboard already.
Nov 2, 2017, 12:06 am
#419
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: AA LT PLT 3 MM+, BA (very) Blue, CO nobody
Posts: 2,640
AA miles cannot be used to upgrade to a higher class of service on JAL metal even if it is a code share (AA flight number).
You can purchase your flight to Asia at 330 but not your flight back to the US. You would need to get the flight back 330 from the date you’ll be returning.
If you want to purchase a round trip ticket you would have to wait until 330 days from when you want to return. If you use miles you could book them as 2 one ways, each available to book at 330.
You can purchase your flight to Asia at 330 but not your flight back to the US. You would need to get the flight back 330 from the date you’ll be returning.
If you want to purchase a round trip ticket you would have to wait until 330 days from when you want to return. If you use miles you could book them as 2 one ways, each available to book at 330.
In addition to above, you will only be able to book ORD-HKG at T-330 (as you arrive in HKG at T-331) and wait another day to complete the HKG-TYO segment. Best to put the first segment on hold and complete the booking the next day.
Nov 2, 2017, 1:12 pm
#420
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
I'm not sure that the change of GDS will have any direct impact on the ability to view award space or book it on AA.com. In any case, AA does not use Amadeus; it uses Sabre. It doesn't even allow us to view award space or book it online for other OW partners that use Sabre (LAN).