cartman7110

I'm trying to do a one way economy award (AA) from KIX to LAX and unable to see that particular nonstop flight (code shared as AA8439) for April 2023. I do get other options (1 stop) that are routed via TYO (and mostly via HND with onward via actual AA metal).

I called up AA, them also saying that there is no available seats for that flight, even if the plane is pretty empty.

Is it just because its still early for JL to offer the flight as an award option? (and wait for how long?) or just go ahead with flights with a stop via TYO as that flight ain't going to be offered. Thoughts?

guv1976

As MileSAAver awards are both changeable and refundable, I would book what's available now, and periodically monitor award-seat availability on the nonstop. If it pops up, you can call AA to change your existing ticket, or just book the nonstop online, and then immediately cancel the connecting-flight award.

cartman7110

Thank you for the tip!

guv1976

You're welcome!

The KIX-LAX nonstop is currently available with AA miles on at least a few dates in April. I did not check the whole month, but the AA app is showing it available on the 10th, 13th, and 17th. So there's hope!

Ocn Vw 1K

Please follow the discussion as the thread moves to the AA forum, since AA will control the allocation of award seats in this particular case, including on partner/alliance airlines.

Ocn Vw 1K, Senior Moderator.

kuniawrx

i have a similar data point. been trying to book US-JPN JAL F award using AA miles. availability appears while searching on aa.com, but gives an error after selecting it. it looks like all JL awards are not bookable using aa.com since last weekend. I have also called the 800 aa reservation number to book and was told JAL award was not available. However, I was able to book the same award i was looking for through alaskaair.com using Alaska miles. Looks like a bug on AA side?

FlyingEgghead

AFAIK the codeshare is irrelevant here. Partner awards are booked as prime flights (JL60).
Is that really so? I thought AA offers whatever JL chooses to release at the saver level. And award bookings on JL made via other OW partners such as BA, CX, and QF would likewise show that same availability.

kmandrew

I was able to book 2 J seats on JL60 for an August trip - 60k pp
It was on hold for 6 weeks but did finally ticket today, all along felt ok about it because I was able to book seats on the JAL site

etiene

JAL partner awards are released at [I think] 360 days before departure. From what I've seen they release at least two seats in each cabin, at least on all the long-haul routes I've watched and booked. The issue for you lot in the Leftpondia is the 330 day booking period for your airlines, which gives people booking through other partner airlines 25 or 30 days to snap up the availability before you have the chance.

I booked FRA-NRT and HND-SYD in March for Feb '23. When I returned to potentially rejig the trip in July/August [due to other cancellations] I couldn't find any TYO-Australia space for Feb at all. I initially wondered if they had a policy of pulling the availability after a while, but FRA/CDG-TYO were still available so I assume that Australia routes were merely booked up by other travellers. I've only ever booked early so can't speak to space releases close to departure.

cartman7110

I pointed this out to the lady in reservations as we tried booking an alternate flight and that's giving an error on my end. The lady in reservations simply shrug it as well there is no available seat. I said wait, the JL60 non-stop is not showing up on the 19th but other flights like via HND or NRT and also from nearby ITM are getting this weird error (different booking fair or something error), she just said, no seat.

So i went to two days earlier, the 17th, where the JL60 is showing as a result, but clicking it does the same error. She now said, oh that flight on that day works. I said, wait i'm still getting error so there's something wrong. She was just like a parrot, asking if i want to book the 17th flight. I said no, i want to fly out the 19th but wanted to say there is something wrong on your system.

She directed me to web support and after a few minutes with web support they said they have reports on this and are working on it. They said 30 minutes, which i doubt so maybe i'll check in the morning.

Thanks all.

cartman7110

As of last night, the website is still broken, but this time the aa rep is helpful, while she'd still put me on long holds as if she needs to confer on a different terminal or user to access these awards.

I was able to book a 1-stop for the time being while still hope JL60 will become available in the near future.

Thanks all.