US to OKA in PE or better
Jan 25, 2023, 3:50 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: WAS
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 23
US to OKA in PE or better
Pretty new at redeeming miles for international flights. Looking for PE or better for 2 flying RT any 2 week plus period in August from US to Okinawa (OKA). We will most likely need to make a positioning hop to get to a economical departure point. JFK is closest likely departure point. All I am seeing on AA is north of 300K each. Am I missing something?
Jan 25, 2023, 4:53 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,700
No. Those are the current rates. May go down as you get closer to departure — or it may go up. It’s AAs dynamic pricing. try looking at JAL where partner awards are much less expensive than AA metal awards. August is also the issue. Many partner awards MAY have already been taken at the booking window or just never offered.
Pretty new at redeeming miles for international flights. Looking for PE or better for 2 flying RT any 2 week plus period in August from US to Okinawa (OKA). We will most likely need to make a positioning hop to get to an economical departure point. JFK is closest likely departure point. All I am seeing on AA is north of 300K each. Am I missing something?
Jan 25, 2023, 4:56 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,466
Pretty new at redeeming miles for international flights. Looking for PE or better for 2 flying RT any 2 week plus period in August from US to Okinawa (OKA). We will most likely need to make a positioning hop to get to a economical departure point. JFK is closest likely departure point. All I am seeing on AA is north of 300K each. Am I missing something?
Spot checking a few dates in August I don't see anything on JL other than economy, not surprising, so the only options in PE or business are the AA flights to Tokyo which come with the ridiculous "web special" dynamically priced rates in the 150k-300k each way range that you're seeing.
That said, JL is very good about releasing more space closer in to the flight, you could always book economy now then just keep an eye on things and switch to PE or J if something opens up.
Jan 25, 2023, 7:20 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP/2MM, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 1,185
JL will have much lower redemption rates if you can find tickets. You may need to be flexible on departure city. Check BOS, DFW, ORD. West coast can have availability but makes for a longer routing. PE can be hard to find on JL, J might be better. It's 120k r/t in J on JL if you can get it, and I'm seeing some dates open on LAX-HND.
First search just into HND or NRT to check availability, then check HND-OKA next. You should be able to book them as a single award. If you do have to book them separately, domestic awards in Japan are a good redemption deal, 7.5k each way. Note that JL doesn't operate domestic business class HND-OKA, only a "Class J" which is more like PE in seat only and you can upgrade to for Y1000 or so.
Keep in mind that this is the first summer that Japan is fully open for tourism, and many airlines have cut capacity relative to 2019 levels. So there will be high demand (I'm going in Aug, booked my AAward tickets right when they came available).
First search just into HND or NRT to check availability, then check HND-OKA next. You should be able to book them as a single award. If you do have to book them separately, domestic awards in Japan are a good redemption deal, 7.5k each way. Note that JL doesn't operate domestic business class HND-OKA, only a "Class J" which is more like PE in seat only and you can upgrade to for Y1000 or so.
Keep in mind that this is the first summer that Japan is fully open for tourism, and many airlines have cut capacity relative to 2019 levels. So there will be high demand (I'm going in Aug, booked my AAward tickets right when they came available).