sheppy26

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, but as part of planning a larger far east trip, I was looking at redemption availability using my BA Avios for regional trips with CX or JL.

I first searched for 2xF tickets from HKG to CTS one way and was quoted 210000 plus �56.60 taxes, which I thought was steep for the miles especially as the flight was CX F to KIX and a Y connection on JAL. So I looked at splitting and was quoted the following -

2xF on CX HKG to KIX = 60,000 miles plus �56.60 taxes and fees
2xY on JL KIX to CTS = 15,000 miles plus �ZERO - yes, �ZERO taxes and fees!

So my first question is why by booking separately do I get charged 75,000 miles but when I try a combined booking it is almost 3 times that much?

Second question, which I bet no-one could see coming - why are there no taxes or fees in Japan when we in the UK get fleeced?!

All thoughts welcome!

Sheppy

kats

Yes, it's zero tax for most Japan domestic flights. Because of that, you won't be able to book online. You will have to call BAEC. If they try to charge fee, you may want to try BA Tokyo office. They will waive fee if you e-mail or fax error page. I have done this a number of times.

Prospero

The amount of Avios we pay for our redemptions jumps significantly with itineraries that involve two or more oneworld airlines. Your CX+JL itinerary is calculated using the multi-carrier tariff rather than the standard (BA plus one partner) tariff.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...s/public/en_gb

So, as you've discovered, substantial gains are there to be exploited by breaking down your itinerary into separate standard redemption bookings

joejones

JAL and ANA generally don't charge taxes or fees for domestic awards, either -- despite charging through the nose on long-haul international. I think it may be because they simply have way too much domestic capacity and have to fill all those seats any way they can.

DG55

I've been trying to find NRT > CTS. The website just shows the following error:

Would it be possible to book a reward on this route? How many miles is it likely to cost?

Why won't my search even show the flights?

LTN Phobia

Considering that you can buy a KIX to CTS ticket for about �75 (10,000 yen) all up per person on OW Yokoso fare assuming you are flying into Japan on OW, I wouldn't spend Avios on it (this assumes you are not a Japanese resident). In fact I would not be making redemptions on a Japanese domestic flight, be it OW or Star Alliance, as both offer similar deals to those who have flown in with the alliance carrier, provided they are not resident in Japan.

sheppy26

Thanks for the info! Does the OW Yokoso fare still apply if you enter Japan on a redemption flight or a revenue ticket? It does sound better to buy the ticket in this case than use points.

sheppy26

Try HND (Haneda) to CTS, it then says that BA don't fly the route but JAL do. There is plenty of availaility for random dates in may, but having read some of the responses to my original post, I think it isn't such a good use of miles.

BlackBerryAddict

We used Avios to fly between TYO and ITM in January, and the charge was 9,000 Avios plus �1.60 each .
Normal fares were actually several hundred pounds at that time, so being cash poor and miles rich at the time it seemd like a good idea.

LTN Phobia

I think a redemption ticket should be fine. Call JAL to enquire - don't call BA or whoever you are flying to Japan with, because you are likely to get a bewildered response (not surprisingly). You're likely to need to fax or email a copy of your itinerary and your passport.

Another nice thing about Yokoso fare is that you can do a space-available upgrade with cash at the airport (1,000 yen to J, 8,000 yen to F I think - F is not available on all routes - if you are interested, let me know and I'll tell you more about domestic J and F as I have tried both). I have to warn you that the space available upgrades are not often available - domestic flights are often very heavily booked.

For info on Yokoso JAL fare: http://www.ar.jal.com/arl/region/en/...es/yokoso.html

P.S. I am pretty sure you would earn Avios/TPs for Yokoso fare as well.

kats

Some Japan domestic flights do not even show even if they are available with avios. You will have to call baec to ticket this segment. If unsuccessful with your local ba office, try ba tokyo office. They should be able to issue award at 4,500 points.

The yokoso fare still applies even on award tickets.

mrploddy

Small tip

if you have a domestic JAL itinerary with zero cost and just miles add the carbon offset and it'll book fine.

BA.com doesn't seem to like �0 cost itineraries. Personaly I think a couple of quid carbon offset is cheaper than waiting time and 0844 cost to call BAEC.

DG55

I can see that it does work for HND.

In terms of value, I actually think it is fairly good value.

9000 miles + �2.60 for a return

OR

�70 x 2 = �140 PLUS there are actually fees/tax or something paid on that, so it is actually more like �85 each way and a total of �170

That is surely a crazy price for a domestic fare! Especially since it is supposed to be a 'special' fare.

DG55

Ok so it looks like you can find some NRT availability by searching TYO > CTS.

However, it only seems to show one flight per day maximum, almost at random, and the amount of seats available is only ever 4 or less, this is going to be tricky.

Might the availability be better if I ring up?

LTN Phobia

I've just come across this link:

http://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/online/ar/

You can buy the Yokoso fares online now. It will be a bit easier to use.


DG55 - I think the maximum number of redemption seats on JL that the system displays is 4, unless that is a limit on the number of redemption seats per flight in the first place.

I don't think the availability would be any different if you call, but it's always worth a try.

There are not many NRT-CTS flights each day to start with. That's probably the problem you are having. There are a lot more flights to CTS from HND (basically one every hour or so).

Going back to the Yokoso fare, there are no passenger service fees on top of the 10,000 Yen fare unless you are flying to/from Haneda, Kitakyushu or Nagoya. Their consumption tax is 5% which is not included in 10,000 Yen but it will only bring it up to 10,500 Yen in any case. Passenger service charges aren't much either. See http://www.jal.co.jp/en/dom/info/pfc.html So the maximum you would ever pay should be 10800 yen each way.