Award Cancellation and Return of Expired Miles
 

Got a bit of a pickle. In November 2021, I used CX miles that were set to expire in January 2022 for a partner award on JAL to Japan. It looks to me that Japan will not open to individual tourism by my departure date of August 31 (although there still is time for me to be proved wrong). This raises some questions:

1. Will I be able to convince CX to cancel my award trip and return my miles to my account with no penalty, based on the unavailability of a tourist visa to my destination? (I have no status with CX or OW.)
2. If I am successful, will CX return my miles to me with a new expiration date, beyond their previous January 2022 expiration?
3. What's the best way/phone number/office to call CX for answers to these questions?

Anyone have any experience to share on these questions? Thanks!

Sorry but I cannot directly answer your questions as I am not too sure but JL is allowing transit on separate tickets so that is an option to consider as long as you do not need to cross immigration for your next ticket. If you're checking in bags, make sure that JL can through check it for you so I would stay within OW (JL/MH).

Good luck!

I think OP is travelling to Japan, and not transiting through Japan.

ah yes I got that. I was providing it as a last resort in case the flight was desirable (JL J/F) and there was no other award availability or if the miles would expire with no other redemption options!

The refunded miles will have an expiration of Jan. 2022 instead.

Your probably mean Jan 2023.

Yes, sorry, Jan. 2023.

Ernestnywang, thanks for your response. Do you have personal experience or confirmation of your belief that the miles will be returned with an expiration date of January 2023? CX has not responded to my chat on this question, and I certainly cannot lose those miles.

I am considering transiting HND through to SGN on NH, instead of canceling entirely. Is it possible to transit HND internationally under the present situation? We’ll have carry-ons only (don’t trust an interline transfer), with only about 75 minutes between flights. Doable?

Yes if it's HND (and not HND-NRT or NRT-HND), although I don't know whether separate tickets are permitted. (I think they are, but this should be checked carefully.)

Many regulars on this forum can attest CX's practice is to refund expired miles to the next scheduled expiry anniversary. This has been a long-time practice, and I last confirmed with CX earlier this year that this is still the practice. Of course, this is not written in the T&C, so if you want a firm confirmation, you will have to wait for CX's response. You can try to call. I also have a hard time reaching them these days.

Your second question is out of the scope of this forum, but HND is open for transits within 24 hours. I am not sure of your exact itinerary. Are you trying to have separate tickets, one on JL and one on NH? I would recommend against it since Japan is not fully open to foreigners yet, and if your JL flight is delayed, you may not be able to take your NH flight. JL may require you to show documents that prove your eligibility to enter Japan in this case. Furthermore, the Minimum Connecting Time (MCT) between a JAL and an ANA flight at HND is 100 minutes.

I can confirm as of this month this is still the case. Just had returned miles go into the April 2023 bucket.

Thanks all - CX (very belatedly) also confirmed this through chat. I appreciate everyone's help.