JALPak

CPH-Flyer

The quest for was 5A, or did I misread that?

JALPak

CPH-Flyer

My over interpretation indeed.. bad me.

mhy

So what's the verdict, window seats only available to OWE? I am only Crystal at the moment and I cannot see row 5 available on my upcoming flight. Maybe Sapphires can see the aisle/middle seats?

kentauta

I am seeing all seats in row 5 are booked/blocked (cannot differentiate them) both ways of my upcoming (a few months away) round trip as an OWS through AA. I am not sure whether OW status is the only factor for row 5 availability though. If the carrier wants to they can use booking class and FFP as additional factors, I believe.

CPH-Flyer

JAL has quite the limitation on award bookings in terms of seat reservations, so that is a point I forgot to raise. Are you guys flying cash or award flights?

kornner

mhy

kentauta

Mine is a cash-paid ticket in X class.

Guitarthur

Question from a fairly seasoned traveller, though JAL and expectant parent newbie!
My wife and I are heading to Tokyo for the olympics and will have a 5 month old in tow. It will be our first child so this is mostly hearsay, but heard that 5 mo is a relatively good time to fly with a newborn. They're robust enough for the journey, but not mobile yet and have a pretty consistent eat/sleep cycle.
For those who fly J/F on this route, which would be better for us? I'm thinking F because the award space seems a little easier to come by, and the bassinet setup in row 2 looks pretty ideal. Plenty of space for breastfeeding and co-sleeping. Thoughts?
A probably more polarizing question, what's the forum's thought on bringing an infant to a premium cabin? Have you seen parents do this, or done it yourself, and any advice? I'm fully prepared to walk the length of the plane as needed to calm him/her down and keep the crying out of the pointy end, but beyond that, this is a whole new level of travel planning I've never considered.
Extra info: can book via AA, AS, or anything chase transfers to (Avios seem like the play for infant fare). I'll be OWS (AA platinum pro). Route is LAX - NRT/HND/KIX based on availability (I realize not all have F).

CPH-Flyer

My simple view is that F and J has bassinet positions for the purpose of parents travelling with their small children, and is infants were not supposed to be in premium cabins, there would be no bassinet positions. All problems I have experienced with kids in lounges and planes have basically been parent induced.

Expecting as a certainty that your child will have a regular and stable sleeping pattern at 5 months is slightly off, your child may, but alps just as likely may not have a stable sleeping pattern. And sleeping in a foreign environment may very well cause a lot of unrest. I am not writing this to discourage you from booking, just saying you will only know by actual experience.

On a side note, I wonder how easy or difficult it will be to get redemptions in connection with the Olympics, even assuming JAL releases the normal level inventory, you are hardly the only person wanting to book. And JMB members now get a head start as the availability opens earlier for JAL' s own members.

Hay Yau

I have flown in J with my kids when they were infants but the bassinet has been hit and miss with them (regardless of travelling class) It will depend on your child.
The bassinets are small, and in an awkward position so if your baby is a light sleeper then it may be hard to put him/her down (not to mention noise, lights, and new surroundings).

I've found the best way is to make the seat flat and try to sleep next to each other, or use a baby carrier and rock them to sleep then put them down on the flat seat or sit down yourself.
For what it's worth I have 3 kids under 6, and I've done this between Tokyo and Singapore/Hong Kong/Hawaii. I will do Tokyo-London later this month

Never tried in F so can't comment.

Fellow passengers in J have generally been accommodating and patient to crying babies in my experience, and also as a passenger travelling solo observing parents with infants. Your comment about walking up and down the aisle if it gets bad to calm things down is a wise one.

Alan Nevin

Hello all.

I am looking at a trip from Europe (ideally Dublin) to Brisbane in January. Would anyone know a cost effective way of doing most of the long haul flights with JAL in Business?

Thank you

flumoxed

I have a reservation that's showing it's status as "on hold" on JAL's site. This is an Alaska Air award ticket.

My flight departs tomorrow and it has me a bit worried, because I'm pretty sure this said "confirmed" when I checked a couple of days ago to select seats.

I received the confirmation letter for this along with ticket number when I booked the award tickets a week ago.

Does anyone have experience with this? When I gave Alaska Air a call they said everything looks fine on their end. I'm still on hold with JAL.