RealHJ

...but if you use AA miles, while you will pay more in miles, you will pay less in $. So, sometimes using AA miles for JL flights may make more sense. Plus, JL call center has very limited hours, and if you wait until the next day, the flights may be gone - and one-way booking is still not allowed online by JL. So with JL/JMB you end up having to make a dummy RT booking with a bogous second flight on a waitlist, then call in when JL is actually answering their phones and remove the bogous waitlist flight and ticket the one that you want. JL sure makes life difficult for their JMB members.

CPH-Flyer

They really don't make life difficult for us, maybe with the exception of one way bookings. Though I have yet to need one of those, so all my JL award bookings have been a breeze online. I am not sure about the US opening hours for the call center, but you can probably call any of the regions as needed if it is that urgent.

(and the ability to book partner flights online is a nice added touch from JL, though the search function is a bit annoying. AA does not even allow me to book AA flights online here in Japan)

RealHJ

How can you ever do an RT booking online? Availability of all JL flights I've ever checked (numerous routes, well at least all six JL flights from HNL) disappears within a few minutes to a few hours of when it's released and then rarely comes back available again (other than a week or so out, but by then you can't book it with JL miles at 4 days out anymore and must book it using the extremely high levels using BA Avios or the still notably higher AA pricing - as closer in when JL releases flights it also forbids you to book it using JL miles). So, you always MUST do a dummy booking first: some throw-away flight waitlisted and your outbound as the return. Then call on the dot when the return is released and have them take away the throway waitlisted flight and add the return to your held but unticketed outbound.

Is there any way to do these required steps to book a JL RT ticket online? I haven't found one, which means that doing any JL booking online (actually ticketing), one-way or round trip, is pretty much impossible. I mean if you wait more than a few minutes after flight release time, it'll be gone, so you can never just easily step in a book a round trip, say one segment way at 320 days out (good luck finding any availability that "close in"!) and other at 330 days out. That just doesn't happen with JL, practically never.

kyroadrunner

For the record, I am not confused. I am able to process all the information in this forum appropriately for myself.

CPH-Flyer

I did a quick scan on HNL, I actually saw availability for Golden Week, strangely enough, but then not until Feb. Though in Feb there was quite decent availability. So I wonder if the last minute sprints to burn AA miles is a factor in the current dry spell.

RealHJ

It's been like that for the last year or so, though. I think just that the availability is not that good, or rather, the flights are quickly booked. NGO flights may last a bit longer, but KIX, NRT and HND are usually - poof! - and they're gone in seconds (or minutes or hours, or a day or a few at most).

If you don't get it during the first few days (if you're lucky and it lasts that long) or first few hours (more likely, or just minutes sometimes), the only other chance may come less than a week out, by when you can't do the booking using JL miles and must use AA, BA or other OW program to book it (JL doesn't allow award bookings 4 days out or closer in).

CPH-Flyer

I was only looking at Tokyo. For February 2017, I could book for almost any day that has been opened so far. It does not quite evaporate as you describe, but it is certainly not a good route to book either.
(and I am not including my anytime availability in that test)

JordanWalker

Released at 10AM JST, 330 days out. But does anyone know what time they periodically release seats after that? Does the same 10am hold true? Looking for a flight that's 2-3 months from now. Using BA Avios.

Or would it be basically 9am~12pm PST since BA is real time?

JALPak

Please check with experts on BA forum. We can't tell you when BA will see availability or when JL releases them to BA members. JMB members will just waitlist in this case.

susiesan

It is not just F awards that are being snapped up instantly. it's also J awards ex all US cities to NRT and vice versa. There has always been plenty of J award inventory available but it has dried up.

Maybe now that the new higher levels for AA award redemption have kicked in it will be easier for all of us to redeem awards for JL flights no matter which plan we are in.

RealHJ

This has nothing to do with BA. When JL releases awards, then BA and all other OW airlines see it. As simple as that.

As for when JL releases awards, whenever someone has canceled a booking, otherwise at 3 months out if the flight is not too full, then may be at 2 months, 1 month, 1 week out... depends on load and many other factors.

JALPak

You have over simplified things

RealHJ

Actually no, that is exactly how it is. You can watch it and observe it yourself. Right to the second, moment JL releases it, BA, QF (online searchable) and others see it. JL results are cached, so you won't see it in the "calendar" if you are using that view, but will the day by day if you force to go one more day than it allows you to go to.

You are trying to imply here (by how I read it) that still there is some old 1980s era style systems and long-sell still in use, or if others allow waitlist for JL flights (which I don't believe anyone does). That is all gone for many years. It's all real-time inventory and real-time searches, and really the only way how things can work well. The only reason why it wouldn't be so is if other airlines are using cached data (like JL is for its calendar, which is notoriously inaccurate as the cache is only updated once every 24h), and most are not, and esp. never for a real-time specific-day availability search and never at time of ticketing (couldn't).

JALPak

All I am going to say is this is not a true real time system and I won't go into details as this has nothing to do with JAL award availability for JMB members.

RealHJ

ar.jal.com calendar is not real time and is cached, yes. But searching on ba.com (even for JMB members) will provide practically real time inventory - only catch being that if someone is in the process of booking a flight, you may still see it until it gets ticketed, though it is no longer available. Searching for specific date on ar.jal.com will also provide the same real-time inventory (but again with the same catch that if someone else grabs it after you and then tickets it, you may not get it).

If you have more details, though, please share. That is what FT is for.

BTW, I agree with your sentiments completely that any BA, AA, etc. program specific items should be discussed in those forums (e.g. cost of JL flights using AA or BA miles, how to book, intricacies related to those other airlines/FF programs when it comes to JL flights, etc.). However, if it's only JL specific (e.g. when JL releases inventory) and not related to other airline FFPs, then this is the place to ask (and answer, for those in the know) - vs. posting JL program specific info in other forums where it is not appropriate. I mean, what you are doing here is right, but don't overdo it - that's all. All good things come in moderation.