JAL disability services, AA codeshare
 

Hello, today I booked a flight with JAL through AA, for a JFK-HND flight in September. I was unable to select seats through AA. A brief background: I am a quadriplegic, travel with a power wheelchair, require an aisle chair, along with assistance with transferring to/from plane seat. This has not been an issue in the past, and was easy to arrange on my end. I'm a bit of a nervous ninny, so after booking through AA, I thought I would contact JAL and discuss my needs, and perhaps get a seat assignment for me and my travel partner. Unfortunately the gentleman I spoke with did not seem familiar with the process, and soon I was transferred to AA, who similarly did not seem to be familiar with arranging services. The AA rep stated that one of the locations did not have a jetway, and that I would need to navigate stairs. She thought this was at JFK, but she seemed unsure. I can't imagine this is accurate, but maybe it is? She suggested I follow up on a weekday for clarification, but then stated that there was no need to contact AA unless I haven't heard from them within 72 hrs of the flight. I prefer not to wait that long to learn that there may be issues. I do not understand why given the specific needs, that JAL wouldn't make the arrangements. The flight if booked through JAL is $200 more/ticket, but I wonder if that may be better so that I can deal directly with JAL. I am within the 24-hr refund window for AA, so I'm trying to see what options are available to help put my mind at ease. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

What's your booking class?

Economy, Q I believe (if that's what you're referring to)

Just request assistance at the airport. And select the one that requires assistance all the way to the seat. That should be a fairly standard procedure, and should be requested in advance. As a standard, there are jet way in both JFK and HND, but of course exceptional cases can occur.

Selecting a seat in advance with AA codeshare is always a bit complicated. But if you get a note with your assistance that you require an aisle seat, I am fairly sure it will work out.

You should be able to pre-select a seat. Just tell JAL reservation you need to use their priority guest service and ask them to arrange for it. If they tell you you need to contact AA, just tell them to make a conference call to AA to sort this out.

https://www.jal.co.jp/en/jalpri/handicap/walk.html

I contacted JAL this morning and inquired about the "Priority Guest Support". The rep I spoke with was helpful in answering my general questions, but restated that because I booked through AA, they were unable to even document anything in their system regarding my accommodations. The rep stated that the only thing noted in the system was "needs a wheelchair". She said more information needed to be provided. I informed her that I provided all that info to AA, but she didn't have record of it, which is my concern. I want to avoid arriving to my flight, only to find out that accommodations are not in place due to lack of communication between AA and JAL. The JAL rep was unable to see any notification of a lack of a jetway, as I was told yesterday, at either location. The JAL rep did say if I had booked directly with JAL, that they would be able to document the accommodations themselves, and provide seat assignment. Just not sure if peace of mind is worth the $400 price difference, or if I'm just worrying too much, and should trust the process.

Did you ask them to do a conference call with AA so they could put exactly what they need on the record?

Unfortunately AA's disability services does not open until 10 am est, so they could not.

I spoke with AA's disability office, and they took some additional information, however I was still not able to do a seat assignment. I was given the JAL reservation #, but when I inputed my info into JAL's website, I receive a "no itinerary found" message.

You need to enter JL005 as the flight number.

Received the same message

Try this link to use the Japan region website: https://ag.5931.jal.co.jp/jalint/feeje.do

If it doesn't work then you are SOL

Also, make sure you don't put spaces in your name if there's one.

Thank you, that worked. Unfortunately it will still not allow me to choose seats.

Please note that there are some restrictions because the reservation made by other than JAL' reservation system.
It might not be updated.
It might not be shown all.
Unable to assign or change your seats through JAL home page.

AA reservation should be able to help assign a seat or at least send in a seat request to JAL. What did they say?

They said they could not. That someone would contact me within 72 hrs of the flight.

That sucks! You would assume as a JV partner things should work out much more smoothly. The Japan website uses a different backend than the global one. So if you somehow can magically pull up your reservation on the global site, then you may be able to make changes to your seat assignment.

I just tried with my JTB booking, the Japanese site displayed the same message as you saw. But I was able to make seat changes on the global site.

I think you should be fine though. With the priority guest info put in, JAL should take special care of you. Did they also note that you need to have an aisle seat too? There are quite a few seats that are blocked for OLCI and airport assignment. Airport staff should notice the special request and assign you the seat you need. So there should be aisle seat saved for you. Worst case, you can try to request them to reassign someone if all aisle seats are taken.

As someone with first hand experience of JL's assistance service in NRT (on numerous occasions), I can say without hesitation that their service is top-notch, if not the very best in the world. In contrast, the service at LHR is near the bottom rung.

Unfortunately, I also have experience of JL & AA washing their hands off issues such as seat assignments when it comes to code share flights.

The best advice I can give you is to reach out to a JL supervisor or manager who can manually enter notes into your record. The usual call centre agents seem to be quite restricted in this regard.

I've traveled extensively in Asia with a friend who's a T8 paraplegic. Communicating one's needs and wishes to Asian airlines can be a huge challenge, which is a surprise to able-bodied FTers who fawn over the greatness of these carriers. I think it boils down to a much more paternalistic view of disability in countries like Japan, and perhaps a more limited number of disabled travelers. That said, all usually ends well, but you can stack the deck in your favor: be proactive and firm. I have wasted hours of my life talking to phone agents with JL, KE, CX, etc with specific requests, only to either be told it's impossible or to later find upon boarding that instead of a bulkhead near the boarding door, we had been assigned seats on the upper deck (=stairs). At least for US-originating and -bound flights, these airlines are bound by the Air Carrier Access Act, which outlines your rights, including reservation of seats with easier access (e.g., bulkhead or moveable armrest). This can all be sorted out at the airport if necessary, but if I had been given the runaround you just experienced with JL/AA, I would call JL again and request that the operator put you through to the Complaint Resolution Officer (CRO), who is required by law to be on hand at all times, will be familiar with regulations, and will be empowered to do what's necessary.

Thank you for the advice. I will try to reach out to them this week, an hopefully get some more definitive answers.