ljwalvin

I spent 1 hour on the phone with Qantas last night (after waiting 1.5 hour for a a call back)-Pretty much got no where but at least the lady on the phone was extremely apologetic about it.

-Options were to fly via Dallas-which I wasn't keen on to get from JKF-ITM
-Change the JFK to HND and keep NRT to ITM pending free change fee when availability comes up
-fly from HND to ITM via HKG-seemed silly to me


I went on QF's website and found heaps of classic award tickets from HND to ITM. I'm originally booked in business but I don't mind the 1 hour in economy but the agents on the phone couldn't find it. I have screen shot it for them and sent it via FB. Hopefully they can sort something out! First world problems!

ChrisLi

I think one of the challenge is that for HND - ITM it's either in Y or F (I am not sure if it's even in the system), no J, that may be one of the reason?

CPH-Flyer

Actually, you can only book Y redemptions for domestic Japan. There is the option to pay cash for an upgrade at the day of departure.

sleuth

Well this is certainly making it interesting to fly JAL out of KUL or SIN back to DFW.

nort

I have two reservations for a family of four via NRT from the US connecting to two cities in Asia. JL has messed them all up. The least they could offer is rebooking on a different day, or arrange complimentary transfer, transfer luggage handling and hotel. I'm trying to decide whether to change or cancel these tickets.

nort

I spoke to JAL. They say they can only change the dates by up to 5 days, and the origin/destination have to be the same. That's not too bad, I can accept that. But the other major constraint is that seats have to be available in the booking class, not just the same cabin. I have 4 tickets in E class (premium economy), and seats are available in W and R classes (same premium economy cabin) on the previous days. But they refuse to change it because "it's their rule", which apparently is inflexible even if they disrupt the travel for thousands of passengers. If I fly the previous days, I'll escape the March 29 NRT->HND switchover and I don't have to haul my luggage and little kids from HND to NRT and spend an extra night in a hotel. I have an AA EXP (OWE) status, and they are extremely inflexible in rebooking into a different class of service on the same cabin. They offered to pay for the shuttle bus, but not the hotel for the overnight (how generous!)

This is less customer friendly even compared to US or European airlines. I might have to avoid flying JAL in the future if they can't even put me in a different booking class in the same PE cabin. Cathay Pacific vs JAL is night and day, CX (and even AA) were extremely accommodating when it came to involuntary schedule changes just due to weather. JAL disrupts flights and won't even provide available seats (same cabin, different fare class) for a passenger with OWE status and little kids. I've made a request to their supervisors, let's see what they come back with.

mhy

The time and airport change to JL3 is very nice for me as I can much more easily connect to Osaka where I am usually headed. Plus, HND-ITM has domestic F and HND has a Diamond & Premier lounge. I really dislike arriving in Osaka at 7-8pm at night after an exhausting JFK-NRT-ITM connection so being able to sleep most of the JFK-NRT flight and arrive in Osaka pretty early in the morning is a huge plus.

jacquesrules

So I called Alaska and due to the airport change, I was able to have a free stopover (11 days) in Japan. They waived all change fees. Very happy about this

joeaf

I got caught in the JL NRT=>HND airport change. On Nov 13, I booked an AA award for Oct 2020, DCA-DFW-NRT-BKK with DFW-NRT on JL11. On Dec 9, I found out about the airport change by reading the blogs since AA did not notify me of the airport change (JL flight # did not change). By mid-Dec, there were no award flights in biz available. I had 4+ hrs connect time and the limo bus schedule showed 2 limo buses available between my 2pm arrival and 6:20pm departure but the first bus would give me only 40min leeway after NRT flight arrived to clear immigrations + retrieve bags and the second bus would give me 40min leeway to check-in and get to gate at HND before flight departure.

As a result, I pleaded my request to an AA supervisor (thank you Tracy) who accommodated me by changing my JL11 flight to AA61 (DFW-NRT) so I would not have to change airports in Tokyo.

attritionghost

I feel that this change was indeed a downgrade as in my opinion JAL-operated flights are much more comfortable in all aspects (e.g., the pitch and width of seats, food, in-flight service, etc.) than AA-operated flights. An AA supervisor also offered me AA 61 that would replace the JAL-operated AA 8481 (JL 11), but I declined to accept it. I was also trying to get an HND-TSA instead of HND-TPE. She steadfastly refused to make such a change because it would have been a destination change even though the situation between TSA (the city airport) and TPE (the suburban airport) are similar to that between HND and NRT.

I am still in a dilemma but I do not think I should take AA 61 (particularly for seat comfort), nor should I pay for transfer expenses for two people that would be on top of whatever I have paid for the airfare. JAL caused all problems and should take care of any inconvenience and costs incurred . Cancelling the ticket with a full refund is an option but not a good one for me because all travel arrangements have been made and finding another two tickets would cost much more than the amount I have paid to AA.

CPH-Flyer

I know it is quite a downgrade in service and comfort, but I would probably take the AA flight if it was me. The airport change is quite a drag, though 4+ hours should work out for doing it in.

boybi

How much time should be allotted for transferring between NRT and HND? Is there a direct train or bus between the 2 airports?

CPH-Flyer

About 4 hours should be fine. Depends a bit on specific arrival and departure flights. There are busses directly, and also trains. The direct trains are local rapid commuter trains, so no reserved seating and no particular extra space for luggage.

musashino22

Here's the bus schedule from Narita - Haneda (takes approx 1h45 min door-to-door with light traffic)
Train requires 2-3 transfers and could be a pain if you have luggages.

https://www.airport-bus-alliance.com...lang=en&frto=2

boybi

For a JAL flight, for transfer from NRT to HND, can I still go to the city after checking in at HND?