Should I be concerned for this booking DFW-HND ?
 

Found a seat for DFW-HND by JL, and about to pull the trigger. However, I was told by the agent that this route is "subject to government/regulatory approval", and she could not offer more details.

Some quick googling showed the change is probably the NRT to HND change, (link below)

https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...china-flights/

I have no problems with the arrival airport change at all, but my questions are

1. Can anybody confirm if this is the reason of the warning message? I searched on JL website, and the flight is bookable, so I am a bit confused why I got that warning message.

2. In case of the flight is not available for whatever reason, will AA(this is a award ticket from AA) simply refund my miles or can I count on them to find another J seat somewhere else?

Many thanks, and happy holidays!

IBNR

US rules require that at some point prior to purchase you be informed that the operating carrier's application to perform the route is not yet approved. No agent can or should speculate on when that might be granted. If one does, just take it with a grain of salt.

If the flights do not materialize, AA (as the ticketing carrier) has no obligations to you because you have been warned. But, as a general customer service practice, AA will deal with you as it deal with standard cancellations by other carriers. It will offer a refund, a rebooking on AA metal (regardless of redemption space, so long as there is any space), or a reasonable reroute, e.g. to NRT. In addition, it may ask JL to force award space on other flights if there is none available.

Realistically, between DFW and TYO on AA/JL, you should not have any problems even if this particular routing does not come to pass. A reroute may be slightly less convenient, but that is all.

Thank you for the info. Very helpful, and I am getting it :) (first time on JL J, yeah!)

The chance of the route not starting is howering somewhere between zero and absolutely zero.

My understanding is that flights like these have successfully gone through the approval process before they are posted for sale, however, approval is not final until the day that the first flight for that route slot departs. Is that correct?

I had thought of the same, but the flight was actually bookable via JL website.

Because it is for all intents and purposes already approved, except for one last little piece of admin, that is no actual risk of not happening.