First Class Awards Impossible?
Jun 26, 2025 | 4:03 am
#32
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,159
partially cleared waitlist
Korean released a bunch of F/J over the weekend... I was waitlisted in both J and F out of both BOS and JFK for 2x passengers on Aug 14th. They have confirmed us into F on the BOS->ICN flight.
The problem is that they did not confirm either of the two connecting flights I waitlisted for ICN->SIN. And the flights do not have economy awards availability either. I reached Korean agent using the online chat and the best they would do is extend the ticketing date to July 1st.
What should I do? If I accept the BOS->ICN segment then I think all my other waitlists in the same itinerary will get canceled? Will Korean add back in the ICN->SIN waitlists to a ticketed BOS->ICN itinerary if I contact them?
What is the best strategy here? I need the full itinerary, through to SIN.
Thanks.
The problem is that they did not confirm either of the two connecting flights I waitlisted for ICN->SIN. And the flights do not have economy awards availability either. I reached Korean agent using the online chat and the best they would do is extend the ticketing date to July 1st.
What should I do? If I accept the BOS->ICN segment then I think all my other waitlists in the same itinerary will get canceled? Will Korean add back in the ICN->SIN waitlists to a ticketed BOS->ICN itinerary if I contact them?
What is the best strategy here? I need the full itinerary, through to SIN.
Thanks.
Jun 26, 2025 | 7:32 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,557
Jun 29, 2025 | 5:36 am
#34
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,159
An update to my last post. At the time BOS-ICN waitlist cleared in F, there was no award space available for my connecting ICN-SIN flight. However a couple of days later, KE did release economy space, making it possible to ticket the desired itinerary. I contacted KE by online chat. The agent consulted with "back office" and advised that I had two options... I could ticket just the BOS-ICN in F, and then if the waitlist cleared for ICN-SIN I could contact them and have the ticket reissued for BOS-ICN-SIN. Alternatively I could ticket BOS-ICN-SIN in F/Y and similarly contact them to change the ICN-SIN segment to J if the waitlist clears. I elected the 2nd option and asked the agent to secure the economy seats. They did that and advised that I would have to telephone to ticket as they cannot do ticketing over chat.
Before telephoning, I cleaned up the reservation by removing the other JFK/BOS waitlists, so itinerary only had the confirmed BOS-ICN-SIN and waitlist for ICN-SIN in J. You cannot ticket this online without canceling the ICN-SIN waitlists, so I telephoned.
Telephone agent confirmed skypass account that miles coming from, confirmed price, did a pretty thorough identity verification and then connected me to a ticketing agent. Ticketing agent finalized payment collection from credit card and issued tickets. And confirmed that I was still waitlisted for business on the ICN-SIN flight.
I have to say that the whole interaction, chat and telephone, was much more straight forward than I expected. All agents I worked with were well trained, understood what I wanted to do, and were very pleasant to talk with. Their telephone ticketing process does very thorough identity verification and payment collection (using e.g. secure system to collect some info rather than disclosing to a human agent). Their online chat times out after 4 minutes of inactivity, but the chat agent made sure I knew that and how to keep it alive if necessary. Well done Korean Air.
Now crossing my fingers that one of the two flights I waitlisted for J on ICN-SIN segment clears.
Before telephoning, I cleaned up the reservation by removing the other JFK/BOS waitlists, so itinerary only had the confirmed BOS-ICN-SIN and waitlist for ICN-SIN in J. You cannot ticket this online without canceling the ICN-SIN waitlists, so I telephoned.
Telephone agent confirmed skypass account that miles coming from, confirmed price, did a pretty thorough identity verification and then connected me to a ticketing agent. Ticketing agent finalized payment collection from credit card and issued tickets. And confirmed that I was still waitlisted for business on the ICN-SIN flight.
I have to say that the whole interaction, chat and telephone, was much more straight forward than I expected. All agents I worked with were well trained, understood what I wanted to do, and were very pleasant to talk with. Their telephone ticketing process does very thorough identity verification and payment collection (using e.g. secure system to collect some info rather than disclosing to a human agent). Their online chat times out after 4 minutes of inactivity, but the chat agent made sure I knew that and how to keep it alive if necessary. Well done Korean Air.
Now crossing my fingers that one of the two flights I waitlisted for J on ICN-SIN segment clears.
Jul 25, 2025 | 2:29 pm
#35
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,159
A (hopefully final) update on my waitlisting for two passengers on flights coming up in August. Bottom line is success.
A few weeks ago the waitlist for our first segment cleared and I ticketed KE92 BOS-ICN in F connecting to KE645 in Y, and waitlisted for J in both KE645 and KE647 for ICN-SIN. About 3 weeks before flights, KE647 cleared into business class. I called and ticketed that, there was a change fee ($43 for both pax) and I asked to keep the waitlist on KE645 as it is a much better connection. Just over 24 hours later, KE645 cleared into business class. So I telephoned to confirm that. Interestingly the agent did not need to send it to ticketing, she just revalidated my ticket onto the new flight and did not charge a fee.
Waitlisting is key to success. I was monitoring availability for ICN-SIN segment and while there was (is) J availability on several days in August, the day I wanted did not have it. As my waitlists cleared, the flights never showed as having business available... and when I moved two of us from KE647 to KE645, only one of the two seats has become available.
KE645 is sold as business and economy but is operated on a 777-300ER configured with a first class cabin. I was not able to get seat assignments in the F cabin, they seem to be reserved for KE higher tier flyers, which I am not. I had hoped that a First Class award would qualify for those seats on a connecting flight that is not sold with F, but apparently not.
I am very happy to have secured these flights in F and J.
Hope this info is useful for others.
A few weeks ago the waitlist for our first segment cleared and I ticketed KE92 BOS-ICN in F connecting to KE645 in Y, and waitlisted for J in both KE645 and KE647 for ICN-SIN. About 3 weeks before flights, KE647 cleared into business class. I called and ticketed that, there was a change fee ($43 for both pax) and I asked to keep the waitlist on KE645 as it is a much better connection. Just over 24 hours later, KE645 cleared into business class. So I telephoned to confirm that. Interestingly the agent did not need to send it to ticketing, she just revalidated my ticket onto the new flight and did not charge a fee.
Waitlisting is key to success. I was monitoring availability for ICN-SIN segment and while there was (is) J availability on several days in August, the day I wanted did not have it. As my waitlists cleared, the flights never showed as having business available... and when I moved two of us from KE647 to KE645, only one of the two seats has become available.
KE645 is sold as business and economy but is operated on a 777-300ER configured with a first class cabin. I was not able to get seat assignments in the F cabin, they seem to be reserved for KE higher tier flyers, which I am not. I had hoped that a First Class award would qualify for those seats on a connecting flight that is not sold with F, but apparently not.
I am very happy to have secured these flights in F and J.
Hope this info is useful for others.
Oct 12, 2025 | 9:09 am
#36
Join Date: Jul 2023
Location: new york, ny
Programs: n/a (not an agent)
Posts: 196
A (hopefully final) update on my waitlisting for two passengers on flights coming up in August. Bottom line is success.
A few weeks ago the waitlist for our first segment cleared and I ticketed KE92 BOS-ICN in F connecting to KE645 in Y, and waitlisted for J in both KE645 and KE647 for ICN-SIN. About 3 weeks before flights, KE647 cleared into business class. I called and ticketed that, there was a change fee ($43 for both pax) and I asked to keep the waitlist on KE645 as it is a much better connection. Just over 24 hours later, KE645 cleared into business class. So I telephoned to confirm that. Interestingly the agent did not need to send it to ticketing, she just revalidated my ticket onto the new flight and did not charge a fee.
Waitlisting is key to success. I was monitoring availability for ICN-SIN segment and while there was (is) J availability on several days in August, the day I wanted did not have it. As my waitlists cleared, the flights never showed as having business available... and when I moved two of us from KE647 to KE645, only one of the two seats has become available.
KE645 is sold as business and economy but is operated on a 777-300ER configured with a first class cabin. I was not able to get seat assignments in the F cabin, they seem to be reserved for KE higher tier flyers, which I am not. I had hoped that a First Class award would qualify for those seats on a connecting flight that is not sold with F, but apparently not.
I am very happy to have secured these flights in F and J.
Hope this info is useful for others.
A few weeks ago the waitlist for our first segment cleared and I ticketed KE92 BOS-ICN in F connecting to KE645 in Y, and waitlisted for J in both KE645 and KE647 for ICN-SIN. About 3 weeks before flights, KE647 cleared into business class. I called and ticketed that, there was a change fee ($43 for both pax) and I asked to keep the waitlist on KE645 as it is a much better connection. Just over 24 hours later, KE645 cleared into business class. So I telephoned to confirm that. Interestingly the agent did not need to send it to ticketing, she just revalidated my ticket onto the new flight and did not charge a fee.
Waitlisting is key to success. I was monitoring availability for ICN-SIN segment and while there was (is) J availability on several days in August, the day I wanted did not have it. As my waitlists cleared, the flights never showed as having business available... and when I moved two of us from KE647 to KE645, only one of the two seats has become available.
KE645 is sold as business and economy but is operated on a 777-300ER configured with a first class cabin. I was not able to get seat assignments in the F cabin, they seem to be reserved for KE higher tier flyers, which I am not. I had hoped that a First Class award would qualify for those seats on a connecting flight that is not sold with F, but apparently not.
I am very happy to have secured these flights in F and J.
Hope this info is useful for others.
Oct 27, 2025 | 12:37 am
#37
Join Date: Jul 2023
Location: new york, ny
Programs: n/a (not an agent)
Posts: 196
I can't find any business availability on JFK <> ICN for Q3 /Q4 next year no matter how many times I search on both app and website, but I do see plenty of availability for ORD... should I bite the bullet and reposition? I know JFK is extremely competitive. Only problem is I'm traveling with my mom (booking cash) - do I make her fly from ORD with me or just book her JFK and meet her on the other side.
Oct 28, 2025 | 3:34 am
#38
Join Date: Aug 2024
Location: Global
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 56
I can't find any business availability on JFK <> ICN for Q3 /Q4 next year no matter how many times I search on both app and website, but I do see plenty of availability for ORD... should I bite the bullet and reposition? I know JFK is extremely competitive. Only problem is I'm traveling with my mom (booking cash) - do I make her fly from ORD with me or just book her JFK and meet her on the other side.