AA/JL: HKG-NRT-JFK, $550ai, 17173 miles, 3.2cpm
 

Example date:
Out: 11 May 2017 HKG-NRT-JFK
In: 22 Aug 2017 JFK-NRT-HKG

Books into O Class in all sectors.

If crediting to AA, BA, AS then better to book under JL code as this gets 50% mileage: http://www.wheretocredit.com/japan-airlines/o

If you can only buy under AA code then only EY and AY give 100% mileage, most other programmes give 25% mileage; http://www.wheretocredit.com/american-airlines/o

From an AA perspective, the RDM and EQD earning is really good if booking through JL; EQM less so (half what you'd earn on AA flight #). Inasmuch as EQD seems to be the clever bit for most people these days, 3.1 EQD/$ is pretty good stuff.

I went ahead and checked AAVacations (they won't sell you anything ex-HKG) and the Chase UR portal (you can get a similar fare on AA, but it's not a bulk ticket so it won't go off the special fares table). Not really useful.

I managed to hold a couple of tickets using AA's UK site if that helps. It even priced it in GBP for me

O class earns nothing on CX AM

I'm new to this so apologies in advance if I'm missing something. This appears to be the deal i'm looking for. Self employed so completely flexible. Just need to be in HK before the 12th, from NYC area.

How would I book the deal in this thread?

ill bite.
https://goo.gl/flights/0tzQ
adjust dates as you like, then click on "Book with American"

First, the fare is ex-HKG. If you need JFK-HKG by the 12th, you're looking at apx $750 RT. You can book on aa.com, US or HKG site

https://www.google.com/flights/?gl=u...201;a=ONEWORLD

Hope this stays around for later in 2018...
 

Ticketed one for Feb/March 2018 trip and could use one more to use up the SWU's that exp 1/31/19. When I called to have UPG's waitlisted (really AA, almost 331 days out and no immediate UPG,) and the EXP agent couldn't believe the price. I told him that the HKG-LAX fares have been this low for a long time. Still available so no harm-no foul.

Scratching my head on this...isn't it less likely to immediately clear the further you are from the travel date? Since there's lots of time for them to try to sell the seat? Seems like there's another thread around here complaining that they've compressed the window (i.e. upgrades used to clear earlier and now they're waiting until truly last minute). Just trying to understand why you would ever expect an upgrade to clear a year in advance. Sorry if I missed something obvious.

Because they used to? Because none of the business class seats are taken yet (according to the EXP agent?)

Just a data point to support the fact that AA isn't releasing UPG seats until the end.

Recently booked an AA Vacation to HKG to take advantage of the 20K mile promotion. During my stay, doing a stupid HKG - LAX - DEN - MIA - LAX - HKG run at $800. I'm falling behind this year on where I want to be for EXP and will plan another MIA - CGK flight in the fall @ ~$800 for the almost remaining miles. I'm well behind on the spend, but am planning a few business trips to GRU that *should* help out

Yes, that seems to be the case. I was looking at nesting this inside a JFK-HKG RT. When I go on American to check the flights for later this month, most of them show SWU availability right on the reservation page, but only for the TP leg. It shows "unavailable" for the JFK-LAX segment, even with plenty of business seats available, but it just may be because if you are EXP, you are going to get the same upgrade for free anyway.

What makes this fare, when booked on JL, earn a higher EQD amount, above the base fare amount? If it is triple EQD, and also about triple RDM, then it's worth taking a hit on EQMs, as they are the easiest to accumulate.

Yes, for long-distance segments, using AAVacations or flying a partner (distance-based) tends to get you better EQD/RDM than flying AA (fare-based). That is indeed the strategy many are taking, and mixing in some AA premium segments as needed to boost the EQM.

The simple fact that it was booked with a partner.

Partner flights do not earn EQM/EQD/RDM based on fare. They earn it based on a % of distance flown, which changes depending on which partner you're flying. If I'm looking at a partner flight I'll google "aadvantage <airline name>" to pull that up. Here's the one for JL: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...n-airlines.jsp