Hi all,

Interested in what you all think is my best course of action on this... In early April (7-10 to be exact) I actually have to go to Jakarta for a competition so I'm pretty much treating this as a business trip. As such, I really want to arrive as rested as possible... I'm based at ORD.

Economy Fares are really cheap (around $800) but that is really going to be awful so I'm wondering what my options are.

Should I just buy a PE ticket on JAL or CX? Or is it better to try and use miles to upgrade on AA? I have about 90k AAdvantage miles to burn. Since I'm PLT I would earn a lot of miles doing either of these but my fear with this is buying a ticket on AA in Y and not getting an upgrade...

Alternatively... Should I try for an award ticket in J or F on JAL or CX one way and buy PE on the return?



*note* I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum! I wasn't entirely sure where to post this!

You may get better replies here: OneWorld Forum

Thanks! I didn't even realize there was a OneWorld specific forum.... Is there a moderator who can move this thread over there?

I think it applies to this forum.... go for the miles? Or don't go for the miles? To mileage run or to not.

Could book a J award + economy award back to arrive rested with few dollars spent.

I'd probably pay the economy fare, snag all those miles, and try to arrive a day early to prep/rest. Tough to pass up grabbing ~40k redeemable miles plus getting 40% of the way to PLT qualifying next year. Who knows, maybe you'll have a shot at ExPlat next year with this EQM boost, eh?

Example:
http://goo.gl/flights/jI18

E

Thats exactly why I was thinking about upgrading with miles. Bad think is AA flys the 787 to NRT and the MCE on that plane is said to not be so good. You're absolutely right though... Getting credit for all the miles flown should be high on my list... The flip side though is why have miles if I never use them for anything? In all my flying I have yet to cash in a single mile. I suppose I'm answering my own question and should try to use miles to upgrade!

Yep, finding good ways to use those earned miles can be a challenge.

Perhaps.... bank them and use the 90 + your new CGK 40 and fly in F to Japan or Korea on JAL round trip on a separate (vacation) trip. THAT would be a terrific use of the miles. 62,500 AA miles one way. Much more valuable (in my opinion) than bumping up to an AA premium cabin on the CGK route. Check out what those round trips in F go for on JAL.


E

I've read that JAL sometimes offers $200 upgrades to PE on the NRT-CGK route. I haven't found anything definitive on it, but it looks like it happens sometimes at the airport and/or gate. That would be cheaper than buying PE outright. I wouldn't waste a good award on that route when coach is so cheap, especially at the CPM. I second the "arrive a day early, if possible" for the rest criteria.

Is it possible to book into PE on the NRT-CGK segment and get "Y" (full fare) on the Trans-pacific leg on AA? I know that when I have book PE on TATL flights the AA domestic flights book into "Y"...

In my opinion, upgrading with miles isn't worth it. It's 25,000 miles + $350 each way, and you won't be able to upgrade the NRT-CGK leg (a 6hr flight). I would use your miles for an award--and buy the 20K miles if you want J both ways (there's a promo at the moment).

Also, note that AY has great J fares from YYZ to certain Asian markets. For example, YYZ-SIN is $2,589, and you could buy cheap tickets connecting ORD and YYZ, and SIN and CGK.

Biggest problem with that is I won't earn any miles... But it is a good thought and one that makes bottom line sense... AY? Isn't that Finnair?

Yes, AY is Finnair. The routing is YYZ-LHR-HEL-SIN or YYZ-JFK-HEL-SIN. If your motivation is to earn EQMs, just be aware that there are relatively substantiated rumours that AA is announcing changes to its AAdvantage program for 2016. If possible, I would wait until those changes are announced before making a decision.

I had absolutely NOT thought about flying that direction (I also forgot Finnair is OneWorld).Thanks for the guidance!!! Obviously I want to earn miles... But since this is an important event I'm willing to make some sacrifices..

FWIW, I've done CGK as a mileage run twice, with 3 of those segments being the NRT-CGK and return on JL. (one time I arrived via HKG) I'm 2 for 3 on getting moved to an empty row on those flights, resulting in 'lie-flat economy class.' The JL agents at check in or the lounge have treated me well as a OW elite. The one segment I didn't get 3 to myself, I still had no one in the middle seat.

They also will put you in premium econ for $200.

Thanks! That's good to know! If I do end up flying JL as long as I have AA flight numbers I will earn full points right?

As has been pointed out in the thread, this is a OW topic. So off this goes

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk