I have a question re advance seat selection on codeshare flights. In the original booking, there were 2 flights: one with CX and another with JL (same booking reference for both CX and JL). Then I decided to change the dates for both flights to later dates (TA said no fee involved in changing dates). TA found 2 seats on CX with a new date, but could only find 1 seat available on JL for another new date. However he could find 2 seats on the same JL flight under AS codeshare. I agreed to book under AS codeshare flight, and did not realise that the seat selection for codeshare flights was a real nightmare. AS codeshare booking has a link to JL (and JL booking reference) for seat selection. However that link did not work. I have posted a question on this in the JL forum and got one reply confirmed that "Seat selection on AS codeshare has been a mess for a while by now. Basically, you can request window or aisle. That's about it in advance." Somewhat disappointed. Contacted AS who said they are not operating carrier, so could not help. Contacted JL who said booking ticked with AS, contact AS !!
Another problem was that when I tried to 'manage booking' in JL website, it said reservation cancelled / could not be found :confused: TA said he did not know why that should be ..
If I could not find the booking in JL, then how would I be able to do online checkin for the flight?
Lesson learnt: Will stay away from codeshare flights in the future.

Try the AA RTW desk. These fares are all that the agents there do, and they're pretty knowledgeable about the rules. Not perfect, but much more knowledge and experience with these tickets than a travel agent. And getting your ticket from the AA RTW desk is free, no add-on fee. 800-247-3247.

The problem isn't the fact that they're codeshares, it's your "travel agent". I have no problem getting seats assigned when booking the ticket through the AA RTW desk.

Totally agree with this - never had an issue getting seats assigned at booking, or then changing them - and usually with either the operating airline or the codeshare partner.

A couple of years ago, I was told by one of the long-time AA RTW agents that they had a policy that they could only book prime flights or AA codeshares. This was confirmed by other agents and my experience of applying an AA SWU upgrade to a JL-issued RTW: AA upgraded the AA segment and reissued the ticket but quietly (did not tell me) changed all codeshares to prime flights. That cost me a lot of LPs and miles when credited to AA. There have been some posts this year that AA did book codeshares for the posters, so it appears that AA has rescinded the no-codeshares policy.

In my experience many of their agents are not well-trained, so I'd expect it to be hit-or-miss or may require asking for a different agent. However, if you know what you are doing, I'd expect it to be possible by telling the agent what the rules are and how to do it.




I would stay away from that person.

Thanks, Anabolism, for that info. So still no reason to stop using the AA desk.

Just use AA, unless you want to book a codeshare operated by AA (e.g., book AS or AY code for an AA-operated flight that you will credit to AA), or you want to save a bit on the carrier overcharges. I've been booking my RTWs though JL the past couple of years. They are more cumbersome to deal with than AA, but not excessively so.

I book codeshares all the time and rarely have problems with seat selection. I haven't tried an AS code on a JL-operated flight, but your TA as well as AS and JL should be able to allocate seats for you. With a codeshare, there will often be a different record locator for the operating carrier of that specific flight, so there might be a JL record locator for the overall itinerary plus a second JL-only record locator for the JL flight that's booked as an AS flight in the main itinerary. In this second record, the JL flight will be a JL prime flight, but it is a "limited services record," meaning that it can only be used for seat assignments, checking in, meal selection, and potentially an upgrade once under airport control. So first I'd try to have your TA allocate seats in their booking engine. If that fails, have them dig in and see if there's a separate JL PNR for that one flight. If so, try using the JL booking management web tool with that record locator. if that fails, try calling JL and giving them that record locator. You can also try using the Qantas or Finnair websites to manage the booking, using either the overall record locator (same as for JL) or the limited services one. You can also try calling AS back or using their website to allocate seats,using the AS record locator for the overall itinerary (which will be different from the JL one).

Just on the minor point of "these fares are all that they do," a few years ago, AA merged their Meeting Services and RTW teams, so RTW agents also do group bookings. And they handle overflow regular calls. That minor quibble aside, yes, the AA RTW desk is an excellent choice for booking RTWs. They won't book another airline's code on an AA-operated flight, and they are not the cheapest for carrier overcharges, but those two fairly minor issues aside, there's no reason not to use them.

Can you expand on that? About how much more am I paying to have AA do this vs another booking channel?

That actually works for me. I credit to QRPC, where AA coded flights earn considerably more than QR coded flights, even on QR metal. That's why I always get AA codes on my U.S. - DOH flights.

Thanks, Dr. HFH. Noted down the AA RTW desk number and will certainly try them (as we have planned more RTW itins in the future!) 👍🏼

Thanks, anabolism. Already done the booking with that person, too late as I have paid the fares and his fees. However, as suggested I will give AA RTW desk a go later this year for another itin.

Thanks, anabolism, for explaining that there might be a JL record locator for the overall itin PLUS a second JL-only record locator for the JL flight that's booked as an AS flight in the main itin (used for seat assignment). This makes sense as to why I have not been able to 'manage booking' using the JL record locator (JL website show booking not found or cancelled). I have contacted AS but they were unhelpful. Therefore, I may contact JL as to why I was unable to find my booking under the JL record locator given by AS (and the TA), hoping they will give me a second record locator for seat selection. I have used QF website but no joy. Could not find booking in Finnair as there was no AY flight involved.

Each airline files their carrier overcharges ("fuel surcharges") in the GDS. I am not aware of any handy tool to see this, although matrix shows it but only for "normal" itineraries, not RTWs. Many airlines charge per segment for their own flights, while some impose an additional surcharge over the whole trip. In my experience, AA charges all carrier overcharges, while some airlines (e.g., JL) seem to not charge quite as many. In addition, I think (but am not sure) that some airlines impose their own overcharges for the whole trip when booked through them. So, AA is in the middle. Booking with JL may save several hundred USD, and booking with BA may cost a few hundred more.

That works perfectly for you! AA is very happy to book AA codeshares wherever possible.

A JL agent should be able to find you by looking in the manifest of the JL flight by its flight number and date.

anabolism is spot on! When the booking goes through AS before being passed JL (Amadeus), likely another Amadeus record got generated just for the JL flight, especially if the TA uses Sabre. JL is notorious for always directing pax to marketing carriers for seat selection as a policy. It should be very simply done by the TA who can open seat map and select or at least use SSR code to specify.

I haven't priced an RTW with all airlines, but my experience suggests that JL may be cheaper than AA, BA, or QR. A couple of times when I used an AA SWU to upgrade an AA segment on a JL-issued RTW, AA threw conniptions, saying JL hadn't charged all the carrier overcharges and AA couldn't reissue without collecting them, but I was eventually able to get them to do a straight reissue.

JL is more cumbersome to deal with for an RTW than AA, for sure. With AA, you call, wait, and get an RTW-experienced agent. With JL, if you call the U.S. number exactly when they open at 5am Pacific, you usually have no or a short wait, but it's luck of the draw if you get a Los Angeles or overseas agent. The L.A. agents all seem capable and experienced with RTWs, while an overseas agent will first try to help, then put you on hold to "consult the relevant department," then transfer you. If lucky, they transfer you to L.A. or an agent in Japan who knows RTWs. If unlucky, it's one more transfer. A transfer typically involves a lengthly hold (I call when I have other stuff to do while the call is on speaker). If you don't call the U.S. number the instant they open, there is usually a lengthly wait. You can also call Japan, but they often bring a translator on the line.

That said, I have purchased several RTWs over the past few years with JL, typically AONE5 or DONE5, with open-dated segments, and have made changes multiple times. It just isn't as easy as with AA.

So I have a bit of an interesting thought here...I'm almost always buying LONE3's from AA, and then applying a single systemwide upgrade for both transatlantic, and transpacific segments. When I apply systemwide upgrade American has to take over the ticket. I often need to pay $125 once or twice to make changes to the ticket... I'm just not always very good at planning exactly which cities are planning to be in. Do you think that maybe I can keep the underlying better pricing from Japan Airlines and then have American Airlines service it? My thinking is that this might not be the case because tariff will end up repricing when making voluntary changes, but maybe I'm not thinking about it correctly. Do you happen to have a ballpark of how much money I might save?

I've had JL agents insist they could only do seat assignments on their own flights, and others (especially the L.A.-based agents) who happily assigned seats for all segments, JL, OA prime, and OA codeshares.

I have been able to assign seats for OA flights using JL's booking management web tab, although it's a bit tricky since a JL-created record requires entering last name, firstnamemiddlenameMR, with first and middle names mushed together and with "Mr" also mushed in there.

I just realized from this thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...icket-how.html that Japan Airlines charges a fee for the changes that don't involve routing changes which would be a big negative compared to American Airlines.

AA will charge a fee for taking over another airline's itinerary, but if you're applying an SWU and nothing else, then AA should reissue the ticket with no charge. At that point it's an AA itinerary, so from there out you should be able to call the RTW desk and make changes with no other charges. The only hitch is if someone at AA's tariff desk thinks the issuing airline didn't charge all the carrier overcharges. If that happens, you may be able to reach one of the long-time RTW agents who will call someone they know at tariff to do it as an even exchange or only for the reroute fee if you're changing the ticketed points)

cool thank you!

I put a space between my given name and "MR" in the PNR and did not need to put the "MR" in the JL booking management portal when accessing my reservation there.

They have never charged me a fee except when I changed the ticketed points. They have charged me updated taxes, although sometimes it has resulted in them issuing a credit to my credit card.

In my experience, if AA created the record, I just use my last name and first name in JL's booking management page, and it works. If JL created the record, usually I have to enter as I said (last name, then first and middle and "Mr" all squished together), but every now and then I have a record where I have to omit the "Mr" or omit my middle name.

Thanks, anabolism. I will try to contact a JL agent and report back next week if they will be able to locate us on that flight and maybe give me the JL second record locator for seat selection 🙏🏼 TA is useless, said seat selection of JL / AS codeshare flight is difficult and did not know why i could not retrieve the booking via JL website !!

Thanks, ernestnywang. TA said he could not select seats for codeshare flights (could only do it for flights booked directly with operating airlines - which was done without any drama). What is SSR code?

Update: unsuccessful in advance seat selection
I contacted JL and she was able to locate my booking (the reference for the whole itin). I asked why I could not do it, she said instead of putting in JL flight number I would need to put in AS (codeshare) flight number (I did not know this - AS flight number, not JL flight number in JL website). Eureka! I was able to see the itin. The next question was whether she could please select the seats for me. She said no, I would have to wait until check in to get assigned whatever available seats then 😩
After I hang up, I checked the itin on JL website again and noted that there were icons to select or re-select seats for all flights. I was feeling hopeful - I clicked on the AS flight and saw that our seats have been assigned (different rows on opposite site of the aircraft). I tried to hit the re-select seat icon, hoping to get preferred seats (which are still available), got an error message that 'your fares are not subject to advance seat selection' 😢 Feeling disappointed ...

This is another puzzling question. The change in dates for 2 flights has caused so much drama with advance seat selection for a codeshare flight. So I checked expertflyer and it showed JL flight for the new date J9 C9 D7 (which TA could only see D1). I contacted TA to see if he could check again that there were at least D2 to book us (and cancel AS codeshare flight). His answer was that when he went directly to JL he could see that, but when he tried to book (with the CX flight) it zeroed out the D fare in JL so he could not book it. My question: Was this because it was a 'married segment'? Then TA said even if he could go back booking JL (as originally for a new date) this might consider a re-routing and I would be up for a change fee etc. There was no change fee with the date change (which triggered booking from JL to AS codeshare). It is a hassle to argue with TA, so I will accept what's done with an inconvenience of not being able to select seats on AS codeshare flight. But curios to know why expertflyer showed seats available and TA could not book them? Still learning about RTW ticket rules ...

PS - sorry for asking too many questions

The fee applies when changing the ticketed points, that is, the cities in the ticket. Changing a segment to be a different flight, a different airline, or a different time or date does not incur the fee. Changing the airline may change the tax, though, and the issuing airline may recalculate the taxes, resulting in either an additional payment from you or a credit to you.

The lower 'D' availability could be because of married segments or a point of sale restriction or a type of fare restriction or a point of origin restriction. You can check for married segment inventory in EF by doing a flight availability query using the connection point. You can use EF's point of sale control to see if the availability is different for different points of sale. The past few years I've seen a lot of 'D' (and 'A') inventory restrictions for xONEx fares. In those cases you should at least be put on the waitlist.

I tried playing around a bit and it seems seat selection on AS*/JL (meaning marketed by AS and operated by JL) flights indeed may not be easy or even possible. Sorry, I didn't realise that. Seat map cannot be opened on GDS even when the query is directly made to AS. I don't want to create a live booking to test, but if you know a particular seat is free on the JL flight, it's worth trying if SSR (Special Service Request) code might work. On Sabre, it will be "4G<segment number>/<seat number>" or "3RQST<segment number>/<seat number>." If your TA uses another GDS, there will be corresponding codes, too. I will try the first one first, and if it fails, the second one then, but it's possible neither will be accepted. In this case, even an AS agent cannot help. Only a JL agent maybe can, though against their internal policy (but maybe LAX ones will help based on above?), or if you can access the PNR from another oneworld airline that uses Amadeus to select JL seats, but I don't know if there are anyone that still allows that.

I will add that Point of Commencement (POC) matters, too, and I believe there isn't an easy way to check against that unless someone has GDS (preferably Amadeus) access.

Just to mention the discrepancies are getting worse and worse, or ExpertFlyer is becoming more and more unhelpful.

I was booking a fairly simple DONE3 last night and had problems with CX and JAL (less so than AA for a change).

• CX JFK-HKG: D9s across the board for a Monday flight, no go, had to go on Tuesday
• CX HKG-MAN: D2 showing, in the past CX used to block the D1 seat from DONE, but allow D2 to book. Not this time, had to route via LHR
• JAL: Were better, I was able to select a D1 flight NRT-HKG in about a week, but wasn't able to select the domestic leg that was also showing as D1 with domestic connections on EF, so wasn't a married segment issue
• However, AA were good, was able to book: LHR-DFW (new B78P), DFW-LAX, LAX-JFK (new A32Q/321XLR) within a 24 hour period with no married segment issues.

which carrier did you book through? Does it make a difference for availability?

Thank you, anabolism, for the above. I have learnt so much thru this post from you and ernestnywang 👍🏼👍🏼 Indeed, I have checked EF for married segment, and the 2 flights CX and JL for the changed date showed no business seat inventory. However, when I just queried individual flights there was some D inventory.

Thank you again, ernestnywang for persisting with my question re seat selection on AS codeshare flight with JL. My OTH said I should stop wasting time as it is only 4 hours flight so we should just accept the assigned seats - still better sitting in the back of the bus! However, I am not a defeatist, and will contact the TA - hinting to him what you have suggested, ie trying if SSR code might work. He may think I am too demanding and tell me to go away. I can see the seats originally selected by the TA (before I changed the 2 flight dates) are still available on EF map.

If I were your TA I would have proactively tried my best to get the seats for you (if possible, of course), but then I don't do this for a living.

I could have been clearer, this was with the AA RTW desk like all my RTWs after prior issues with CX and QF booking via the online tool. I feel that JAL and AA really don't get on for availability, but I'm not willing to book via JAL, or use a travel agent so I'm a bit stuck with this. I just like the flexibility of AA and their deep knowledge of the fare rules. This has removed my willingness to book AONEx tickets though.