oneworld Explorer with JAL - A Class Zeroed-out
 

I have spent the last couple of weeks working with my TA to get A availability on JAL (e.g. JFK-NRT or GRU-NRT ... ) on various date (ranging from Aug 2007 to Apr. 2008), but it seemed to be that all A class are zeroed out.

Anyone has similar experience? Or any idea how I can go about getting A booking class?

Thanks

You might try calling the airline yourself and perhaps asking for a supervisor if the agent says no. And if it's worth the trouble, you can also try calling a globally-remote JAL office (e.g. Tokyo) - no one has mentioned that JAL is heavy into point-of-sale availability, but that may be the case.

It would be disappointing to learn that JAL controls its capacity so tightly that A seats are never available. Please update your thread with any progress or lack thereof.

Yeah, I've not seen any A availability on JAL for any route or any date. Even JFK-GRU, which I think would be fairly easy, is zeroed out.

Perhaps JL is copying a common practice at SQ. On more than one occasion on a Star Alliance RTW, SQ inventury for A or D was listed as 0; when my TA or issuing airline requested an A/D seat for a specific flight, the seat came through the following day.

Unfortunately not working that way for the OP on JAL. I hope this thread brings out some good news stories from FTers who've succeeded - otherwise for some of us JAL might just as well not have joined ManyWorlds.

JL used A for awards prior to joining OW (not a revenue fare code), and has not yet finished many of their OW integration changes (July 1 looks to be the current target). So the lack of A is one of the in-process but unfinished changes. You have to phone and request A to be released, it is never available automatically at this point.

There was a thread a few months back speculating about how JL would handle the (many) incompatibilities with OW fare codes, and now we know the answer: badly.

Not exactly. Actually, JL used A, and still does (until June 30), for Discounted Economy Class (Domestic Japan).

Which has no impact on A inventory on NRT-JFK flights. Obviously part of the problem, but not really salient to the OP's question. What causes his lack of A is not the domestic Japan A availability, but rather the lack of A because it isn't set up in the system for the Oneworld purpose. I am really surprised at how many things JL had failed to complete by April 1 as part of joining OW, they really should not have joined until 6 months later when the work was completed. Just goes to show how desperate both OW and JL were in getting the alliance going.

My one F award on JAL was booked into A class, FWTW.

JAL uses completely seperate reservation systems for international and domesitc. Inventories are controlled seperately.

I did not feel like spending time and money on phone call for this "mess" so I asked my TA to call JAL ... and ... no luck (they can confirm D, but not A booking class). We've re-worked the trip to cut out all the JAL segments but 1 left for open for next year e.g. May/Jun 2008 ... will see, I may just cut that one out also.

Jal
 

I just booked a AONE4 and have 2 JAL segiments. PVG-NRT D class no problem, but the NRT-SIN is A0.

This flight isn't until 26 June, so there is plenty of time for me. Will report here if any news.

F class fully open....cannot get JAL "A" seat either!!!
 

Geese! I have a huge RTW trip planned leaving on 5/19....JAL first flight of trip has first class fully open....no seats sold.....and I am still on a waitlist? Crazy. I have asked the US RTW desk and they have been of no help. Suggestions?

Thanks and happy travels.

I assume you're booking ur RTW from another airline (eg AA)? Try calling JL directly and have them confirm the seat for you. You will need ur JL reloc. Worked for me with BA. Inventory fully open (SIN-LHR) but appeared as D0 on AA's computer. A call to BA in the UK got me the seat right away.

Best I can tell JL is simply not selling A as a discounted F code at the moment; presumably this is fixed July 1, 2007 when they complete the OW integration; but at the moment you will have to take a downgrade to D even if there are plenty of empty seats in F on your flight (and no, they won't upgrade at the airport).

You'd think that would violate the ticket terms - JAL is welcome to be very restrictive on how many seats they make available, but if they never make any available (for any reason, including computer programming, which is well within their control) the passenger should have a legitimate gripe.

In principle but not in law. JL would just say it is a blackout on certain dates (April to July in this case), and blackout periods do not have to be disclosed. Lots of other airlines have certain days of week blacked out for various discounted fare products, but don't say "never on a Friday", etc. Pax learn the hard way. Until loads drop, this will only get worse.

Email from JAL
 

Here is a reply I received from JAL concerning this subject and specifically a flight I want in A (NRT-SIN)....


Dear Mr. LPeterman,



Thank you for your e-mail dated May 4, 2007. We appreciate your taking the time to contact us.



Regarding seating availability on Japan Airlines, please understand that while it is always our hope to provide the highest levels of accommodation to all of our passengers, in this ever-competitive environment, we must limit the amount of promotional fare seats available in each class of service. Should you currently hold a waitlisted reservation with us, we will immediately send notice to American Airlines in the event that your reservation becomes confirmed. Your kind understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated.



Please be assured that Japan Airlines has met all requirements for full membership into the oneworld alliance. The comments and suggestions of our valued customers, however, are greatly appreciated, and taken seriously, as we constantly strive to improve upon our service capabilities. As such, we have forwarded your correspondence to the appropriate departments for review.



In closing, allow us to once again thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to contact us. We thank you for your interest in Japan Airlines and the oneworld Explorer Fare, and look forward to the opportunity to serve you on your upcoming flights.



Best regards,



Customer Relations Desk

Customer Service and Support Center

The Americas

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Japan Airlines The Americas
Internet Help Desk
[email protected]

Well, they at least read Peterman's letter and responded specifically to it, and were culturally polite when they told him (and the rest of us) to pound salt. If they ever have make a seat available they'll be sure to tell American. Meanwhile, please stop wasting our people's time.

This game really is just about over. Even a year ago one could reasonably expect a premium seat to be available on any airline/route with just a few exceptions, given a day or two's flexibility. Today they're getting to be more like award seats, complete with a "we're doing you a favor" attitude.

number_6 commented the other day on how good JL is at this kind of nonsense: 'please, most honorable sir, up yours, thank you'.

I think JL is not really fare is using AWARD inventory for revenue pax. What are their corrosponding discount F Class booking code?

If you guys knew the full truth about JAl's financial condition, you'd find this position as utterly ridiculous as I do.

Bottom line, JAL needs OW more than OW needs JAL.

JAL Zeroed out
 

Earlier I posted the following:

I just booked a AONE4 and have 2 JAL segiments. PVG-NRT D class no problem, but the NRT-SIN is A0.

This flight isn't until 28 June, so there is plenty of time for me. Will report here if any news.

Today, 20 days before my AONE4 flight NRT-SIN, I'm happy to announce that two first class seats cleared for my wife and I. :)

Any update?
 

July 1 has passed. Does anyone have any updates on A class availability? I've scanned NRT-SIN-NRT for various dates in March and April 2008 and have found no A availability on any flight on any date.

There have been several posts recently reporting success with JL A class availability so I think the problem is no longer as widespread as before, when it seemed JL was just not going to make A class available, period.

Just got 2 A class confirmed on JAL for NRT-BKK for late March 2008.

I see A class on intra-Asia flights but no luck on any trans-pacific NRT-ORD/NRT-JFK.

I too am waitlisted on A class for Nov 8 with what looks like 0 seats sold in F.

Does calling JL have any effect on openning "A" seats?
 

I'm currently waitlisted for SIN-NRT in March 08. F shows 9 seats while A shows 0. I'm waitlisted for the flight in A but was curious if there is any way to get JL to open up an A seat.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Putting on a gorilla suit, climbing the Empire State building and pounding your chest is as likely as anything to get results. Second best is to pretend JAL isn't part of OneWorld.

Trying to book another RTW - JFK to NRT on A class all zero'd out - I have tried almost all days in Oct 2008. Strangely though, F class also zero'd out.

A class does looks zeroed out but EF shows F2 for every flight I looked (week 12-18 Oct). The AA codeshare on JL metal shows F4 throughout, and no A class at all, not even A0.

Just checked some random dates from Feb to Oct ... no A.

Though what is intersting is for end of Dec. 2007 and some dates in Jan. 2008, there are A availabiliy. Seems like JL has a very strange strategy of only releasing A class for flight within the next 1 month or so.

If most of the time they can sell full fare F why is it strange that they hold back discounted F until such time as they decide they won't sell a full cabin worth of full F? Different does not imply strange.

AONEx is always like that. If a passenger does not have an elite status on an airline, it is difficult for him/her to book long-haul segments. It is better to be more flexible. Is it possible to fly on AA instead? Availability on AA should be better.

Anyone Ever Actually Clear a JAL Waitlist For A Class?
 

I'm currently confirmed in D on the Dec. 26 JFK-GRU flight. I was able to get a Z seat for my fiance on this flight earleir today, so I am hopeful that it will clear and will clear soon.

Any one have experience with clearing on this flight?

It cleared this morning!

In the last couple of months, I've had pretty good luck clearing JAL in A class, as long as there is also F availability. Obviously, if F is also zero, they have likely sold out the flight and the chance of getting A is very slim.

Still no A class seating on JL for most sectors...
 

Trying to get A Class on a few JL sectors for Dec '08 - JFK-NRT, NRT-BKK and BKK-NRT. The only one showing any A availability was 31 Dec BKK-NRT (New Year's Eve). No problem flying CX non-stop in A on their new 777-300ERs JFK-HKG, however. From EF, it seems not only pax has booked (or at least reserved a seat) on JFK-NRT three days either side of my preferred travel date, either on the 777 service, or the 744 service (is it the GRU-NRT via JFK service?). Very frustrating, as I want to book hotels and confirm travel plans with friends in Japan. Friends have flown JL recently on trans-pacifc flights, and have said F is very lightly travelled...so why are JL being so tough releasing the odd A class seat here and there? Surely it would be wise to get pax onto their planes, experience the product and we may come back with full F revenue tickets...no?

My recent experience is also very little A availability (though I had no problem in September NRT-SIN, and it was the old solo seats too). I can see short term availability ex-ORD and NRT right now (including some that just went A5 for tomorrow - shame I can't push back my flights by a day). Nothing at all further out, all the way through next summer.

On the problem routes, it looks like the strategy is to confirm A on another OW carrier, then check JL every day. Kind of irrelevant if you're on CX, QF etc but if on AA ... well, you get my point.

I just travelled from JFK-NRT-SFO on JL first class using an AA award ticket from Oct 10th to the 15th. I had been trying dates in October/Nov since the last 3 months but nothing was available especially the return segment. But then closer to October, dates started randomly and sporadically appearing and fortunately I was able to get both segments confirmed. However, it is practically impossible to plan in advance if you have other dependant reservations.

But the new JAL first class is outstanding though and the best I have seen on OW yet. Even the 744 service is good also with the old seating arrangement that has absolutely no storage space except for the pouch in front.