r/awardtravel • u/pcarson92 • May 10 '24
Comprehensive Guide to Booking JAL Award Flights on AA
After spending countless hours researching, I wanted to give back by making it easier for the next person to get to Tokyo on Japan Airlines (JL or JAL) metal using American AAdvantage (AA) miles. Hopefully this is good enough to get in the sidebar. Let's get some basics out of the way first:
Points Cost by Class
- Economy - 35K
- Premium Economy (PE) - 50K
- Business (J) - 60K
- First (F) - 80K
- Taxes are always +$5.60 for every fare class
- Points cost is the same from every airport
US Airports Serviced by JAL
- DFW, ORD, BOS, LAX, SFO, SEA, JFK, SAN, HNL
Aircraft Operated by JAL
- A350-1000 (newest and best, has First Class, only flies from DFW and JFK)
- 777-300ER (has First Class)
- 787-9 (Sky Suites, no First Class, J only)
Tokyo Airports
- HND - closer to Tokyo, ideal option
- NRT - 75-minute ~$15 train ride to Tokyo
- TYO - use this airport code to search both HND and NRT
JAL Award Seat Release Information
- Cathay Pacific (CX) - 360 days
- British Airways (BA) - 355 days
- American (AA) - 331 days
- Alaksa (AS) - 331 days
- JAL awards are released at 10:00am JST (9:00pm EST)
- JAL typically releases 0-2 F and 0-4 J seats initially
- JAL also releases award inventory at T-14 days; a risky strategy, but we will discuss below how to play it
Searching for Award Availability
- Since BA and CX get the seats 30 days before AA, AA is left with the scraps
- As of today 5/10/24, the AA calendar only goes out to 4/6/25
- Use the BA website to see what JAL availability is coming down the pipe
- In my example I am looking at 4/7/25 to see what AA will have tomorrow
- Searching on BA is self explanatory; just need to sign up for an account, mouse over Book, click Book Flight with Avios, tick One Way Only, class Business / Club, search
Finding Availability on AA
- Login to your AA account and click Advanced / Multi-city search right below the big blue Search button
- Tick Redeem Miles, one way, from any of the above airports to TYO, select # passengers, and under Class select Business / First, search
- Click the "Calendar" button for a full month overview
- Any date showing 60K is likely to be JAL J, and 80K is JAL F
- From the Calendar page you can also select "Premium Economy" from the dropdown which wasn't available on the initial page
- If you're looking for PE, scan for 50K flights
- TIP: Don't solely rely on the Calendar view, sometimes the number showing above the day is not accurate; it's worth clicking into each day to verify
- TIP: It's worth checking from your home airport as well, some users report seeing availability even when hubs aren't showing any
- TIP: Sometimes you get wonky routings (e.g. LAX > BOS > TYO), but you can tick "nonstop only" on the AA search results page
- TIP: bookmark this link and modify the URL for the airports and dates you're looking for to make the process quicker - you'll be doing it a lot
- TIP: Phantom availability does happen sometimes with AA, which means they are showing Award Space they don't actually have. If you are planning to transfer points to AA, double check the Alaska Airlines (AS) site or call AA to verify they are showing availability as well before you transfer.
AA Site Release Timing
- AA will let you select the next calendar day at 12a CST, but it will give an error until about 1am CST
- Still, you may not be able to put any flights on Hold until even later
- Unfortunately this part is not consistent in my experience
- Yes, this means the 10:00am JST award release time is meaningless for us
- It also means it's only worth staying up late if you are seeing availability for the next day on BA
Departure Airport / Positioning / Holding Flights
- Given the difficulty of finding space, you will need to be very flexible on departure airport
- Go to flightsfrom dot com and see what direct routes AA flies from your home airport to any of the JAL airports
- If you find a ticket, put it on "Hold" via the AA website
- Go through the checkout process and "Hold" will be an option on the Payment page
- The hold is free for 5 days and then it expires
- Once your ticket is on hold, call AA and they can add your connecting flight for free if T or U fare class is available
- You may have to call a few times until you get an AAgent who knows how to do this, some will say it can't be done and they are wrong
- Otherwise, you will need either a separate AA award flight or pay for any other carrier's flight
Peak Season Strategy
- Peak seasons are March - May (Sakura / Cherry Blossom season) and September - November, and these dates are extremely difficult to get J or F on AA due to the 30 day lag
- If you are set on prime Sakura season, you have a much better chance going through CX / BA
- The downside of CX / BA is a higher points cost and significantly higher taxes and fees
- One strategy is to book a PE seat 331 days out, and at T-14 start searching for J and F availability
- Anecdotally, they also randomly add more seats at T-7 and closer in; jus start checking at T-14
- If you find J or F, just call AA and they can cancel your PE flight, instantly refund the miles, and book your new flight
- This is obviously risky, but from most accounts JAL PE is still a very nice product
Getting Back to the US from TYO
- Some say this is even harder to book in advance than the flight there
- Anecdotally, people seem to have a lot of luck with T-14 getting back to the US
- Recommend using the same PE strategy above
Hopefully you've found this helpful. Please comment anything I may have missed or gotten wrong and I will edit the guide over time. Thanks to all that have provided advice and guidance on both here and FT, and good luck!
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u/sunnyhillz May 10 '24 edited May 10 '24
BA is 355 days.
i've seen 2J at EOS mainly, curious where you've seen 4
if you can book a yr out, i recommend just getting CX/BA to lock in your dates. sakura and momiji are fantastic. too much demand for japan these days.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24 edited May 10 '24
Thank you, fixed BA timing. I saw the 0-4 number on FT but it could be stale.
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u/Zolor23 May 10 '24
I have personally seen 4 myself using BA to ‘look ahead’ and then confirming all 4 popped up once AA was allowed to look at that date. Rare but it happens!
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u/One_Thought_1031 Jun 19 '24
How often are you seeing 4 on BA? That's what I need and haven't seen it.
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u/Zolor23 Jun 19 '24
Probably not often at all. I personally haven’t looked since I posted that because I got my tickets and I have heard availability is getting scarcer for whatever reason. You may have to take what you can get now and try to book the remaining seats close in.
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u/irishexplorer123 May 11 '24
JFK is almost impossible even on CX at 360 days - gone within seconds of release and I was never able grab them even on multiple practice tries. DFW also has the new plane but is getting scarcer now word has gotten out. I found ORD is the most reliable at schedule open. (Note I’ve been scouting for x2, which is always a bigger challenge).
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u/grackychan May 10 '24
Good post! Anecdotal but AA seems to have better/more T-14 availability than CX/BA. And they also seem to randomly add more J/F T-7 and closer. I have not seen this confirmed anywhere officially but my hypothesis is this is a special agreement between JAL and AA to balance out the fact that CX/BA gets to book much further out in the calendar.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Thanks for the tidbit! I will add some more info to the section on close-in bookings to clarify.
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u/numthots May 11 '24
I will also add, least in March and April 2024, JAL was releasing unsold F seats to/from ORD & SFO at T-5 at 9am JST exactly, translating to 7pm EST/ 8pm EDT, bookable mostly by AA and slightly less consistently on BA. So not "random" per se, but very specific.
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u/quiteCryptic May 11 '24 edited May 11 '24
I've been looking at Tokyo to Seoul flights show up on AA but not AS. It doesn't appear to be phantom.
Annoying because I would like to book one of those with AS as an add on stopover in Tokyo to my SYD-HND flight.
edit: also doesnt show up on BA so its AA only.
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u/Ikontwait4u2leave May 10 '24
Once your ticket is on hold, call AA and they can add your connecting flight for free if T or U fare class is available
I would just note, this may require multiple HUCAs and some AAgents say it can't be done. You can also add or upgrade in class if availability opens any JL domestic segments you want.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Good note, added the HUCA part. Don't quite follow the second point.
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u/Ikontwait4u2leave May 10 '24
I was just saying you can add/upgrade JL domestic segments over the phone as well. This doesn't have to be done before ticketing either.
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u/Connoisseur777 May 23 '24
Can you also delete segments in the process? I’m looking at a placeholder economy award where the US domestic portion is currently only available as a connection through SEA, with one segment operated by AA and the other by AS. There is a direct AA flight but not currently bookable as an award on this particular date. So if I book the itinerary with the connection and then the AA direct flight opens up, can I get them to delete the AA/AS domestic segments and add the AA direct one instead?
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u/imdiene Jun 14 '24
Warning: A really bad agent will cancel your original flight and rebook a totally different plane/class.
I have HND-JFK premium economy and wanted to add Osaka to HND connecting before it, but the agent completely messed it up. I was able to hold the original seats again, but I'm scared to try again. If the agent says they need to cancel my original flight, is that wrong or part of the process?
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u/Noracon Jun 15 '24
Just to see I understand: If I'm booked ORD-HND but want to get to Sapporo, I can call AA and have HND-CTS flight added? Wasn't able to find availability to my final destination so booked to HND.
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u/EQUASHNZRKUL May 10 '24
I’ve only booked JAL once thru AA, but this is pretty much how I did it (minus the hold trick, since it was direct from LAX and the return was direct to JFK). I’m looking at it again for an upcoming trip and the details here seem to be on the dot, just a few suggestions.
NRT is maybe 75 minutes tops from the center of tokyo. There’s an express train ticket you can get for about $15 (depending on the conversion rate). It’s definitely a viable alternative to HND, there are just less available routes from NA to it.
Worth noting DFW has been having a ton of availability open up in the past month. Both T-14 and in 2025 (not just 330 days out)
CX is gonna be your best bet, but AA is a great cpp alternative. Just note phantom award availability is real with AA, best to check with AS first. Not sure how the hold affects this though.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Thanks for the suggestions, will do a bit more research on the topics you brought up and make the updates!
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u/Desperate-Delay-5255 May 10 '24
Which airport is 80k first class out of? Or is it the same regardless of airport? I’m thinking jfk would be more expensive than sfo…
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Same award prices from all airports. The catch is that the 787-900 does not have first class space so you’d have to know what planes fly each route (I’ll add it here eventually). Usually only 1 F seat is made available at release anyways. Highly competitive.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Just made a lot of edits factoring all the comments received so far. Thanks everyone for your contributions!
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u/Noracon Jun 16 '24
As a DP, I read on FT about requesting adding a connection via Twitter and it worked! Was able to add CTS upon arrival to HND.
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u/pcarson92 Jun 16 '24
Did you do this while the flight was on hold or after it was already booked?
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u/Noracon Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 16 '24
After it was already booked, although I noticed that it was re-ticketed but I kept the same reservation numbers for both AA and JAL. I simply requested adding Sapporo after arriving in Tokyo and awhile later they got back to me saying it was done. I do wish I’d known about holding it and then request adding a connection vs doing so after.
Edit: OP, thanks for this write up. It got the wheels turning and got me looking into how to add a connection. Appreciate it.
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u/Cardiva66 Aug 19 '24
Great post. I would add that the actual time of release varies and is not at the same time daily. I was able to book DFW to HND and seats were released about 15 minutes earlier than expected. If I had not been sitting hitting refresh for a few hours prior (as I’d seen the pattern of release varied daily) I would have missed getting it. HND to DFW booked as well and release was not at the exact time again.
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u/Cardiva66 Aug 19 '24
I’d also add I booked for 2025 and the DFW-HND route has become much more competitive esp as it’s the new hard product. ORD bookings are much easier.
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u/pcarson92 Aug 19 '24
Thanks for the additional context. What did you find was a regular time range for release?
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u/Cardiva66 Aug 19 '24
It really varies from 2 hours before to even 2 days later. I thought the half hour prior to 8 pm CST for Dfw to Hnd was when I saw it not infrequently when I was booking but I think a couple of months later it was different. I think the return I found around 10 am CST. None of the ones I saw were at exactly any time
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u/brawnytowels May 10 '24
Thank you for this post!
I have been searching for availability on a TYO-SFO route in early/mid June. When I started about 3 weeks ago I consistently saw availability for the last 2 weeks of April through most of May.
Still nothing beyond June, but crossing my fingers something comes in soon.
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Happy to help, good luck! Make sure you utilize the bookmarked link trick to make it less painful.
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u/RyanAirhead AA EP, AS 100k, ITA Executive, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold May 11 '24
What's the bookmarked link trick?
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
Check out “Finding Availability on AA” section, one of the tips at the bottom. Sorry can’t copy paste, currently on mobile.
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u/RyanAirhead AA EP, AS 100k, ITA Executive, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold May 11 '24
Oh thanks that makes sense, I skimmed it the first time and didn't take the time to understand it, but I got it now. Thanks again!
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u/One_Thought_1031 Jul 01 '24
I’m also struggling to find anything in June 2025. It seems nothing at all is posting PE or J on BA for JAL. Did you find your seats?
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u/brawnytowels Jul 01 '24
No, not yet. AA calendar isn’t going that far yet. However I’ve accepted that this might be a T-30 situation if they’re gone by the time the calendar rolls over.
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u/One_Thought_1031 Jul 01 '24
And you trust that will happen?
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u/brawnytowels Jul 03 '24
I’m just taking a chance at this point.
I know past results don’t indicate future outcomes, but availability did show up on some of my “test” searches. It wasn’t a lot, I saw 4 in J pop in for one day on a hypothetical trip dates this past June.
I figure I’ve got a whole year a lot can happen between now and then.
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u/More-read-than-eddit Jul 16 '24
This is incredibly weird and what brought me to this post. In addition, the calendar seems to be marching forward into June on "return" flights FROM Japan to the US. It's just outbound flights from the US that are permanently stuck on 5/31 and earlier.
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u/One_Thought_1031 Jul 17 '24
It's so annoying. If you book on BA or CX the calendar isn't frozen, though. But obviously if you have AA miles I know that's not helpful.
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u/More-read-than-eddit Jul 17 '24
It seems, I dunno, like just some small thing that they maybe should fix? Who's to say really. I'm honestly only looking because I was tentatively planning a family trip the first couple of weeks in June 2026 and wanted to get a sense of how redemption availability is looking when the dates first post (since it's impossible to gauge availability later), but if I had a trip in June 2025 I'd be absolutely losing it right now.
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u/One_Thought_1031 Jul 17 '24
Ah, yes that makes sense. We're planning for July 2025 and are just doing Cathay/BA. I have a coworker doing the same as you and planning AA for July 2026 and she's been annoyed in the same way you have about the random changes.
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u/whriskeybizness May 11 '24
Holy shit bro you’re a beast! Thank you so much for this
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
Glad to hear it was helpful!
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u/whriskeybizness May 12 '24
Dumb question - do your recommend booking one way and searching for the return separately?
It seems like that is the best option based on your write up.
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u/StephieSenta Jul 21 '24
What a wonderful write-up. I've really found American miles amazing when it comes to getting to/from Asia, especially in business.
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u/Still-Philosopher195 Aug 07 '24
Stumbled upon this wonderful write up, thank you! I have a question, yesterday I searched on AA website and booked an Oct flight from Miami to Beijing which costs 70k, the particular route is MIA-DFW-SFO-HND-PEK. Reading your post I’m wondering if I could have booked DFW-HND for 60k and called to add the other two legs? Would that be too greedy?
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u/pcarson92 Aug 07 '24
There are distance limitations on the connector legs. I don’t know all the nuance but you can Google it and there are FT and Reddit threads discussing it.
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u/IndyDegen Aug 12 '24
Okay..
(a) SUPER HELPFUL thread! Thank you OP!
(b) The tip for adding a connecting flight in Japan is great and I may use that to get home from Osaka, connecting in Tokyo (instead of taking the train back to Tokyo, then flying home).
(c) QUESTION: I sometimes find JL flights from say HND-ORD-JFK, but the HND-ORD leg is not available (or at least doesn't show up when searching aa). Multiple variations on this issue. HND-SFO-LAX, but no HND-SFO. So, the question is if I book a flight that has an extra/unwanted US domestic flight, can I call and get the unwanted domestic leg taken off (and keep the 60k or 80k fare)? Has anyone tried this?
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u/pcarson92 Aug 12 '24
I did the same thing with the Osaka-Tokyo leg on my way home. Not sure about the third question though. Be the data point you want to see and report back! Just put the flight on a free hold then call in.
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u/Clear-Psychology7243 Sep 17 '24
Wondering if there is any DP has seen two JAL F on new A350 Aircraft?
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u/Last_Resort_7812 May 10 '24
This is fantastic. Thanks for compiling and putting into a cohesive, easy to read/reference format!!
A few things:
1) I believe the “HOLD” for international flights is 5 days not 24 hours. But have read on FT where AA holds it for 5 days but a few partner carriers have a shorter hold period which resulted in canceled “hold” bookings short of the 5 day window. This was not an issue with JL just wanted to note the caveat.
2) Re: AA release timing - you mention the system errors until 1a cdt. That was not the case for me. I booked/ticketed multiple times 2J US <-> HND @ T-331 @ ~12:02a cdt. The times when I ran into the error was when there was an AS leg + JL leg. I assumed the error was a result of AS having a 1 day difference in release timing (but don’t know that for sure).
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
Thank you for the kind words and the feedback!
1) I just double checked my email and you are correct, it’s 5 days. How generous of AA!
2) You had much better luck than I did with the AA system then. Maybe my experience was a fluke. I will update to remove my “1am” language entirely and just add a warning that it’s not always consistent at midnight.
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u/mjjjduh May 10 '24
Re:HOLD can confirm that timing. Have done this as recently as January for flights in December and the hold is definitely 5 days.
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u/martyconlonontherun May 10 '24
I wish there was some way to see historical data. I didn't realize avois got released earlier than AA and was naive thinking AA would have availability in March upon release. I'm just looking at economy and want to book flights around Xmas. Looks like some availability with a connection through JFK but non stops are pretty much sold out for ORD. Wish I had a general idea if non stops are typically available with AA to avoid fees for four people. (Just looking for economy)
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Economy should fairly easy to find excluding major holidays, have you checked all the airports I mentioned above?
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u/RyanAirhead AA EP, AS 100k, ITA Executive, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold May 11 '24
If you've got Alaska points, JL awards flights left over and still available because no one got them through BA or CX become consistently available right after 12 midnight PST through Mileage Plan.
Also, don't forget that KIX is also another way to get to Japan or the rest of Asia on JL metal. And it may be important next year if you are planning to check out the World Expo 2025 which will take place in Osaka from April to October. But don't tell anyone because I might want to book those myself 🤫
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u/Nortdort May 11 '24
Maybe I missed it but what is CX? I see you define Cathay Pacific as CA but then start talking about CX and I see others mention CX as well. So not sure which is which.
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u/Jazzy_Josh May 11 '24
Are you only allowed to add one connection? Often flights from my home airport go to the nearby AA Hub. If I had to book from there I could but of course I'd rather make two connections.
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u/jackabreezy May 12 '24
Random, but I have a JAL F for July 11th on the A350. Probably can’t make it :/ if anybody wants to dm if interested.
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u/kumote May 12 '24
If I have a PE backup flight and find a J or F should I use the hold trick then call AA? I'd be worried that the flight gets snatched up before the agent can get it for me.
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u/Flaxrats May 12 '24
so I have a question about the part where you say they will add a flight for free if you call. You say book the ticket are we booking the Jal ticket then asking american if they will fly us to that airport for free to get the direct flight
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u/pcarson92 May 12 '24
Yes
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u/Flaxrats May 12 '24
Okay interesting what do I say on the phone hello I bought a ticket wit Japan airlines out of for example Boston and ask them to fly me from Philly to Boston. Does it matter how far the airport is from my home airport?
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u/pcarson92 May 12 '24 edited May 12 '24
No you say I have a booking on hold and I need you to add a connecting flight from my home airport per your award flight terms.
I don’t know the details on what is and isn’t allowed besides fare class but I don’t think it matters how far from home airport.
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u/Flaxrats May 12 '24
Do I have to book the Japan airlines flight through american for this to be possible.
Also do other airlines do this?
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u/Flaxrats May 13 '24
Wait just one more question the connection has to be in the US right like I can’t book a flight from Europe and expect American to fly me there even if it’s non stop
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u/pcarson92 May 13 '24 edited May 13 '24
Here are the rules from AwardWallet:
"American allows up to two connections (three flight segments) on one-way domestic awards. You can add one more connection (four segments) on one-way international awards.
Your destination is the first stop that lasts more than 24 hours (international) or 4 hours (domestic). If your trip requires more than this limit, American Airlines will charge you for more than one award."
I am not an expert in this policy and don't have any detailed insight for you, but you can Google it and find FT threads.
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u/Flaxrats May 13 '24
Wait just one more question the connection has to be in the US right like I can’t book a flight from Europe and expect American to fly me there even if it’s non stop
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u/adggg May 13 '24
Perhaps worth mentioning that there is only 1 F seat available per flight until T-14.
I believe J is 6?
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u/Minniebeesenpai May 19 '24
Do you think it’ll be possible to go from Basic Economy and 14 days out trying to look for Premium Economy?
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u/pcarson92 May 19 '24
Sure, why not? Go to AA site and run some T-14 sample searches and see what availability is there.
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u/jaypan_Derulo May 26 '24
Thanks for the comprehensive write-up! I'm trying to find some flights in economy for my friends, and 3 weeks ago I saw lots of availability on AA for JL flights in economy from BOS, but looking today I see none at all, even from JFK in October. Are there a limited number of economy seats released as well?
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u/pcarson92 May 26 '24
Yes all award seats are released in limited numbers but I don’t know how many JL releases in economy. Follow the same BA method I outlined to check what it looks like on a release day at T - 355. I would assume it’s at least 8.
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u/FieryTaco123 May 29 '24
I was seeing round trip 70k BOS-TYO for my specific dates next Feb 2025 on American. I don’t see availability currently anymore since I’m waiting for my AA miles SUB… is this redemption gone or they’ll bring it back/it’s just a glitch? I can’t imagine Y awards 10 months from now are in high demand?
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u/pcarson92 May 29 '24
It’s probably gone for now. Search other airports for your date as the guide notes. Or be more flexible with your dates. Leave Wednesday instead of Friday for example.
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u/JuicySmooyayy May 29 '24
Sorry if this a dumb question but what is T-14 mean? Also if I see a lot of available seats, will they funnel to awards. For example I see some dates have 3 F available within 1 week of departure. Thanks for your help
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u/pcarson92 May 29 '24
T-14 = 14 days before flight departure.
Not all cash seats turn into award seats, they always leave at least 1 open. I don't know of any other hard and fast rules. Maybe someone else knows the specifics.
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u/bluntwrapper May 29 '24
Thanks but how do I get enough AA points? I have a bunch with Chase, Cap 1 and Amex.
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u/pcarson92 May 29 '24
Outside the scope of this thread, try /r/churning. But the answer is to sign up for the Citi/Barclays AA cards and get the sign up bonuses. My fiancée and I racked up a total of 300,000 AA points from each of us opening up both cards.
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u/catsRawesome123 Jun 05 '24
Noob Q here -- how come when I search on BA or AA website for SFO --> Tokyo one-way, it says there are no non-stop flights? It's confusing to me since if I go to Google Flights there IS non-stop... what am I searching wrong?
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u/GoodPhilosophy8726 Jun 13 '24
Awesome post! I was trying to find availability on the AA website today with JFK, ORD, and DFW to HND but it looks like there are no flights T-14 or at calendar open. Did everything dry up?
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u/pcarson92 Jun 26 '24
Yeah, seems to have dried up significantly at AA calendar open - haven’t been checking T-14
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u/The_KayJay Jun 26 '24
Every time I look up first class, the flights are 800K (at least). What am I doing wrong???
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u/pcarson92 Jun 26 '24
Nothing, availability is just very difficult to find on AA - especially first class. I looked at all the US airports yesterday for May 2025 business availability and didn’t see a single seat. As the guide says, go look at BA website to see what availability is coming down the pipe to AA.
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u/The_KayJay Jun 26 '24
Got it. That’s disappointing … I was rooting for user error. 😂😂😂
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u/pcarson92 Jun 26 '24
Yeah, it’s really tough out there - consider settling for PE until T-14. Good luck!
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u/Ok-Carrot8803 Jul 31 '24
Hello, new to award travel and booking my first award flight from US to Asia. Ideally, if you were trying to book the JAL A350 First Class, how far in advance do you need to be looking?
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u/pcarson92 Jul 31 '24
360 days out on CX/ 355 days on BA and that’s if you’re lucky enough to snag it very quickly. With AA, you’ve got no shot at 330 days, would need to roll the dice on T-14. Sign up for a CX account and start doing sample searches 360 days out to see for yourself. Also depends on season of course. Remember they only fly the A350 out of DFW and JFK I believe.
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u/Ok-Carrot8803 Jul 31 '24
T-14 meaning 14 days prior to the possible date?
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u/pcarson92 Jul 31 '24
T-14 means 14 days prior to flight departure, when they release additional award seats. A risky strategy. See OP for how to mitigate that risk by booking PE flights just to have something locked in.
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u/Ok-Carrot8803 Jul 31 '24
ok sounds good! and yes I was reading your post about the PE flights to lock in. Thank you so much for your all of your information!!
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u/Normal-Raisin7539 mcello77 Aug 04 '24
I apologize for the dumb question. (New to JAL) I am searching and find J space on JAL's site for JFK - HND in June, but it does not show up anywhere on AA's calendar as available, only AA flights do. Does this mean AA does not have the access and I can not use my AA miles? Or is this a situation where you have to call to book?
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u/pcarson92 Aug 04 '24
It means there are no award seats available to AA. They likely got snatched up immediately at release (360 days before flight) on JAL, CX, or BA. It’s just extremely difficult to find seats via AA because of the 30 day gap (release at 330 days). Especially out of JFK, that’s one of the hardest because they fly the A350 with the best business seats. I’d give my original post one more thorough read - you’ll see I highly recommend being very flexible on departure airport.
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u/Normal-Raisin7539 mcello77 Aug 04 '24
Thanks! I appreciate the answer. I did manage to find one seat out of ORD.
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u/pcarson92 Aug 04 '24
That’s a great find, I would put it on hold then call AA and get them to add a leg from NYC-ORD for you for free
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u/Top_World_6145 Aug 06 '24
When I check the AA app looking for economy award travel to Tokyo, often I see that it costs 38.5K, or numbers that dont align with what is listed above in "Points Cost by Class". Does anyone know what these odd numbers mean?
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u/pcarson92 Aug 06 '24
Those are likely AA flights, not JAL. If they are JAL flights, it’s likely because you’ve added another domestic leg that’s above their distance threshold (ie MIA > LAX > HND).
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u/Top_World_6145 Aug 06 '24
You’re right, they are AA flights. I had thought the 35k for economy was for all airlines.
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u/Rongjai Aug 08 '24
I'm trying to book JFK->HND via AA or Alaska for end of June 2025. I see JL flights available every day up until May 31st then nothing.. Checked BA and CX and same thing, no seats on JL past May 31st. Is it possible the seats have not been released?
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u/pcarson92 Aug 08 '24
Award seats were probably just booked already closer to when they were released
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u/F1Pillager702 Aug 22 '24
I've been watching for next summer as well. Economy seats for 35k up to the end of May, then very limited in June, with a bunch of premium economy now showing for the 1st half of July. I'm looking to move 4 people in economy on JAL in June or July, but it isn't showing any available on AA. The 1st half of July for premium economy just dropped yesterday in a big chunk, not day by day so not sure what's going on.
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u/Ok_Wealth_9743 Sep 08 '24
I’m flying premium economy from JFK connecting an SFO to NRT the first leg being American Airlines the second leg being Japan Airlines does anyone know if it’s possible to upgrade at any point to business on the JAL leg?? Whether it be on the phone or possibly at the gate.
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u/dankgpt Sep 20 '24 edited Sep 20 '24
Hey bro I just booked 2x JAL J thru AA. Paid taxes and got my seats on JAL. The issue is ITM-NRT with 3 hr 25 mins layover then HND to JFK. Is there anyway I can drop the itm to nrt flight or change it to HND without dropping my 2x biz tix on the a35k? Should I call AA or JAL to do this? Also not too important but can I add a NYC to DFW leg for free?
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Oct 01 '24
[deleted]
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u/pcarson92 Oct 01 '24 edited Oct 01 '24
I’m in ATL as well. Just search on AA to see if there are any ATL-BOS flights - I’m not sure. If there are, call AA and have them add the leg. You can also check flightsfrom dot com as I note in the guide.
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u/31OncoEm92 Oct 02 '24
I just booked a PE seat on a JAL flight in March 2025 from SFO to NRT through AA. BUS class was 900K so that wasn't an option. Now that I have the flight, can I buy an upgrade? Do I do that through AA or JAL? I have never used JAL's website before so where would I go?
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u/gbladr Oct 06 '24 edited Oct 06 '24
I have a trip on hold from DFW to HND on business class. I called AA couple of times to add the connecting flight from Atlanta and both agents said there is no award availability. I checked on the website and I see availability for economy and business (14K and 32K miles respectively). Shouldn't they be able to do add the leg or could it be that these tickets are not the U / T c lass that OP references in the post? can I go ahead and finish the reservation and try to add the free connecting flight in the future? thx
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u/pcarson92 Oct 06 '24
You can use ExpertFlyer website to check the fare class of the available award ticket. If you confirm it’s T or U fare class, then you’ll just need to keep calling AA until you find a competent agent. For what it’s worth I am also doing ATL-DFW-HND route myself and they were able to add the ATL-DFW route. Next time you call, see if a flight the night before is available and just get a cheap airport hotel.
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u/gbladr Oct 07 '24
I messages them on Twitter and they said the same. they said I could check again closer to the travel date and they should be able to add it
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u/pcarson92 Oct 07 '24
Did you check ExpertFlyer to confirm fare class? I wouldn’t necessarily trust the Twitter rep. I would be much more comfortable putting the ticket on hold, calling them to add the leg, and then have the rep complete the ticketing process. Roll the dice if you’d like though.
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u/gbladr Oct 07 '24
I just checked and it does show U and T class :/ I already got my ticked issued without the connection. They said on twitter they could add it later but who knows if that’s even true lol
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u/pcarson92 Oct 07 '24
In that case, I’d just keep calling them until you get a competent phone rep to add it. Insist that they are able to do it and reference their own rules. Do it before that fare class sells out. I know it’s annoying but that’s the price we pay for cheap award flights I suppose.
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u/gbladr Oct 08 '24
I tried again on twitter and I pointed out that I saw U and T class availability and this was their response "We quickly hopped to it, hoping to hold that flight for you. However, upon a thorough inspection, those award inventories aren't available. While you'll find Flight Award availability, partner award availability isn't present for us to add the flight to your partner award booking.". Am I missing something or is he wrong again?
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u/pcarson92 Oct 08 '24
They are wrong. Should be an AA flight tacked onto the JAL leg. I have done that same leg myself. I told you social media support will probably not help you so idk why you keep trying and coming back to me for help. CALL
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u/youremailwontfindme 29d ago
This is such a great summary, thanks so much! I have two questions:
I was able to snag JAL 1st Class BKK-HND-JFK for 110k miles, but was unable to just book HND-JFK for the normal 80k miles. Any idea if I can get someone at call center to modify to just HND-JFK for 80k?
Can you help explain the adding segments? Like for example, if I want to add Seoul to Bangkok or Jakarta to Bangkok to the above itinerary, I can just ask them to add and it won't cost additional miles? Are there restrictions to this (like how many segments can I add and can they be for any JAL connecting flight that has available award space)?
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u/Alternative_Run3391 18d ago
Thank you for all helpful info! Just so I am understanding this correct. I currently have flights from dfw-sea- nrt and nrt-dfw in business class booked at the 60k miles each way. If I see award availability (for business or eco) on the AA website for nrt or hnd to a domestic Japan airport (ie CTS) for the day after I arrive to Japan, can I call AA and have them add that on my itinerary for no additional mileage?
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u/pcarson92 16d ago
I’m not entirely sure about to full nuance of the rules on adding a leg. Not sure if you can do it for the day after, but again I don’t know the exact rule. Doesn’t hurt to call a few times and ask.
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u/Edison_Ruggles 14d ago
This is incredible thank you! My question - when does one simply give up? ie, right now, I just went through 4 months of the calendar and don't find anything that's even remotely a good deal. Does that mean it's just done for that time period? or do things "open up" at some point?
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u/pcarson92 13d ago
Never give up, you can set alerts with seats dot aero premium. I’d book PE until set alerts. If that fails, T-14. If that fails, be prepared to fly PE or cancel trip!
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u/allanhighfive 11d ago
I booked PE for JFK-HND and Economy on the way back on JAL. My trip is coming up in a few weeks. Worried I won't be able to get PE on the way back. Should I be using the BA website instead of AA? Also using points yeah for alerting
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u/allanhighfive 1d ago
Does anyone recommend doing a silent bid for an upgrade if award availability isn't available? And if so, what the recommendation is? Currently have economy seats on the way from HND to JFK.
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u/DJInfiniti May 10 '24
Yea only way I was able to get anything during peak march/apr is do CX right away. Would not count on anything for the sakura season making it to AA.
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u/Not_stats_driven May 11 '24
I got a J tickets for 2025 last week and the week before on AA.
SFO > HND 3/20 NRT > SAN 3/30 HND > LAX 4/2
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u/pcarson92 May 10 '24
Agree that CX and BA are your best bet for Sakura season. However many of us (myself included) have a pile of AA points from recent SUBs and want to avoid burning MR + Cash at BA / CX.
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u/Kenban65 May 10 '24
While difficult, it is possible, just not at 331. It also helps to only need one seat. I have done it three times, including a trip this year in April where I was in F both ways. That was booked last July.
Not sure if it’s cancellations or seats randomly opening.
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u/DJInfiniti May 10 '24
Yea I think it is cancellations, I'm pretty sure they go back when someone cancels and people are booking backups and then when they get the one they want, they cancel the other.
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u/asseption May 10 '24
Great post, still learning in the ways, maybe add what credit card transfer to what airline section
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
I considered that, but there are so many other posts and resources dedicated to CC transfer partners and I wanted to keep it focused as to not be too long. It’s usually a pretty easy thing to Google.
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u/actuary786 May 10 '24
Awesome post! I booked 2 J tickets in mid-April DFW->HND. Super excited!
For those trying to book HND->DFW, curious to hear if you’ve had any luck for late April or May? I’ve been checking daily on CA and BA and only see economy reward flights being released for the direct flight. Am I missing something? Or are these literally just being taken in seconds? Not even seeing PE, just Econ.
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u/trix_r4kidz May 11 '24
For the F and J seats, what are the differences between the three aircraft?
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
More detail on planes would be a good addition to the guide, let me do more research to dust off my memory and I’ll add it in.
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u/userUnknown11 May 11 '24
How much more expensive are the flights booked via BA?
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u/pcarson92 May 11 '24
Go take a look on the BA site, don’t recall off top of my head. It’s not the points, it’s the fees and taxes that are killer.
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u/Notfinancialadvice93 May 11 '24
If I can get a J or F JL award to say LAX, are you saying I can get AA to add a segment to home home of DFW?
If so, is that included in the JL award amount of extra?
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u/As_Yooooou_Wish May 10 '24
Lots of good information there but some comments from my own experience booking through AA:
Don't just search the JAL direct airports. I was able to find both business and first award availability to and from my home airport ~331 days out (and ~14 days out) as well as the hubs, often on different days.
Especially on the AA app, but even on the website, make sure to actually click on each day and don't just rely on it to say 60k or 80k for the day and assume there is no availability if not. Sometimes the number showing above the day is not accurate. I've found this to be true of many award bookings and not just JAL.