Questions and Answers

Hi all, just wanted to offer a little knowledge to the community: the JAL DFW-NRT route on the new dreamliner is open (and has been for a few weeks now). Sorry to delay, but wanted to get my award sorted first… 😛

Anyway, I remember lucky posting in late August that this route was coming and that he’d announce when the route opens, but I guess it slipped under his radar. So, Tiffany, Lucky, et al: it’s open! I had a very easy time piecing together a domestic leg from NYC-DFW, and connecting on JAL from DFW-NRT (in J). There’s business class availability for 2 pax on almost every day the route flies (4 times a week i believe?) all the way through the schedule (including March/April 2016, peak cherry blossom season).

This is a great way to burn those AA miles before the (hopefully not, but probably impending) devaluation. Also, I know every post discussing using AA for JAL award flights recommends using BA to search for JAL availability, but I never understand why. The site is so cumbersome, and the JAL award search tool is incredible. It lets you look at a week of availability at a time, scroll through months quickly, and you don’t need any miles in your account to search. Once you learn how to use it, it’s SO much better than BA.

Enjoy, everyone.

ps- I’ve wanted to go to Tokyo for years, and I have to say thanks to this blog for teaching me so much this past year and helping me make it happen!

Thanks [USER=797]@dantheman[/USER].

With regards to search tools, usually it works better to use a partner tool to search because airlines will often make additional availability open to their own members which you wouldn’t be able to book with partner miles. Glad you were able to find space that worked for you!

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 7603, member: 79″]Thanks [USER=797]@dantheman[/USER].

With regards to search tools, usually it works better to use a partner tool to search because airlines will often make additional availability open to their own members which you wouldn’t be able to book with partner miles. Glad you were able to find space that worked for you![/QUOTE]

Ah that’s a great point, forgot about that. I still think I’d use them in tandem though. Typically JAL routes aren’t wide open like this, they’re mostly filled up with an availability sprinkled in here and there. I think I’d use the JAL tool to search large amounts of time quickly and wade through all the filled dates and when I see openings, cross reference with BA to confirm availability to partners.

And for those wanting to search for space, Lucky wrote a blog post about this today:

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/09/12/jal-awards-dallas[/URL]

Thanks for the heads up, [I]really [/I]appreciate it! Held something in January, which has been a missing piece of my winter travel plans 🙂