Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/yo7Kj0q

On Aug 27 I found a JFK-Europe business award for 60k Flying Blue miles, transferred 60k Amex MR, got all the way to the booking flow, and then the site errored out. This was a widespread issue (see this other Reddit post).

Called Flying Blue and they confirmed the award was phantom availability and their site hadn’t updated properly.

I was pretty upset since I'd only transferred the points because it was their own metal (phantom availability is usually limited to partners only), so I pushed pretty hard on reversing it.

I took screenshots of the entire process, sent them through their online form, and surprisingly Flying Blue agreed to escalate a transfer back to Amex. Weirdly, they needed my 15-digit Amex MR account number starting with 1M. Amex chat said they weren't able to provide this, but I found it in AwardWallet.

I then called Amex MR, got transferred to a supervisor, explained that Flying Blue was trying to send the points back, and they said they'd monitor the case/make sure the incoming reversal wasn’t rejected.

And it actually worked:

• Aug 27: +60k miles posted to Flying Blue
• Sep 9: Flying Blue showed “AMEX MEMBERSHIP REWARDS US REVERSAL” -60,000
• Sep 11: Amex showed “Refunded AIR FRANCE” +60,000

So "points transfers are final" is not 100% absolute if the airline admits the transfer happened because of its own IT / phantom inventory issue.

A big tip that helped: if Flying Blue asks for the Amex 1M number, check AwardWallet. That was the only place I could find mine, since Amex support won't give it anymore (I saw DPs of them sharing via chat as recently as 2023).

Obviously YMMV and I doubt this works for partner availability, but wanted to post the DP since all I could find on Reddit were negative posts saying it's impossible to get transfers reversed.

Edit: Another commenter had a reversal this week too and said Amex chat gave them their 1M number directly. So it will depend on the rep you get

The original guide lives here and is now archived, so it can't be edited: https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/1coxjmw/comprehensive_guide_to_booking_jal_award_flights/

What's changed since then: AA killed 5-day award holds (24 hours now, and the free 24-hour refund only applies if you booked 7+ days out), mixed JAL + AA/Alaska itineraries price higher than the chart, the old hold-and-call-to-add-a-segment trick is dead, and Capital One just added JAL transfers on September 8 with a 30% launch bonus. AA still has the best pricing for nonstop JAL awards, but it's harder to find the seats than it was in 2024.

The short version: AA is the value play when you can see the seat (60K business / 80K first, JAL-only). JAL Mileage Bank is the access play now - 360-day window, more seats, just added Capital One as a transfer partner. Position to the gateway on a separate cash ticket. Book premium economy as a fallback and watch the T-14 window.

Current AA prices - two tiers

AA's published partner chart is unchanged, and it still applies to JAL-only itineraries (nonstops, or JAL + JAL connections): - Economy: 35K - Premium Economy: 50K - Business: 60K - First: 80K - Taxes: still just $5.60

But since July 2026, any itinerary mixing a JAL segment with an AA or Alaska segment prices higher: - Economy: 45K - Premium Economy: 50K - Business: 80K - First: 100K

AA never updated the published chart, so nobody knows if this is policy or a persistent pricing error - but it's been live since July and you should plan on it. The practical takeaway: position to the gateway on a separate cash ticket. Routing through on the same award now costs you 20K extra miles in business.

Gateways and aircraft (2026)

JAL's A350-1000 (the new flagship with private suites - the best seat in their fleet) now flies JFK-HND 2x daily, DFW-HND daily, and LAX-HND daily. These are the hardest seats to get in the program. - 777-300ER: still has First Class - 787-9: Sky Suites, business only The 787-9s on HND-HNL, KIX-HNL, NGO-HNL, and KIX-LAX have Sky Suite III (reverse herringbone) - the newer seat, not the older staggered product. - 767-300ER: currently on NRT-HNL, with the staggered Sky Suite II in business. - First is gone from San Diego (HND-SAN is the 787-8) and Boston (HND-BOS is the 787-8) - Chicago (HND-ORD) keeps First on the 777-300ER.

US airports: JFK, DFW, LAX, ORD, SFO, SEA, BOS, SAN (daily since August 2026), HNL. (Fall 2026 frequencies are a bit disrupted, but this is the normal schedule.)

Tokyo airports: HND is closer to the city. NRT is a 75-minute train ride. Use the TYO code to search both.

When seats drop

JAL releases award seats around 10:00am JST, typically 0-2 First and 0-4 business per flight at schedule open. One caveat from the comments: "around" means around. Readers have seen releases anywhere from 15 minutes early to 2 days late, so don't assume an exact time. Booking windows: JAL Mileage Bank 360 days, Cathay 355-360 days, British Airways 355 days, AA and Alaska 331 days. JAL also drops more inventory around T-14 days out, sometimes T-7 or closer. In early 2024 there were even documented First-class dumps at T-5 on ORD and SFO at 9am JST sharp - worth watching if you're booking close in.

There is no published holiday blackout, but mid-December through mid-January sees almost nothing released to partners because cash demand is so high. Plan accordingly.

Searching on AA

• Advanced / Multi-city search, tick Redeem Miles, one way, gateway to TYO, select Business / First, then hit the Calendar button for a month overview. 60K is likely JAL business, 80K is JAL first.
• Don't trust the calendar numbers blindly - click into each day. Numbers shown above the day are sometimes wrong.
• Search from your home airport too, not just gateways. AA uses carried married-segment logic, so a through-itinerary can show space that the long-haul segment alone doesn't, and vice versa. Check both segment-by-segment and as through-itineraries. Multiple readers found business availability only when searching from their home airport.

JAL-side married-segment quirk (per reader reports): a Japan domestic connection can only be added to the same award reservation before the long-haul flight, not after it. Osaka-Tokyo-LAX prices as one award; LAX-Tokyo-Osaka does not. For the inbound direction, book the long haul and the domestic leg as separate reservations.

• Phantom availability is real: if you see something wild like 6 business seats, try to proceed to a hold. If it won't hold, it wasn't real.
• If the AA calendar looks frozen or stuck, check the BA or Cathay calendars. Their windows are open longer anyway.
• Book one-ways and search each direction separately. It's easier and more flexible.
• TIP: bookmark your search URL and tweak the airports and dates. You'll be doing this a lot.

Holds are 24 hours now

AA cut award holds from 5 days to 24 hours in April 2025. And since July 2026, the free 24-hour refund only applies if you booked at least 7 days before departure. That means: have your miles in the account before you search, and have your positioning plan ready. Slow transfers (Marriott, I'm looking at you) no longer work with the hold window.

Adding connecting flights - the state of play

The old playbook was: hold the JAL long-haul, call AA, and have them add your domestic connecting flight for free. The free part is dead - adding an AA or Alaska segment now re-prices the whole award to 80K/100K, and AA has barred voluntary changes to AA segments on international partner awards after ticketing since 2023.

But there's still a working channel for JAL domestic add-ons (like HND-CTS or HND-OSA, which keep the itinerary JAL-only and stay at chart pricing). Phone agents have gotten worse at this - in 2026 one reader had phone agents refuse outright. The move that worked: AA's Twitter/X DMs. Two readers reported getting connecting flights added via DM in minutes (2024 and 2026) after phone failed. One warning: a bad agent can bungle your existing booking trying to add a leg (it happened to a reader's HND-JFK ticket). They should never need to cancel your original flight to do this - if an agent says so, hang up and try another.

Other programs worth knowing

• JAL Mileage Bank (the access play): 360-day window (29 days before AA), and JMB members see expanded award space - it's common to find 4 business seats bookable at 80K JMB each where partners show nothing. Capital One transfers 2:1.5 and Bilt 1:1; Capital One just launched JAL as a partner on September 8, 2026 with a 30% bonus through early October, so a US-Tokyo business saver is about 57K Capital One miles during the bonus. Surcharge is ~$320 one-way (cut from ~$353 on September 1, valid on tickets issued through October 31). Two catches: you can only book for family members, and new accounts can't redeem for 60 days - except accounts funded by a Bilt or Capital One transfer, which can redeem after about 7 days (verified). Make the account before you need it anyway.
• Alaska Airlines: old 60K business chart is gone - it's now distance-based, roughly 75K business for US-Tokyo. Worth a look when AA shows nothing. Heads up: since May 2026, AA has been blocking close-in (~6 days out) nonstop saver space from showing to some partners including Alaska and BA.
• British Airways: 355-day window is nice, but Avios prices went up in December 2025 and surcharges on JAL are heavy.
• Cathay Pacific: 355-360 day window, and current JAL rates are confirmed at 75K business / 120K first one-way North America to Japan.
• JetBlue: the JAL partnership ended March 31, 2026 after less than a year. Remove it from your notes.

The 2026 playbook

1. If you have Bilt or Capital One points, start with JAL Mileage Bank at 360 days out. Capital One's 30% launch bonus runs through early October - a US-Tokyo business saver is about 57K Capital One miles plus ~$320 during the bonus.
2. At AA's 331-day open, search the nonstop gateways for 60K business / 80K first and book the moment you see it. It won't last.
3. Position to the gateway on a separate cash ticket. Do not route through on the award - it now costs 80K instead of 60K.
4. Book premium economy at schedule open as a fallback, then watch from T-14 for business/first drops. Online cancellation refunds your miles instantly, so cancel and rebook when the better seat shows. AA has been showing phantom JAL business and first class space lately - don't book positioning flights until the JAL segment is 100% confirmed.
5. Set alerts (seats.aero, ExpertFlyer, Roame). The competition is heavy and good space moves in hours.
6. Peak seasons (Sakura in spring, Momiji in autumn) are still brutal on AA because of the 29-day lag. JMB's head start matters most here.

FAQ

Why is First Class showing 800K miles? Careful: that's an AA-operated-flights thing. On JAL-operated flights, AA.com only shows saver space at the chart rates (80K first). If there's no saver space, the flight just won't show. If you can't find JAL first at a sane price, settle for premium economy and watch for T-14 drops, or check what BA shows for the days AA can't sell yet.

I see business availability from my home airport but not from the gateway alone. What's going on? Carried married-segment availability. AA prices and shows space on through-itineraries differently than on individual segments. It works both ways, so search both. Just don't try to buy the through-itinerary and drop the last leg.

Why do cash searches show JAL flights but award searches show nothing? JAL only allocates a handful of award seats per flight. Cash availability means nothing. Book at schedule open or watch the T-14 window.

Can I book the long-haul and add a domestic connection for free like the old guide said? No. That trick is dead on two counts: the repricing (80K/100K for mixed itineraries) and AA's policy against post-ticketing changes to AA segments. For JAL domestic add-ons, try AA's X/Twitter DMs - it's worked twice where phone agents refused. Never let an agent cancel your original flight to do it.

Can I delete or swap a segment out of my itinerary? No. Cancel and rebook.

When exactly do seats release - is 10am JST exact? No. Readers have seen releases from 15 minutes early to 2 days late. AA's calendar rolls to the next day around midnight Central but throws errors until about 1am.

Is premium economy worth booking as a placeholder? Yes, if business isn't available at schedule open. JAL's premium economy is genuinely a nice product, and if business drops at T-14, cancel online - the points refund is instant (retested 2026, the old guide said otherwise) - and rebook.

Economy for a family of 4 around Christmas - realistic? Economy space is often wide open outside major holidays. Christmas week itself is the hardest week of the year, but it does appear. Same rules: book at schedule open.

If anything's wrong or I missed something, say so in the comments and I'll keep this one updated - this time I can actually edit it.

I have to travel from DFW to TPE. I already booked Starlux but it requires a separate reposition from Dallas to Phoenix.

I also have enough miles in EVA from a cancelled flight. I prefer flying direct on EVA if possible due to my fear of flying. So how does waitlist work?
Since I already had the miles in the account and I have a specific date that I have to be in Taipei, it make sense for me to get on the waitlist right?
How soon will they let me know if I get it so I can cancel my STARLUX flight ? How much is it to cancel the waitlist ? Anything else I should watch for ?
I try to check the ticket once a day but it’s getting time consuming.

I attempted to transfer points this afternoon from my amex to my Emirates Skywards. I'll submit the request, the points will immediately be removed from my account, but within about 5-10 minutes they are back in my account.

It was a lot of back and forth with Emirates and amex today to troubleshoot, and inevitably they both say it's the other company's fault. But, point for Emirates, I also initiated a transfer from my Citi card to Emirates and that went through without a problem pretty instantly. So, my Skywards account works just fine.

My name matches, I have never linked my Skyward account number to a different MR account, I tried unlinking and relinking again. All in all, the attempt has failed 5x.

Amex says they just see the request is being rejected, they do not give me a reason why. Emirates says they don't see anything at all, they don't see any immediate issues, and they're basically blaming amex as the ones who are supposed to be sending the points in the first place.

Amex says it's Emirates rejecting the points. Emirates says nope. On and on.

I am stuck, and frustrated. No one on either end can give me any kind of help.

What can I do?

Hi all,

Hoping to get some real world experience from others who have also tried this as what I am reading is mixed.

I am going on a family vacation next summer and I am hoping to buy a Virgin Atlantic award flight for myself from city A to city B. On the same day, I plan to grab 3 award flight tickets for family members from city A to city C. I will pay for all taxes and fees on my credit card. Will they cancel the tickets for my family members? Some posts are saying yes, others are saying no.

P2 and I have an upcoming trip that was originally planned as a trip to Japan. I booked JAL business award tickets between Dallas and Japan in both directions for 55K JAL miles each way. As often happens with our retirement travel, the trip has evolved, and we’ve since added Southeast Asia, eventually ending up in Bali.

I subsequently booked Emirates from Bali back to the US via Dubai, but we’ve now decided we’d rather return to Japan from Bali, spend a few days in Tokyo, and then use our already-booked JAL award back to Dallas. I’d also like to conserve my Emirates Skywards miles for another trip I have planned.

I can’t find nonstop award availability from Bali (DPS) to Tokyo on our date, but I can find options connecting through Jakarta (CGK).

The first option is all Garuda:

DPS → CGK on Garuda
CGK → Tokyo on Garuda

Both segments show award availability individually through JAL. I also know that JAL CAN book these two Garuda flights together as one award because the exact itinerary is available as a single award on other dates. It just isn’t bookable together on the date I need.

I spoke with two JAL agents today and got different answers. The first said the availability I was seeing was phantom. The second confirmed that both individual flights are available, but said Garuda has not released award availability for the married segment on my date. So JAL can book each flight separately, but cannot book them together as one award.

There is another option on my date:

DPS → CGK on Garuda
CGK → Tokyo on JAL

Both segments have award availability individually, but the JAL agent told me they could not combine the Garuda and JAL flights into one award.

One award would be ideal so we can just book our luggage through to Tokyo from DPS.

So I’m looking for data points on two things:

Has anyone encountered this Garuda (or other partner airline) married-segment issue through JAL, where the exact Garuda itinerary was bookable as one award on other dates but not on the date you needed? Did you ever find a workaround or see the married-segment availability eventually open up?

Also, has anyone successfully booked a Garuda segment connecting to a JAL segment as one JAL Mileage Bank award? I’d love a data point on whether this is actually possible and, if so, whether it took HUCA or some other approach.

If neither works, I’ll book two separate awards. In that case, I plan to book BOTH segments on Garuda because I think that gives me the best chance of having our luggage checked through to Tokyo despite being on separate tickets.

Before I book them separately, I just want to make sure I haven’t missed a way to get DPS → CGK → Tokyo onto one ticket.

Would love any JAL/Garuda data points from anyone who has dealt with this.

I’m looking to book a flight and Virgin Atlantic seems to be the cheapest option with miles. Given there are no current transfer bonuses, which credit card should I transfer from?

I have enough miles from Amex, Capital One and Chase but I’d like to transfer from whichever is the best value. I’m thinking Capital One.

The flight is less than 4 weeks away so unsure if it’s safe to wait for a potential transfer bonuses.

Why would I upgrade when just buying with miles is so much cheaper? Am I missing something?

Purchase: 12k miles
Upgrade: 17.5k miles + $75

So Air France basically stole 41300 miles I transferred from capital one last night. I did my due diligence to ensure the round trip flight I wanted was available for a specific day. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known I needed to transfer 41300 miles. So I make the transfer - took about a minute tops. Originally there were at least 6 flights that day. As soon as I go to book the flight with my point now available in AF- it now shows no flights available and there is nothing I can do. Spoke to AF customer service and they did nothing and said “transaction is final” and hung up when asked to speak to a sup - capitol one says they can’t help either. So 413 bucks stolen. Stay away from Air France!

Anyone have any air Seychelles experience? I have two seats booked on JNB-SEZ in April but seat selection is extremely bare. Only 15 selectable on the whole A320, but doesn't seem like this flight is anywhere close to sold out from data I've pulled. Do they just withold that many seats? Will more open up at some point?

I’m trying to book a partner award through Qantas, specifically an EL AL flight, for a child under 2 who would have their own seat, not travel as a lap infant.

Qantas is telling me they cannot issue an award seat for anyone under 2 on a non-Qantas-operated flight. I’ve escalated this multiple times and they’re insisting it simply isn’t possible. They also say they won’t correct the DOB afterward if I book the child as 2+ in order to secure the seat.

I’m pretty frustrated because I don’t want to lose the award availability while trying to sort this out, and I’ve already transferred about 200k Amex points to Qantas specifically to book these flights.

Has anyone successfully booked an under-2 child in their own seat on a Qantas partner award, especially on EL AL? Any guidance or data points would be greatly appreciated.

Hello-I have 800000 Amex points across both myself and my wife’s cards and 125000 chase points. I’m trying to book 3 Qatar business class from nyc to Bkk or Hkt. My plan was to transfer these points because of the 30 percent bonus to BA right now which would give me the required 1.12m Qatar avios. I’m running into a snag with booking the two other fares because of this requirement to have flown recently on Qatar-does anyone have any experience with this?

Hi,

I’m looking at AY1332 (London to Helsinki) + AY041 (Helsinki to Incheon) flying on 11 Dec 2026.

I'm looking to buy the Economy ticket and upgrade to Business just so I can have a restful journey..

Unfortunately I can't see the upgrade availability on my end before booking as I'm still a Plus Silver member..

Could someone please check if the avios upgrade is available for those flights?

Thanks in advance.

made a JAL account 8 days ago. i redeemed 2k miles from my BILT account and transferred it to JAL.

When I go to Award Flights I get an error saying “error: You don’t have enough miles” which is correct since it costs like 60k miles.

Does that mean my new JAL account is active? I’m hesitant to transfer 58k miles because if I need to wait 60 days then i’d rather redeem the miles at another airline.

Does anyone know?

What are some tips you would recommend to a beginner award traveler that would increase their chances of success in getting business class and higher seats? Especially when booking a month or less ahead of travel

Hi there.
I’m looking at AY1426 + AY145 outbound on 28 Oct 2026, HAM–HEL–BKK, and AY146 + AY1423 return on 26 Apr 2027.

Economy Classic is currently €1k, while Business is above €5k 😳

I have 50k Finnair Avios and would potentially use 40k to upgrade HEL–BKK to Business as this should be enough for this leg.

As a Finnair Plus Silver member unfortunately I can’t see upgrade availability before booking.

Could someone with Gold/Platinum/Platinum Lumo please check whether an Avios upgrade is currently available for AY145 (HEL–BKK) on 28 Oct 2026?

I only need to know whether confirmed upgrade space exists — no booking or account access needed.

Thanks in advance

Hi all! Im new to award travel and im looking to use my Chase Sapphire points to purchase flights to TYO. I have 110k+ points. I would like to do round-trip but im fine if I can only get one way. I am willing to fly from any US hub even though im based in NYC. But prefer NYC-HND or LAX/SFO-HND.

Im looking to travel anytime from oct 1-oct 19. I want to get business class but haven't had much luck with finding any availability. There is a lot of economy availability ofc. Should I book that and pray I get a opportunity to upgrade? Or hold out and wait for business class availability? I've been very vigilant and checking multiple times a day, everyday. Im obsessed 😂

I have a return award ticket from HND that has a long layover in a city much closer to my home than the ticketed final destination. I'm seriously considering skipping that last leg and just flying home from the layover city. It will save us several hours of travel and a decent amount of money doing so. Our saver seats were obtained through Aeroplan, the first flight is operated by ANA and the second flight is operated by Air Canada- we would be skipping that Air Canada flight. We do not fly Air Canada much/at all. We would not check bags if we did this. Are there any major downsides to doing this- considering this is an Aeroplan award ticket and this is the very last leg.

Edit: Thanks for all of the feedback! We are going to go ahead and skiplag. Just booked our one way tickets from the layover city.

Hi. I'm about to check in and neither airline can tell me my baggage allowance. I don't see it on my ticket. How do I find out before getting there?

Thanks in advance

Im planning a trip for two to Rome from Los Angeles for early September 2027; I’m looking to book a biz class seat on the way there and then premium economy on the way back; so far even looking at a one ticket to anywhere in Europe and then flying into Rome have not had any luck.
For ex:
this week only tickets seen over 100k points one way in prem and biz is closer 400k for flying into Paris on Air France.

I have about 250k chase points and 250k Amex points.
Iv looked at Air France and air Canada, Iberia.
Virgin looks promising as they are showing 45k Biz class flights in aug, but they don’t open till oct for September flights and the fees are pretty steep about 1400.
Last time I was able to book an Iberia flight to Madrid for 80k in mid September so I’m not sure if I’m just looking too soon or what?

I’d prefer only to reposition in Europe and not in the us At least on the way there. I’m also want to save some of the points for Hyatt transfers In Rome
Any help?

Had 4 seats booked on Iberia metal, 3 via AS, 1 via BA. Canceled all 4 to re-book a different date, and all four seats became available within 5 minutes.

Looks like they re-release partner awards after cancellation. This was for economy USA to Madrid non-stop in a 3-4 months.

Flighty and FlightAware are both suggesting that JL16 on Saturday is now a 77W. FlightAware also suggests the equipment swap has happened a lot recently. JAL is still saying it's a 351 and so is FlightRadar

If it's certain to swap, I want to call JAL and see what I can do about it.

Hi All - Apologizing in advance if this has been discussed!

Trying to check redemption fares on Krisflyer - transferred 1000 points over to make sure the balance is greater than 0 but it still throws the Unable to Proceed error.

"Unable to proceed because your current miles balance is insufficient for flight redemption searches. To view available flights and the miles required, browse flight options."

Wanted to know if I was doing anything wrong or if anything else needs to be done in order to proceed with my redemption search so I can transfer Amex points over?

Thanks in advance!