JAL has a fantastic First Class. I’ve flown it twice (Review: JAL First Class JFK-NRT) and rank it in my top five First Classes, for sure, perhaps even as high as #2.
It’s long been the case that you could book JAL awards using AA miles (see: 5 reasons American Airlines AAdvantage miles are underrated) but until now, you needed to find the availability using the likes of ExpertFlyer, BA.com, or Qantas.com to find the availability and then call AA to book.
Now, these JAL flights will show up right on AA.com for you to book yourself. A one way in Business Class to / from Japan is currently 60,000 miles and it’s a very reasonable 80,000 in First. I think that’s an incredible deal. You can also continue on in Asia on the same ticket, though your stop will need to be under 24 hours to be one award. And the taxes and fees are negligible – no surcharges!
I’m seeing great availability right now as well. In fact, if you were ready to go this month, there’s a sea of availability from JFK to Tokyo. Below is for 2 passengers, no less.
And just as great is Business Class availability. Here’s a Nov/Dec 2019 calendar.
Of course, there’s a downside to this. That downside is at the core of frequent flyer miles as a hobby and that’s the simple fact that with the awards being so much easier for everyone to see and book (even those that weren’t looking!), there will be less available for those that didn’t mind putting in the extra effort.
And when you consider AA’s move to dynAAmic award pricing on its own metal, these will stand out and get snapped up quickly for a fraction of what AA is charging for its own planes.
It’s also not that hard to earn AA miles, considering all the AAdvantage credit cards.
Thanks to AA insider JonNYC for the tip via Twitter:
I think JL awards will show up on https://t.co/JTvP5rc8as tonight
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 10, 2019
Will You Be Booking JAL Flights with your AA miles?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
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New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
