Has anyone had luck finding CX or JL F or J recently? I also havn't seen anything in my searches in the last 6/9 months.

 

I have seen some F from ORD-TYO available through AA but it's only 2 weeks before flight. Haven't seen anything on routes flying the A350.

 

Is the married segment logic based on any maximum layover length?

For example I see X-HND-JFK available on two days in a row, if I switch to multi-city search to change a 12-hour layover into a 36-hour one, all I get is PE instead of J. Tough luck? Or would a phone agent be able to book this?

 

Seems to be, ran into this issue for flights next week:

JL729 and JL725 both have J available individually.
However, the BOS-NRT flight only shows J when connecting to JL725 (19 hour layover)
If you want the 2 hour layover (JL729), no J...

Definitely married logic, not sure if the layover length has anything to do with it?

 

Yes. You are using a term (layover) that airlines do not use. A difference between flights of 24 hours or less is referred to as a connection. When you have more than 24 hours between flights it is a stopover. Married segment logic only affects connections (time difference between flights 24 hours or less). Once you have a stopover (more than 24 hours) married segment logic does not apply. This is why when you search for a single journey and a find flights that are married segment restricted you do not see the same flights when searching (with multi-city) for flights with a stopover.

Your only chance to book it while married restricted is with a workaround which used to work a few years ago, but I have not had an opportunity to try it since Alaska revamped their booking engine. You would first book and ticket the married segment itinerary and then attempt to change one segment to a new one which shows stand-alone availability. The change probably won't work online. You would have to call and convince an agent to change it after booking. It may or may not be possible these days and likely it would take more than one call.To convince an agent you would first ask them to search for the segment you want that shows stand-alone availability, without mentioning your already booked itinerary, and when they confirm that is is available then tell them that you would like to change a segment in your existing booking to this flight. Since they have already confirmed it is available they may work harder to figure out a solution. At least that sometimes worked pre-pandemic.

 

Are you sure you are searching availability on the correct date for the connecting flight? JL729 does not operate every day of the week. If you are searching the correct dates, either it is married restricted, or an AS booking bug, or an MCT issue, but MCT does not appear to be the issue here. I would book the 19 hour connection and after ticketing use the online change tool to attempt to change the one segment only (keep BOS-NRT) from JL725 to JL729. There is a decent chance it will work so long as JL729 shows availability as a stand-alone search for the flight you want.

 

I have AS award tickets issued on JL (First to Japan, Business back) and both tickets don't show any checked baggage allowance according to JL (I've had issues with checked baggage allowance not showing on AA award tickets with JL so went to check). AS.com and AS' email confirmations also don't explicitly state the allowance.

AS chat says I have 23kg x 3 on both tickets though. Has anyone experienced the same issue with AS-issued awards on JL? Don't want to be stuck with no checked baggage allowance at the airport.

 

Chat was almost correct. First and Business international flights when checking in with JAL on a JAL coded flight (which an award ticket is) gets 3 x 32kg bags. If you check-in with AS on an AS connecting flight they might have some confusion with the 3 bags, but checking in with JAL should be no problem.

https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/inter/ba...missibleAmount

 

I just got back from Tokyo with Premium Economy tickets and had 2 pieces of luggage for each of us included on our award flights between Tokyo and Seattle.

 

Mobile web AS shows me JL J 2 bags 70 lbs checked luggage.

Online changes to origin airport after booking to get around JL married segments works.

 

This morning a batch of business class seats opened on JL between Tokyo and the West Coast. There are still some dates in May 2025, but most of them are gone now.

Hat tip to Thrifty Traveler Premium (which I pay for).

 

Were you able to drop a segment that was required to book, or was it required to switch the origin keeping the number of segments the same?

 

No idea, did not try. I suspect it should be possible, either directly or by switching the origin airport to break the marriage and then dropping. Please report your DP if successful.

 

I am confused. You said online changes to origin airport after booking to get around JL married segments works. What was the situation where it worked for you?

 

Has Japan Airlines ceased giving F seats to Alaska? I've been consistently seeing JL F on AA but nothing on AS for months.