It's official...ABD is going to Japan!

[Mathmagicland]

Saw this in the news today, thought I’d share for anyone,looking at American from Chicago to Narita -

American Airlines announced some flight reductions and suspensions. On December 18, the Fort Worth-based carrier will begin operating it flights between Chicago O’Hare and Narita International Airport (NRT) three days a week, instead of daily.

 

[sayhello]

Saw this in the news today, thought I’d share for anyone,looking at American from Chicago to Narita -

American Airlines announced some flight reductions and suspensions. On December 18, the Fort Worth-based carrier will begin operating it flights between Chicago O’Hare and Narita International Airport (NRT) three days a week, instead of daily.

That's not very reassuring!!!

Not that I was planning on flying American, but I imagine lots of people were.

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

Saw this in the news today, thought I’d share for anyone,looking at American from Chicago to Narita -

American Airlines announced some flight reductions and suspensions. On December 18, the Fort Worth-based carrier will begin operating it flights between Chicago O’Hare and Narita International Airport (NRT) three days a week, instead of daily.

This is so typical of this so-called loser airline. See our Australia trip report. They are the opposite of the old Fedex program. If you absolutely positively need to get there, FLY WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

And I would expect all the remaining flights to be overbooked, late, and missing all connections.

 

[RSM]

We flew JAL (Japan Air Lines) to Tokyo. Really good airline. The premium economy seats were the equivalent of a domestic first class seat, and was only $200 more per seat than a regular economy ticket. The difference between premium economy and business class was about $4K/ticket. Anyways, if you have access to a JAL flight, highly recommend them.

 

[sayhello]

We flew JAL (Japan Air Lines) to Tokyo. Really good airline. The premium economy seats were the equivalent of a domestic first class seat, and was only $200 more per seat than a regular economy ticket. The difference between premium economy and business class was about $4K/ticket. Anyways, if you have access to a JAL flight, highly recommend them.

Thanks! I was looking at JAL and ANA.

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

We flew JAL (using American Airline miles and British Airways miles) on the way to Tokyo from Shanghai in business and back from Tokyo to the US in first a couple of months ago after our ABD China trip. The experience was fantastic and I'd fly them again in a heartbeat. The JAL lounge in NRT was awesome and they even serve fresh sushi!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I just posted about this in the budget board, but I have to share here, too. We will be traveling in style next summer for our ABD Japan trip. I managed to get premium class award tickets for all our flights for all four of us!!! I'm so excited. DH and DS will be flying ANA in Business (to) and First (return). DD and I will be flying JAL First RT. It took me around 500,000 miles but when you consider that the cash costs of the flights are over $52,000 I think I did pretty well Churning/miles hacking is literally the best hobby ever. I put a lot of time into it, but it's totally worth it for something like this.

 

[Calfan]

I just posted about this in the budget board, but I have to share here, too. We will be traveling in style next summer for our ABD Japan trip. I managed to get premium class award tickets for all our flights for all four of us!!! I'm so excited. DH and DS will be flying ANA in Business (to) and First (return). DD and I will be flying JAL First RT. It took me around 500,000 miles but when you consider that the cash costs of the flights are over $52,000 I think I did pretty well Churning/miles hacking is literally the best hobby ever. I put a lot of time into it, but it's totally worth it for something like this.

Awesome! Now you need to be prepared to give me the step by step primer on how you did this in about a year when I go to book our Japan flights

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Awesome! Now you need to be prepared to give me the step by step primer on how you did this in about a year when I go to book our Japan flights

Ha! I suspect you know how it goes: watch every day and have back up for backup plans!

 

[sayhello]

OMG, I just bought my flight to Japan today! Unfortunately, I suck at travel hacking, so I paid cash for my tickets. But I did manage to get Premium Economy on ANA, which, from what I can tell, looks even better than the Premium Economy I did to China on Cathay Pacific, and was not *that* much more than their Economy seats. Does not match the tickets @CaliforniaGirl09 got, but I'm feeling pretty good about my selection. I think I got the only flight out of Tokyo at 10:55pm!

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

OMG, I just bought my flight to Japan today! Unfortunately, I suck at travel hacking, so I paid cash for my tickets. But I did manage to get Premium Economy on ANA, which, from what I can tell, looks even better than the Premium Economy I did to China on Cathay Pacific, and was not *that* much more than their Economy seats. Does not match the tickets @CaliforniaGirl09 got, but I'm feeling pretty good about my selection. I think I got the only flight out of Tokyo at 10:55pm!

Sayhello

Congratulations! Very exciting!

The only flight we could get out of Tokyo on points was before noon and we have a transfer in Chicago. Every time I check to see if anything else has opened up, the selection is even worse. I so wish we were staying another entire day -- we are leaving a day in the parks on the table

 

[sayhello]

Congratulations! Very exciting!

The only flight we could get out of Tokyo on points was before noon and we have a transfer in Chicago. Every time I check to see if anything else has opened up, the selection is even worse. I so wish we were staying another entire day -- we are leaving a day in the parks on the table

Yes, that's why I was so happy to find that 10:55pm flight. It gives me a lot of Park time for that last day, and maybe I'll actually sleep on the flight!

I'm pretty sure that flight would never have been available for points. I have a transfer in Chicago, too. Nobody flies directly to Columbus, OH. But this flight actually has a layover in Los Angeles, too. It's one of the reasons I kept going back and forth about it. The only direct flights to Chicago left at like 10:10 in the morning. I decided it was worth the layover to get the extra hours in Tokyo.

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Yes, that's why I was so happy to find that 10:55pm flight. It gives me a lot of Park time for that last day, and maybe I'll actually sleep on the flight!

I'm pretty sure that flight would never have been available for points. I have a transfer in Chicago, too. Nobody flies directly to Columbus, OH. But this flight actually has a layover in Los Angeles, too. It's one of the reasons I kept going back and forth about it. The only direct flights to Chicago left at like 10:10 in the morning. I decided it was worth the layover to get the extra hours in Tokyo.

Sayhello

I originally had a direct flight back from Tokyo around 6:00pm, but when I went to book our seats a few months ago I noticed that I had inadvertently booked them in economy class . The ones we have now (ANA & Air Canada) are in business class. I do random checks every once in a while to see if seats have opened up on a direct flight, but so far availability is worse than it was. I just checked a few minutes ago and the only available seats were in economy class from Haneda to Vancouver, then business class from Vancouver to Toronto. That won't work for me -- I'm just too tall and it's mega uncomfortable for me on a short haul domestic flight with my long legs.

I tried checking what's available on the Chase UR portal, but the quickest flight back is 38 hours (there is a 22 hour layover in Shanghai). That's an easy pass.

When I was talking to my brother the other day he mentioned that my niece and her fiance were in a squabble. I said, with hope, "are they calling off the wedding"? I was ready to get online and change our return flights to Toronto to a later date. He said the wedding was still on. So for now we are stuck with the flights we have. I am still bummed that we are missing an entire day in the parks. Fingers crossed that Air Canada opens up a few business class award seats as we get closer to the date.

 

[sayhello]

I originally had a direct flight back from Tokyo around 6:00pm, but when I went to book our seats a few months ago I noticed that I had inadvertently booked them in economy class . The ones we have now (ANA & Air Canada) are in business class. I do random checks every once in a while to see if seats have opened up on a direct flight, but so far availability is worse than it was. I just checked a few minutes ago and the only available seats were in economy class from Haneda to Vancouver, then business class from Vancouver to Toronto. That won't work for me -- I'm just too tall and it's mega uncomfortable for me on a short haul domestic flight with my long legs.

I tried checking what's available on the Chase UR portal, but the quickest flight back is 38 hours (there is a 22 hour layover in Shanghai). That's an easy pass.

When I was talking to my brother the other day he mentioned that my niece and her fiance were in a squabble. I said, with hope, "are they calling off the wedding"? I was ready to get online and change our return flights to Toronto to a later date. He said the wedding was still on. So for now we are stuck with the flights we have. I am still bummed that we are missing an entire day in the parks. Fingers crossed that Air Canada opens up a few business class award seats as we get closer to the date.

I checked the Chase UR portal from time to time, just to see what was there in case I happened to have enough points, and, like you, took a hard pass on their offerings because they all had ridiculous layovers. Definitely not worth it!

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

OMG, I just bought my flight to Japan today! Unfortunately, I suck at travel hacking, so I paid cash for my tickets. But I did manage to get Premium Economy on ANA, which, from what I can tell, looks even better than the Premium Economy I did to China on Cathay Pacific, and was not *that* much more than their Economy seats. Does not match the tickets @CaliforniaGirl09 got, but I'm feeling pretty good about my selection. I think I got the only flight out of Tokyo at 10:55pm!

Sayhello

Glad you snagged that 10:55pm - we are on that same return flight out of Haneda after our trip, to maximize time for our last day at TDR.

 

[Mathmagicland]

I tried checking what's available on the Chase UR portal, but the quickest flight back is 38 hours (there is a 22 hour layover in Shanghai).

That enough time to leave the airport & hit Shanghai Disneyland during the layover

 

[OhanaCuz]

That enough time to leave the airport & hit Shanghai Disneyland during the layover

I really like how you think.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

OMG, I just bought my flight to Japan today! Unfortunately, I suck at travel hacking, so I paid cash for my tickets. But I did manage to get Premium Economy on ANA, which, from what I can tell, looks even better than the Premium Economy I did to China on Cathay Pacific, and was not *that* much more than their Economy seats. Does not match the tickets @CaliforniaGirl09 got, but I'm feeling pretty good about my selection. I think I got the only flight out of Tokyo at 10:55pm!

Sayhello

Lol, but so glad to hear you got your ticket! Congrats!

 

[sayhello]

Lol, but so glad to hear you got your ticket! Congrats!

Thanks! Now I really have to go!

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

We’ve secured our Japan flights! Sometimes travel hacking requires creativity since things do t always line up as expected. We have RT flights in first class on ANA but our return date is not what I wanted. Hopefully things will line up. If not, I will cancel the return flight. No biggie. We are using Virgin Atlantic miles and their RT flights in first are darn close to what many airlines charge one way. The backup plan for our return flight is currently JAL in business class.