I am doing some dry run to check availability for our 280k trip 3rd quarter next year.
Running into trouble on our first leg from SYD to LAX, was hoping to try out A380, checked availaibility all the way from 353 days out searching backwards and showing only Y availability. Also failed to find anything via MEL or even BNE on 747. Then no luck on BA site for AA from SYD to LAX as well.
Am I approaching this wrong way, so simply because I have no status?[/QUOTE
As you've found out SYD - LAX is probably the hardest route to get J award seats on, ablecookie, simply because availability is low and competition is fierce. Even pax with status struggle although some do apparently succeed by asking QF to release seats for them.
CX J award availability is generally good flying to LAX via HKG. Of course this is not ideal given that the total travel time can be around double but it may pay to lock in that option first to be sure you can get to LA, then you can hope a better option comes up. That would dependent on the longer flights being within your total distance constraints too........and you could always take the philosophical view that it gives you double the time to enjoy your J seats.
AA J availability seems a bit random (as well as being sparse) - their awards are supposedly released at 330 days which means you have to wait over 3 weeks longer than CX and QF etc. but anecdotally it seems that they can take longer than that to be released so don't just focus on the 327 - 330 day time frame. This is where the fall back position with CX seats can be beneficial - if you book them when they are available you can look for AA SYD - LAX options later when they get released and then change if you find suitable flights. IME the best way to search for J availability on AA is via their aa.com website (not the aa.com.au site - when you get the option to select your country of residence select USA). You are then looking for Business Milesaver fares which will be coloured blue (Y is green), not Business Anytime fares. AA's website allows you to scroll forward or back through the dates which makes the search easier. I just had a quick look and found J award availability for 2 pax to LAX on spasmodic dates in early April and March 2017. Make sure you check the flight details to make sure the booking class is "U". Some that show up will be connecting flights via AKL but some will be SYD - LAX direct.
