A couple of questions from an AAdvantage newbie

[MEL_Traveller]

Thought id just made a rookie error, called the Aus number and got connected to someone with an accent i will call Irish..no idea what she was saying but we got there..

Anyway i locked in a flight with a connection, paid up etc, then checked the QF tool and it showed the first leg available in economy only, thankfully when logging into AA it shows both legs as J albeit MH J on an A330 so im not expecting anything better than Thais 747.

The other option she gave me was to go via Abu Dhabi on Etihad, now id love to fly Etihad but.. it would have turned a 9 hour direct or 13.5 hour connection in Kul into a full day affair

Anyway cheers to everyone in this thread, the posts i read made it easy enough for a first timer with AA.

TG's 747s have recliner seats in business, although quite generous. The a330 should have flat beds.

 

[Finale]

Thought id just made a rookie error, called the Aus number and got connected to someone with an accent i will call Irish..no idea what she was saying but we got there..

Anyway i locked in a flight with a connection, paid up etc, then checked the QF tool and it showed the first leg available in economy only, thankfully when logging into AA it shows both legs as J albeit MH J on an A330 so im not expecting anything better than Thais 747.

The other option she gave me was to go via Abu Dhabi on Etihad, now id love to fly Etihad but.. it would have turned a 9 hour direct or 13.5 hour connection in Kul into a full day affair

Anyway cheers to everyone in this thread, the posts i read made it easy enough for a first timer with AA.

MH J A330 has been refurbished since last year and you should get flatbeds, far better than THAI 747s. If you can, pick 1K, 4K or 6K as these 3 seats have more space than others (and taken very fast).

Seatmap: SeatGuru Seat Map Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 (333) V1

 

[FreddyFattler]

MH J A330 has been refurbished since last year and you should get flatbeds, far better than THAI 747s. If you can, pick 1K, 4K or 6K as these 3 seats have more space than others (and taken very fast).

Seatmap: SeatGuru Seat Map Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 (333) V1

Cheers, happy to hear about the upgrade, look forward to it, Any idea on how far out you can start reserving seats? I havent gotten a confirmation email but its been updated to ticketed on AA.

Even if it were the old one itd have been worth it to try this satay everyone raves about.

 

[Finale]

Cheers, happy to hear about the upgrade, look forward to it, Any idea on how far out you can start reserving seats? I havent gotten a confirmation email but its been updated to ticketed on AA.

Even if it were the old one itd have been worth it to try this satay everyone raves about.

I had to call MH to get seats assigned before if not book direct. Not sure if things changed as last time I flew was early this year. If the flight is available now, you should be able to reserve the seat.

I'm not sure if AA record locator will work with MH now as I have not used AA to book MH for a while. If not, you can call AA again or simply call MH and tell them your details.

 

[FreddyFattler]

TG's 747s have recliner seats in business, although quite generous. The a330 should have flat beds.

I hadnt looked for quite a while since they canned the cheap Euro J flights, good to see theyre upgrading, god knows Thai could use one, my last 2 flights with them have been very average...i almost considered going back to Economy to get my appreciation back haha.

I had to call MH to get seats assigned before if not book direct. Not sure if things changed as last time I flew was early this year. If the flight is available now, you should be able to reserve the seat.

I'm not sure if AA record locator will work with MH now as I have not used AA to book MH for a while. If not, you can call AA again or simply call MH and tell them your details.

The flights not until latish next year, so i will give it some time before attempting online seat selection. If no dice i'll give MH a call and tell them to give me the good seats with a DYKWIA attitude

 

[Finale]

I hadnt looked for quite a while since they canned the cheap Euro J flights, good to see theyre upgrading, god knows Thai could use one, my last 2 flights with them have been very average...i almost considered going back to Economy to get my appreciation back haha.

I only flew THAI F now as my J experience was not great. If I cannot get THAI F, I would pick other airlines to BKK even with connection. I go back to BKK a few times a year as my family live there. For Apr next year, I couldn't find THAI F, while J is available, I booked SYD-MEL-SIN (QF J and F) and still deciding on how to get to BKK lol

 

[FreddyFattler]

[QUOTE="Finale, post: 1719815, member: 21004"If you can, pick 1K, 4K or 6K as these 3 seats have more space than others (and taken very fast).

Seatmap: SeatGuru Seat Map Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 (333) V1[/QUOTE]

After messing around calling MH for a few days (computers down, need e-ticket number, need to any other excuse not to help)

I called AA and got the MH PNR, logged in and snapped up 6K immediately. I prefer to be toward the back of the cabin So people don't point and laugh at the Bogan in J

Thanks for the tips we seat selection, I may actually even use the John this time.. How exciting!

 

[Finale]

After messing around calling MH for a few days (computers down, need e-ticket number, need to any other excuse not to help)

I called AA and got the MH PNR, logged in and snapped up 6K immediately. I prefer to be toward the back of the cabin So people don't point and laugh at the Bogan in J

Thanks for the tips we seat selection, I may actually even use the John this time.. How exciting!

Hope you enjoy the flight. Only thing about MH seat is I find it a little bit short. I'm only 170cm and think it just fits me ok. If you are much taller 1K might be better.

 

[earlyriser]

Has anyone come across any last minute availability out of Australia over the next 3 weeks? I have found some to China but can't quite get the dates to work. NZ is there also but not great value.

 

[Croupier]

Has anyone come across any last minute availability out of Australia over the next 3 weeks? I have found some to China but can't quite get the dates to work. NZ is there also but not great value.

ADE-KUL 12,13,14 of January MH in J, 2 seats available.
MEL/SYD-KUL 12,13/14 January MH in J, 1 seat available.
SYD-SIN BA, 25 December (F1) 26th (J8,F1) 27th (J3,F4) 28th (J8) 29th (J lots, F3) 30th (J lots) 31st (J7)
SYD-SIN QF 7th January (J1)
MEL-HKG QF 26th December (J?)
MEL-HKG QF28th December (J1)
MEL-HKG CX 25th December (J 2 x flights at least 2 seats)
BNE-HKG CX 25th December (J at least 2 seats)
BNE-HKG QF/CX 29th December (J1)
BNE-HKG CX 1st/9th January (J1)
MEL-NRT QF 27th December (J?)
SYD-HND QF 29th December (J?)

Searched using BA and QF websites, OMG I'm so over Qantas search engine I'm stopping now, might be more flights city pairs out there but this will also depend if AA can see the seats available.
Sometimes pays to call Fiji and USA if having difficulty finding the seats.
Merry Xmas.

 

[earlyriser]

ADE-KUL 12,13,14 of January MH in J, 2 seats available.
MEL/SYD-KUL 12,13/14 January MH in J, 1 seat available.
SYD-SIN BA, 25 December (F1) 26th (J8,F1) 27th (J3,F4) 28th (J8) 29th (J lots, F3) 30th (J lots) 31st (J7)
SYD-SIN QF 7th January (J1)
MEL-HKG QF 26th December (J?)
MEL-HKG QF28th December (J1)
MEL-HKG CX 25th December (J 2 x flights at least 2 seats)
BNE-HKG CX 25th December (J at least 2 seats)
BNE-HKG QF/CX 29th December (J1)
BNE-HKG CX 1st/9th January (J1)
MEL-NRT QF 27th December (J?)
SYD-HND QF 29th December (J?)

Searched using BA and QF websites, OMG I'm so over Qantas search engine I'm stopping now, might be more flights city pairs out there but this will also depend if AA can see the seats available.
Sometimes pays to call Fiji and USA if having difficulty finding the seats.
Merry Xmas.

Wow, you are my hero. Time to get on the phone!

 

[ChasingDaylight]

After a lot of 'first or business is not available on all flights' trash, I've managed to put on hold a SEA-LAX-MEL-AKL flight for May (with QF doing the second and third leg) with a Sabre PNR and I've also got the QF PNR, both of which come up fine on each airlines website.

The kicker is that this combo didn't come up on either QF's search tool or AwardNexus. Given it's managed to get into the booking system, is comitting points to it likely to ticket it?

I'm just worried I've hit phantom availability 2.0 and don't want to pay $3k for points if I'm striking fools gold in doing so.

Edit: With ten minutes until the points sale finished, I coughed up the cash (had to activate the credit card first!) and will now be my own ginea pig with this.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

you can check phantom availability through the JAL mileage bank tool. If it shows on JL’s tool it is more than likely going to be available through partners. However, if you’ve managed to put it on hold that’s a positive sign.

 

[earlyriser]

Thanks for all of the help. In Beijing now as managed to find dates that worked using the tips from this thread. Cheers!

 

[Croupier]

Thanks for all of the help. In Beijing now as managed to find dates that worked using the tips from this thread. Cheers!

No worries, enjoy your trip.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

you can check phantom availability through the JAL mileage bank tool. If it shows on JL’s tool it is more than likely going to be available through partners. However, if you’ve managed to put it on hold that’s a positive sign.

Thanks for that, I didn’t know about The JAL tool! Flight ticketed approximately two hours after committing the points to it, so I’m pretty happy with that F redemption!

Will follow up with AwardNexus as to why it didn’t show in the search results.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for that, I didn’t know about The JAL tool! Flight ticketed approximately two hours after committing the points to it, so I’m pretty happy with that F redemption!

Will follow up with AwardNexus as to why it didn’t show in the search results.

I just did some research... it seems if you can hold an itinerary on AA the space is available (not phantom). This differs from say Alaska Airlines - where you can't put awards on hold - which will allow you to reserve the seats and go all the way to payment before it rejects.

 

[serfty]

it seems if you can hold an itinerary on AA the space is available (not phantom

That is because to get to the AA hold stage the actual fare bucket availability needs to have been consumed by your booking.

That can't be done if it was zero.

With AA.cim, the phantom availibility issue crops up well before the hold stage on AA.com.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Thanks Serfty - that was my understanding too - if you can put it on hold, the inventory exists - however when the same flights weren't appearing on Award Nexus OR when searching QF's own website, I was a bit concerned I was dealing with something new.

Now, I just hope work still sends me to that part of the world!

 

[asg29e]

I've booked 2x AA business class awards, ADL-HKG-LHR, flying on CX. Confirmed and ticketed. When I put the info into the CX website, (either the booking ref or the ticket numbers) it can't find them. Does anyone know if I have to phone CX to select seats etc or is there an easier way?