Oneworld award redemption Tokyo to Australia at Christmas

[kearvaigskewer]

I'm looking at making a redemption for the Christmas period for Tokyo -> MEL/SYD/BNE and back early in the new year flying with Cathay, QANTAS or JAL.

I haven't really done a redemption this time of year before so haven't paid attention to how things go. Is there likely to be any availability open up between now and then? Or should I jump on whatever I can find?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Danger]

At this stage you'll be lucky. Christmas is, obviously, super peak and it's quite possible some airlines don't even release award seats.

Availability is very unlikely to open up.

If you can find something, grab it. Be prepared to look outside the box. You may find availability out of CNS or even AKL, for example. Malaysia Airlines is probably going to be your best chance.

 

[BacchusMarsh]

22 December is available on JAL for NRT-MEL in J. Coming back I guess it depends how late in the new year. I can see QF on 13 January and some other stuff beyond that.

I've had good experiences with JAL opening up last minute, but I'd hate to be relying on it.