Are there any 1st class flights on OneWorld from Aus to Japan?

[Kangol]

As an alternative, how about BA SYD-SIN - new F on the 777 with regional connections to NRT?

 

[amaroo]

how about BA SYD-SIN - new F on the 777

Plenty availability too. Picked up two last week for early Oct.....

 

[Kangol]

Plenty availability too. Picked up two last week for early Oct.....

What day of the week? When I've searched there has been plenty early in the week, weekends are unfortunately not that available in my experience...

 

[amaroo]

What day of the week? When I've searched there has been plenty early in the week, weekends are unfortunately not that available in my experience...

Wednesday. We selected this day/flight/destination as it's the actual day of our 20th anniversary and we can only spare a few days away. Not a bad way to celebrate - Flounge, First Class and a classic colonial style hotel to drop the bags

 

[benlight]

As an alternative, how about BA SYD-SIN - new F on the 777 with regional connections to NRT?

If one is hoping to book this as one 60k AA award, MPM + 25% restrictions apply, so the only possible connection option SIN-NRT would be direct on JL in J which just scrapes in under the requirement. Connections on CX or ML through HKG or KUL both exceed the MPM + 25% restriction, unfortunately.

MPM for SYD-NRT: 5835
MPM + 25% (25M): 7293
SYD-SIN-NRT: 7231
SYD-SIN-KUL-NRT: 7764
SYD-SIN-HKG-NRT: 7337

 

[legroom]

If one is hoping to book this as one 60k AA award, MPM + 25% restrictions apply, so the only possible connection option SIN-NRT would be direct on JL in J which just scrapes in under the requirement. Connections on CX or ML through HKG or KUL both exceed the MPM + 25% restriction, unfortunately.

MPM for SYD-NRT: 5835
MPM + 25% (25M): 7293
SYD-SIN-NRT: 7231
SYD-SIN-KUL-NRT: 7764
SYD-SIN-HKG-NRT: 7337

Good thought

How about a Zone 3 booking for 80K in J ?

One could conceivably construct a SYD SIN HKG NRT (7329 miles) to fit in a zone 3 booking with 2,000 miles to spare.

CTY GI TPM cough MPM EMS DED LAST NEXT 25M

SYD 3
1. SIN 3 EH 3912 3912 4694 0M 0 0 782 5867
2. HKG 3 EH 1594 5506 5514 0M 0 0 8 6892
3. TYO 3 EH 1823 7329 5835 EXC 0 35 EXC 7293

 

[ketsuzei]

How about a Zone 3 booking for 80K in J ?

One could conceivably construct a SYD SIN HKG NRT (7329 miles) to fit in a zone 3 booking with 2,000 miles to spare.

What's the advantage of that other than stopovers?

 

[legroom]

What's the advantage of that other than stopovers?

I was in an 'AFF' frame of mind !

 

[ProggerPete]

How do you find out the MPM for a route? I'd be curious to know the MPM for BNE-CTS.

Agent was happy with me tacking my start and finish legs on for BNE-SYD-HKG-HND-CTS (7381 miles) while keeping it at 60k.

 

[smit0847]

Do AA consistently pply MPM restrictions though? On USDM they're supposed to but rarely do.

 

[ProggerPete]

In the absence of concrete info I tried just calling up and booking SYD-SIN-HKG-CTS.

Computer says no and prices it as 2 separate redemptions.

The agent believes it is because the routing goes through more than one region. Bit of a shame, as availability for 2 1st class seats SYD-SIN is quite good.

So looks like I'll stick to my original routing and cross fingers on a new seat release. I signed up to expertflyers trial and created an award alert, but I suspect it will become void once the trial expires and paying $100 to keep it active doesn't sit right with me. Are there any free alert sites?

Edit : Don't know reliability, but http://wandr.me/oneworld-Award-Search/ promises to do what I'm after.

 

[serfty]

For AA-miles awards if there is a published fare with specific routing rules, then that takes precedence. If there is no such fare but there is a published fare with a maximum permitted mileage (MPM), then the MPM governs.

 

[Kangol]

See these links for more info on AA award ticketing:
The dark side of American's award ticket rules... - One Mile at a Time - One Mile at a Time
Free One-Way Awards on American Using Stopovers, Just How Many Miles are You Allowed to Fly? - View from the Wing - View from the Wing
Getting the Most Out of an American Airlines Award: Ultimate Guide to AAdvantage Rules - View from the Wing - View from the Wing
Reader Questions about Free Stopovers on American Airlines Awards | milevalue.com

How do you find out the MPM for a route? I'd be curious to know the MPM for BNE-CTS.

Agent was happy with me tacking my start and finish legs on for BNE-SYD-HKG-HND-CTS (7381 miles) while keeping it at 60k.

You can use EF to find the MPM. BNE-CTS (or SPK) is 5954.

Maximum Permitted Mileage


BNESPK-JL 17SEP14

TICKETED POINT SURCHARGES APPLY.
GI M 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M

MPM EH 5954 6251 6549 6847 7144 7442

.

Do AA consistently pply MPM restrictions though? On USDM they're supposed to but rarely do.

Apparently AA are very strict on MPM +25%, see the first link above.

In the absence of concrete info I tried just calling up and booking SYD-SIN-HKG-CTS.

Computer says no and prices it as 2 separate redemptions.

The agent believes it is because the routing goes through more than one region. Bit of a shame, as availability for 2 1st class seats SYD-SIN is quite good.

So looks like I'll stick to my original routing and cross fingers on a new seat release. I signed up to expertflyers trial and created an award alert, but I suspect it will become void once the trial expires and paying $100 to keep it active doesn't sit right with me. Are there any free alert sites?

Edit : Don't know reliability, but Log On promises to do what I'm after.

SYD-CTS MPM is 6447.
SYD-SIN-HKG-CTS is 7637.

I don't think the transiting through more than one region rule applies in this case:

AA and Partner Airline Award info, rules (NOT for oneworld Explorer Awards) 2014 on - FlyerTalk Forums

ie. South Pacific to Asia 1 can connect in Asia 2.

As serfty says it may be the published routing rules that are stopping the SIN and HKG transits.
Don't know of any free alert sites unfortunately.

Calculated Sector Mileage


SYD JL SIN JL HKG JL SPK /17SEP14
*************************************************************

CTY GI TPM cough MPM EMS DED LAST NEXT 25M

SYD 3
1. SIN 3 EH 3912 3912 4694 0M 0 0 782 5867
2. HKG 3 EH 1594 5506 5514 0M 0 0 8 6892
3. SPK 3 EH 2131 7637 6447 20M 0 222 99 8058

 

[ProggerPete]

I've got this booked. Have a couple of extra data points for those interested.

First is that BNE-SYD-HKG-HND prices at 75k points in 1st while BNE-SYD-HKG-HND-CTS prices at 60k. I'm not going to Sapporo anymore, but guess which itinerary I booked. =)

The 2nd is that AA Australia charge $60 pp booking fee, while AA USA charge $25pp. So I booked via the USA call center.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me plan this trip.

 

[ProggerPete]

Oh the salty salty tears. I got an email about a booking change today and discovered that the A380 is no longer running on the SYD-HKG route. Given that I booked with AA points I expect the chances of compensation for this approximate zero.

Unless things have changed dramatically since I first posted it seems there is no longer anyway for me to use my AA points for a 1st class trip AUS => JPN. I'm pondering whether it's worth keeping any 1st legs at all, I might get more value out of CX Business BNE-HKG-TYO and getting a refund for the points difference. I really wanted to try a 1st class product though. =(

 

[ketsuzei]

I might get more value out of CX Business BNE-HKG-TYO and getting a refund for the points difference. (

I agree that it's very frustrating. Some of my next trips to TYO will be in SQ F, TG F, and NZ J (on the new 789) as I experiment with alternative ways to get there. I've also accepted one QF downgrade to J on HKG-SYD because I have HND-HKG in CX F preceding that. It's going to be quite a contrast.