usernameistaken

Looking to book tickets for four people from Boston - Tokyo in April 2018. When does the "fuel surcharge" get sorted out? IIRC, prices can be sky high until the fuel surcharge is set. We are hoping to book the nonstop, which is about $2200 right now.

BigRuss

What are you on about - which airline are you referencing?

Fuel surcharges are usually a BA add-on.

If the nonstop is 2200 rt for four of you, book it now. If it's 2200 per, obviously you should consider waiting.

And the simple fact is you are likely to face far higher prices for a straight shot than for a connection through LAX or SFO. The difference for us less than a year ago was $500-600 per ticket to take a layover (<900 pp RT) instead of direct flight (~1400 pp). Same issue going to Europe this year.

Guenmai

I assume that you mean $2,200 per ticket, but in what class? I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow. I live in Los Angeles County and am flying non-stop, on Singapore Air, to Tokyo-Narita, for $1,146.01 round trip and in Premium Economy class.

Happy Travels!

usernameistaken

I am looking at Japan Airlines nonstop from Boston. Cattle class,

Historically, at least between 2007 and 2012 when I travelled to Japan four times, fares are high until something called the "fuel charge" is set. Then the fare falls to something resembling non-Japanese airlines. Don't know if this is the case.

For such a short trip, would prefer to avoid connections. We can only go for 9 days. The nonstop makes it a reality.

Mara

I'm in NYC so the price on JAL is cheaper...guess you don't want to come down from Boston... ;-) Also for the most part I have seen AA and JAL with almost the same prices since they are partners....right now in mid April AA is $1613 and JAL is $1619....according to itasoftware.

I sometimes track prices of flights online on Yapta. I just read about a smartphone app called Hopper which also tracks flight prices....

Adastra2200

Fuel surcharges depend on the price of oil, and nobody can predict where that is going.

Airlines like JAL and ANA adjust their fuel surcharges (if any) every 2 months or so. As I recall JAL only adds one on if the price per barrel exceeds US$60.

Interestingly, JAL lumps its surcharge in with its taxes, where other airlines like AA put it in with their fare. So when the surcharge was sky high several years ago, if you called JAL to book a ticket using frequent flier points, you'd still have to pay about $600 for their "free" ticket. But if you booked an AA flight, you'd just need to pay the taxes on the ticket, about $85 or so.

But the fuel surcharge is just one component of the ticket price. People who need precise dates way ahead of time are usually business people, and airlines can squeeze a higher fare out of them since often the company is paying. For tourists, the airlines start selling blocks of seats to agencies and releasing more seats on their cheaper airfares about 3-4 months before the departure date. Peak travel seasons like New Year's, Golden Week, and Obon also make fares jump a lot.

From the passenger's perspective, it looks like there are only 3-4 airfares, one for each seat class. But not so - for economy class alone, there could be a dozen or more airfares, each with their own rules, flexibility, connections, validity, and so on. Generally, the cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions there are. Something to remember if your plans are not solidly fixed yet.

OverIt

Super helpful... thanks. I have loads of AA miles but have noticed that booking a JAL ticket using miles is a waste.

Mara

Overlt, don't understand your comment. I booked a ticket using AA miles on JAL for a trip that I took this past spring and it cost me under $50.00 and the same amount of miles as if I flew on AA.

I don't know what the difference would be booking it on JAL...

CaliforniaLady

AA and JAL are both members of the One World Alliance. If you have AA miles, then you can book all the standards awards using any member of the alliance. Some carriers may be booked online, and some not. There is even the option of booking travel partners, distinct from alliance members, which have slightly different rules.

That being said, whether you book AA or JAL will depend on availability. However, if both are available, I would prefer JAL, because I like the flight attendants a wee bit better.

Also, remember that you can fly onward on the same award ticket into various spots in Japan, as long as your stay in Tokyo is 24 hours or less. A few flights leave from Narita, but most leave from Haneda. You also have the same option on your return, and your are protected in case there is a delay.

BTW, try to fly JAL business class. The Narita departure lounge has free foot massages, one private room (which I snagged last time), fabulous sake, and the best beef curry ever.

Adastra2200

>>I don't know what the difference would be booking it on JAL...

One difference may be a different baggage allowance. Alliances often try to make them uniform to avoid confusion, but that is not always the case. And of course there is the level of service. ANA is consistently rated at the top of best international airlines, JAL is way down the list, and the US carriers are usually way down further than that.

It would be interesting if AA charges the same number of miles for an award ticket for flying either AA or JAL; each airline makes it own rules though. At JAL, they charge more miles for non-JAL flights since they'd rather have you take JAL. The number of seats released for award tickets (or upgrades) is quite limited though, so sometimes the passenger has no choice.

CaliforniaLady

Adastra, AA does indeed charge the same amount of miles for flying AA or JAL. The awards are route-dependent, and not carrier-dependent.

You are right, that each airline can make its own rules. For example, if you are flying on an AA-issued business class award, and you want to complete you journey to Japan with a domestic flight on the same award, then you must fly coach for the domestic segment. That happened to me, and I was quite annoyed that I had to pay 10,000 yen each way for the privilege of a business class seat.

mrwunrfl

Use the miles if you can. Start looking for award seats now and keep looking.

The real question is what is a great fare on the BOS-NRT JAL nonstops that you want? And what is a great fare for BOS-XXX-NRT?

I would plan to book the tix between Oct and end of January. (I should mention that I booked an April trip in August last year because it was a nice biz class fare on ANA)

I would sign up for the JAL frequent fryer program just to get their offers.

Adastra2200

Well all airlines charge more according to distance, and what you write is quite familiar - JAL domestic flights have a J class seat but no official Business Class (that may change though).
I am much more familiar with Asiana and JAL.

Some think it's all quite simple, but it can get very hairy sometimes. For JAL for example, some fly US or CA to Seoul etc via Tokyo. Some use miles to upgrade to Business class, but few do it Japan to Korea since the flight is so short. For Business Class you get 70lbs per bag, but for Economy you're stuck with 50. If you do a same day connection in Japan, they'll allow you to take the 70lbs to Korea. But if you do a stopover in Tokyo (where you'd need to collect your bags), when you return to the airport with over 50 lbs - surprise! You get dinged with an excess baggage charge. I've seen a few cases where there have been some nasty shocks like that.

mrwunrfl

Airlines charge more according to demand and supply. The greater demand for BOS-TYO will go to the only nonstop.

The prices are high now because the market is not really open yet. Consider it a starting price in a bidding process and nobody is bidding yet.