Yesterday I provided first impressions of my JAL First Class flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. I realized after I probably should have provided some context first.
Los Angeles To Amman The Long Way Via Asia
I was joining a friend in Amman, the trip was last-minute, and there was no award space on Royal Jordanian, Etihad, or Qatar Airways from the USA…which would have provided the most direct routing.
But flying west there was space…and actually an incredible deal using AA miles. Although it wasn’t the plan, I ended up taking advantage of two sweet spots. The USA to Tokyo is 80K AA miles in first class. That’s really an incredible deal for a leading carrier in first class.
Even better, you can then fly from East Asia to the Middle East for only 40K AA miles in business class.
Amazingly, the journey from Tokyo to Doha, an 11 hour, 55 minute flight, then the connection from Doha to Amman, another 2 hours, 50 minutes was only 40,000 AA miles in business class.
Considering how much award chart inflation we’ve seen these days, I think 120K miles for a longhaul flight in JAL first class, longhaul flight in Qatar Airways Qsuite business class, access to the Al Safwa lounge in Doha, and then a regional first class flight with lie-flat seats as well is about as good of a deal as you can find.
Sweet spots are never safe, so take advantage while you can…I expect these routes to go up in price during the next devaluation.
CONCLUSION
My routing to Amman may have been unorthodox, but it certainly made sense versus flying in economy class or even absorbing the heavy fuel surcharges on British Airways (theoretically…BA space was not available either). If you have some extra time, consider flying to the Middle East the long way using your AA miles.
Tomorrow, I’ll share my first impressions of the 777-300ER flight from Tokyo to Doha in QSuite business class.
image: Great Circle Mapper
What about IAD-AMM was it booked?
No UA for this trip, but I do look forward to trying the new IAD-AMM service at a future point.
out of curiosity, what’s your strategy for accumulating AA miles. They are the hardest (for me) to come by. I suppose a bit less valuable now that we can get Qsuites via Avios, but still, lots of good redemptions and no easy way to come by them.
I am cautiously optimistic we will see the return of the Citi transfer option. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
All this for……..knafeh!
For the mansaf. A lot of mansaf!
Seems like this would be flying west, not east.
Lately thinking the opposite direction is the best approach. Two trips to Australia the past two months taught me to revert this way. Going tpac was impossible. But by being creative and going through Europe, ME, and SE Asia I was able to get decent redemptions. And some fun flights! It took longer but was certainly more interesting and had a certain charm.
I flew Sydney Singapore Tokyo chicago. Syd singapore on sg and then LifeMiles home from Singapore after a stopover.
Australia to Asia is 40k AA miles in biz. Pretty sweet redemption!!
Also that Japan flight is cheaper on Alaskan @cy if you want an alternative booking option.
Hello, I imagine you had two separate bookings. How were you able to board in la and transit in japan given current entry restrictions since your flight had it destination as tokyo?
I had both itineraries printed out – Japanese transit rules do not require the transit be on one ticket.
I guess you had two separate bookings. How were you able to board in lax and transit in japan considering the current on going travel restrictions? thanks
It took the JAL reps some time to check me in and get clearance, but I was cleared to board after about 10 minutes of back room consultation.
Thanks