I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[mmmears]

Ok, I figured it out (well, part of it). When I'm not logged in I can't see the flights I'm looking for. DH said he was logged in and couldn't but I think he somehow got kicked out.

 

[wanderlust7]

Ok, I figured it out (well, part of it). When I'm not logged in I can't see the flights I'm looking for. DH said he was logged in and couldn't but I think he somehow got kicked out.

With BA, you need to do Book with Avios to see the award flights and you need to be logged in to do that.

For cash flights, I'm not surprised they don't show since the direct flights are JAL, not BA or codeshare, so BA wouldn't sell them.

For first, it's not something I've stalked since I know I can't get 4 lol. I've seen 1 seat on occasion, but most of the time I don't change the search default from economy (which shows economy, premium economy, biz), so I wouldn't even see it. You should be able to see 2 in J to NRT pretty reliabily at schedule end.

 

[wanderlust7]

If you want first class you have to be more strategic with the timing of the release of the seats because they go very quickly. Biz class seats tend to linger for a few days.

Curious if you've ever seen 2 in first? I think that's what @mmmears is looking for.

 

[wanderlust7]

Flying from SFO non-stop (with LAX as a backup). Looking mostly for first but also checking Biz. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but it's much harder than expected.

Just thought to check if the SFO-TYO routes even have first and they do not! LAX-HND has an F cabin and I can see 1 seat availability at schedule end.

 

[mmmears]

Just thought to check if the SFO-TYO routes even have first and they do not! LAX-HND has an F cabin and I can see 1 seat availability at schedule end.

Yep I figured it out looking at seat guru. Oops! That explains a lot.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Had SW change a flight for November (which I was hoping for) and now they allow you to change your flight twice at no cost. That's new to me but perhaps it's been around a bit.

Your trip was modified​

A change was made to your original reservation. If you need to make changes to the revised itinerary information shown below, you may do so up to two times at no additional cost.

 

[Haley R]

Well we made it to Tokyo but it was not fun Ds has decided to enter this insane phase of screaming and hitting and decided the end of the flight was a good time to do that. He screamed during the whole descent because he didn’t want to wear a seatbelt and his ears were hurting which he’s never had happen before. He didn’t eat any food on the entire 11 hour flight. He’s so sleep deprived and coughing. He was up at 2:30 am at the SFO hotel. I feel bad because I know he’s out of sorts but dh and I just don’t know how to calm him down in those situations. On top of all of that, I left my carry on on the plane. Luckily a flight attendant brought it to baggage claim for me. I’m hoping we can all get a good night sleep tonight and start fresh tomorrow. Traveling with a preschooler is no joke.

ETA: I forgot to mention they changed planes on us so our seats ended up being in different spots than we booked which was a big deal with us having a 4 year old. They were very helpful and able to get us in a somewhat better spot but we lost our window seat by moving

 

[havaneselover]

Well we made it to Tokyo but it was not fun Ds has decided to enter this insane phase of screaming and hitting and decided the end of the flight was a good time to do that. He screamed during the whole descent because he didn’t want to wear a seatbelt and his ears were hurting which he’s never had happen before. He didn’t eat any food on the entire 11 hour flight. He’s so sleep deprived and coughing. He was up at 2:30 am at the SFO hotel. I feel bad because I know he’s out of sorts but dh and I just don’t know how to calm him down in those situations. On top of all of that, I left my carry on on the plane. Luckily a flight attendant brought it to baggage claim for me. I’m hoping we can all get a good night sleep tonight and start fresh tomorrow. Traveling with a preschooler is no joke

Hope you all get some sleep and have a wonderful trip.

 

[hsmamato2]

On the CSR PP, you can do yourself plus 2 guests. On the Hilton biz PP, it's 10 visits, so you can do yourself plus 9 guests if you wanted to. You don't need to be on the same ticket or airline.

oh wow ok. So if I have both cards, can I use only one at a time for a visit? I'll be traveling with a group of 7 others on an upcoming trip, it would be fun to 'treat' them all to a visit! The Hilton biz, it's 10 visits and then done, correct?
ETA..... so at SFO it lloks like the 3 lounges are all in terminal A- so (according to google) it appears my flight will prob. land in Terminal 2 ,but our next flight goes out of G....so that sounds like it won't be accessible since I won't have a ticket to get past security of term. A.....(?) not sure how the rules work

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Curious if you've ever seen 2 in first? I think that's what @mmmears is looking for.

I think that JAL only releases 1 first class seat early on. But I have read reports that you can get another seat on points a few weeks or even a few days before the flight. I'd book 1 in first, another in biz, then try closer to the date of the trip to get another, as long as 1 of the party is okay with a seat in biz.

 

[becauseimnew]

I am looking at SFO to "Tokyo" which usually shows both Haneda and Nartia. I've been little to no biz and no first at all (was really looking for first since it's such a long flight). Do you know what time they update over on BA? Thanks for your help. I realize I may have to try for J class instead.



Flying from SFO non-stop (with LAX as a backup). Looking mostly for first but also checking Biz. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but it's much harder than expected. BA is showing NO non-stops on 4/29 from SFO (I'm not willing to fly through LHR which they are suggesting) and that's even searching for a cash flight in any class of seats.

I really appreciate all the help.View attachment 858895

BA releases the seats at 7PM central time in

 

[babyready]

Well we made it to Tokyo but it was not fun Ds has decided to enter this insane phase of screaming and hitting and decided the end of the flight was a good time to do that. He screamed during the whole descent because he didn’t want to wear a seatbelt and his ears were hurting which he’s never had happen before. He didn’t eat any food on the entire 11 hour flight. He’s so sleep deprived and coughing. He was up at 2:30 am at the SFO hotel. I feel bad because I know he’s out of sorts but dh and I just don’t know how to calm him down in those situations. On top of all of that, I left my carry on on the plane. Luckily a flight attendant brought it to baggage claim for me. I’m hoping we can all get a good night sleep tonight and start fresh tomorrow. Traveling with a preschooler is no joke.

ETA: I forgot to mention they changed planes on us so our seats ended up being in different spots than we booked which was a big deal with us having a 4 year old. They were very helpful and able to get us in a somewhat better spot but we lost our window seat by moving

Oh goodness, that sounds like you're off to a bumpy start. If it makes you feel any better some of my best trips have been the worst in terms of flights. So I hope things improve. Do what you need to do to get everyone rested and fed. Take deep breaths.

Hope things start to settle and improve soon!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We are in the same area as you and went to Costa Rica a couple months back. We flew JetBlue out of BOS (originally flying through FLL but we rebooked to MCO as prices dropped closer to the flight. We overnighted at the MCO Hyatt so we could arrive earlier in the day) to SJO. Flying home we were flying out of LIR. We stopped in ATL on the way home, though. We originally were booked direct to ATL on Delta but ended up rebooking on Southwest through HOU. I think I saw that Southwest is pulling out of HOU though, so not sure what the timing is on that.

Southwest is pulling out of IAH. HOU is a Southwest hub. If they pulled out of there -- the airport would basically shut down.

 

[wanderlust7]

oh wow ok. So if I have both cards, can I use only one at a time for a visit? I'll be traveling with a group of 7 others on an upcoming trip, it would be fun to 'treat' them all to a visit! The Hilton biz, it's 10 visits and then done, correct?
ETA..... so at SFO it lloks like the 3 lounges are all in terminal A- so (according to google) it appears my flight will prob. land in Terminal 2 ,but our next flight goes out of G....so that sounds like it won't be accessible since I won't have a ticket to get past security of term. A.....(?) not sure how the rules work

I tried to use the CSR and the Hilton biz PP for an extra person before and was told no. Hilton biz is 10 visits per calendar year, so it'll reset next year and you can use it again before March 31 when the benefit goes away (assuming you registered between July 2023 and June 2024).

I believe Terminal 2 and G are connected past security, so you wouldn't need to go through security for your connection. So to go to Terminal A and then back you'd have to go through security twice. They'll probably tell you you're at the wrong terminal, but you can tell them you're going to a lounge. There's a chance that they won't let you, but I don't know how common that is. We've done it before at SFO with no issue, but were denied at one terminal at JFK yet let though another.

 

[Huskerpaul]

I tried to use the CSR and the Hilton biz PP for an extra person before and was told no. Hilton biz is 10 visits per calendar year, so it'll reset next year and you can use it again before March 31 when the benefit goes away (assuming you registered between July 2023 and June 2024).

Yep AMEX recently made big changes to the Hilton Biz card, including ending the 10 PP visits. Also, no FNC after $15k spend. Plus they doubled the annual fee.

One positive change - all spend earns 5x HH.

 

[Haley R]

Oh goodness, that sounds like you're off to a bumpy start. If it makes you feel any better some of my best trips have been the worst in terms of flights. So I hope things improve. Do what you need to do to get everyone rested and fed. Take deep breaths.

Hope things start to settle and improve soon!

He did pretty well for the majority of the flight and even slept for a 3-4 hour chunk (we hoped he would’ve slept longer though). I think at the end his ears were really bothering him and he didn’t know how to process it so he was trying to unbuckle and get off the plane. Dh had to awkwardly reach around the middle divider to hold his seatbelt on.

I will say, once we got here, everything went really smoothly. He was able to calm down and we got everything done in the airport quickly. We got money out of an ATM, welcome PASMO cards, and booked a limousine bus to get us to Shinjuku station. Getting through Shinjuku station with all of our luggage was easier than expected and ds kept up the whole time.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Any suggestions on "stuck" Avios? I see there are Ireland flights to be had again. And I have seats on hold for 2025, try #3 of DD's Bday SPD trip. But the taxes/fees are $600! But you can book on Alaska or United for under $100 in fees! But what do I do w/ my 200k Avios and what does my mom do w/ her 100k Avios? I booked the tickets for now, but if I can find a way to use avios I may rethink this!

 

[KPK02090]

I didn't realize/forgot there was a change. However it does look like Los Altos is bookable through the Chase portal.
View attachment 858623

Thanks so much for this suggestion. It does look like it'd be perfect for us. Bummed it's not bookable with Hyatt points anymore.
When I go directly to their website, I can book for April 2025 and they have availability, but when I go through the Chase portal, I can only select up to April 7. Out of curiosity, to compare pricing, I put in dates in February and there is availability on the Los Altos website, but the Chase portal says Sold Out for the same dates. Is there a limited number of rooms bookable through the portal? If that's the case would you all suggest that I book one night at a time as they become available on the portal? Are rooms typically released at midnight?

EDIT: Looks like Los Altos is part of The Edit by Chase Travel, formerly known as the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection and can't be booked with URs. "Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection properties are also reservation-only bookings for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers, and can't be booked with points."

Back to the drawing board.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

He did pretty well for the majority of the flight and even slept for a 3-4 hour chunk (we hoped he would’ve slept longer though). I think at the end his ears were really bothering him and he didn’t know how to process it so he was trying to unbuckle and get off the plane. Dh had to awkwardly reach around the middle divider to hold his seatbelt on.

I will say, once we got here, everything went really smoothly. He was able to calm down and we got everything done in the airport quickly. We got money out of an ATM, welcome PASMO cards, and booked a limousine bus to get us to Shinjuku station. Getting through Shinjuku station with all of our luggage was easier than expected and ds kept up the whole time.

We're having major Japan withdrawal (we were there exactly 1 year ago, and all the "memories" are popping up on our phones, social media, etc.). Makes us want to plan a trip back, so please share pics! and have a great time!

 

[AmyAnne]

I think at the end his ears were really bothering him and he didn’t know how to process it so he was trying to unbuckle and get off the plane. Dh had to awkwardly reach around the middle divider to hold his seatbelt on.

Earplanes worked for my kids when they had ear pain while flying.