AA Award, JL, QF Flights

[Jinn]

I will fly on an Award ticket using AA miles from ORD to NRT on JL. From NRT to Syd I will be on QF. When I check in online, do I do so with JL or AA? I have record locators for each. I am flying Business class on both flights. Which lounge do I use in NRT? The JL flight lands at Terminal 2 and the QF flight departs from 2. As always, thank you in advance for sharing your collective knowledge. Julia

[Zach1213]

It is one trip straight through? In that case, always check in with the first carrier, be it online or in person. Just be prepared that airlines, even in the same alliance, don't always play nice together when it comes to online check-in.

 

You should be able to use whatever lounge you want (OneWorld that is) at NRT. I recommend the JAL Lounge based on personal experience.

[FriscoMcDavis]

For each leg, check-in with the carrier operating the aircraft - even though it's an AA award - so checking with JL in ORD, etc. This should check you through to QF, but as previous poster pointed out, their systems may not have communicated - I think you will be ok, but you can always check in the lounge.

[Gardyloo]

I haven't been to the (newish) Qantas lounge at Narita, so can't comment. I believe it's located in the satellite building (as is a JAL lounge) while the American, Cathay Pacific and older JAL lounges are in the main building.

 

Of those, I frankly prefer the AA Admirals Club most of the time. It's seldom overcrowded, a state I've encountered in the JAL lounges a couple of times. I wasn't knocked out by the Cathay Pacific lounge by comparison.

 

I'd assume (but don't know) that your Qantas flight will leave from the satellite, so if it was me I'd try out the Qantas lounge first, then the JAL lounge in the satellite.

 

How long is your layover at Narita? If it's several hours (I'd say at least 5 or 6) you might give serious consideration to taking a bus or cab (not very expensive) to the Naritasan temple complex in Narita city. (It's around 15 min. from the airport.) The Narita temple group is one of the premier Buddhist sites in Japan, and it's simply gorgeous. I don't know how many thousands (millions?) of people pass through the airport annually oblivious to this treasure just minutes away. It's really worth the effort, but, of course, not worth missing a flight over. (Unless you could finagle an overnight stop - the airport-area hotels are excellent and very inexpensive.)

 

What it looks like:

 

[Jinn]

All went well. I was able to check in with JL online and print both boarding passes. Am now in Qantas lounge at NRT waiting for flight to Sydney. Since I also asked a question about charging iPads in another thread I will report that in this lounge I need no adapter. They have USA style outlets. Julia