Here I am, chiming in! It depends on whether you have any loyalty to a particular airline or alliance. Andrea and I were getting award tickets through American, so we used JAL and Cathay Pacific as the best options. Both go nonstop to their respective hubs from LAX. American also flies LAX-Tokyo, but my personal opinion is you get better service, seats, etc. on foreign carriers. I have not flown JAL, but Cathay Pacific business class is excellent.

United flies nonstop LAX-Tokyo and between Tokyo and Hong Kong, so that may be a good choice. They also have a nonstop from San Francisco to Osaka, and from HK to SFO, which allow for connections to LAX (or even Burbank if that is convenient for you).

Sheri, Cathay Pacific is in OneWorld (American's alliance).

Like Andrea, we got our award reservations done this week. There is one little change I'm hoping to make, but overall we did well with our flights.

Now that the flights are booked, I can relax and look forward to seeing everyone in Osaka!

Dena