21 Best Ways to Earn Lots of Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank Miles
Full Disclosure: We may be financially compensated when you click on links to credit card products from our advertising partners, such as American Express, Chase, Citi & Capital One. Opinions and product recommendations on this site are ours alone, and have not been influenced, reviewed or approved by the issuer. See our Advertiser Disclosure for more details. Thanks!
In 1951, Japan Airlines (JAL) became the first international airline in Japan. Now the largest commercial carrier in the country, it has hubs at Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT) airports.
As a member of the Oneworld alliance, JAL serves more than 305 airports in 51 countries.
Members of its airline loyalty program, JAL Mileage Bank (JMB), can earn miles for flights on JAL and partner airlines, as well as by making purchases with JAL’s travel and non-travel partners.
Let’s take a look at the myriad ways you can earn JMB miles to redeem for award flights, e-money, and other awards. Plus, you can read our post on the best ways to fly to Japan using points.
Table of contents
Table of Contents
JAL Mileage Bank (JMB)
1. Join JMB to Earn Miles
Sign up for JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) and start earning miles for JAL flights, partner flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and more!
2. Take Flights on JAL
Earn miles for flights on JAL Group Domestic and JAL International Airlines: Japan Airlines, Japan Transocean Air, Japan Air Commuter, and Ryukyu Air Commuter.
Flight mileage is determined by the sector mileage and the class/fare. Below is a table showing the JAL accumulation rates on international flights from Japan. Find accumulation rates for other international and domestic fares here.
3. Book Flights on JAL Partner Airlines
JAL partners with the Oneworld alliance and several additional carriers.
The following table shows the percentage of miles earned (depending on fare) for flights on each airline.
Oneworld Airline Partners
| Airline | Miles Earned | Airline | Miles Earned |
| American Airlines | 30%-150% | Malaysia Airlines | 25%-150% |
| British Airways | 25%-150% | Qantas | 50%-150% |
| Cathay Pacific | 50%-150% | Qatar Airways | 30%-150% |
| Finnair | 25%-125% | Royal Jordanian | 50%-125% |
| Iberia | 25%-125% | S7 Airlines | 25%-125% |
| LATAM (leaving Oneworld on 10/1/20) | 30%-125% | SriLankan Airlines | 30%-125% |
Other Partners
| Airline | Miles Earned | Airline | Miles Earned |
| Air France | 50%-150% | Emirates | 50%-150% |
| Alaska Airlines | 30%-150% | Hawaiian Airlines | 30%-125% |
| Bangkok Airways | 50%-150% | Jetstar Japan* | 25% |
| China Eastern Airlines | 30%-150% |
*on Plus Bundle and Max Bundle (not Starter Fare)
Hot Tip: For more information, check out this in-depth guide to help you know where to credit your airline miles.
4. Elite Status Bonus Points
In addition to earning miles for flights on JAL and its partner airlines, JMB members earn FLY ON Points, which are calculated based on mileage. Collect FLY ON Points (or qualifying segments) to reach different membership levels and earn bonus miles:
| Membership Level | Qualifying Points | Qualifying Segments | Mileage Bonus |
| Crystal | 30,000 FLY ON Points | 30 segments | N/A |
| Sapphire | 50,000 FLY ON Points | 50 segments | 105% |
| JGC Premier | 80,000 FLY ON Points | 80 segments | 105% |
| Diamond | 100,000 FLY ON Points | 120 segments | 130% |
JMB miles calculation: flight mileage x FLY ON point conversion rate
5. Bonus FLY ON Points
JAL is running a promotion for bonus points to add up to 400 Points according to the purchased fare as follows:
It really is possible to earn a ton of points and qualify for the bonuses that come with elite status!
One of the great things about the JAL status program is you don’t have to wait a full calendar year if you qualify for the next tier earlier. About 1 week after qualifying for a higher FLY ON tier, you’ll receive a new membership card to activate some of the service benefits!
Hot Tip: If you qualify for JMB Sapphire or JMB Diamond, you will receive an invitation to join JAL Global Club (JGC). Membership costs 5,000 miles and includes lounge access, annual gifts, and even bonus miles!
Earn JMB Miles With Credit Cards
6. American Express Membership Rewards Credit Cards
While JAL is not a direct airline partner of Amex Membership Rewards, it is a partner of the Asia Miles program. If you want to use your miles with JAL through Asia Miles (1:1 ratio), you can use any of the Membership Rewards credit cards:
Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)
| The Platinum Card® from American Express - There's currently a welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $5,000 in your first 3 months, worth at least $600. This is our favorite card for getting into 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide (including Priority Pass) and we get about $2,700+ in value from the card every year. The card can get you up to $200 in Uber credits annually ($15 per month and a $20 bonus in December) — and up to $200 in annual credit for airline incidental charges (e.g. baggage or seat selection fees). There's even a $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit, annually. For rates and fees of the Platinum Card, click here. |
| American Express® Gold Card - We love using this card as it earns 4x points at restaurants worldwide and 4x points at US supermarkets (up to $25,000; then 1x). There's no better card in our opinion if you eat out and/or shop at supermarkets regularly. With a welcome bonus of 35,000 points after you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months and a $100 airfare credit per year, for many this is an easy addition to your wallet. For rates and fees of the Gold Card, click here. |
Recommended Amex Cards (Business)
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express - Right now, there's a welcome bonus of up to 75,000 points. Earn 50,000 points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 after you spend an additional $10,000, on purchases within the first 3 months. We get ~$5,525+ in value per year by leveraging many of the benefits & perks. This is the best business card for lounge access as you'll get into 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide. For rates and fees of the Business Platinum, click here. |
| American Express® Business Gold Card - probably our favorite Amex business card because we earn 4x points across the top 2 select categories that we spend the most money in each month. The 4x points applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year. This means you'll max out at a (whopping) 600,000 points per year. After that, you earn 1x. For rates and fees of the Business Gold Card, click here. |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express - This is a simple card that earns you 2x points on any business purchase, up to $50,000 annually (then 1x). That makes for an easy 100,000 points per year! The card has no annual fee. For rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus, click here. |
7. Citi ThankYou Rewards Credit Cards
Similar to Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards has Asia Miles as a transfer partner. Earn Citi ThankYou Points and transfer them to Asia Miles to use with JAL.
8. JAL USA Card
With the JAL USA Card, you earn miles and receive discounts on in-flight purchases. Pay a $20 annual fee to get 1 point per every $2 spent. Add a $50 upgrade fee (for a total of $70 per year) and you can earn 1 point for every $1 spent.
Click here to find the current sign-up bonus as well as terms and conditions.
9. Marriott Credit Cards
You can earn Marriott points and transfer Marriott points to Japan Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 JAL miles bonus.
Recommended Marriott Cards
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card - Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Get automatic silver elite status each account anniversary year; and a free night award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card - Limited Time Offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Earn 3X points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. A solid card for Marriott loyalisty looking for a no-annual-fee card offering Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card - earn 75,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. A solid card for business owners who will get complimentary Marriott Bonvoy silver elite status. Annual fee is $125. For rates and fees of the Bonvoy Business Card, click here. |
Collect Miles With JMB Partners
10. Partner Hotel Miles
With more than 15,000 participating hotels around the world, it’s easy to earn miles in your JMB account. Browse hotels with the partner hotel search engine.
11. Transfer Hotel Loyalty Points
You can transfer points from the IHG Rewards Club loyalty program at a rate of 10,000 IHG points to 2,000 JAL miles. To increase your IHG Rewards, try using the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card and make sure you take advantage of the card’s benefits.
12. Hotel Special Offers
JMB provides plenty of opportunities to earn extra miles. For instance, earn up to 1,500 miles with Outrigger Resorts. Look for new deals on the Hotel Special Offers page.
Earn Miles Through Other Partner Travel
13. Book a Rental Car
Check out the variety of per-mile, per-day, and per-rental offers from JMB car rental partners.
| Car Rental Agency | Mileage Offer | Car Rental Agency | Mileage Offer |
| Alamo | 300 miles/rental | Hertz | 50 miles/day |
| Avis | 100 miles/day | Japan Executive Limousine, Inc. (Southern California) | 1 mile/$1 |
| Budget | 50 miles/day | Smile (Japan) | ¥100/mile |
| Dollar | 300 miles/rental |
14. JAL Shopping Americas
Purchase items at JAL Shopping Americas and earn miles. JLB members earn 1 mile per every $2 spent, while holders of the JAL USA Card get 1 mile per $1 or enjoy a 5% discount.
To receive miles, provide your JMB membership number and look for miles to be credited about 2 months after purchase.
15. The Shilla Duty-Free
Just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t catch up on some shopping! The Shilla Duty-Free has 3 locations to shop with your JMB membership card, 1 in Seoul, and 2 at Incheon International (ICN).
Earn 2 miles for every $3 spent here. JMB members can earn miles for shopping even without boarding a flight!
16. Lotte Duty-Free Shop Ginza
Lotte Duty-Free Shop Ginza is an airport-style duty-free shop located in the city, where products of over 200 different brands are sold on the 2 floors of Tokyo Plaza Ginza, a new landmark of Ginza. The shop offers a new style of shopping that can be enjoyed by not only foreign customers visiting Japan but also Japanese customers planning to travel abroad.
You can earn 1 mile for every $1 spent at Lotte Duty-Free Shop Ginza.
Special Offers and Services
17. JAL Family Club
Whether Japan is your former home or you just travel there frequently, the JAL Family Club can be useful. There’s no fee to join, and you get a variety of benefits such as the ability to pool miles for award redemptions and bonus miles.
First, choose a JLB member over the age of 12 to serve as the Primary Member of the JAL Family Club Account. Members must live in an eligible region outside of Japan (America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia/Oceana).
Up to 9 people (including the Primary Member) may join the account, including the Primary Member’s spouse, children, parents, and spouse’s parents.
While there is no annual fee for the JAL Family Account, a registration fee of 1,000 miles is required.
Don’t have 1,000 miles in your account? You can agree to have them deducted as soon as you do! A renewal fee of 1,000 miles will be deducted every 5 years.
With a family account, you can earn bonus miles for your first JAL flight and other promotions. See the below example of how quickly miles can add up:
The application and bonus mile terms and conditions are available here.
18. Book Moving Services
Moving to Japan? Need to ship items overseas to friends and family? The following U.S. to Japan shipping services will earn you JMB miles!
| Company | Miles Earned |
| Endo Freight Forwarders | 1 mile/$1 |
| Nippon Express | 1 mile/$1 |
| Nissin International Transport U.S.A. | Up to 5,000 miles |
19. Purchase Books
Shop at the Honto online bookstore and receive 1 mile for every $1 you spend. Purchases can be shipped overseas and Honto also offers e-books.
20. Sign Up for Media Deals
Take advantage of 2 offers to stay in touch with Japanese media in the U.S.
Order TV Japan for 24-hour Japanese language programming and earn 1,000 miles.
21. Local Area Services
Visit this page for a detailed look at all of the Japan Airlines partnerships.
| Company | Service | Miles Offered | Location |
| AI Klean | Maid services by Japanese professionals | 1 mile/$1 | Los Angeles, CA |
| JAL ABC Coat Storage | Coat storage | 50 miles/ piece | Narita/Haneda/ Kansai Airports |
| JAL ABC Mobile Phone Rental | Mobile phone and Wi-Fi router rentals | Up to 200 miles | Narita/Nagoya/Chubu Airports |
| JAL Airport Baggage Delivery Service | Baggage delivery | Up to 100 miles | Narita/Haneda/Kansai/Chubu Airports |
| Nippan IPS | Education Services | Up to 500 miles | Mobile |
| SkinCeuticals | Skincare | 1 mile/$1 | Honolulu, HI |
| Starts Pacific Inc. | Real estate | Up to 5,000 miles | Los Angeles, CA |
| Vison Global Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi router rentals | 300 miles per router rented | Los Angeles, CA |
Final Thoughts
Earning JMB miles is as easy as flying JAL and booking travel with its partners. Plus, JMB provides plenty of opportunities to earn miles with non-travel partners. Rack up miles even faster with the JAL USA Card!
Need some inspiration as to how you’d use those miles? Check out this Japan Airlines, 777 First Class review (Tokyo to LA)!
Like these tips? Pin them on Pinterest!
How do I transfer Asia Miles over to JMB? I’ve never heard of or seen this option. It’s not on their website (at least, I didn’t see it) – has it been discontinued, or do you have to call to transfer Asia Miles? Thanks!
Hi Ben. Unfortunately you cannot transfer Asia Miles to JMB.