You Can Now Redeem JetBlue Points for Japan Airlines First Class

Updated: April 25, 2025, 3:09pm CDT

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Table of Contents

JAL First Bookable With JetBlue TrueBlue Points
How To Earn More JetBlue Points
Final Thoughts

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JetBlue made waves this week when it added Japan Airlines (JAL) as a redemption option for TrueBlue points. Although pricing was released for economy, premium economy, and business class, first class was noticeably absent. That’s changed, as today, JetBlue has begun showing first class award availability for JAL flights.

Let’s take a look at the details.

JAL First Bookable With JetBlue TrueBlue Points

JAL’s first class product is remarkable. It features incredible seats (especially on the Airbus A350) and a soft product that passengers rave about, but it can be difficult to find award space on the airline.

While you can redeem 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for JAL first class, availability is scarce. That’s part of what makes JetBlue’s addition so interesting — there appear to be plenty of dates (and seats) that you can book.

The rub? It’ll cost you … 185,000 TrueBlue points one-way, to be precise.

JetBlue JAL first class — Image Credit: JetBlue

Clocking in at more than double the price that AAdvantage charges is rough, especially if you’re traveling with multiple passengers. That being said, JetBlue is currently showing way more availability for JAL first class awards than American.

Seats.aero JAL first calendar — Image Credit: Seats.aero

Seats.aero’s JAL first class finder makes it easy to see which dates have availability. Even better, most dates are showing 2 seats available for booking — a rarity.

Honestly, this reminds us of the outrageous pricing Alaska Airlines charges in exchange for expanded award availability on Qatar Airways. While this won’t be a good fit for most, those with extremely healthy points balances may want to take advantage of this opportunity simply to fly this bucket-list product.

Hot Tip:

JetBlue charges as few as 55,000 points for JAL business class to Japan, which is a lot more affordable for most passengers.

How To Earn More JetBlue Points

JetBlue’s TrueBlue program has steadily become more useful, first when it added Qatar Airways redemptions and now with JAL.

Although 185,000 points is an insane amount of points to pay for a flight, it can be worth it for some. Plus, it’s easy to earn JetBlue TrueBlue points. You can currently transfer points from 4 flexible currencies:

American Express Membership Rewards: 1:0.8
Capital One Miles: 5:3
Chase Ultimate Rewards: 1:1
Citi ThankYou Rewards: 1:1

Final Thoughts

JetBlue started allowing JAL redemptions just a few days ago, but it only showed economy, premium economy, and business class awards. However, now we’re seeing first class awards — with plenty of availability, to boot. Though it’s expensive, it may be worth it for such an iconic experience.