Best Ways To Book Japan Airlines Business Class With Points [Step-by-Step]

Key Takeaways

• Booking Japan Airlines business class is best done through programs such as Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and American Airlines AAdvantage.
• Award availability is often best 1 to 2 days or 2 to 3 weeks before departure.
• Some of the best business class redemptions include Boston (BOS) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT), Chicago (ORD) – Tokyo-Haneda (HND), and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Tokyo-Haneda (HND).

Japan Airlines’ business class product is a great option when you have a long trans-Pacific journey ahead of you. You can expect a great meal, a nice lounge, and fantastic service all the way through.

Let’s dig into what the business class experience is like and how you can book this flight using points.

A Look Inside Japan Airlines Business Class

As a business class passenger with Japan Airlines, you will have access to the Sakura Lounge at Tokyo-Narita (NRT) and Tokyo-Haneda (HND) before flying to the U.S. The Sakura Lounge provides a nice selection of food and drink and a place to relax before your flight.

If you enjoy plane-spotting, the views of the tarmac from the lounge at Narita are particularly nice.

Japan Airlines also has a very nice business class seat that it calls the Sky Suite. While the business class cabin on Japan Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 features a 2-2-2 layout and its Boeing 777-300ER has a 2-3-2 layout, all seats have direct aisle access and are lie-flat.

Aisle seats have a decent amount of privacy, while the middle seat in the middle section of the Boeing 777-300ER has tons of privacy thanks to partitions on each side. However, the middle seat can feel a bit tight with both partitions raised.

For the best experience on either aircraft, try to book a window seat. While the space to get to your seat is narrow, you won’t have to step over anyone, and these seats have a ton of room — with the partition raised, they are very private without the cramped feeling of a middle seat on the 777-300ER.

Hot Tip: Try to book in row 5 in the 777-300ER — it’s essentially a mini-cabin and feels like you’re on a private jet! Don’t miss our review of business class on a JAL 777-300ER flight from LA to Tokyo!

Japan Airlines has new business class seats on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which features reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 cabin layout. However, these are typically deployed on regional flights instead of long-haul flights.

Just as you will find in first class on Japan Airlines, the service in the business class cabin is excellent. The cabin crews are always friendly and happy to help make your flight as enjoyable as possible.

How To Fly Japan Airlines Business Class Using Points

You can book Japan Airlines business class through one of its Oneworld partners or one of its non-alliance partners, such as Emirates. Let’s take a look at some great ways to book business class.

Availability is usually best either 1 to 2 days before departure or 2 to 3 weeks before departure.

Japan Airlines releases all unoccupied seats available for award redemption 1 to 2 days before departure, so if there are vacant seats, you’ll have a great chance of finding close-in award availability.

Occasionally, you’ll notice award availability very far in advance, but your best bet will always be closer to the departure date.

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank uses a region-based award chart for its own flights. This is a different award chart than the distance-based award chart it uses for booking award flights with its partners.

Follow the simple steps below to book your next business class flight on Japan Airlines:

1. Go to the Japan Airlines website.
2. Log in to your JAL Mileage Bank account.
3. Toggle to Redeem award flights, choose Book International Award Tickets, then select JAL International Award Tickets.
4. Choose round-trip or one-way, your travel dates, and departure and destination airports, then select Business Class under Destination Class. Click Search.
5. Confirm the Mileage Bank miles and taxes/fees required.
6. Choose your desired flights and hit Continue so that you can select your seat and complete the booking process.

Make sure there is award space — Japan Airlines will also show you waitlist space, which does not guarantee you a seat.

Hot Tip: Keep the image above with you while booking so you know what to look for under the Seat Availability column to ensure you get a seat.

Here’s an example of what you’ll see:

In this example, the flight from New York (JFK) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) has award space for 3 seats.

If you need to connect on American Airlines (or another partner airline) to get to your flight on Japan Airlines, you will need to use the partner award chart to determine the number of miles required.

Additionally, a booking that involves a partner will mean that you have to call Japan Airlines to complete it.

If you want to fly on American Airlines from Philadelphia (PHL) to Chicago (ORD) and then connect on Japan Airlines to Tokyo-Narita (NRT), this will require you to use the partner award chart.

If you need some travel inspiration, take a look at the best ways to redeem Japan Airlines miles.

Earning Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Miles

Japan Airlines has just 1 transfer partner: Marriott Bonvoy.

You can transfer points at a 3:1 ratio with a bonus of 5,000 JAL miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at a time to Japan Airlines. Transfers take around 2 business days to process.

For more fun ways to earn miles, check out the best ways to earn Mileage Bank miles.

Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards

We discuss several Marriott credit cards in our comprehensive guide.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is another great way to book business class on Japan Airlines. For 60,000 Alaska miles, you can fly between North America and Japan in business class.

Hot Tip: Keep in mind that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan intra-Asia awards on Japan Airlines must be booked at least 72 hours in advance. Other routings are not affected and can still be booked last minute.

To book, go to Alaska’s website and follow these simple steps:

1. Go to the Alaska Airlines website.
2. Sign in to your account.
3. Search for your desired route (make sure you select Use Miles).
4. Choose your desired flight and click Add To Cart.
5. Pay the necessary taxes/fees and complete your booking.

You can even book a stopover on one-way awards when booking with Alaska Airlines.

For some more ways to use your miles, you can check out the best ways to redeem Alaska miles.

Earning Alaska Airlines Miles

Alaska Airlines, just like Japan Airlines, has just 1 transfer partner: Marriott Bonvoy. You’ll transfer points at a 3:1 ratio in around 4 business days. And for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred in 1 transaction, you will get an additional 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles.

Additionally, Alaska Airlines has partnered with Bank of America to offer co-branded credit cards that earn miles directly!

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

For Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program, you’ll need to check mileage by partner airline using Asia Miles’ calculator. As an example, New York (JFK) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) business-class round-trip is 150,000 miles.

Here are the steps to search for award space and book over the phone:

1. Go to British Airways.
2. Log in to your Executive Club account.
3. Select Spend Avios.
4. Click Book A Reward Flight.
5. Hover over Redeem Miles.
6. Enter your travel dates, city pairing, and select business class.
7. Find your desired flight.
8. Note the flight numbers, departure dates, and flight times.
9. Call Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at 866-892-2598.
10. Provide the flight details and complete the booking process.

Earning Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific has several credit card transfer partnerships that can be used to earn Asia Miles.

American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, and Citi ThankYou Rewards, and can all be transferred at a solid 1:1 rate. Amex usually takes just a few hours but can take up to 1 week to complete. Bilt and Citi are almost instant transfers, Capital One takes up to 36 hours, and Brex takes 1 business day.

You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio in around 5 business days. For every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer at a time to Asia Miles, you will get an additional bonus of 5,000 Asia Miles.

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Hot Tip: Check out our Transfer Partner Tool to easily calculate how many miles you’ll need to transfer for your award.

American Airlines AAdvantage

American’s AAdvantage program is one of the most popular ways to book awards on Japan Airlines.

Here are the simple steps to book:

1. Go to British Airways.
2. Log in to your account.
3. Select Spend Avios.
4. Click Book A Reward Flight.
5. Scroll over Redeem Miles.
6. Enter your travel dates, city pairing, and select business class.
7. Find your desired flight.
8. Note the flight numbers, departure dates, and flight times.
9. Call American Airlines at 800-882-8880.
10. Provide the flight details and complete the booking process.

If Japan Airlines isn’t your thing right now, there are other great options for redeeming your American AAdvantage miles, too.

Hot Tip: The ability to put award seats on hold for 5 days makes using American miles one of the easiest ways to book Japan Airlines business class.

Earning American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

Currently, American Airlines AAdvantage is a transfer partner with just 1 partner: Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy transfers to AAdvantage at a 3:1 ratio in around 2 business days.

However, one of the best ways to get AAdvantage miles is to make purchases on American Airlines co-branded credit cards from Barclays or Citi.

Other Options for Booking Japan Airlines

Any of Japan Airlines’ Oneworld partners, including British Airways, can be used to book award flights. Unfortunately, the redemption rates on these other carriers are often quite poor.

Great Japan Airlines Business Class Redemptions

Let’s start with some typical awards and then move on to some interesting options between the U.S. and Japan.

You can use 100,000 Japan Airlines to fly from New York (JFK), Chicago (ORD), or Los Angeles (LAX) to Japan. These routes can also be booked for 120,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles, 120,000 American AAdvantage miles, or 150,000 Asia Miles.

Here are the top U.S. routes, along with each frequent flyer program’s redemption prices:

If you want to fly Japan Airlines as part of a broader, “round-the-world” award trip, Asia Miles has the following award chart for Oneworld multi-carrier awards. These complex itineraries could provide huge value!

Here are some wild multi-carrier/round-the-world award trips you can book with Japan Airlines as a long-haul carrier:

• San Francisco (SFO) – Tokyo-Haneda/Narita (HND/NRT) on Japan Airlines business class
• Tokyo-Haneda/Narita (HND/NRT) – Hong Kong (HKG) on Cathay Pacific business class
• Hong Kong (HKG) – Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways Qsuites
• Doha (DOH) – London (LHR) on Qatar Airways Qsuites
• London (LHR) – San Francisco (SFO) on British Airways business class

This itinerary would cost around 165,000 Asia miles, which represents a huge discount compared to if the segments were booked separately.

Here’s another RTW award ticket you can book:

• Chicago (ORD) – Madrid (MAD) on Iberia business class
• Madrid (MAD) – Helsinki (HEL) on Finnair business class
• Helsinki (HEL) – Bangkok (BKK) on Finnair business class
• Bangkok (BKK) – Tokyo-Haneda/Narita (HND/NRT) on Japan Airlines business class
• Tokyo-Haneda (HND) – Los Angeles (LAX) on Japan Airlines business class

This itinerary would also be priced at 165,000 Asia Miles!

Hot Tip: If Tokyo is a bucket list destination for you, check out our in-depth Tokyo travel guide for great ideas on things to do, see, eat, etc.

How To Earn Enough Miles for Japan Airlines Business Class

Ready to book a flight in Japan Airlines business class, but don’t have enough miles for the itinerary you want? Here is the summary of transfer partnerships for the major frequent flyer programs we discussed:

• American Express Membership Rewards transfers at a 1:1 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles usually in around a few hours, but sometimes up to 1 week.
• Bilt Rewards transfers at a 1:1 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles almost instantly.
• Brex Rewards transfers at a 1:1 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles in 1 business day.
• Capital One Miles transfers at a 1:1 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles in up to 36 hours.
• Citi ThankYou Rewards transfers at a 1:1 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles in 1 business day.
• Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and American Airlines AAdvantage in around 2 business days, 4 business days, 5 business days, and 3 business days, respectively.

In the past, we’ve seen transfer bonuses to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles from Brex Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards of anywhere from 15% to 25%. We haven’t seen any transfer bonuses for Japan Airlines, Alaska Airlines, or American Airlines.

Simply put, if you have any credit card that earns points from a major transferrable currency, you can book Japan Airlines business class with points. Even Chase Ultimate Rewards (not discussed in this guide) has transfer partnerships with British Airways Executive Club, although we wouldn’t recommend this due to high redemption prices.

When Should You Search for Award Space

Flexible travel dates will make your award search easier, as business class award space on Japan Airlines is not always easy to find.

Once you know when you’d like to travel, start your search. Space is not always available months in advance, but keep checking — Japan Airlines might release award availability closer to the date of departure.

What Makes Japan Airlines a Great Redemption

For long transpacific flights, comfort is always a top priority. When you book business class on Japan Airlines, you can expect a comfortable flight and so much more.

Business Class Sky Suite

Every seat has direct aisle access, so you won’t have anyone climbing over you. If you’re in a window seat, you don’t have to crawl over anyone either!

A window seat should be your first choice (especially if you’re traveling alone) since it has the most privacy without feeling cramped. You might even feel like you’re flying in first class!

You will also enjoy a fully lie-flat bed, which makes it so much easier to sleep on the long journey across the Pacific.

Business Class Service

Japan Airlines has cultivated a reputation for having absolutely amazing cabin crews in both first and business class. They seem to take so much pride in their jobs, and you can tell by how they treat every aspect of the flight. Not only are they attentive to your needs during the flight, but they do their jobs with a refreshing friendliness.

Final Thoughts

Business class on Japan Airlines really is a wonderful way to fly. From the moment you set foot on board, you can relax and enjoy yourself. Enjoy a glass of Champagne and a great meal knowing that you’re going to have fun on this flight!

If you happen to be flying out of Tokyo, visit the Sakura Lounge to make this an even more memorable trip.

With several great ways to book a business class flight on Japan Airlines, all you have to do is figure out when you can jump on the opportunity!