The Best Ways to Fly to Japan With Points and Miles [Step-by-Step]

- UPDATED: November 10, 2022 |

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Temples, palaces, bullet trains, skiing, and gourmet restaurants are a few of the things that come to mind when you think of Japan. With its capital in Tokyo, Japan offers a number of cities to visit including Okinawa, Kyoto, Osaka, and Sapporo.

There are 2 major airports that travelers can fly nonstop to Japan from the U.S.: Haneda (HND) is south of Tokyo with less nonstop options from the U.S., while Narita (NRT) is located east of Tokyo with more nonstop options from the US.

Table of contents

Best Programs to Use to Book Flights
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

Best Programs to Use to Book Flights
Final Thoughts

Best Programs to Use to Book Flights

For U.S. travelers, you’ll have no problem booking flights to Japan with a number of flight options no matter where you live in the U.S.

Airline members in the Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance all offer flights between the U.S. and Japan — great news as you’ll have a number of ways to use your miles and points.

It’s important to note that award pricing in this article is shown as round-trip. ANA Star Alliance and Virgin Atlantic ANA flights must be booked round-trip, however, all other flights can be booked one-way. With that said, let’s dive into the award options to book your next flight to Japan!

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

ANA First Class Cabin, Boeing 777, — Use Virgin Points to fly ANA first class to Japan. Image Credit: Alex Miller

Virgin Atlantic, a non-airline alliance member similar to Alaska Airlines and Etihad, is a program that offers insane value when booking partner airline flights to Japan. The airline has partnerships with a number of airlines, including ANA, that will help you to unlock a ton of value.

Cabin Class	ANA Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	60,000-65,000	$272+
Business	90,000-95,000	$272+
First	110,000-120,000	$272+

The 2 downsides to this redemption are that ANA award flights can’t be booked on the Virgin Atlantic website and must be round-trip. For those wanting the flexibility of booking one-way flights, there are other programs like Alaska Airlines that you can use to book one-way flights from the U.S. to Japan.

Hot Tip: If you’re looking to receive amazing value, watch for the 30% American Express to Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus. Instead of using 110,000 Virgin Points to fly ANA first class from the West Coast to Japan, you’ll only need 85,000 Virgin Points to book ANA round trip first class!

Here are a couple of ANA award flight options, among many, that you can use Virgin Points to book:

Los Angeles (LAX) – Narita (NRT) for 90,000 Virgin Points in ANA business class
New York (JFK) – Haneda (HND) for 120,000 Virgin Points in ANA first class

With the Virgin Points in your account, use these steps to help book the flight:

Search for ANA flights on United Airlines.
Write down the flight details.
Call Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to book the flight.
Pay the taxes and fees.

Earning Virgin Points

Earning Virgin Points is easy because of the partnerships the airline has with American Express, Chase, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy. In addition, Virgin Atlantic has co-branded credit cards that earn miles directly with your spend.

If you want to use transferable points, keep these transfer ratios and transfer times in mind: Amex point transfers take 1-2 days at a 1:1 ratio, Chase points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, Citi point transfers take 2 days at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott point transfers take 1 day at a 3:1 ratio. With every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive 5,000 bonus miles.

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

Business owner? See our list of the best Chase business credit cards.

Bottom Line: Booking ANA award flights with Virgin Points during the American Express 30% transfer bonus is the way to go. Even if the timeline of the American Express transfer bonus doesn’t line up with your travel schedule, you can still fly round trip business or first class from the U.S. to Japan with only 90,000-95,000 or 110,000-120,000 miles respectively.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Greg Stone - Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 Business Class — Use Alaska Airlines miles to fly Cathay Pacific business class to Japan. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan is an incredible award program that you should consider using to book award flights to Japan. Alaska Airlines is not in an airline alliance and instead has individual airline partnerships.

Cabin Class	Airline	Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	American Airlines	65,000	$110+
Business		120,000	$110+
First		160,000	$110+
Economy	Japan Airlines	70,000	$110+
Business		120,000	$110+
First		140,000	$110+
Economy	Cathay Pacific	60,000	$338+
Business		100,000	$338+
First*		140,000	$338+

*Cathay Pacific only flies First Class between Hong Kong (HKG) and Haneda (NHD)

The challenge with using Mileage Plan is that Alaska Airlines miles can be tough to earn. If you can find ways to earn Alaska miles, you’ll be able to unlock value for not only flights to Japan but across the world.

Hot Tip: The way to unlock the most value when redeeming Alaska Airlines miles is to book a stopover. This is where the Alaska Airlines program really shines. Not only can you book one-way partner airline flights, but you can also book a stopover on each one-way flight that you book.

With enough Alaska Airlines miles in your Mileage Plan account, here are a couple of flights to consider booking:

New York (JFK) – Haneda (HND) for 120,000 Alaska miles in Japan Airlines business class
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Narita (NRT) for 140,000 Alaska miles in Japan Airlines first class
Los Angeles (LAX) – Hong Kong (HKG) – Haneda (HND) for 140,000 Alaska miles in Cathay Pacific first class

When you’re ready to book your flight, follow the steps below to help with the booking process for American Airlines and Japan Airlines flights:

Search for award flights on Alaska Airlines.
Book the flight online.
Pay the taxes and fees that include a $12.50 partner award flight booking fee.

For those of you booking Cathay Pacific award flights, the process is slightly different:

Search for award flights on British Airways or Qantas.
Call Alaska Airlines at 800-252-7522 between 5:00 a.m. – Midnight PST.
Book the flight over the phone.
Pay the taxes and fees.

When asked to pay the phone booking fee for Cathay Pacific award flights, simply ask the agent to waive the fee.

Hot Tip: Cathay Pacific award flights can’t be booked online, so the phone agent should be able to waive the phone booking fee.

Earning Alaska Airlines Miles

It can be difficult to earn miles on Alaska Airlines miles as they only partner with 1 transferable point program in Marriott Bonvoy and co-branded credit cards don’t come with sizable welcome offers.

For those of you wanting to transfer Marriott points to Alaska Airlines, point transfers take 4 days at a 3:1 ratio. Separately, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus with every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer to Alaska. With that said, these are the Marriott cards we recommend:

Bottom Line: Alaska Airlines offers competitive pricing for American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines economy, business, and first class flights to Japan. When you factor in the ability to book a stopover, it’s easy to see how much value you can get out of your Alaska Airlines miles.

American Airlines AAdvantage

AA 777 Business Class — Use American Airlines miles to fly American Airlines to Japan. Image Credit: American Airlines

Cabin Class	Partner	Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	American Airlines	65,000	$110+
Business		120,000	$110+
First		160,000	$110+
Economy	Other Oneworld Partners	70,000	$110+
Business		120,000	$110+
First		160,000	$110+

American Airlines is in the Oneworld Alliance, so you can use American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly both American Airlines and Oneworld airline flights from the U.S. to Japan.

One of the main drawbacks of American is that you’ll pay a premium, relative to other programs, to fly business class. With that said, you’re better off using Etihad and/or Japan Airlines to fly American and/or Oneworld business class flights to Japan.

Hot Tip: American Airlines and Oneworld partner flights can be booked on the American website. This reduces the amount of time needed to book an award flight.

Here are 2 flights to consider when you have the required number of AAdvantage miles in your account:

San Francisco (SFO) – Haneda (HND) for 120,000 American miles in Japan Airlines business class
Chicago (ORD) – Narita (NRT) for 120,000 American miles in American Airlines business class

You’ll want to follow these steps when you’ve decided to book a flight:

Search for flights on American Airlines.
Book the flight online.
Pay the taxes and fees.

Earning American Airlines Miles

You’ll have no problem earning American Airlines miles because the airline offers a number of co-branded credit cards and partners with Marriott Bonvoy.

If you’re looking to transfer points from Marriott, the point transfers take 2 days at a 3:1 ratio.

Bottom Line: In addition to booking award flights to the Middle East, using AAdvantage miles for flights to Asia represents one of the best ways to use your miles.

ANA Mileage Club

Japan Airlines Business Class Sky Suite — Pick a window seat to have the best business class experience on Japan Airlines. Image Credit: Japan Airlines

Cabin Class	Partner	Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	ANA	40,000-50,000	$272+
Business		75,000-85,000	$272+
First		150,000	$272+
Economy	Other Star Alliance Partner	60,000	$97+
Business		95,000	$97+
First		180,000	$97+

The first Star Alliance program to consider is ANA Mileage Club. What you’ll find with ANA is that the program has high-value award redemptions to a number of places including Japan.

One of the main drawbacks of booking an ANA partner flight is that the flight must be booked round-trip. If you book direct on ANA (not via a partner), you can book one-way award flights.

Hot Tip: The way to receive the most value with ANA is to book award flights during off-peak dates. January 7 – February 28 and April 1-25 are the lowest off-peak award price dates, followed by March 1-31, May 8 – July 24, and August 20 – December 17 as the second-lowest off-peak dates in 2019.

Below are a couple of options to consider when you have Mileage Club miles in your ANA account:

Houston (IAH) – Narita (NRT) for 40,000 ANA miles in ANA economy during Low Season
Los Angeles (LAX) – Haneda (HND) for 75,000 ANA miles in ANA business class during Low Season

With the required number of ANA miles in your account, follow these steps to book your next award flight:

Search for flights on United.
Confirm the same availability on ANA.
Book the flight online.
Pay the taxes and fees.

Earning ANA Miles

It’s relatively easy to earn ANA miles because ANA has partnerships with American Express and Marriott Bonvoy. The points earned in these programs can be transferred directly to ANA. Unfortunately, ANA doesn’t offer a co-branded credit card for the U.S. market.

For those of you with American Express and/or Marriott points, the Amex point transfers take 2-3 days at a 1:1 ratio and Marriott point transfers take 7 days at a 3:1 ratio. If you’re looking to earn Amex points, here are the Amex credit cards that we recommend:

Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)

If you’re a business owner, consider one of Amex’s business credit cards.

Bottom Line: Aeroplan, Avianca, Singapore Airlines, and United are additional programs that you can use to search Star Alliance award flights. Of all these websites, United Airlines is the best website to use to search for Star Alliance award flights.

Etihad Guest

Joining Alaska Airlines as an airline that is not in an airline alliance is Etihad and its Etihad Guest program. Etihad has partnerships with a number of airlines but for this redemption, you’ll want to focus on American Airlines flights.

Cabin Class	American Airlines Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy Off-Peak	50,000	$110+
Economy	65,000	$110+
Business	100,000	$110+
First	125,000	$110+

The award rates to fly American Airlines are competitive, however, the main drawback with Etihad is that these flights can’t be booked on the Etihad website. Instead, you’ll have to call Etihad to book the flight.

Hot Tip: The Etihad Guest agents are competent so you should have no problem booking its airline partner flights over the phone.

If flying American Airlines using Etihad miles makes sense for you, here are a couple of flight ideas to check out:

Dallas (DFW) – Narita (NRT) for 50,000 Etihad miles in American Airlines economy
Los Angeles (LAX) – Haneda (HND) for 100,000 Etihad miles in American Airlines business class

When you’re ready to book an American Airlines award flight, here are the booking process steps:

Search for American Airlines flights on British Airways.
Write down all of the flight details.
Call Etihad at 877-690-0767 to confirm award availability.
Book the flight over the phone.
Pay the taxes and fees over the phone.

Earning Etihad Guest Miles

You’ll have no problem earning Etihad Guest miles because the airline has partnerships with American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy. The points earned in all of these programs can be transferred directly to Etihad. Separately, Etihad doesn’t offer a credit card for the U.S. market so transferable points will be one of the main ways to earn Etihad miles.

Keep the transfer ratios and transfer times in mind if you’re using points: American Express points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One point transfers take 36 hours at 1:1 ratio, Citi point transfers take 6 days at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott point transfers take 5 days at a 3:1 ratio.

With that said, below are some of the Capital One and Citi credit cards we recommend:

Recommended Capital One Cards (Personal)

If you’re a business owner, see our recommended Capital One business credit cards.

Recommended Citi Cards

Bottom Line: Etihad should be one of the first award programs you look at to fly American Airlines flights at competitive award rates.

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

japan airlines first class — Use Japan Airlines miles to fly Japan Airlines first class to Japan. Image Credit: Japan Airlines

The second Oneworld member to consider using for flights to Japan is Japan Airlines. Using Japan Airlines miles is a great option because you have the option to fly either American Airlines or Japan Airlines flights.

Cabin Class	Airline	Miles Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	American Airlines	60,000+	$110+
Business		110,000+	$110+
First		160,000+	$110+
Economy	Japan Airlines	50,000	$110+
Business		100,000	$110+
First		140,000	$110+

Japan Airlines miles are challenging to earn, which is one of the main downsides of using the Mileage Bank Program. If you can find ways to earn the miles, you’ll expose yourself to competitive award pricing for flights around the world.

Hot Tip: We recommend using Great Circle Mapper to calculate the distance of your flight and the number of miles that you’ll need when using Japan Airlines. The reason being is because Japan Airlines uses a distance-based award chart.

For flights to Japan, here are a couple of American Airlines and Japan Airlines flights that you can book with your miles:

Boston (BOS) – Narita (NRT) for 50,000 Japan Airlines miles in Japan Airlines economy
Los Angeles (LAX) – Haneda (HND) for 100,000 Japan Airlines miles in American Airlines economy

The booking process with Japan Airlines is straightforward:

Search for flights on British Airways.
Confirm the same award availability on Japan Airlines.
Book the award flight online.
Pay the taxes and fees.

Earning Japan Airlines Miles

As mentioned earlier, it’s tough to earn Japan Airlines miles as the airline only partners with Marriott Bonvoy. On top of that, Japan Airlines doesn’t offer a co-branded credit card to the U.S. market with a sizeable welcome offer.

The transfer time for Marriott points to Japan Airlines takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio. Separately, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile transfer bonus.

Bottom Line: Japan Airlines offers one of the cheapest ways to fly Oneworld airline flights between the U.S. and Japan.

Korean Air SKYPASS

Use Korean Air miles to fly Korean Air first class to Japan. Image Credit: Stephen Au

The lone SkyTeam partner making the list is the Korean Air SKYPASS program. Korean Air is known for a couple of things: the quality of its business and first class cabins and offering competitive award pricing on select routes, including round trip flights in Korean Air business class flights to Japan from the U.S.

Cabin Class	Korean Air Cost	Taxes & Fees
Economy	70,000	$290+
Business	125,000	$290+
First	160,000	$290+

Similar to Japan Airlines, many of you will find it difficult to earn Korean Air miles. However, if you can find a way to build a sizable Korean Air mileage balance, you’ll be able to book competitive award flights.

Hot Tip: Korean Air uses region-based award charts. This means that it will cost the same number of miles to fly from any city in the region of your departure to any city in the region of your arrival.

Korean Air is the airline you’ll fly between the U.S. and Japan on flights like these:

Atlanta (ATL) – Seoul (ICN) – Narita (NRT) for 70,000 Korean Air miles in Korean Air economy
Dallas (DFW) – Seoul – Haneda (HND) for 160,000 Korean Air miles in Korean Air first class

Here are the steps to book an award flight with Korean Air:

Search for flights on Air France, Delta, or KLM.
Confirm the same award availability on Korean Air.
Book the award flight online.
Pay the taxes and fees.

Earning Korean Air Miles

A combination of co-branded credit cards and Marriott points will likely make it easier to earn Korean Air miles. Korean Air has a partnership with Marriott and also offers a co-branded credit card to the U.S. market.

For those looking to transfer Marriott points directly to Korean Air, the transfer time takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio. You’ll also receive a 5,000-mile bonus with every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer.

Bottom Line: Korean Air offers competitive award pricing to Japan. The problem many travelers will face is earning enough miles to book an award flight.

Final Thoughts

With the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo coming up, you may be looking for the best way to book an award flight to Japan. As we covered in this article, there are 7 excellent programs to use to book an award flight.

To give you the most award flight flexibility, we recommend earning transferable points from American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy. These points will help you to unlock value in any of the programs that we discussed.

The information regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card, and Citi Prestige® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.

Featured Image Credit: Cathay Pacific

Frequently asked questions

How do I use AAdvantage miles on JAL?

American Airlines and Japan Airlines are members of the Oneworld Airline Alliance. This means that you can redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly not only Japan Airlines but other Oneworld airline members like Qatar Airways.

Is it better to fly to Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) in Tokyo?

Haneda is much closer to the Tokyo city center making it a shorter commute than from Narita. However, Narita offers more nonstop international flights from the U.S. and may be a better option for most travelers.

What is the best airline to fly to Japan?

It’s hard to beat the experience you’ll find when flying Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, or Korean Air. Although not listed in this article, Asiana Airlines and Singapore Airlines are additional airlines that would be fantastic to fly to Japan.

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About Michael McHugh

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Michael took his first international trip in 2013 with friends to the Bahamas. Although he didn't travel much in his younger years, on that trip, he caught the travel bug and has been hooked ever since. Michael first caught wind of the points and miles game in 2014 while at a bar in Washington, DC where the conversation amongst friends was quickly derailed because of an alert on a friend's phone about a mistake fare. That's where the love affair with points and miles began.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

37 comments

Chris Moore May 3, 2018
I believe there are two errors in the ANA mileage chart shown: (1) I believe the required number of miles shown is Round Trip, not One-Way and (2) The required number of miles required for Business Class ranges is 75K-90K, not 75K-95K from the US.
Reply
- Michael McHugh May 3, 2018
  Hi Chris!
  We appreciate you catching these errors and you are correct on both. The post has been updated.
  Reply
Peter Kuehnel May 4, 2018
I noticed no mention of Singapore Airlines and KrisFlyer, although in my mind they are a great way to get to Asia. Not so for Japan?
Reply
- Michael McHugh May 4, 2018
  Hi Peter
  I could not recommend KrisFlyer as their redemptions rates are not as competitive. For RT on Singapore metal, you’re looking at 70/170/190k E/J/F SQ miles from the West Coast and 116/230/300k E/J/F SQ miles from Houston/East Coast. For RT on Star Alliance metal, you’re looking at 108/210/250k E/J/F. Here’s the SQ metal chart and Star Alliance Chart if you want to check it out.
  Reply
James May 5, 2018
Good article Michael especially the FAQ,s at the end! TY!
Reply
- Michael McHugh May 7, 2018
  Appreciate it James. Please let us know if we can help answer any additional Q’s!
  Reply
Bastian June 16, 2018
Hi Michael,
Thanks for this article. This is extremely helpful. I am planning to travel to Tokyo end of this year and would like to book an United flight via ANA using my Amex points (my home airport is SFO). I will be traveling with an Infant and I am curious how this will work when booking an award ticket. Could there be any problems?
Secondly, will I be able to select my seats on the United flight when going through the ANA booking system?
Thank you!
Reply
Kyle August 11, 2018
Hi Mike,
You have United listed as 85k round trip business class to Japan flying on ANA metal but I just checked their website and its 85k one way. Am I looking at something wrong?
Reply
- Michael McHugh August 15, 2018
  Hi Kyle
  ANA charges 88k RT to fly United from the US to Japan. Here’s the award chart Scroll down to the Japan (Zone 1-A, 1-B) in the “Confirm mileage required” section.
  Reply
Kathy July 2, 2019
Hi Mike,
Thanks for all that information. I’ll admit that I’m overwhelmed in figuring out the best way to get to Japan with my family of 4 with both Ultimate Reward points and lots of Capital one miles. Is there a particular airline where I can combine the two for a good redemption?
Reply
- Stephen Au July 2, 2019
  Hi Kathy,
  One of the best ways to fly to Japan using Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic and book ANA business or first class round-trip to Japan. The redemption prices are nearly unbeatable.
  Other options include transferring Capital One Miles to Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles to book ANA or other Star Alliance partners. Thanks for reading.
  Reply
Jacqu’e C September 29, 2019
Hi Mike,
Thank you for this detailed article!
I’m planning to travel to Tokyo in late April 2020. I currently have just over 40,000 American Airlines points with their Citi MasterCard. I would like to apply for another card with transferable points, to add to my 40,000. My husband and I will be traveling. We have excellent credit scores. My closest international airport is Orlando (MCO). We already have Chase Sapphire but have long used our bonus points for past travel.
Questions:
1. Which card would you recommend and which airline would you recommend I use, once I have the points from this second card.
2. If we want to fly 1st class, would you recommend my husband get the same two cards, so we each have enough points?
3. If we want to take our two college-aged children, how would you recommend we accomplish this? (Not necessarily first class)
Thanks again!
Jacqu’e
Reply
- Andrew Kunesh October 2, 2019
  Hey Jacqu’e! Thanks for reaching out. While American Airlines doesn’t partner with any of the transferrable points credit card currencies, there are a few good cards you can sign up for that will let you and your husband fly to Tokyo in business class.
  Per our beginner’s guide, we recommend that you and your husband start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. If both of you sign up for this card and get the welcome bonus, you should have enough points for two people to fly to Tokyo in business class on Delta. You’d do this by transferring 60,000 points per person to Virgin Atlantic (after calling in to find award space). Note that the welcome bonus fluctuates from time to time, so check out the linked beginners guide for up-to-date info.
  Further, American Airlines also charges 60,000 points to fly business class from the U.S. to Tokyo, so you could then open two American Airlines credit cards to cover your return ticket in business class. The welcome bonus on these cards varies, so check out our full guide to American credit cards for more info.
  We recommend checking cash tickets for your children’s economy tickets to and from Tokyo. Airfare to Asia has been cheap lately, and we’ve seen tickets as low as $500 round-trip from select U.S. cities.
  Hope this helps!
  Reply
James Lee October 2, 2019
Hello! Me, my sister, and my parents are planning to fly business class from LAX to Japan (Japan/Korea) and return from Korea to LAX next Spring. Does flying ANA thru Virgin Atlantic sound like a good plan? I was going get a few Citi Premier cards for the 60,000 points bonus. We currently have 107,000 Marriott Bonvoy and 12,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (as well as 75,000 Korean Air SKYPASS miles). Thank you in advance.
Reply
- Stephen Au October 8, 2019
  James,
  You can theoretically book the return flight from Korea to LAX via Virgin Atlantic on ANA if you intend on connecting in Japan. Otherwise, they will charge you for the short flight from Korea to Japan. There are too many ways to approach this from a route planning perspective. Also, if you’re planning on booking travel for that many people, it’ll take a significant amount of planning and strategy in opening credit cards. For your exact plans, it’s best to pursue getting more Marriott points, Korean Air miles, or Delta SkyMiles for your Korea returning flight. For your Japan flight, you can only book round-trips if you use Virgin Atlantic. Otherwise, you can use United miles for ANA and AA miles for Japan Airlines.
  Reply
  - James January 19, 2020
    Thank you so much. Sorry for the late reply.
    Reply
Ruby October 24, 2019
I found one flight leaving LAX to Japan via ANA Business Class, but on the return flight, there was a First Class ANA flight available. Can you mix classes when booking a round trip? Also, I’ve looked into September 2020 (on the United site) and there are practically no ANA Award Business nor First Class flights available. Is this typical or do you think the Summer Olympics is affecting travel? Thanks.
Reply
- Michael McHugh October 25, 2019
  Hi Ruby,
  For your first question, you can mix cabin classes but will pay the number of miles required for the higher fare class.
  For your second question, I’ve noticed the same on the United website. In my opinion, the Olympics is affecting award availability.
  Reply
William Barlow November 28, 2019
Has Japan airlines stopped offering premium awards to advantage members? I have been checking for first class awards from ORD to NRT over the last few months for travel near the end of 2020. A few months ago I was finding plenty of awards available. I checked today and I literally found almost nothing available from different cities over the next year or so.
Reply
- Jarrod West December 2, 2019
  Hi William,
  I do not believe that to be the case. It might just be that the availability you were seeing before has been booked already. Are you still seeing limited availability?
  Reply
Manning January 26, 2020
Can my wife and I use points for business class from Atlanta to Toyko? How many points would it be in April? Delta flys non-stop from Atlanta.
Reply
- Jarrod West January 28, 2020
  Hi Manning,
  What type of miles are you hoping to use to book your trip? Delta miles? Or do you have miles with a transferable program as well?
  Reply
Susan McCrary November 28, 2020
Trying to get my daughter to Tokyo for the Olympics in 2021, depending on COVID? I have miles on my Southwest card, she has some Southwest miles, and I have Capital One miles. Can these all be used to get her there and how do I do that? Any help is appreciated.
Reply
- Jarrod West November 30, 2020
  Hi Susan,
  Southwest does not fly to Tokyo, so those miles would only be helpful for a positioning flight in your circumstance. Your best bet with your Capital One miles would be to find a discounted fare through the Capital One travel portal and book it using your miles, or to transfer your Capital Miles to Air Canada where you can book a round-trip economy flight for 75k miles – which would require you to transfer 100,000 Capital One Miles at the 2:1.5 rate.
  Reply
Sandy December 9, 2020
I live in ATL. I have some Citi ThankYou points. Can I book an American Airlines flight to Japan through Etihad airlines?
Is that true Etihad requires fewer miles than AA?
I would like to book ANA, but ANA does not fly into ATL.
Reply
- Stephen Au December 10, 2020
  Hi Sandy,
  Thank you for reading.
  You can book an American Airlines flight through Japan with Etihad Guest miles transferred from Citi ThankYou points! The most challenging part is finding award availability.
  American Airlines does not fly between Atlanta and Japan either, so the only nonstop option is Delta Air Lines.
  Reply
Robert April 28, 2021
In your article you said there is no co-branded ANA card for the US. There is one, but the welcome bonus isn’t that good.
https://www.anacardusa.com/en/
Reply
Alex July 5, 2021
My partner and I are planning on flying to Japan from LA early next year and have enough miles to fly business class either on American Airlines or on JAL. AA seems to have newer planes, but lots of people recommend JAL. Which is a better experience (especially from the seat comfort/sleeping experience)?
Reply
- Jarrod West July 6, 2021
  Hi Alex,
  It is all subjective of course, but in my opinion, Japan Airlines business class is a much nicer experience than AA. That is not to say that you won’t have a great experience if you choose AA, but given the option I would choose JAL.
  Reply
Jeffy October 28, 2021
This article is exactly what I was looking for. I do want to make sure I understand the Virgin option on ANA, as I do think what you have outlined there does indeed give a new definition to the word “insane”.
The Virgin card will give you 60K points for a $2K spend within 90 days plus a $90 annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card will give you 60K points for a $4K spend within 3 months plus a $95 annual fee. Transfer those 1:1 to Virgin.
Now, according to the info above, those 120K Virgin points plus $272 will get you JFK-HDN in ANA first class, a seat which retails for around $24K.
Is my understanding correct? If so, is this the most insane deal in aviation history?
Reply
- Jarrod West October 29, 2021
  Hi Jeffy,
  That is correct! 120k Virgin points, plus about $272 in taxes and fees will allow you to book a round-trip ticket between JFK and HND in ANA first class.
  Reply
  - Jeffy October 29, 2021
    Great – tho I checked and it’s not clear to me that Virgin does transfers with Chase or Citi anymore. The website seems to only indicate AMEX:
    https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/us/en/flying-club/earn-points/exchange-points.html
    Reply
Carolyn June 23, 2022
Hi! Is it true that Japan Airlines will open up Business/First Class seats approx 21 days before flying. I can use my American Airlines miles now to book economy and then Upgrade later? Thank you, Carolyn
My flights are from BOS to NRT. And then NRT to BKI.
Reply
- Jarrod West July 11, 2022
  Hi Carolyn,
  Yes that is true that the airline will often open up more award seats 21 days out, and yes you can upgrade later should that award space become available.
  Reply
James August 30, 2022
Hi Jarrod,
Thank you so much for this article as it is very helpful. I am trying to book very early for a family flight from LAX to Narita in June 2023 but I have always run into issues on ANA where it shows the flight but always shows as “Waitlisted”. This makes me nervous and do not feel like transferring my points over to ANA or virgin because it makes it seem like its not certain the tickets will go through. I doubled checked on United as you recommended and this flight that is waitlisted is showing in United.com as well. Do you happen to know anything about this or am I not supposed to book directly from ANA? Please help so we feel comfortable moving points over from Amex.
Reply
- Jarrod West September 29, 2022
  Hi James,
  If the flight is showing as “waitlisted” then award space for the flight is not available at the moment, so I wouldn’t recommend transferring points in that case. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to book ANA business class tickets that will guide you in the right direction. Remember that location business class award space, especially for 4 people, can be a bit difficult so try and be as flexible as possible.
  Reply
Will September 28, 2022
Honestly, ANA should have a huge asterisk next to it. Finding actual award availability is pretty much impossible these days without being waitlisted.
Reply

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