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![The Best Ways to Fly to Japan With Points and Miles [Step-by-Step]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fujiyoshida-Japan.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
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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.
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, 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:
With the Virgin Points in your account, use these steps to help book the flight:
Earning Virgin Points is easy because the program is an American Express transfer partner, Chase transfer partner, Citi transfer partner, and Marriott transfer partner. 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)
A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.
If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the best options out there.
The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options. Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.
Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!
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 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:
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:
For those of you booking Cathay Pacific award flights, the process is slightly different:
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.
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:
A great option for Marriott hotel fans who want a no annual fee card and automatic Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Casual travelers who like to frequent properties that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy collection of brands may want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The Marriott Bold card rewards cardholders for Marriott stays and gives them a boost towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual free night award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card gives you automatic Marriott elite status and helps you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on your everyday purchases.
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, the latest mid-tier offering in the Marriott Bonvoy lineup of cards, offers cardholders automatic elite status and ways to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on each of their stays and daily purchases.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesA premium card for Marriott fans who want perks like an annual statement credit and Free Night Award, plus a fast track to Marriott elite status.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a premium card designed with road warriors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalists in mind.
So is the card a worthwhile addition to your wallet?
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.
| 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:
You’ll want to follow these steps when you’ve decided to book a flight:
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.
| 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:
With the required number of ANA miles in your account, follow these steps to book your next award flight:
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:
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.
When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis is the best card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants (worldwide), order take-out and want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!
The American Express® Gold Card is a game-changer.
With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x.
There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are several other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.
If you’re a business owner, consider one of the American Express business 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.
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:
When you’re ready to book an American Airlines award flight, here are the booking process steps:
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 mile 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)
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Capital One Venture X card is an excellent option for travelers looking for an all-in-one premium credit card.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the premium Capital One travel rewards card on the block.
Points and miles fans will be surprised to see that the Capital One Venture X card packs quite the punch when it comes to bookings made through Capital One, all while offering the lowest annual fee among premium credit cards.
Depending on your travel goals and preferences, the Capital One Venture X card could very well end up being your go-to card in your wallet.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great welcome offer, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.
Frequent travelers with excellent credit may benefit from this credit card that offers a lot of bells and whistles. And it offers easy-to-understand rewards earning and redemption.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe card offers unlimited miles at 1.25x per $1 and no annual fee. When you consider the flexible rewards, frequent travelers come out on top.
Interested in a travel rewards credit card without one of those pesky annual fees? Then say hello to the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card, the no-annual-fee version of the more popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
In addition to no annual fee, the Capital One VentureOne card offers no foreign transaction fees.
But is this card worth its salt, or is it merely a shell of the more popular Capital One Venture card?
If you’re a business owner, see our recommended Capital One business credit cards.
Recommended Citi Cards
Frequent flyers will enjoy 3x ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, air travel, and hotels.
The Citi Premier® Card is an excellent option for anyone looking for an all-around travel rewards credit card. The card helps you earn points fast with great 3x bonus categories such as restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. Plus, it offers access to airline and hotel transfer partners, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and has a reasonable annual fee!
This no annual fee card rewards cardholders for everyday purchases. Earn bonus points at supermarkets and gas stations, plus your points are rounded up on every purchase.
Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!
The Citi Double Cash® Card has long been one of the top cash-back credit cards on the market, and the card now has the ability to earn Citi ThankYou Points!
This means that cardholders of the Double Cash card will now earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points. This means each billing cycle, you will earn 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on purchases and an additional ThankYou point for every $1 paid on your purchase balance as long as there is a corresponding balance in your Purchase Tracker.
Citi has turned the Double Cash card into a top choice for those who are looking for an everyday, no-fuss credit card.
Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, with no annual fee!
The Citi Custom Cash® Card is inventive when it comes to cash-back credit cards. Instead of earning a set amount of cash-back on predetermined bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash-back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle, without an annual fee.
Thanks to that unique perk, you’ll never need to worry about whether you’re using the right card for the right purchase, as your Citi Custom Cash card will always pay you 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.
Bottom Line: Etihad should be one of the first award programs you look at to fly American Airlines flights at competitive award rates.
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:
The booking process with Japan Airlines is straightforward:
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.
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:
Here are the steps to book an award flight with Korean Air:
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.
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.
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 Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ 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.
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.
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.
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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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.
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