Yes, I know.... it really hurts!

JAL raised its fuel surcharge yet another time on October 1st; I suspect they have become one of the most expensive in the industry.

I feel lucky to be a Diamond this year and the next, since miles never expire while you are one; so I might just save the miles until charges come down to a reasonable level. (I know this is not an option you have now, XBENX. Sorry about that.)

But good news is that they do not charge any of those for domestic award tickets. So you still have the option of redeeming them for domestic travel at a discount mile level.

On further thought, I realize you can easily exchange your miles for JAL coupon awards: 20K miles will get you Y30000 worth of JAL coupons!:-:

http://www.au.jal.com/world/en/jalmi...coupon.html#02

They will be valid for 13 months after they are issued, so you can bring them to Japan in February and use them while here.... you will probably find it easiest to use them in Japan.

kojiro