You've already found Raffles Head For Points site, so read the avios university pages and the reviews of the British Airways American Express card he has written. The response above is correct - your best strategy would be to sign up for the ba Amex spend £10k and collect a companion voucher. This will save you at least £1k in taxes and halve the avios required. We've done Japan twice in first using the Amex 241 there is good availabilty for redemptions most of the year to Narita and Haneda. Can also refer you for Amex so you get extra avios.