MikeFromTokyo - Mike, that makes for some genuinely interesting reading. I'm reading this from the UK, too, where I clearly need to brush up on my knowledge as I must have been living in the Dark Ages! (I'm certainly au fait with FHR through my Amex Plat and also Virtuoso through many of the US blogs I read from here, but less so of the other programmes (Visa/World Elite) you mention, so I genuinely appreciate this.)

As I used to live in Tokyo (Aoyoma), too, this may well come in extremely handy from now on as I am hoping to return a few more times to Japan in the coming years after a near-ten year hiatus.

So, many thanks once again -- it's very gratefully received.

All the best