Originally Posted by
ffhound
In particular I think it would be great to find a program that can convert points/miles into bullet train travel in Japan or into a Japan rail pass. That would be an excellent use of points/miles.
Do any of the Japanese airline programs have train awards?
If they have a
native award (e.g. directly using their miles) for train travel, then it's possible that it's a decent use of the miles. You'd have to figure out how valuable the miles typically are for flights, what train tickets typically cost, etc.
But if it's a conversion out to a separate train program, it probably comes with a hefty loss in value. These things usually do, with a few limited (and mostly well-known around here) exceptions.