Originally Posted by
blitzen
planning for a trip in 2020 (avoiding the Olympics)
Roughly what dates do you have in mind. Considering that the olympics will be in July-Aug, and then the Paralympics are in Aug-Sep, I guess you're looking at late Sep 2020 or later? My experience of olympics is that there's a pretty wide window of disruption to prices etc.. Bear in mind that Sep-Oct is close to peak time for Typhoons, which can hit Okinawa hard.
Originally Posted by
blitzen
EWR is closest
Based on today's schedules (which may well change by 2020), your best option from EWR is probably UA from EWR to NRT, followed by a domestic flight with ANA from NRT to OKA.
If you' re looking to avoid NRT altogether, then you could consider flying to Seoul and connecting to minor Japanese airports from there. But I don't see a good way to do that with the mileage programs that you listed. (Although I'm not sure what MR stands for).
Originally Posted by
blitzen
if it is not a direct flight the first leg see to be almost always economy
> any booking engine where I can avoid that?
Are you looking at the available flights one year out from now?
The folks on the relevant airline forums can probably give you up-to-date tips on how to get the reward flights that you want.
Originally Posted by
blitzen
I want to visit Okinawa and another place (open to suggestions .. did Tokyo/Kyoto/Nara/Hakone/...)
Of course, it depends on what interests you. If you like historic cities, I'd suggest Kanazawa and Takayama. If you like being outdoors and you want to stick with small island experiences, you could check out Yakushima and southern Kyushu. Depending on the timing of your trip, you might catch the autumn foliage on Miyajima (Hiroshima) or somewhere... Endless possibilities.