aunteemom1

Is it better to use fewer miles and pay higher taxes (150,000 miles and $950 taxes round trip)
or more miles and lower taxes (207,000 miles and $50 taxes round trip)

Mwenenzi

Personal choice. No wrong or right answer. Some people have more/less ff miles and less/more cash.
Do not confuse real taxes and airline carrier award surcharges (~=100% profit)
Real taxes/regulatory charges are the same for every flight on the same route/class of travel.
With some jurisdictions a carrier surcharge can trigger additional real taxes, as the flight changes from non revenue to revenue. General are low - a few $.

guv1976

It depends which you value more: 57,000 miles or $900.

By the way, most of the cash difference has nothing to do with taxes, but is instead carrier surcharges. Have you tried pricing the award as two one-ways, rather than one roundtrip? It's possible that the surcharges will be a little lower that way.

aunteemom1

It’s for two people so really almost $2000 or 100,000+ miles. Do the miles have more value?

guv1976

It depends on what kind of miles they are, and how you are able to redeem them.

Why don't you share with us the kind of miles involved, and the particular route. Maybe we can offer some money- and/or mile-saving suggestions.

Edited to add: And a belated welcome to FlyerTalk!

aunteemom1

We are hoping to fly to Japan using Amex miles to either airport, Haneda or Narita. Japan airline has very high fees with lower miles and Singapore Air has very low fees but more miles needed. I hate to pay $950 in fees pp but I can’t figure out if it is a better deal to save the miles. If you have any suggestions, I appreciate it. I am new to this and it’s for travel next fall.

Mwenenzi

And how easy to earn ff miles. That varies a lot between individuals.

aunteemom1

We have Amex miles and would like to travel to Japan next fall ideally on Japan or Singapore Air. Japan uses fewer miles but the fees are very high. Singapore uses more miles with very low fees.

guv1976

You do not have miles; you have Amex Membership Rewards points which can be converted to miles in any of a number of frequent-flyer programs. You do not necessarily have to convert your points to JAL or Singapore miles in order to be able to redeem for travel on those airlines. For example, you should be able to redeem BA Avios or Cathay Pacific "Asia Miles" for travel on JAL, assuming that award seats are available. Similarly, you should be able to redeem miles from Air Canada's Aeroplan program for travel on any Star Alliance carrier, including Singapore Airlines. You need to investigate which of Amex's transfer partners would give you the best combination of miles and fees for a trip to Japan. Here's one other redemption possibility:

https://onemileatatime.com/guides/re...ic-points-ana/

If you have -- or can acquire -- some American Airlines miles, you can redeem them for travel on JL with very low fees. A one-way Business Class redemption on JL between the U.S. and Japan costs just 60,000 AA miles. Sadly, AA is not a Membership Rewards transfer partner, but both Citi and Barclays offer AA credit cards with generous sign-up bonuses.

Also, keep in mind that many frequent-flyer programs offer one-way redemptions, so it might be possible for you to fly JL in one direction, and SQ in the other.

Good luck!

guv1976

Here's an example of a Business Class redemption between LAX and HND on JL next September for just 60,000 AA miles + $5.60, one way:

Mwenenzi

What ffp's are you a member of now? Have you redeemed ff awards before? In these times can be a tough learning curve.
Awards are *never* guaranteed. May or may not be available about the dates you want.
2 awards on the same flight is a lot harder than 1. More than twice as hard
Be flexible on dates and departure/destination airports.
For Japan not just Tokyo ( NRT / HND). KIX or ITM or NGO or other https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Japan
As above consider one ways. Do not need to use the same pair of airports out & back. Or the same ffp / airline

Good luck

erik123

Also check the price with amex points on amex travel.