amex points for lax->tokyo
 

I have about 175k amex points and looking to book flights for a family lax->tokyo (either airport) during low season (month of september). I know it's not possible to fly all of us on points, but value per person is the primary objective trying to get as many of us (5) to tokyo as possible with those points. I can't seem to find anything less than 100k amex points (even with partner transfer) pp and less than $100 surcharge and fees. ANA has 50k r/t pp but their fees on top are more than the cash price to purchase elsewhere. Anything with fees less than $100 pp is over 100k points. I was advised by someone at ANA that this is the new normal because surging fuel and energy costs. Partner carriers such as Aero Canada don't have high surcharge but they will cost more than 100k points. I've used pointdotme also and it comes up short on finding anything reasonable. If I spend $100k+ amex points it's not a great value because I can purchase r/t flights during that month in cash for less than $700 pp therefore I can use amex points for Home Depot gift cards would be more value than that.

Would appreciate advice if my assessment is correct or if there are other ways to achieve what I'm looking for. My travels don't have to be in Sept but afaictl that's the lowest cost month.

If you can get the roundtrip for < $700 per person, and don't need the flexibility to change or cancel that comes with some award tickets, then paying cash for this trip sounds like the way to go. Just make sure that you are comparing apples and oranges. Does the < $700 fare allow you to check a bag? Select a seat?

If you purchase cash tickets via the Amex travel portal, what value from your MR points would you get if you opted to pay with points?

Neither AA nor UA collects surcharges on their award tickets between the U.S. and Asia, and each offers LAX-TYO-LAX for 70K miles and minimal fees in Economy. But Amex MR points do not convert to either program; and even if they did, you'd still be getting less than 1.0 cent per point in redemption value, based on the current cash fare.

I would pay cash and save those MR points for a better redemption; they can be pretty valuable. As the poster above said, United currently has plenty of saver space but those are still 70k RT.

Any specific need to fly with ANA? There is no mileage partnership between ANA and MR. (Only Amex)

I'm pretty sure that in this thread, "MR" stands for Amex Membership Rewards points, not Marriott Rewards points. ;)

Any airline that will accept Amex MR (in any way directly or indirectly) would be fine. I mentioned ANA because they have least points for this kind of redemption. I mentioned Air Canada, they have less surcharge but over 100k MR points which is not worth it.

ANA charges a high YQ between US and Japan, so it is not a good idea to MR points unless you want to score the business class seats. During low season, you may just want to pay cash.