DCAZ

Hi,

I'm new to all this, so excuse me if this is a dumb question, but I've got 11,948 JAL miles that they say will expire at the end of the month. Even if I were going to Asia this year, I doubt that would be enough miles to make a difference. If I had 12,000, I could redeem them for a $100 Amazon gift card. But, they say I can't transfer them to any of their so-called "alliance" partners, nor can I transfer in from anywhere but AmEx, which I do not have.

So, is there anything that I can do with these miles, other than watch them die?

Thanks
DC

CPH-Flyer

You can transfer from Marriott as well as far as I know (used to be from SPG, should have continued) but if it is just to get a 100USD amazon card I don't know if it is truly a good value But maybe you can build up to a flight award?

Tokyoite

Where are you based at?
Two ways I suggest. 1. JAL coupons, and 2. Book a one way award (Date changes are free).

1. Convert into JAL Coupons (essentially JAL cash voucher that can be applied to future JAL tickets).
At least the coupon will stay valid for 13 months (until May 2020 if procured this month).
However, these are paper coupons. http://www.jal.co.jp/en/jalmile/use/...tion.html#tabs
=American Region members, Europe / Middle East / Africa Region members, and Asia / Oceania Region members
JAL Coupons will be sent only to your JMB registered address and will be sent via registered mail only.
Please note that normally it will take approximately 2 week to receive your coupons once you have requested them.
*Requests for JAL Coupon Awards cannot be accepted if your mailing address is a P.O. Box.
*JAL Coupons will be sent by international courier service. All deliveries will require a signature.
*Depending on postal circumstances in your region, it may take 2 or more weeks for your JAL Coupons to arrive.
*JAL Coupons cannot be collected at airport counters.


2. Redeem for a flexible date one way award in economy.
10k miles is enough for one way Tokyo to Guam/Manila/Hong Kong/Shanghai/Beijing/Seoul in economy class on JAL.
Therefore, you can use the 10K as part of a trip to/from Tokyo onward into Asia.
Date changes are free (as long as the date you are changing to also has the same 10K miles rate. Due to dynamic award pricing, dates with high demand will price out at higher miles, meaning you cannot change to those dates without topping up miles).
Award is valid for a whole year (until April 2020 if procured this month), so you could aim for use next year!


Or,

Mwenenzi

DCAZ Welcome to FT

From your profile US based. Have you looked at an award on AA?

Noted from your profile you are a member of AAdvantage, JAL, BA. They are all Oneworld partners, so any flights could have/may have been able to credited to 1 frequent flyer program.

Expiry Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki.

Wasabi Tofu

Hum, rules may be different betwween JMB award rules in Japan and other places.

In Japan, you CAN'T change JAL own flight award. You CAN only cancel with 3100JPY charge.
And expired miles aren't refunded. (i.e, you can't use refund for extending mile expiration)
Partner award and oneworld award can be changed without fee.

DCAZ

Oops, you're right. I forgot that one, but it's a moot point because I don't have any Marriott points, either. (Not being a business traveler, I find the sameness of all their hotels boring, rather than comforting.) I thought about signing up with them just for the points, so I could transfer them but, as you said, it might not be much of a bargain.

Thanks for being the first to respond

DCAZ

Thanks! I'm actually feeling fairly welcome, with all these responses

Yes, I looked, but couldn't find how to apply the points to AA. Maybe BA is easier? I actually have a round trip booked on BA in May. I wanted to use my miles for an upgrade, but I don't seem to be able to do that because I bought the tickets through a consolidator (I'm learning the terminology.)

Pretty harsh rules.

Wow! Thanks for all the info! It probably would have taken me days to find all that.

Coupons sound better, now that I've read that, but the JAL rep mentioned those but said they would expire, too. Possibly a little misleading, there.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona, home of Southwest Airlines, which is a very good airline, but they don't play well with others. Not even booking sites. But, at some point, I'm going to need to travel to Vietnam and back, again, which is how I got the points in the first place. (several trips) I wonder if the 10,000 miles would cover one Tokyo-Saigon hop. And if that would be cheaper than just booking the whole thing on a travel site. I'm assuming I could only use the points for a full-fare flight.

DCAZ

Thanks! I appreciate that.

Yes, I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. I have looked on AA, but didn't find anything. I talked to AA about using my AA miles for an upgrade on the BA flight I've got booked in May, but they said they couldn't even see the booking. Maybe because I booked it through a consolidator on Skyscanner. (My first time using them.) From what I've been told by airline reps, these alliance partners don't seem to cooperate very well. I didn't even bother asking the JAL rep about the BA flight, but I may try BA.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. So much to learn...

DCAZ

Interesting. Not surprising, really, considering all the other barriers they've thrown up to keep us from using our miles.