jaybett4

Hello.

I am looking to book a trip to Japan in 2024 and realize that the methods I used on my previous trip in 2019 no longer work. What is the best reward program to get first/business flights to/from Japan? Any strategies or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

AlwaysAisle

Are you planning to become a member of a royalty program today to start accumulating miles/points for 2024 travel to Japan?

guv1976

You can often find close-in award availability in Business or First on JL for just 60K/80K AAdvantage miles. See examples below. But if you must book well on advance of departure date, this won't be of much use to you.

jaybett4

I should have clarified. I have extensive reward points/miles for Amex, Chase & AA. I could gain some new points if needed.

jaybett4

Awesome! Thank you. That may be the option I take. My main concern is booking the flight out without having a return flight.

5khours

Sorry to say this but the situation is dreadful at the moment. I've literally booked hundreds of award tickets between US and Japan in the past with no problem, but availability has crashed over the last several months. The only reliable option right now is UA, but that's 200k miles for J one way.... which is on a equivalent basis more than you would pay for a cash ticket. If I were in your shoes, I would grab the one way to Japan, and then for the return a) hope something opens up for the way back, b) bite the bullet and come back in Y, or c) or for the return buy a RT J originating in Japan for $4-5k and then plan to come back to Japan within a year.

joejones

Nowadays you usually don't see much premium cabin availability at saver rates until the last week or two before departure. With credit card points, the best option tends to be Aeroplan for NH or UA, and United for AC. Both United and Air Canada mark up their own flights in their own mileage programs, kind of counter-intuitively. Using AA miles for JL is often an even better deal.

My suggestion, if you want to actually make plans in advance, is to start by securing economy seats through AA. AA metal HND-LAX is 28k one way in economy, 45k one way in premium economy. JL economy can be had for 35k. There is plenty of availability, cancellation is free, and you get the miles back immediately.

Then keep eyes peeled for better options starting a few weeks out. I would focus on searching through United, Air Canada, and American. UA and AC usually show the same flights at saver rates, but United is cheaper for Air Canada flights and Air Canada is cheaper for United flights. Getting JL flights through AA is still doable but availability is iffy. You can luck out and find last-minute F but it's really a crap shoot as to whether it will show up.

guv1976

While not as desirable as getting a 60K Business Class award for U.S. <==> Japan, for 110K AA miles you can redeem for a combination of a Japan-Middle East/India award with a Middle East/India-U.S. award in Business. Since this would involve two different awards, you could -- if desired -- stop over in the Middle East/India.

JapanFlyerT

Getting a Y seat on UA and paying $300 each way for Premium is another affordable/more comfortable option.

dbuckho

If you are searching as soon as awards come available (approx 1 year out), you can typically book SQ LAX-NRT for the current saver level award 103,500. Certainly inflated from what it used to be, but Krisflyer is transfer friendly and you might time it with a transfer bonus. Not sure where you are starting from -- you would have to position yourself to LAX.

FlyinHawaiian

Adding to 5khours ' suggestion of considering booking a one-way revenue ticket from Japan back to the US, this wasn't a bad option for me as the ticket was priced in JPY and given the current exchange rate, it was a price I was ok with.

5khours

Yes.... but.... you can usually buy SQ LAX_NRT in J very cheaply for cash if you book far out. (Or at least NRT>LAX>NRT.) Not sure about starting in LAX.

joejones

I am currently seeing quite a few close-in business class saver awards on United and ANA within <14 days of departure. Unfortunately Air Canada seems to be blocking ANA awards now, and United charges 100k each way for its own metal and 110k for ANA metal, so the best options for booking these may be Avianca, ANA (if you can book round trip), and Virgin Atlantic (for ANA flights only). The latter two have relatively high cash surcharges but relatively low mileage requirements. JAL, American, and Delta business class availability seems much rarer, although they release quite a bit of premium economy.

skatefriday

Please excuse the beginner question, but what are the mechanics for this search? I searched for award flights on united.com while logged into my mileage plus account from LAX to Tokyo for Nov 7 and only see business class awards at 200k each way and no availability for ANA metal (which I'd actually prefer).

It not clear at all to me how to search for award flights on a partner airline while using United miles.

5khours

If you are looking for a non-stop, you need to check each day individually. The week and month award calendars show all flights (not-just non stop). For ANA, look for the awards that require 110k miles. If it's 100k or 200k it's not an ANA flight.

If you are only seeing awards at 200k miles, that's because that's all there is and there is no ANA award space.