Help planning a trip for two to Japan in November
 

I am new to this and am trying to plan a 6 night trip to Tokyo. I have 100,000 American Airlines miles, 50,000 American Express Membership Reward points, and am planning on using one Hilton AXON reward stay and two nights from either the Citi Hilton Reserve or Hyatt cards for the hotel portion. I can easily get Hilton points and am therefore mainly interested in the airfare. I would like to go business class at least. I know in November American offers off-peak award to Japan for 50,000 one-way.

My question is, if I use the 100,000 American miles to get out there what is my best option to get back? I was looking into the United card, and the Sapphire Preferred but that is only 90,000 miles. Is there any way to book one ticket using my Amex Membership Reward points on an alliance airline and another on United? Or any suggestions for how I might get that extra 30,000 for the two United tickets? I was planning to apply for the United and Sapphire Preferred together. Any other suggestions? Also, any recommendation for places to stay? I was thinking I would use Citi Hilton Reserve for Hilton Gold, do a Hyatt Diamond match then get the Hyatt card for two nights in a suite.

Thanks so much!!

Welcome to FT! Yeah, you can book one way award tickets on *A - you can transfer Amex MR to ANA and then you can book on any *A flight. For ex: I randomly selected few dates in November and you can fly on a non-stop one way from IAD to NRT for 60K miles in I (NH1- B777-200)

Safe Travels!

There are no off-peak awards in business class. It's always 50k on American.

Where are you traveling from? If you're traveling from the west coast you could transfer your Amex MR points to BA Avios and make a cash + Avios booking with 50k Avios for one of the legs. However, if you're traveling from the east coast this won't be possible (since Avios are distance-based).

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Have the other person apply for cards as well...fly in Y so you'd have enough already if time is a factor. A lot depends on when you need to go, how flexible your dates are.

If you have the time I'd stay longer in Japan, there is a lot to see beyond Tokyo (which isn't to say Tokyo isn't great!).

Would we be able to book the same flight if we did one ticket on ANA and one United? Are there hefty fuel surcharges or anything?

I am located in Florida. My ideal airport is PBI but can go FLL or MIA if that's better.

Dates are flexible. Was originally thinking November due to off-peak economy on American, but am now more open. Would love to stay longer but think I'd go broke buying things :) Having the other person apply isn't currently an option.

Thanks!

AA off-peak Y to Japan runs Oct-Apr so you have quite a window if you're not against flying in Y. If you're intent on J/F then that's another story. Keep in mind if you end up going with a plan that has you dependent on additional cards, you'll need time to earn and post the miles.

Lots of good options in Tokyo, low and high end, besides the usual western chains that give little of the local flavor.

NH forum had discussions of NH charging YQ on UA redemptions but doesn't seem to currently be an issue according to the thread.

if cost is an issue, like others said, 100k AA will get two r/t in Y. Thats the best use of your miles imho

Apply for the United and Ink Bold/Plus. Then you will have 100k miles. If you spend $4000 on your Ink Bold/Plus card in office supplies stores such as Office Depot, Staples. Then you have $120k miles due to the 5x from Ink. You can also mix spending on your Ink card with pre-paying phone/cable/internet to earn 5x points. This could be easily done in the past when OD carries variable load gift cards. It's still doable, but the cost is a lot higher now.

Take a look at our Japan Forum and read the sticky threads first. You can have your own thread about Tokyo trip in the destination forum.

Welcome to FT!

Thanks for the tips everyone! I am really hoping to avoid flying economy as I am tall and can't imagine that long of a flight yet.

I am willing to spend some in fees to meet spending requirements and all, but not looking to pay hundreds.

I will have to look into the Ink Bold/Plus, I was avoiding it mainly due to the high spending. Will look into more ways to meet that. Thanks!

How far in advance do you normally need to book business class flights? Especially if it does end up being "off-peak" season (most likely when I will finish with points)?

As early as possible :)

Seriously though, you do want to book as soon as you know your target dates. No one really knows how/if/when airlines will release Award seats. If you have fixed dates you want to book as soon as you can. If you're more flexible on dates or trip duration then you can probably find something that works even a bit later.

I went with the Ink Bold and United cards and should well be on my way, thanks!