Booking a flight on Japan Airlines is a great way to fly to Japan on points! When booking with points, there are several ways to book a flight with Japan Airlines. You can book with Japan Airlines directly or book through a partner airline like American Airlines, British Airways, and others. Each booking option has its own pros and cons.

If you’re a beginner, this may sound confusing, but stick with me! You also may want to review this overview to booking flights with points. Need more points? Check out our Three-Year Plan or Best Offers page.

I’ll walk you through all the ways to book Japan Airlines with points, including prices, cancellation policies, general availability, how to earn the points, and more. Plus, I’ll give you some tricks and tips for finding availability.

Note: This article is looking specifically at flying with Japan Airlines. For even more ways to get to Japan with points, see our complete Japan flight guide.

March 2026 Update

The partnership with JetBlue and Japan Airlines has ended.

Why Fly on Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines offers a comfortable flying experience, even in economy!

Their standard economy seats have more space than any of the US carriers offer. The economy seats are even comparable to some US carriers’ Premium Economy seat specs.

What’s more, the customer service, food, and in-flight experience are all excellent.

For such a long flight, it is worth choosing an airline that is going to provide you with a more comfortable experience.

Japan Airlines also offers pretty good availability if you can plan in advance (or book last minute), and the wide variety of ways to book these flights means it is pretty easy to earn enough points even for a full family to go.

Routes from North America to Japan on Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines (JAL) offers several routes between North America and Japan. Most of the routes go to Tokyo, but you can also reach Osaka with a direct flight.

You can fly to/from Tokyo Narita (NRT) from the following airports:

• Boston – BOS
• Chicago – ORD
• Los Angeles – LAX
• New York – JFK
• San Diego – SAN
• San Francisco – SFO
• Seattle – SEA
• Vancouver – YVR

You can fly to/from Tokyo Haneda (HND) from these airports:

• Chicago – ORD
• Dallas – DFW
• Los Angeles – LAX
• New York – JFK
• San Francisco

You can fly directly to/from Osaka (KIX) from just one airport:

• Los Angeles – LAX

Note: There are also flights from Honolulu (HNL) and Kona (KOA) to several airports in Japan. Those are generally the same price as departing from airports on the West Coast. Flying to Hawaii before taking your Japan Airlines flight won’t make sense for most people, so they’re not included in this article. However, if you’re interested in adding a few days in Hawaii to your Japan trip, it is an option you could look into.

What if I don’t live near one of these airports?

Some airlines (like American) allow you to add a connection from your home airport. If you can find saver award availability, the cost in miles is typically the same. It is harder to find availability this way, but it’s worth a try before planning a positioning flight.

Other airlines don’t allow you to add a connection on a partner award booking. In that case, you would need to book a positioning flight to get to one of these airports.

A positioning flight is booked separately from your other ticket. If booking a positioning flight, allow plenty of time in between flights in case your first flight is delayed. We recommend an overnight layover if at all possible.

Because they’re on separate tickets, if you end up missing the second flight, the airlines have no obligation to refund or rebook you. When using positioning flights, we prefer to fly in the day before and stay at a hotel near the airport. That way we have plenty of time to catch our second flight, even if the first flight is delayed.

The Southwest Companion Pass is a great way to save on positioning flights.

Two Ways to Book Japan Airlines With Points: Directly or Via Partners

There are two main ways to book an award flight on Japan Airlines. You can book directly with Japan Airlines using JAL Mileage Bank points, OR you can book through a partner airline.

Airlines often release a limited number of seats for their partner airlines to book as award tickets. Not every flight or every route will have partner award availability, but many do.

Which Way Should I Book?

There’s no right or wrong way to book a Japan Airlines flight. The best booking option for you depends on several factors, and it may be different from what works best for someone else.

Here are factors that will determine what’s best for you:

• The kind of points you have or can easily earn
• How many people you’re booking tickets for
• How far in advance you can book
• What class you want to fly (Economy, Premium Economy, Business)
• How flexible you prefer the cancellation policy to be
• How much in taxes and fees you’re willing to pay

With each booking option below, I’ll show you the cost in points and taxes, what points transfer to that program, and information on the cancellation policies to help you decide how to book.

Japan Airlines Partners

Japan Airlines is part of the oneworld Alliance. Oneworld includes Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and others.

In addition to oneworld, Japan Airlines also partners with Flying Blue.

You can use any of these programs to book a flight on Japan Airlines.

Partner Pricing

When you book a partner flight, you pay in the currency of the program you book with. For example, if you book through American Airlines, you’ll pay with American AAdvantage miles.

Each partner sets its own prices for any given flight. That means the same exact flight is going to cost different amounts depending on who you book it with.

This is true for both points and taxes and fees. While taxes are pretty standard, some airlines add on charges (like fuel surcharges or partner booking fees) that can raise the total amount of fees by quite a lot.

We list detailed comparisons for both pricing and taxes and fees for all the booking options, and this is included in our chart, too.

A note on Fuel surcharges

Fuel surcharges are somewhat tied to oil pricing. That means they can go up and down as oil prices change. These prices were current in October 2025.

You might do a search and see a certain price for taxes and fees, then a few weeks later find that those fees have changed significantly. This is usually because of fuel surcharges.

Dynamic Chart Comparing Booking Options for Japan Airlines

You can also scroll down to find detailed information for any of these airline programs.

Note: This chart may be easier to view from a computer or horizontally on a phone.

Tips for Finding the Best Rates and Availability

Book Directly with JAL

Japan Airlines releases more award seats for its own flights than it does to partners. That means it can be much easier to find a seat booking directly with JAL. This is especially true if you need more than 2 tickets or if you’re traveling during peak times.

The downside is JAL only has 2 transfer partners at this time so it’s harder to earn these miles. You’ll also pay more in taxes.

Book One Way at a Time

With all of these booking options, the price is the same whether you book two one-way tickets or one round-trip ticket, so there’s no advantage to booking a round-trip.

Booking one way at a time gives you more flexibility, which can help you find the best rates. You don’t have to return to the same city, and you don’t even have to book with the same program!

For example, if you don’t have enough American Airlines miles to book a round trip, you could book the departing flight with American and the return flight with a different partner.

Book Married Segments

‘Married segments’ essentially means that the flight has a connection and is not a non-stop flight. Sometimes it’s actually easier to find availability or cheaper to book a flight with married segments than it is to book a direct flight.

For example, when Katie and her family traveled home from Japan in June 2025, they were able to book 4 tickets in business class from Osaka-Tokyo-Chicago. But just the Tokyo-Chicago flight never showed availability.

We see this a lot with cash fares as well (from all carriers, not just JAL). Airlines sometimes release more availability for connecting flights than nonstop flights.

Book in Advance

The best rates are easiest to find right when award seats are released. This is about 11 1/2 months in advance.

If you need specific dates or want to depart from a specific airport, booking in advance is the best way to secure the seats you want.

Book with a Partner that Opens Their Calendar Early

In addition to booking in advance, booking specifically with a partner that opens their calendar sooner can help you snag in-demand seats.

For example, Cathay Pacific opens their calendar 360 days before departure, but American Airlines doesn’t open its calendar until 330 days. By the time the American calendar is open for booking, the seats you want could already be gone.

Book Last Minute

Japan Airlines releases unsold seats a few weeks out from departure. For this reason, you can often find the lowest, saver-level prices for last-minute flights.

Booking last-minute isn’t practical for most families, but if you can do it, it’s a good way to save on your flights. It’s also a good way to upgrade a flight. If you have booked an economy ticket but want to fly Premium Economy or Business class, you might be able to find those seats released 14 days before departure.

Be Flexible on Departure City

If you’re not finding the availability you want from your preferred airport, try looking at other airports. It could be worth booking a separate positioning flight to depart from an airport that has availability.

If you’re traveling from a smaller airport, you’ll probably need to reposition anyway. In that case, it’s easy to be flexible and book your JAL flight from whichever airport has the best availability.

Be Flexible on Dates

It’s much easier to find availability if you’re flexible on travel dates.

If you need exact dates, your best bet is to book far in advance or be flexible on the departure city.

Make a Placeholder Booking

If you’re somewhat flexible, you can make a booking as a placeholder. Then set an alert for your preferred flight from a site like seats.aero. If it becomes available, you can cancel the placeholder booking and book the flight you really want.

For example, if your preferred departure airport is Los Angeles but you can’t find availability from LAX, you could book a placeholder flight from San Francisco or Seattle with a positioning flight to get there. If the flight from LAX becomes available, you can cancel the placeholder flight (and the positioning flight to go with it), then book the better flight.

If you plan to do this, keep cancellation policies and change fees in mind. It’s best to book with a carrier that charges low or no fees. That way, you can change your flight without penalty.

Another thing to keep in mind if you’re considering a placeholder booking is what points you plan to use to book. If you cancel with one program and book with another, your points for the cancelled booking will be stuck with that partner until you use them.

For example, if you originally book with Qantas and then cancel to book with American Airlines, your points from the cancelled booking will be held with Qantas until you use them for something else.

Search Tips to Help You Find Availability

It can be helpful to start your initial search with an airline that has good search capabilities, even if you’re not planning to book with that airline.

For example, American Airlines has an award calendar feature that shows an entire month of availability at a time. This can help you find dates with available seats. Once you find availability, you can double-check that the flight is available with the partner you plan to book the flight with.

Not all partners have all the same award availability, but there is usually a lot of overlap. There’s a good chance that if award seats are available to book with one partner, you’ll be able to find them on a different partner as well. This isn’t always the case though, so bear that in mind.

Using Award Tools to Help You Find Availability

Award tools like Seats.Aero and PointsYeah can help you save time searching, especially if you’re flexible on things like dates or departure airport. These tools are not perfect, but they can be a good place to start. Both of these sites offer a free and paid version.

When you start a search with one of these sites, you can put in your preferences (dates, departure airport, arrival airport, etc.) or leave things more open and see what comes up.

With PointsYeah for example, you could search from “North America” to “Japan” and see a list of available options. You can filter your search to include certain dates, booking options, minimum number of seats, and more.

Seats.Aero allows you to filter by airline so you can easily find the Japan Airlines flights.

Both of these programs allow you to set up alerts so you can be notified if your preferred flight becomes available.

Booking Japan Airlines Directly

Pricing

These are starting prices. Japan Airlines uses dynamic pricing, so point prices vary depending on demand.

Economy: 27,000 miles each way.

Premium Economy: 40,000 miles each way.

Business Class: 55,000 miles each way.

Taxes and fees are around $142 going TO Japan and around $181 returning to the US. This is the same no matter what fare class you fly. Japan Airlines tacks on fuel surcharges, which is what makes these fees so high.

Things to Know about Booking with Japan Airlines

You must have a JAL Mileage Bank account for at least 60 days before you can book an award flight. If you’re considering booking with JAL, go ahead and create an account now! If your first transfer comes from Bilt or Capital One, the waiting period drops to 7 days after you first create an account.

Points expire 3 years after they enter your account. This is a firm rule. Japan Airlines does not offer any way to extend your miles.

Japan Airlines only allows you to book award flights for family members. This chart shows who you can use your miles to book a ticket for:

Change and Cancellation Policies

Japan Airlines doesn’t allow any changes to its own award tickets. This includes upgrading your ticket to a higher fare class. If you want to change your ticket, you’ll have to cancel first, and then rebook.

The good news is you can cancel for a reasonable fee, and miles will be returned to your account. The cancellation fee is 3,100 JPY, which is about $20 (depending on the exchange rate when you cancel).

If you cancel a ticket, the miles will be returned to your account with their original expiration date. (Remember, miles expire 3 years from when they enter your account.) This is important to keep in mind.

For example, if you use miles that are about to expire to book a ticket, your expiration date may pass before your travel takes place. If you need to cancel and your original expiration date has already passed, you won’t get those points refunded because they will have already expired.

When the Calendar Opens

You can book a flight directly with Japan Airlines 360 days before departure.

Notes on Availability: Availability is generally decent at reasonable prices. The 27,000 economy rate is easy to find. Business class rates are commonly found for 80,000 points. To find the lowest prices, it helps to book early or be flexible on dates.

JAL Booking Example: LAX-NRT 54,000 miles + $323 in Economy

Booking Japan Airlines with Partners

How to Tell if a Flight is Operated by Japan Airlines

When searching for flights, you’ll see flights operated by the airline you’re searching with as well as their partner airlines. It’s not always easy to tell at a glance which airline is operating a given flight.

You can check the flight information to see which airline the flight is on. Some airlines make it easier to see than others. This screenshot is an example of a search on the American Airlines website.

The airline code for Japan Airlines is JL. If you see JL, you’ll know the flight is operated by Japan Airlines.

American Airlines

Overview: Reasonable pricing and no change or cancellation fees. The main disadvantage is that the calendar only opens 330 days in advance, so for peak dates or higher fare classes, it can be harder to find availability.

Pricing: 35,000 miles each way in economy, 50,000 in premium economy, and 60,000 in Business Class. Taxes and fees are $5.60 going to Japan and around $45 returning to the US.

When the calendar opens: 330 days before departure.

Notes on availability: Availability is generally best 2-3 weeks before departure or at the end of the calendar (about 10 1/2- 11 months out). American Airlines opens its calendar later than some other carriers. Sometimes that means award tickets are booked through other partners before it’s possible to book them with American.

American has a calendar that allows you to see availability one month at a time. This is very helpful in finding the dates with the lowest prices.

American Airlines Booking Example: SFO-HND 70,000 miles + $49 roundtrip in economy

Atmos Rewards (Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines)

Overview: Like American, Atmos Rewards offers good pricing and low taxes and fees. Change fees are minimal. 

Pricing: Economy starts at 30,000 points each way from Seattle and Vancouver, 37,500 points each way from everywhere else. Premium economy is 40,000 miles from Seattle and 50,000 miles from everywhere else. Business class starts at 75,000 points each way.

Taxes and fees are $25.60 going to Japan and around $75 returning to the US.

When the calendar opens: 330 days before departure

Notes on availability: Economy and Premium Economy are pretty easy to find if you’re flexible on dates. Business class is much harder to find.

Alaska Airlines Booking Example: SEA-NRT 60,000 points + $78 roundtrip in economy

Alaska Airlines Booking Example: ORD-HND 75,000 points + $76 roundtrip in economy

British Airways

Overview: British Airways has high taxes and fees, but because the booking window opens at 355 days before departure, it often has more availability for people who are able to book almost a year in advance. It’s also common to find transfer bonuses to Avios from major banks, which can save you points. With a 30% transfer bonus, the price in points can be effectively 30% less. Because British Airways charges per segment, these awards are best for non-stop flights.

Pricing:

To/from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, or Vancouver: 25,750 each way in economy, 51,500 in premium economy, and 77,250 in business class

To/from everywhere else: 31,000 each way in economy, 62,000 in premium economy, 92,750 in business class.

Taxes and fees are around $200 going to Japan and $235 returning to the US. This is the same regardless of fare class or city. British Airways tacks on fuel surcharges, which is what makes these prices so high.

British Airways also charges per segment so these awards are best for non-stop flights.

When the calendar opens: 355 days before departure.

Notes on availability: Availability is best towards the end of the calendar (about 11 months out).

From Seattle: There is usually lots of premium economy available, but it’s hard to find economy or business class. From San Francisco or LAX: Premium economy is hard to find, but economy and business class are more common.

Business class is harder to find on the return to the US.

British Airways does not allow you to add a connection from a smaller airport.

British Airways Booking Example: SFO-HND 51,500 miles and $436 roundtrip in economy

British Airways Booking Example: ORD-HND 62,00 miles and $436 roundtrip in economy

Cathay Pacific

Overview: Cathay Pacific pricing is very similar to British Airways — low points pricing in economy but high fees across the board. Its calendar opens even earlier than British Airways at 360 days out. Cancellation fees are a bit steep.

Pricing: From Seattle: 27,000 points each way in economy, 63,000 points in business class

From everywhere else: 40,000 points each way in economy and 89,000 points in business class

Taxes and fees are around $212 going to Japan and $255 returning to the US. Fuel surcharges are what make these fees so high.

When the calendar opens: 360 days in advance of travel

Notes on Availability: Cathay Pacific has lots of availability for JAL flights, especially at the end of the calendar. It’s harder to find availability to/from Seattle, but there is still a decent amount at the end of the calendar.

Cathay Pacific Booking Example: SEA-NRT 54,000 miles and $468 roundtrip in economy

Cathay Pacific Booking Example: ORD-HND 80,000 miles and $467 roundtrip in economy

Finnair

Overview: It’s very hard to find availability, and pricing is not any better than British Airways, so I generally wouldn’t recommend booking Japan Airlines through Finnair. If you want to book with Avios, consider using British Airways instead.

Pricing: Starts at 33,500 each way in economy and 94,250 in business class.

Taxes and fees are around $200 going to Japan. Fees returning to the US are around $237.

When the calendar opens: 331 days in advance of departure.

Notes on availability: Seats in economy are virtually nonexistent. Business class is also hard to find, but there is more availability than for economy flights. It’s easiest to find business class availability at the end of the calendar.

Finnair Booking Example: SFO-NRT 188,500 points and $437 roundtrip in business class

Note: This booking example is for business class because economy is so hard to find!

Flying Blue

Overview: It’s harder to find availability, and pricing is high, so I generally wouldn’t recommend booking Japan Airlines through Flying Blue, but here is the information for your reference. If you have a lot of Flying Blue miles or you can book during a transfer bonus, it might be worth it for you.

Pricing: Prices vary but start around 52,000-61,000 each way in economy. Taxes and fees are around $200 going to Japan and $243 returning to the US.

When the calendar opens: 359 days in advance of departure

Notes on availability: Availability can be hard to find. When viewing the calendar, the system doesn’t show accurate pricing. For example, the calendar might say the cheapest price is 93,000 miles when there are flights available for 54,000 miles. You have to check individual dates to see the correct pricing.

Flying Blue Booking Example: SFO-NRT 113,000 miles and $443 roundtrip in economy

Qantas

Overview: Pricing and taxes and fees are generally higher than any other airline we have listed, so generally we don’t recommend this option. There’s no distinct advantage to booking through Qantas.

Pricing: To/from Seattle and Vancouver: starts at 34,700 miles each way in economy, 70,800 in premium economy, and 90,000 in business class.

To/from everywhere else starts at 43,500 each way in economy, 73,800 in premium economy, and 108,000 in business class.

Taxes and fees are around $197 going to Japan and around $236 returning to the US.

When the calendar opens: 353 days in advance.

Notes on availability: Availability is generally decent, especially from Seattle. Economy is the easiest to find.

Qantas Booking Example: SEA-NRT 69,400 points and $433 roundtrip in economy

More Japan Resources

Complete Flight Guide for Japan – this guide covers more ways to fly to Japan with points.

Japan Itinerary and Tips – get ideas and tips for your trip!