Flying to Japan with Points {Guide}

Flying to Japan is one of the most common goals I hear (neck and neck with Hawaii and Europe). There are so many options for airlines, points, and alliances — and taxes and fees vary greatly. Use this guide to help you figure out which strategy works best for you.

Thanks to Hannah Smith from The Girl From Maine for contributions to this article.

If you’re new to booking flights with points, be sure to check out this overview for important background information. You can also sign up for our free course. You’ll want to be sure you understand how to find the best routes, price compare with Google Flights, how to search for available flights, and how to leverage transfer partners and airline alliances.

Earn More Points

Each airline option I list in this article has more than one credit card that can earn you a welcome bonus and the points you need to fly to Japan. This article is already long enough without listing out every single card you could get for each of these programs to earn points.

So how can you figure out how to earn the right points? First step: get my free airline transfer partner guide — inside I have a chart that shows which kinds of points transfer to which airlines.

Then work backwards!

Let’s say you figure out that you want to fly on Delta but you want to book via Virgin Atlantic (this article explains exactly how to do that). You can look at the chart in my guide and see that American Express Membership Rewards®, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One miles, and Citi ThankYou® Points all transfer 1:1 to Virgin. Then you could browse my Best Offers page, where I list all my favorite current offers–to see which cards currently have good bonuses and earn those kinds of points.

Pro Tip: Transfer Bonuses

Most points transfer 1:1 when you transfer from a program like Chase Ultimate Rewards® to an airline or hotel. But! Banks run promos throughout the year and certain transfers may offer a bonus. I don’t currently maintain an updated list of transfer bonuses but you can find one here.

 

 

 

 

Top Options: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Aeroplan, and Flying Blue

Here are four strong programs that offer a balance of good pricing and lower taxes and fees. What makes the most sense for you may depend on your home airport and preferred routings. You can also read about all the different options in each of the major airline alliances. Your strategy may vary depending on your home airport and the points you have.

Keep in mind that you can use one airline alliance one direction and a different one on the return.

And don’t forget that booking via a travel portal is still a strong option. It’s not uncommon for flights to Japan to be in the $700-$1000 range which can put them as low as 48,000 points and include taxes.

Best: Using American Airlines or Alaska Airlines miles to book onto JAL

JAL (Japan Airlines) has the most legroom of any of the TransPacific flights in economy and would be my top choice for flying to Japan. If you book via JAL’s partner American Airlines, it costs 70,000 points round trip and only about $50 in taxes and fees. Booking with Alaska Airlines starts at 60,000 miles and $76 in taxes and fees.

Sample Card Strategy for a Family of Four

American Airlines miles are relatively easy to earn via credit card bonuses because both Citi and Barclay issue them. You’d need 280,000 AA miles for 4 people to fly round trip from the US to Japan. How can you get that? Earn the following sign up bonuses (these were current as of May 2024).

• AAdvantage^® Aviator^® Mastercard 70,000 miles- Each parent can get 1 of these. That’s already 140,000 miles! {see this offer on my Best Offers page, it’s only available via personal referral}
• CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® – 75,000 miles – Each parent can get one of these. That’s another 150,000 miles! Alternatively, you could get the personal version of this card.
• For Alaska Air miles, focus on earning American Express Membership Rewards® points. Those points can be transferred to Hawaiian Airlines, then from Hawaiian to Alaska Airlines. More on this below!

Using Air Canada Aeroplan miles to book onto ANA

ANA is another Japanese carrier with a great flight experience. You could also use Aeroplan Miles to book onto United flights, but the flight won’t be quite as nice. Round trip pricing is about 100,000 miles + $100ish in taxes. The catch? You can’t book ANA flights via Aeroplan online right now — you’ll need to call in to book them. Find them first on United.com and then call Aeroplan to confirm availability before you transfer any points.

These same flights are bookable with Avianca Lifemiles. But keep in mind tha both Avianca and Air Canada have fairly steep fees for cancelling award flights — upwards of $150 per ticket.

Sample Card Strategy for a Family of Four

Stockpile flexible points that transfer to Star Alliance partners Avianca or Aeroplan. Round trip pricing is 94,000-100,000 round trip but transfer bonuses of 15% or more are common with both airlines. You’ll need about 400,000 points saved up.

• Open cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® (these transfer to Aeroplan) A great option are the Chase Ink family of cards.
• Open cards that earn Capital One miles (these transfer to Avianca). One of my favorites for luxe perks is the Capital One Venture X (earn 75,000 miles) and you can also earn 75,000 miles with the $95 fee Capital One Venture card.
• If a household opened 2 Ink cards and 2 Venture X cards, you’d have 406,000 miles after completing the spend and referring each other to the second card.

Using Flying Blue to book onto Delta

You will have to be flexible with your dates because while Delta does regularly release seats to partners, it isn’t always predictable when they will. If you fly from Seattle, you will need 67,000 points per person or 268,000 for a family of 4. Flying from Minneapolis would cost 332,000 points.

Sample Card Strategy for a Family of Four

Stockpile flexible points that transfer to Flying Blue.

• Open cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards®. A great option are the Chase Ink family of cards
• Open cards that earn Capital One miles (these transfer to Virgin Red and can then be moved to Virgin Atlantic). One of my favorites for perks is the Capital One Venture X (earn 75,000 miles) but you can also earn 75,000 miles with a $95 fee Capital One Venture card.

 

 

 

 

Sweet Spots By U.S. Departure City

If you live at an airport that has a nonstop flight to Japan, start with that. (Did you look it up on Flightconnections.com?)

Then find what alliance that airline is in and jump down the page to the strategies for that alliance.

Here are a few examples:

From Seattle – One of the best options is the nonstop flight on JAL booked through Alaska Airlines. Another good option is the nonstop flight on Delta. But don’t book on Delta! Book on Flying Blue. This is available at 67,000 points + $54 round trip. Sometimes it is even cheaper when banks have transfer bonuses to Flying Blue.

From LAX – You have a lot of options. Don’t forget to check Singapore Airlines as it operates a Fifth Freedom route nonstop to Tokyo. American Airlines sometimes has unannounced sales, I have seen as low as 46,000 points round trip!

From Minneapolis – Your cheapest option is the non-stop flight on Delta. But don’t book on Delta! Book on Flying Blue. Just keep in mind that it can be harder to find available flights when booking with Flying Blue.

 

 

 

 

Star Alliance Sweet Spots

Overall, I think the best way to book on a Star Alliance carrier is going to vary depending on who is offering a transfer bonus when you’re ready to book! Avianca Lifemiles is overall the best value (if you balance cost in miles and factor in fees) but sometimes it is easier to get Air Canada Aeroplan miles, especially if you can utilize a transfer bonus.

How to search for Star Alliance award availability:

For United flights, you’ll want to search on United.com to see 30 day availability. Look for United awards marked “Saver” — these are the ones that will be released to alliance partners. At this time, those are usually 55,000 miles each way. If you have a certain non-stop route you are searching, you can also find the cheapest date in a 365 day range by using SeatSpy.

Note: Currently, United availability isn’t showing up on SeatSpy, but you can still see other Star Alliance carriers.

If you are booking onto ANA flights, you can search United.com for awards that will be released to Star Alliance partners.

If you want to fly on ANA and plan to book directly with ANA – search directly on ANA for these — you may find increased availability over what partners show.

ANA Mileage Club: 55,000 miles + $446

Best for: Round trip (or open jaw) flights on ANA or United if you don’t mind higher out of pocket costs in exchange for using fewer points.

Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards®

Cost to book: ANA Mileage Club currently charges 55,000 miles (round trip) in economy from the US to Japan + $446 on its own flights. Fuel surcharges change regularly and can move up and down – tired somewhat to oil pricing.

Flights on their Star Alliance partner United are the same approximate price – 50,000 miles + $438 on the itinerary we priced.

This is an option for booking on United or ANA flights but you will pay high taxes and fees. United flights will only be available to book with ANA miles if they are “Saver” awards. You can search directly on United.com and use the 30 day calendar to find flights.

Notes: ANA Mileage club only allows round trip awards — though you can also book an open jaw. That means you could fly into Tokyo and then out of Osaka, for instance.

You can only book tickets with your ANA miles for people “within two degrees” of family relationship.

ANA Booking Example: ORD-NRT (on ANA) 55,000 + $438

Using ANA miles to book onto an ANA flight in this example flight would cost 50,000 miles + $438.

ANA Booking Example: IAD-HND (on United): 50,000 + $438

Sometimes using ANA miles to book onto a Star Alliance partner like United will cost fewer points — but in this case, the taxes and fees are still quite high.

Air Canada Aeroplan: 100,000 miles + $121

Best for: Star Alliance flights, especially if you can utilize a transfer bonus

Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards®, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, or Capital One Miles

Cost: Aeroplan uses a distance based chart but we found flights starting at 100,000 miles. Aeroplan does not pass along fuel surcharges which gives it an advantage if you want to book a Star Alliance airline like ANA which does usually levy large fuel surcharges on award bookings. Aeroplan adds a $39 partner booking fee to any award flight booked with a partner and other fees for some routes.

Notes: Aeroplan allows you to add stopovers for just 5,000 miles more which can be helpful if you want to visit a few cities. We have a complete guide that walks you through how to add a stopover with Aeroplan.

Air Canada does have a nice feature where you can choose how many points you use and it will change the dollar amount as seen at the bottom of the picture. If you want to spend zero dollars in the example below, you will have to pay an additional 16,580 points.

Aeroplan Booking Example: IAD-HND (on United) 100,000 + $121

This flight would cost 100,000 miles + $121.27 (USD, using today’s exchange rates)

Aeroplan Booking Example: SFO-NRT (on Asiana) 100,000 + $136

This flight costs 100,000 miles and $136.70 USD. Since Aeroplan does allow a stopover for an additional 5000 points, you could stopover in ICN and essentially a the country of South Korea for only 5000 extra miles.

Avianca Lifemiles: 94,000 + $92

Best for: Star Alliance flights when you know you won’t cancel. Avianca does charge high cancellation fees so you don’t want to book this if you might cancel. Avianca does not pass along fuel surcharges which gives it an advantage if you want to book a Star Alliance airline like ANA which does usually levy large fuel surcharges on award bookings.

Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards®, Citi ThankYou® Points, Capital One Miles (often with a 30% transfer bonus)

Cost: Avianca Lifemiles will not pass on fuel surcharges which makes it a great way to pay lower taxes and fees. This is how we booked our November 2023 trip to Japan (and used transfer bonuses to lower the points cost). It also costs $25 per person to issue an award ticket.

Notes: Avianca is not known for having great customer service, so take that into consideration. Also note that the cancellation and change fees are high: if you need to cancel an award – changes cost $150 per person and cancellations are usually $200.

Booking Tips: You will need to create a Lifemiles account and login here to confirm availability and book.

LifeMiles Booking Example: IAD-HND (on United) 94,000 + $92

This flight would cost 94,000 miles + $92. But again, transfer bonuses to Avianca are very common. If you can use a 30% transfer bonus, you will only need 71,000 miles.

Singapore Airlines: 77,000 + $50 (from LAX only)

Best for: Singapore Fifth Freedom routes (Los Angeles to Tokyo)

Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards®, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou® points

Cost: If you fly on the Singapore fifth freedom flight (Los Angeles to Tokyo) it will cost just 77,000 miles round trip + $50.20.

Booking Tips: Singapore’s website will default to searching their own flights, make sure to toggle “Star Alliance” if you want to see partner flights.

Singapore Booking Example: LAX-NRT (flying on Singapore) 77,000 +$50

Singapore Booking Example: IAD-HND (flying on United) 119,000 +$49

This flight would cost 119,000 miles + $49. This is double the points as it costs with ANA but $388 dollars less than booking via ANA. A better option is to book with Aeroplan or Avianca Lifemiles.

 

United: 110,000 +$51

Best for: Star Alliance flights and booking multi-leg itineraries with the Excursionist Perk

Transfer points from: Chase Ultimate Rewards®

Cost: United switched to dynamic pricing and also made an unannounced devaluation to their miles. You can find one way award tickets to and from Japan for anywhere from 55,000-100,000 each way.

Notes: United miles do have some perks to booking with them, though. First – the United website is very user friendly with easy ways to search and sort awards. United doesn’t pass along fuel surcharges or tack on extra fees. In addition – United has a nice perk called the Excursionist Perk which can be valuable if you’re hopping cities! Essentially if you fly to Japan, you could add one more leg for free. So you could fly Chicago to Tokyo, Tokyo to Fukuoka (on a partner), and Fukuoka back to Chicago for the same price as a round trip. You could even add another country (Chicago to Tokyo, Tokyo to Thailand, Thailand back to US).

United Booking Example: IAD-HND (flying on United) 110,000 + $49

United pricing is dynamic and In this case, this Saver award from Washington DC to Tokyo is priced at 55,000 miles +$5.60. Total round trip between IAD- HND: 110,000 miles + $49.80

 

 

 

 

 

Oneworld Sweet Spots

Oneworld alliance includes Japan Airlines and American Airlines which are both greats option for getting to Japan. Booking via American Airlines is the best option for oneworld flights. It has low prices and low fees for both JAL and American Airlines flights.

How to Search for oneworld availability

It’s easy to search on AA.com to see 30 day availability. If you have a certain route you are searching, you can also find the cheapest date in a 365 day range at SeatSpy.

American Airlines: 70,000 + $49 (or less)

Best for: Flights on American Airlines and JAL.

Transfer points from: American currently doesn’t have any transfer partners – but since both Citi and Barclay issue AA cards, it is fairly easy to rack up points with credit card bonuses.

Cost: American Airlines has followed United and Delta in switching to dynamic pricing. This means that some of the flights to and from Japan have increased in price but it also means they have unannounced sales – I saw 46,000 points round trip to Japan in summer 2023. AA still using standard pricing for partner award flights and their partner JAL has the most legroom in economy to Japan — so I recommend booking this whenever possible!

AA Booking Example: ORD-HND (on JAL) 70,000 + $49

This round trip flight total is 70,000 + $49.80 (Non-stop both ways)

British Airways: 62,000 +$541

Best for: As a general rule, I don’t recommend booking a JAL or oneworld flight with British Airways but if you can utilize a transfer bonus and it helps you cut down on the flight cost to Japan it may make sense for you.

Transfer Points From: American Express Membership Rewards®, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, or Capital one Miles. Or transfer from Citi ThankYou® Points to another Avios partner and from there to use on British Airways.

Cost: British Airways will usually add on large fuel surcharges. It uses a distance based chart so price will vary based on your route.

British Airways Booking Example: ORD-HND (on JAL) 62,000 + $541

You can see here that the same JAL flight as we showed above booked via American Airlines has an additional $490 in taxes you’ll have to pay.

Cathay Pacific from 80,000 miles + $110

Best for: If you have transferrable points and want to fly on American Airlines. 

Transferring Points From: Points from American Express, Capital One, Citi, and BILT can all be transferred to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a 1:1 ratio.

Cost: Cathay Pacific uses a distance based chart. The longest distance caps out at 38,000 Asia Miles each way for Cathay flights which means all economy round trips cost a max of 76,000 miles plus taxes. Partner awards to Japan from the US are 40,000 miles each way. Cathay Pacific passes on large fuel surcharges on award tickets, especially for their own flights. Some partner awards have lower taxes and fees. Flights on American Airlines have considerably cheaper taxes than Japan Airlines for instance.

Notes: If you fly on Cathay Pacific, those flights all include a stop in Hong Kong. There are some non-stop options with partner awards, such as from Dallas and Chicago.

Booking Tips: Go to Cathaypacific.com and under flights choose “Redeem flights”. You’ll need to sign in to search. Input your departure and arrival cities along with your preferred dates.

Cathay Booking Example: ORD to HND (on Cathay Pacific) 76,000 miles + $407

Cathay Booking Example: ORD to HND (on American Airlines) 80,000 miles + $110

Cathay Booking Example: ORD to HND (on Japan Airlines) 80,000 miles + $458

Alaska Airlines: 60,000 + $76

Best for: Booking free stopovers, even on a one way flight

Transferring Points From: Alaska Mileage Plan only has one transfer partner: BILT Rewards. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio. However, you can earn miles through their co-branded credit cards and their shopping portal (MileagePlus Shopping).

With the Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines merger, it’s now possible to transfer Hawaiian Airlines miles to Alaska Airlines. American Express Membership Rewards® points transfer to Hawaiian at a 1:1 ratio. That means you can transfer from American Express to Hawaiian Airlines, and then take those points and transfer them to Alaska Airlines. Note that American Express charges a small excise fee to transfer points to Hawaiian.

Cost: Award ticket costs for Alaska partner flights to Japan are determined by distance. Most flights will start at 90,000 miles round trip.

Alaska Airlines Booking Example: SEA-NRT (on JAL) 60,000 + $76

Alaska Airlines Booking Example: ORD-HND (on JAL) 90,000 + $76

Qantas: 63,000 + $530

Qantas, like British Airways, tacks on large fuel surcharges for oneworld partner flights. I don’t recommend booking via Qantas, but will share some pricing as a point of comparison. These fees are even higher than British Airways.

Qantas Airways Booking Example: LAX-HND (on AA) 63,000 + $530

63,000 miles + $530

 

 

 

 

Sky Team Sweet Spots

If you want to fly on Delta, you’ll be best off booking through one of its partner airlines. Virgin Atlantic has the lowest pricing and cheap fees. Flying Blue is a little bit more in terms of points – but if there is a transfer bonus to Flying Blue, it may be cheaper overall.

How to find SkyTeam (Delta) Availability

Follow the tips outlined here to learn more tricks to finding these awards. The cheapest option for booking on Delta is typically Flying Blue.

Delta: 100,000 (or more) + $50

Best for: Flash sales on Delta and flexible dates

Transfer points from: American Express Membership Rewards® (you will pay an excise fee on transferring these from Amex to Delta, for 50,000 points it costs $30). You can also earn Delta miles with Delta Co-branded cards.

Cost: Delta pricing is the most volatile of all the U.S. airlines. There can be some great deals on Delta but they aren’t predictable. If you want to book on Delta, you may find more consistent pricing by booking via one of their partners.

Delta also typically gives a hefty discount when you book a round trip versus one way on their own flights.

Delta Booking Example: SEA-TYO (on Delta) 100,000 + $50

For these dates, the price comes out to 100,000 Delta Skymiles + $50. This is for basic economy which does come with restrictions on seat selection and luggage. You will see below that booking this same route via Flying Blue is considerably cheaper.

Flying Blue {Best for SkyTeam}: from 67,000 + $54

Best for: Booking Delta flights. It’s easy to earn Flying Blue points since all major banks transfer to them.

Transfer points from: Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards®, Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou® Points

Cost: Cost will depend on your route. We give three examples below but starts at just 67,000 miles round trip from the West Coast. Not all Delta flights will be bookable with points. Transfer bonuses are fairly common when transferring from banks to Flying Blue.

Booking Tips: Follow the tips outlined here to learn more tricks to finding these awards. If you live in a smaller airport. You’ll need to first find dates where Delta has award seats available to book on the trans-Pacific flights from LAX, SEA, MSP, etc to Japan. But then you’ll be able to search directly on Flying Blue.

Note that sometimes if you start your search with Virgin, it can show “phantom availability” meaning you will appear to have availability but not actually be able to book. You’ll need to run the same search on FlyingBlue’s website to make sure you can find the same flight available there, too.

Flying Blue Booking Example: SEA-HND (on Delta) 67,000 miles + $54

Flying Blue Booking Example: MSP-HND (on Delta) 83,000 miles + $54

Flying Blue Booking Example: ATL-HND (on Delta) 96,000 miles + $54

Flying Blue Booking Example: OKC-HND (on Delta) 100,000 miles + $68

Virgin Atlantic: starting at 88,000 + $50

Best for: Booking Delta flights when Virgin Atlantic has a transfer bonus.

Transfer points from: Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards®, and Citi ThankYou® Points. Capital One miles can transfer to Virgin Red which can then be moved to Virgin Atlantic.

Cost: Awards are distance based so will cost more if you are booking a longer route.

Booking Tips: Follow the tips outlined here to learn more tricks to finding these awards. If you live in a smaller airport. You’ll need to first find dates where Delta has award seats available to book (use the tips here) on their flights from LAX, SEA, MSP, etc to Japan. But then you’ll be able to search directly on Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue.

Note: that sometimes Virgin shows “phantom availability” meaning you will appear to have availability but not actually be able to book. It is best to run the same search on FlyingBlue’s website to make sure you can find the same flight available there, too.

This used to be the best option for booking on Delta to Japan but in December 2023, Virgin Atlantic raised prices by 30% or more. FlyingBlue is now the best option.

Virgin Atlantic Booking Example: SEA-HND (on Delta) 88,000 Miles + $53

Seattle is the shortest flight and short enough that this will cost just 44,000 miles each way.

Virgin Atlantic Booking Example: MSP-HND (on Delta) 99,000 Miles + $53

In the next distance/price band, you’ll find Los Angeles and Minneapolis. These flights will cost 44,500 miles each way

.

Virgin Atlantic Booking Example: ATL-HND (on Delta) 131,000 Miles + $53

The most expensive would be the flights from Detroit and Atlanta. Both of these would cost 65,500 miles each way.

 

 

 

 

Table Comparing Price by Airlines (Points + Taxes/Fees)

As you can see, each airline varies on the miles required for a round trip ticket as well as taxes and fees!

Airline (Miles Type)	Route	Miles (round trip)	Taxes & Fees
Air Canada (Aeroplan)	IAD-HND (on United)	100,000	$121
Air Canada (Aeroplan)	SFO-NRT	100,000	$132
Alaska Airlines	SEA – NRT (on JAL)	60,000	$76
Alaska Airlines	ORD – HND (on JAL)	90,000	$76
American Airlines (AAdvantage)	ORD-HND (on JAL)	70,000	$50
ANA (Mileage Club)	ORD – NRT	55,000	$446
ANA (Mileage Club)	IAD – HND (on United)	50,000	$438
Avianca Lifemiles	ORD-HND (on United)	94,000	$92
British Airways	ORD-HND (on JAL)	62,000	$541
Cathay Pacific	ORD – HND (on Cathay)	76,000	$407
Cathay Pacific	ORD – HND (on American)	80,000	$110
Delta (Skymiles)	SEA-HND	100,000	$55
FlyingBlue	SEA-HND (on Delta)	67,000	$54
FlyingBlue	MSP-HND (on Delta)	83,000	$54
Singapore (KrisFlyer)	LAX-NRT	77,000	$50
Singapore (KrisFlyer)	IAD-HND (on United)	119,000	$50
United	ORD-HND	110,000	$50
Virgin Atlantic	SEA-HND	88,000	$55
Virgin Atlantic	MSP-HND	99,000	$55
Qantas	LAX-HND (on American)	63,000	$530