How To Go To Japan Using Points

Japan was just a dream world for us that we know through the inky pages of a magazine and the photos on a blog, or some friends’ posts.

And in 2017, we got to meet this exquisite country face to face.

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FUN FACT

Japan has been Pao (my wife) and I’s #1 item on our bucket list and we went for the first back in 2017.

We both run a wedding videography business so we love take take videos of our travel. So obviously, we filmed our whole stay in Japan and got some epic footage of the places with been to.

When we went back to the U.S,a few weeks after our trip, Pao saw an instagram post on Conde Nast’s page, saying that they’re doing a competition (CNTraveler Shorties) about travel videos.

We then started editing a quick video and submitted it to the competition then guess what happened next??

The Japan Travel video down below won an award at the Conde Nast CNTraveler Shorties competition and we were also awarded a cash price of $2,000.

How COOL was that?? : )

If you want to see our video entry, you can see it below:

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

I am going to start with the BEST WAY to use your points to go to Japan: enter VIRGIN ATLANTIC Flying Club.

This is considered the creme ala creme in the points in miles world. You can travel to Japan for only 90,000 points in Business class and/or 145,000 points in First Class ROUND TRIP.

So by utilizing Virgin Atlantic Atlantic Club, you can go to Japan back and forth for almost half the cost which is an absolute steal!

Another great thing is that you can now book one-way trips for half the cost of a round-trip ticket. In general, redeeming miles for a business and/or First class flight will cost you around 45,000 to 85,000 points one-way.


Transfer partners: Flying Club points are incredibly easy to earn. It's a transfer partner with all the major transferable currencies, including:

  • American Express Membership Rewards (points transfer at a 1:1 ratio).

  • Bilt Rewards (1:1).

  • Capital One miles (1:1).

  • Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1).

  • Citi ThankYou (1:1).

  • Marriott Bonvoy (3:1) - When you transfer Marriott points to Flying Club in increments of 60,000, you receive a bonus 5,000 airline miles. In other words, 60,000 Marriott points equal 25,000 Virgin points



    It's also worth noting that programs like Chase and American Express will sometimes do a promotion where they offer a 30% bonus for Flying Club transfer bonuses from programs such as to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.



HERE’S A GUIDE ON HOW YOU CAN BOOK THIS  AND EARN VIRGIN ATLANTIC FLYING CLUB POINTS (CLICK)

Best ways to book award flights to Japan

Quick tip: If you’re traveling to Japan for a few weeks and plan on visiting a few places (Tokyo and Kyoto), getting a JR Pass will help you save some money.

The Japan Rail Pass (also commonly called JR Pass) is a very cost effective rail pass for long distance train travel in Japan. The pass can be used only by foreign tourists and offers unlimited rides on JR trains for one, two or three weeks.

How To Earn AAdvantage Points

Signing up for a credit card is by far THE EASIEST AND FASTEST way to earn Aadvantage points!

1. Citi® / AAdvantage® Credit Cards
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card

2. Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercards
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®

3. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to American Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

4. Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card
Bilt rewards is a program that primarily focuses on those who pay rent. You can earn Bilt Rewards points and transfer them to American at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum of 2,000 points transferred.
Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card

American Airlines Advantage

American Airlines addvantage is another great option if you want to go to Japan. American Airlines is part of the Oneworld Alliance, so you can use American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly both American Airlines and Oneworld airline flights from the U.S. to Japan.

Here’s how much points you need to fly from the US to Japan (or vice-versa) each way:

  • Main Cabin: 35,000 AAdvantage Points

  • Premium Economy: 50,000 AAdvantage Points

  • Business: 60,000 AAdvantage Points

  • First: 80,000 AAdvantage Points

This means you can book Japan Airlines business class for just 60,000 AAdvantage miles each way. It costs 20,000 additional miles to fly in first class.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to book flights using American AAdvantage Miles

How To Earn Alaska Airlines Miles

Signing up for a credit card is by far THE EASIEST AND FASTEST way to earn Aadvantage points!

1. Alaska Airlines Personal Card
Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card

2. Alaska Airlines BusinessCard
 Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card


3. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to Alaska Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1. Also, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus with every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer to Alaska. Having said that, here are the Marriot cards I recommend:
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan


In March 2021, Alaska Airlines joined the Oneworld alliance. This opened up partnerships with major airlines including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.

Earning Alaska Airlines points is quite challenging but it is one of the best ways to book flights to Japan!

Here’s how much points you need to fly from the US to Japan (or vice-versa) each way:

  • Main Cabin: starting at 35,000 Alaska Miles

  • Business: starting at 60,000 Alaska Miles

  • First: starting at 70,000 Alaska Miles

One of the best ways to use your Alaska Airlines points/miles is to book either in Business or First class!

To give you an idea, a First Class, one-way fight from the US to Japan costs $16,000! That’s insane!!

United Airlines

United Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, so you have plenty of options when looking for award flights to Japan using the United MileagePlus program. While the amount of points to redeem is slightly higher than the other programs, it may still be worthwhile to use United if you have some Chase points saved up (United Airlines is a transfer partner of Chase).

Another benefit of using United is the ease of looking for available flights.

United MileagePlus award pricing varies, but you can expect this approximate mileage price on flights from the U.S. to Japan:

How To Earn United Points

United Airlines is a transfer partner of Chase which makes it easier for you to earn those points!

Before you apply for any Chase cards and get approved, you need to know the Chase 5/24 status rule.

Once you know that, you have some options and you can see them below:

1. Chase Personal Cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Chase Freedom Flex®

2. Chase Business Cards
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

3. United Airlines Cards (both personal and business cards)
United Explorer℠ Card
United Quest℠ Card
United Gateway℠ Card
United℠ Business Card
United Club℠ Infinite Card

ANA Mileage Club

Another great way to get to Japan on ANA is through its own loyalty program: ANA Mileage Club

One of the best ways to use your ANA Mileage Club miles is for business class. ANA business-class award tickets from the U.S. to Asia can be booked for as little as 75,000 miles. This is less than what many airlines charge for a one-way business-class ticket from the U.S. to Asia. The program also allows for stopovers and open-jaw trips.

Let’s talk about the PROS of this program - ANA Mlieage Club is a transfer partner of American Express and Marriott Bonvoy so earning points is significantly easier. If you transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to ANA Mileage Club at a 3:1 transfer ratio. You’ll earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred, so 60,000 points are worth 25,000 ANA miles.

The only con of using this program is that you must book ROUND TRIP. So basically, no one-way awards are allowed.

  • Economy:  55,000 miles (round trip)

  • Business: 75,000 miles (round trip)

ANA prices its own tickets based on the region you’re flying to and from, as well as the season in which you’re flying. Currently, the airline has three different seasons: low, high and regular.

Like what I’ve mentioned above, you can only book round-trip tickets with ANA Mileage Club so no one-way awards are allowed. You can also only book off-peak prices on ANA-operated flights.

How To Earn ANA Mileage Club Miles

ANA Mileage Club is a transfer partner of American Express and Marriott Bonvoy.

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio while you can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to ANA Mileage Club at a 3:1 transfer ratio. You’ll earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred, so 60,000 points are worth 25,000 ANA miles.


1. American Express Cards
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Business Gold Card


2. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Conclusion

Going to Japan has never been easier because there a lot of options going there using points!

We love this country so much because it checks all of items we’re looking in a country (great food, epic landscapes, nice people) and as of writing this in 2023, we’re planning on going to Japan at least 4 times this year (can’t you tell we LOVE this country so much??) :)

I hope this post can inspire you to earn points and start planning your next adventure to Japan!

Arigatou Gozaimasu (thank you)!

With Jiro Ono and his son, Takashi Ono at Sukiyabashi Jiro
”Jiro Dreams of Sushi”