JAL Mileage Bank: A Complete Guide to Our New Favorite Airline Program

Among the hundreds of airline frequent flyer programs, Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank has been hiding in plain sight for years. Not anymore.

With Bilt adding JAL as a transfer partner earlier this year and Capital One following suit just a couple of months ago, it's high time U.S. travelers make themselves familiar with JAL Mileage Bank and its laundry list of sweet spots. 

While Japan Airlines might be best known for its outstanding service and in-flight experience, its distance-based award chart – the cheat sheet for how many miles you'll need to redeem for a free flight – and extensive partner network is what really makes it shine. 

Think Mileage Bank miles are only good for getting to Japan? Think again. Since JAL is a member of the Oneworld alliance, you can use Mileage Bank miles to fly to nearly every corner of the globe. I'm talking about 60,000-mile business class flights to Europe and South America, short hops on American or Alaska for as few as 12,000 miles in economy, and much more. Not to mention, these deals get much better when booking roundtrip! 

As with any program, booking high-value business and first class seats – or even economy class – with JAL miles isn't always as simple as it seems. There are the usual drawbacks of limited award availability, fuel surcharges, and an onerous mileage expiration policy – but we're here to help you navigate it all. If it were easy … everyone would do it! 

From exciting new ways to earn JAL miles to some standout sweet spots, here's everything you need to know about earning and redeeming Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles.

The Basics of JAL Mileage Bank

JAL Mileage Bank is one of the cheapest ways to fly using points and miles … not just to Japan, but really anywhere in the world, thanks to their membership in the Oneworld alliance and stellar network of other partners.

Here's where JAL miles can take you – and a few other things to look out for. 

Where Can You Fly with Japan Airlines?

In the U.S. and Canada, you'll find JAL-operated flights to one (or both) of its hub airports of Tokyo-Narita (NRT) or Tokyo-Haneda (HND). You'll also find two non-stop flights from Osaka (KIX) and one route to Nagoya (NGO), for a total of 10 destinations in North America (at the time of publication). 

Here's a closer look at all the North American airports JAL flies to:

• Boston (BOS) to Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
• Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) & NRT
• Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to HND
• Honolulu (HNL) to NRT, HND, Osaka (KIX) & Nagoya (NGO)
• Los Angeles (LAX) to NRT, HND, & KIX
• New York City (JFK) to HND
• San Diego (SAN) to NRT
• San Francisco (SFO) to NRT & HND
• Seattle (SEA) to NRT
• Vancouver (YVR) to NRT

Japan Airlines Partners

Flying to Japan is a great way to use your JAL miles, but you can also use them to fly nearly anywhere in the world thanks to Japan Airlines' Oneworld partners. This allows you to book flights on partner airlines like American, Alaska, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Qatar, and many more. 

In addition to JAL's core Oneworld partners, the airline also partners with several other carriers, including Emirates, Air France, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, and more. Some of these non-Oneworld partners come with added restrictions (and less availability), but there's no arguing the list of names is quite strong.

Fuel Surcharges

Unfortunately, fuel surcharges are a not-so-uncommon fee that is added to many award flights – especially in Japan – and Japan Airlines is no exception. As of late 2025, the chart below outlines the extra fees you'll have to pay, depending on where you're traveling to/from.

Most relevant for North American travelers, you'll see that flights traveling to the U.S. and Canada get hit with an added fee of 25,000 Yen (approximately $160) – this adds up to an extra $330 to $350 if you are booking roundtrip. These surcharges are subject to change so pay close attention to the fees section at checkout.

For flights operated by partner airlines, JAL still makes you pay these fuel surcharges, but the rates are typically lower than what you'll pay flying Japan Airlines itself.

Award Availability

Japan Airlines releases award availability 360 days out, which is when the best availability to book the dates you want to book is open. This means that if you are booking a roundtrip flight, you cannot book your outbound flight until your desired return flight is within the 360-day window.

Depending on the route, last-minute availability may occasionally become available for those seeking a quick getaway. However, booking almost a year in advance will generally be your best bet.

Stopover Program

Another advantage of Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is its generous stopover program. Partner airlines offer up to three stopovers, while Oneworld partners can take advantage of up to seven. Just know, if you're booking one of JAL's “PLUS” award tickets, these typically don't allow free stopovers.

With this program, you can fly to Tokyo for a few days, then go see another Japanese city like Osaka, Fukuoka, or Hiroshima. Alternatively, you could fly to Madrid and then continue on to another European city to explore a bit more of the world, potentially for the same number of miles.

To book multiple legs, you'll need to search for each flight individually to confirm availability. Then calculate the total distance of all legs to determine how many miles you will need, and write down the flight numbers and dates.

If you plan on doing a stopover, we recommend calling Japan Airlines to complete your booking as the website can be difficult to navigate, especially for these more complex itineraries. 

Learn more about booking these stopovers on Japan Airlines website! 

Change & Cancellation Policies

Reservation changes are not permitted on award flights. In order to change a flight you must cancel and refund your existing award ticket and then book a new ticket with a reasonable cancellation fee of 3,100 JPY (around $20).

For the most up-to-date information on JAL's change and cancellation policies, check here.

Mileage Expiration Policy

One of the few downsides to earning JAL miles is the carrier's strict expiration policy: Miles are valid until the last day of the 36th month they were earned (or transferred), with no way to extend their validity. If you plan to transfer points into your account, ensure you have a plan (and a backup plan) in place for how to utilize them.

The good news is that there are lots of great options for redeeming JAL miles, so even if you make a transfer and the award availability gets gobbled up before you can book, putting them to good use shouldn't be too hard at all. 

How to Earn JAL Miles

Naturally, you can earn JAL miles by flying with Japan Airlines – or crediting flights flown on Oneworld Alliance carriers, such as American or British Airways to your JAL account – but flying isn't the only way to do it.

Lately, the easiest way to earn these miles is through credit cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. With Capital One adding JAL as one of its newest transfer partners back in September, the Mileage Bank program has never been more accessible to U.S. travelers than it is now. 

The only downside? Capital One miles don't transfer to JAL on a clean, 1:1 basis. Instead, you'll get 750 JAL miles for every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer. But transferring Capital One miles at this (sub-par) rate can still make a lot of sense given JAL's impressive award chart. 

Another (better) option is to transfer points to JAL from Bilt. If you've got a stash of Bilt Rewards points from paying rent or swiping the Bilt Mastercard®, every point you transfer converts to 1 JAL mile. Transfers for non-Bilt status members start at just 2,000 points and you can increase your transfer in 1,000 point increments from there on. 

While Bilt and Capital One are the best options for U.S.-based travelers to earn JAL miles, they aren't the only ones. You can also transfer points from two prominent hotel chains, Marriott and Hilton, but the transfer ratios are somewhat rough.

Here's a full look at Japan Airlines transfer partners and ratios as of November 2025.

Additionally, you can earn miles through hotel and car rental bookings, travel services, shopping, and other lifestyle purchases made through JAL Mileage Bank. Just know that if you book your hotels and rental cars through Japan Airlines, you most likely won't earn hotel points or get elite status perks … if that is something that's important to you. 

Japan Airlines Award Charts

Before we get into a few examples of what you can do with these miles, let's take a look at JAL's award charts – the cheat sheets for determining what a flight will cost when redeeming miles.

Japan Airlines actually uses several different distance-based award charts to determine the cost of an award flight within Japan. Depending on the class of service and where you're flying to and from, you'll pay anywhere from 4,500 miles for a short one-way economy flight to as high as 24,000 miles for the longest first class itineraries. 

Perhaps, most useful to North American travelers is JAL's international award chart, which outlines the price you'll pay for Japan Airlines flights to and from Japan. All prices are one-way, with economy class flights costing just 27,000 miles, premium economy going for 40,000 miles, and business class redemptions ringing in at 55,000 miles. 

If you're feeling really bougie and want to fly in Japan Airlines' excellent first class, things get a little more complicated. For these redemptions, JAL charges more based on the season. For example, here's a look at what JAL considers low, regular, and high-season for 2025.

And here's how much you can expect to pay for a first class redemption between Japan and North America, depending on what season you're traveling in. 

As you can see, first class redemptions start at 110,000 in low season and climb as high as 140,000 miles each way in peak season.

Then, there's Japan Airlines' award chart for its Oneworld partners like American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and many more. This is a true distance-based award chart where the further you fly, the more it will cost you.

Other partners like Emirates and Air France follow a slightly pricier award chart with the shortest (but still quite long) flights starting at 25,000 miles one-way in economy. The longest (and priciest) first class redemptions with these partners cost as much as 330,000 miles – but any itinerary that long would likely include multiple flights and stopovers (more on that in a bit). 

If you're trying to figure out how much a given route will cost you, Japan Airlines provides a handy distance calculator to determine how far your flight(s) are and the required mileage depending on the class you book.

Finally, you'll find JAL selling higher-priced demand-based awards – known as “PLUS” awards – internationally on its own metal. This is similar to the dynamic pricing model used by Delta, United, and a handful of other airlines, where the mileage price is often significantly higher … but the award availability is also much greater.

Redeeming Miles

OK, now it's time for the fun stuff: Actually redeeming JAL miles for flights to Japan and beyond … like way beyond.

Fly JAL to Japan

Let's start with the obvious choice: flying JAL to Japan. These days, everyone wants to go to Japan … and for good reason. It's clean, safe, modern (yet steeped in culture), and don't even get me started on the food.

Flying Japan Airlines from one of the carrier's nine North American gateways to Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) – or even Osaka (KIX) – is a great way to cross the Pacific, no matter if you're flying in economy or business class. Thanks to JAL's reasonable award chart, a one-way ticket to Japan will set you back 27,000 miles in economy, 40,000 miles in premium economy, or as low as 55,000 miles in business class.

Take this flight from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) for example. You can book a Japan Airlines business class seat on the nearly 13-hour flight to Japan for just 55,000 miles and $142 in taxes and fees. 

Your best bet at finding these cheap award rates is at the end of the calendar for a trip in fall 2026. But one standout feature of JAL Mileage Bank is that they offer their members tons of additional award availability at slightly higher rates – the “PLUS” awards mentioned above – meaning it's not too hard to find one-way flights for 75,000 miles.

If you're feeling really fancy, you could even book Japan Airlines first class for 125,000 miles and the same $142 in taxes and fees. Again, JAL's first class awards are priced based on seasonality, so you may even see prices as low as 110,000 miles on off-peak dates … or as high as 140,000 miles in peak season. 

If you're flying to or from New York City (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), or Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), you might even luck out and find availability on one of JAL's new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, equipped with the airline's brand-new business suites like this. 

Of course, the ride is even more comfortable in first class – just look at how wide the seat is when it's converted into a bed! 

While first class seats in particular are no sure thing, Japan Airlines gives its Mileage Club members much more premium award availability than you'll see searching through American AAdvantage, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and other Oneworld alliance mileage programs. That could make this the single-best way to score a lie-flat seat to Japan and back – especially if you're willing to plan 11-plus months in advance, when we tend to see the best availability.

If you're content flying further back, finding a seat in premium economy for 40,000 miles each way – or regular economy for 27,000 miles each way – is also quite doable. 

Book Domestic Flights on AA and Alaska

You don't have to fly all the way to Japan to get good value out of JAL Mileage Bank miles, though. You can also use them to book domestic (and international) flights with partner airlines like American and Alaska.

While short one-way awards aren't the deal of the century, JAL's partner award chart offers economy class flights for as low as 12,000 miles, based on the distance traveled. 

That means you could book a short one-way flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) for just 12,000 JAL miles and $5.60 in taxes and fees. 

Or you could go international with this flight from Miami (MIA) to Nassau (NAS) for the same 12,000 miles and $6.60 in taxes and fees. 

Neither of those are “can't miss” deals, but they look a whole lot better when booking roundtrip – more on that below. 

Longer flights like this cross-country trek from Seattle (SEA) to New York City (JFK) on Alaska Airlines will set you back 23,000 miles and just $5.60 in taxes and fees. 

Save Big With Roundtrip Partner Awards

Remember that one-way flight from Minneapolis to Chicago above? Paying 12,000 JAL miles isn't an awful deal, but what if I told you that you could get back home for the exact same price?

Since JAL uses a distance-based award chart for these partner award redemptions, the longer your flight, the more miles it may cost. But unlike virtually every other airline, JAL doesn't tally each segment separately: It adds the distance together for the final price. 

Because Minneapolis and Chicago are just a few hundred miles apart, a roundtrip stays under the 1,000-mile threshold, keeping the same 12,000 mile price tag … albeit with a few bucks extra for taxes and fees.  

Critically, this roundtrip discount only applies to partner carriers like American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, and others. And it works no matter if you're flying economy or all the way up in business class. 

For example, Japan Airlines charges 60,000 miles each way for a one-way flying American Airlines from Miami (MIA) to Madrid (MAD). That's solid, especially with just $5.60 in taxes and fees.

But add a return flight and it's not 120,000 miles – the roundtrip total drops to just 85,000 miles and $51.73 in taxes and fees. That's a steal …

Because the Miami-to-Madrid flight clocks in at 4,424 miles, JAL's award chart dictates that it costs 60,000 miles. But by doubling the distance with that return segment, it adds up to just under 8,900 miles total – falling into that 85,000-mile price bracket. 

It even works with multi-city and open-jaw redemptions, so you could fly into Spain and jet home from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) or any other European city for the same roundtrip rate! 

The possibilities are practically endless – in part, because of Japan Airlines' wonky worldwide network of partner airlines. Emirates really stands out here. After a recent devaluation spiked surcharges to borderline obscene levels, booking business class on the airline's fifth-freedom routes from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) or Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) is no longer the deal it once was for 108,000 Emirates miles and more than $900 in taxes and fees.

Booking a roundtrip through JAL instead will save you miles and fees. While the one-way over to Europe costs 60,000 miles and about $100 …

… but just 85,000 miles and $246 in taxes and fees for the roundtrip. 

It also works if you need to make a connection – you'll just need to be flying on the same partner all the way. Instead of adding each segment separately like most airlines, you just calculate the total distance.

Read more: JAL Mileage Bank is a Goldmine for Roundtrip Partner Awards

Step-by-Step Instructions for Booking

First, a word of warning: Japan Airlines' website is a bit outdated and can be a little challenging to navigate. The desktop version is generally easier to use than the mobile version, so consider trying it out on a laptop or desktop computer first if you have that option.

For many, the first step to saving big with JAL involves creating an account. If you haven't done that yet, now is the time: New JAL accounts must be open for a minimum of 60 days before booking an award flight. So even if you don't plan on redeeming JAL miles or flying to Japan anytime soon, it's a good idea to sign up now and get the clock ticking.

However, there are a couple of (minor) exceptions to this rule: If you transfer points to JAL from Bilt or Capital One, you'll have to wait just seven days before you can use them. This is obviously much shorter than the usual 60-day wait, but it's worth noting that once you transfer to JAL, there's no way to get your points or miles back to Bilt and Capital One. That means the flight you're eyeing could get booked in the meantime, and you're left with your once-transferrable points (or miles) tied up with Japan Airlines. 

Once you've created your account (and waited long enough to redeem miles), you are now ready to book an award flight! 

Here is a simplified checklist to help you prepare for booking a flight.

1. Map your routing and calculate total distance
2. Check JAL award charts and search for availability
3. Confirm taxes and fees before transferring points
4. Double-check all dates, potentially add a stopover
5. Transfer points (Bilt and Capital One are instant; Marriott takes a few days)
6. Book online, or consider using the website's chat feature (or a phone call) if your itinerary is complex

Bottom Line

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is an underrated but extremely valuable frequent flyer program thanks to its distance-based award charts, broad partner network, and excellent award pricing – especially for business class and roundtrip partner awards.

With new U.S. transfer partners like Bilt and Capital One, it’s now easier than ever for travelers to take advantage of sweet spots ranging from cheap flights to Japan to low-cost domestic and international partner redemptions. Just be mindful of fuel surcharges, strict mileage expiration, and the need to book far in advance to unlock the best deals.

Featured image courtesy of Japan Airlines