After flying under the radar for years because their miles were virtually impossible to earn, Japan Airlines' Mileage Bank program is suddenly in the spotlight after Capital One added it as a transfer partner last month. Alongside Bilt, they're suddenly easy to rack up.
There are plenty of great ways to redeem those miles. Naturally, Japan Airlines (JAL) itself tops the list, with fancy JAL business class suites going for as few as 55,000 miles each way – with better award availability to actually book those seats than you'll find using other airline programs. But we just found the best redemption of all.
Booking flights on partner carriers like American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, and others, you can book some roundtrip awards for significantly less. And that's true whether 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! That brings the one-way rate to just 42,500 miles each way.
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!
This is one of the best award travel sweet spots we've seen in months, maybe years. And it's all thanks to a quirk with how Japan Airlines prices these tickets – one you can easily exploit to your advantage.
Like many airline mileage programs, 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, it doesn't tally each segment separately: It adds the distance together for the final price.
So because the Miami-to-Madrid flight clocks in at 4,424 miles (according to GCMap.com, an amazing resource for situations like this) 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.
This principal holds up booking 20 or so JAL partner carriers in any cabin, whether you're trying to save some miles on a roundtrip economy ticket or splurge (a bit less) for business class. 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.
The potential savings go far beyond Europe, though. It works going down to South America and back, where flying LATAM's business class from Miami to Buenos Aires (EZE) would also set you back 60,000 miles each way. But with a return flight on that route, it still nets out to 85,000 miles total.
Or here's a connecting roundtrip flight from Atlanta (ATL) to Turks and Caicos (PLS), flying American Airlines economy over New Year's. The one way would cost 15,000 miles apiece, but booking roundtrip sets you back 23,000 miles instead.
The possibilities are practically endless – in part, because Japan Airlines has a wonky worldwide network of partner airlines. Of course, there are the fellow Oneworld carriers like American, Alaska, British Airways, and others. But you can also book Air France, Emirates, JetBlue, and others using JAL miles.
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 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, total.
Of course, all this hinges on finding award availability that you can actually book. Thus far, it seems like Japan Airlines gets identical inventory to other airlines, so just fire up your favorite website (like American Airlines or Alaska) or enlist the help of an award search tool like Seats.aero to help pinpoint dates you can book.
That said, there are a few quirks you'll want to be aware of:
- While Bilt points transfer to JAL on a 1:1 basis, Capital One miles transfer on a poorer 2:1.5 ratio … usually. Through Oct. 22, the bank is offering a transfer bonus that nearly brings it to a 1:1 transfer.
- If you haven't already set up a JAL Mileage Bank account, there may be a delay: JAL typically requires accounts to be 60 days old in order to be able to redeem miles. Both Bilt and Capital One have made deals allowing cardholders to redeem their miles within seven days.
- Using JAL miles, you can only book for direct family members (through blood or marriage), so booking for a friend or travel pal is off-limits.
Bottom Line
Capital One's addition of Japan Airlines as a transfer partner last month was big news to begin with. With this discovery, it's even better.
Booking roundtrip redemptions on partner airlines for less – sometimes, significantly less – than twice the one-way cost is unheard of. And considering how many excellent partners Japan Airlines has, the possibilities here are seemingly endless.
Lead photo courtesy of American Airlines
