states and Japan or Korea, and 110,000 miles to anywhere else in Asia.Īs you can see, the number of miles required for JAL First Class is significantly higher with AAdvantage compared to Alaska.

American Airlines AAdvantageĪnother option for redeeming miles on JAL First Class is via American AAdvantage, which requires 80,000 miles for one-way travel between Canada or the contiguous 48 U.S. If you’re based in Toronto or Montreal, for example, you’d be best served booking a JAL flight directly out of Chicago or New York, and then booking a cheap positioning flight to fill the gap using another program like Aeroplan or Air Miles.

This is good news for those whose journeys originate in a city that’s served by Alaska (such as Vancouver, Victoria, and Calgary in Canada), but not so great otherwise. Below this, the transfer ratio is 3:1, but transferring in chunks of 60,000 yields a bonus of 5,000 miles.įor Alaska redemptions, keep in mind that you’re limited to using a single airline partner (JAL in this case) in conjunction with Alaska-operated flights. Note that since JAL doesn’t offer First Class on their intra-Asia routes (Jakarta was the last Asian destination to feature First Class, which was discontinued in 2017), the onward flight to your final destination in Asia will be in business class, which is excellent nonetheless.Īlso note that Alaska’s partner agreement with Japan Airlines does not allow for redemptions to/from Europe or Australia and New Zealand, so unfortunately you won’t be able to take advantage of JAL’s route network in those parts of the world.Įarning Alaska miles in Canada is made easy by the presence of the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard, which gives a welcome bonus of 30,000 Alaska miles upon spending $1,000 in the first three months, and also earns you one Alaska mile per dollar spent on your purchases.įurthermore, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska Mileage Plan at the optimal ratio of 60,000 Bonvoy points = 25,000 Alaska miles. You can have a stopover in Tokyo for up to 364 days as well. Travellers based in Canada will have the easiest time booking Japan Airlines First Class using Alaska Mileage Plan, both because it charges favourable prices and offers an easy way for Canadians to earn miles.Ī First Class redemption between North America and Japan, Korea, or India costs 70,000 miles one-way, while travelling to anywhere else in Asia will cost you 75,000 miles one-way. How Many Points Does Japan Airlines First Class Cost?Īs a Oneworld carrier, Japan Airlines flights can be booked with any number of Oneworld loyalty programs. Nonetheless, the remaining four routes still provide you with plenty of options, and you’ll want to look closely at New York JFK given that it has two flights a day to/from Tokyo, compared to only one for Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In this regard, it’s unfortunate that JAL has swapped out the Boeing 777 for the 787 on their routes to Dallas and Boston, thus reducing the amount of total seats available on their Japan–US routes over any given period.

JAL also maintains a list of First Class routes on its website, which looks to be updated each month.įor North American travellers, the most useful routes will likely be those between Japan and the US.

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