How to Book Japan Airlines Award Flights

Japan is one of the most popular places to fly these days, but has also become one of the hardest to book with points and miles, especially from the East Coast. Why? First, there is a ton of demand so the airlines don’t really need to offer up award seats. Second, there are only two Japanese airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) and ANA, and our domestic carriers that fly there are pretty stingy with their awards. JAL has some great prices on their award flights, but the catch is you have to have an account older than 60 days old to even book an award with them. If you have Capital One miles or Bilt points, you can book after just 7 days. No exceptions.

How to Set up a Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Account

First you’ll want to set up a JAL Mileage Bank account. Their website isn’t the easiest to navigate, but follow these instructions and you’ll be up and running in no time and ready to pounce when an award seat pops up.

Head over to JAL Mileage Bank and click “Join” in red. I have this link bookmarked for future use. The enrollment process is fairly straightforward and just make sure to use your legal name which perfectly matches that on your credit card accounts to ensure your points transfer properly.

Logging In to Your JAL Account

This may sound elementary, but JAL’s webiste is not very intuitive, so bookmark this link to the JAL Mileage Bank page in English so you aren’t searching for it when you have to act fast.

Searching for Award Tickets

This is arguably the hardest part, so follow these step by step instructions to get to where you want to go. One wrong click, and you’re in the wrong place and will need to start over. You’ll likely be asked for a one time password sent to your email at least a few times throughout this process.

First, click “Search for award tickets”

Next, click “Search using specific criteria” under “International Flights”

Then, you will need to enter in your flight. When choosing the destination you’ll have to select the country first and then the city.

Find your flight, transfer your points over from Capital One or Bilt and book! The cheapest these business class flights will be is 55,000 points per person each way, but can and do go up from there. There are also taxes and fees of around $353 per person too, so don’t forget that.

Wrapping Up

Finding flights to Japan is one of the most difficult awards to find, especially in business or first class. Having a Japan Airlines Mileage Bank account that is at least 60 days old will allow you to find and book those elusive flights.