In this article
Bilt and Capital One Add JAL as Transfer Partner
Bilt transfers 1:1 while Capital One transfers 1:0.75.
JAL Mileage Bank, the program for Japan Airlines (JAL) was similarly only a partner of Marriott Bonvoy – until now.
So the next obvious question is… “Is JAL a good program?”
And then…”Should I transfer to JAL?” and “What are JAL’s sweet spots?”
Let’s dive in.
JAL Mileage Bank New Member Policy and Expiration
Yes, JAL’s Mileage Bank is a very interesting program with a variety of sweet spots that were mostly unavailable to most of us until now.
But before I go any further I want to be clear about two things – JAL’s miles “hard expire” after 36 months. While this simply isn’t a thing with North American programs, it’s more common internationally. Cathay Pacific used to do the same with their AsiaMiles but saw the light a couple of years ago and changed to miles that can be extended with activity.
So, if you transfer miles in and have to cancel, that’s doable, but you’ll have to make sure to use those miles before they expire 36 months from when you transferred them. You can book for travel beyond that but after the miles hit that expiration date, no changes or cancellations would be permitted.
Perhaps even more importantly, you cannot normally book an award until you have been a JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) member for 60 days following enrollment in the program.
However, both Bilt and Capital One have a carve out where the account needs to just be open for 7 days.
Still, signup for an account now even if you don’t have any immediate plans to book – because if you want to book say 3 months from now and then first open the account, you’d have to wait another two months (or 7 days if transferred from Bilt or Capital One) and likely miss out on the award you wanted.
JAL Mileage Bank Change and Cancellation Fees
You can’t technically change an award booking but you can cancel and rebook for a very reasonable 3,100 yen which is about $21. Just keep in mind the mileage expiration policy above.
JAL Mileage Bank’s Recent Devaluation
It’s not all roses… there was a fairly large devaluation announced recently which takes place for tickets booked starting June 10, 2025. A one way First Class ticket on JAL from the US to Japan will now from 110,000 to 140,000 miles depending on if it is Low, Regular, or High Season.
It *was* just 70,000 – 100,000 miles for that same one way ticket, so if you are sitting on a pile of Bilt points, this may be somewhere to use them quickly.
It’s possible you will find space on the “new” JAL First Class experience using JAL miles when the same seat is not available to oneworld partners.
Business Class from the US to Japan will only increase from 55,000 miles from 50,000 in June, so that remains a tremendous value.
JAL Mileage Bank Sweet Spots
I know – this is really what you came here for 🙂
There are several sweet spots and I’m sure many more I don’t even know about. To be clear, I’ve never redeemed via JAL (due to the difficulty in getting the miles) but I have spent a fair bit of time on the JAL website searching availability in years past. Back before most airlines would show partner availability online, I would use the JAL website to know what was available there.
Japan Airlines First Class
Despite the devaluation, it may be worth the 110,000 – 140,000 miles for a seat in First aboard one of the planes with the latest F product.
Around the World
The biggest sweet spot is the pseudo Round the World. With the ANA Around the World award ending in June 2025, this may be the next best thing.
While not called an Around the World or Round the World award per se, you can use their distance based award chart to book up to 7 (!) stopovers.
You need to reference either the JMB Partners chart (these are the partners)
or the oneworld chart.
This page will let you calculate your total mileage = handy!
On the JMB (JAL) Partners distance based chart, we find:
BUSINESS CLASS
| Total trip distance (miles) | Required Mileage |
|---|---|
| 1 – 1,000 | 24,000 |
| 1,001 – 2,000 | 30,000 |
| 2,001 – 4,000 | 42,000 |
| 4,001 – 6,000 | 60,000 |
| 6,001 – 8,000 | 80,000 |
| 8,001 – 10,000 | 85,000 |
| 10,001 – 12,000 | 100,000 |
| 12,001 – 14,000 | 110,000 |
| 14,001 – 20,000 | 130,000 |
| 20,001 – 25,000 | 145,000 |
| 25,001 – 29,000 | 160,000 |
| 29,001 – 34,000 | 190,000 |
| 34,001 – 50,000 | 210,000 |
- First Class is available with Business Class required miles on following flights:
American Airlines flights operated with 2 classes of service (Economy Class and First Class).
Hawaiian Airlines inter islands flights
Alaska Airlines flights
| Total trip distance (miles) | Required Mileage |
|---|---|
| 1 – 1,000 | 36,000 |
| 1,001 – 2,000 | 45,000 |
| 2,001 – 4,000 | 65,000 |
| 4,001 – 6,000 | 90,000 |
| 6,001 – 8,000 | 120,000 |
| 8,001 – 10,000 | 135,000 |
| 10,001 – 12,000 | 145,000 |
| 12,001 – 14,000 | 165,000 |
| 14,001 – 20,000 | 190,000 |
| 20,001 – 25,000 | 220,000 |
| 25,001 – 29,000 | 250,000 |
| 29,001 – 34,000 | 290,000 |
| 34,001 – 50,000 | 330,000 |
- First Class award is not available on flights operated by following Airlines:
Malaysia Airlines
Air France
Korean Air
Emirates - First Class is available with Business Class required miles on following flights:
American Airlines flights operated with 2 classes of service (Economy Class and First Class).
Hawaiian Airlines inter islands flights
Alaska Airlines flights
| Total trip distance (miles) |
Economy Class | Business Class *1 | First Class *2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 – 4,000 | 25,000 | 48,000 | 72,000 |
| 2 | 4,001 – 8,000 | 40,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 |
| 3 | 8,001 – 10,000 | 50,000 | 85,000 | 110,000 |
| 4 | 10,001 – 12,000 | 60,000 | 110,000 | 160,000 |
| 5 | 12,001 – 14,000 | 70,000 | 115,000 | 165,000 |
| 6 | 14,001 – 20,000 | 90,000 | 120,000 | 170,000 |
| 7 | 20,001 – 25,000 | 120,000 | 150,000 | 230,000 |
| 8 | 25,001 – 29,000 | 140,000 | 190,000 | 280,000 |
| 9 | 29,001 – 34,000 | 150,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 |
| 10 | 34,001 – 50,000 | 160,000 | 220,000 | 330,000 |
- The required mileage is determined based on the total trip distance (miles), the distance of total award itinerary, and the class of service traveled. The distance of any surface sector is not included in total trip distance (miles).
- Awards issued for children and infants who occupy their own seat require the same mileage as those issued for adults.
Infants sharing a seat with an adult cannot travel on an award ticket and must instead have a purchased ticket issued at the infant fare for the same class of service as accompanying adult.
- Terms and conditions may differ depending on the partner airlines. Please check the details with the relevant airline.
- In addition to the required mileage for the awards listed above, fuel surcharges and other taxes will be collected.
- First Class is available with Business Class required miles on following flights:
American Airlines flights operated with 2 classes of service (Economy Class and First Class).
Alaska Airlines flights - First Class Award is not available on flights operated by Malaysia Airlines (MH).
ANA charged 125,000 miles for a band of 20,000 – 22,000 miles in Business Class.
JAL is 145,000 – 150,000 miles for 20,000 – 25,000 miles flown in Business Class. Nearly identical!
But I also want to note for those without Bilt points that Cathay Pacific offers 20,000 – 25,000 flown miles in Business Class (Cathay Pacific as one carrier and two other oneworld carriers – or just two or more oneworld carriers without Cathay) for 250,000 miles. Yes, 100,000 miles more! But you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One Miles, or Citi ThankYou points to Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles.
Upgrade Awards for Paid Japan Airlines Flights
These can offer tremendous value with a few “must knows.”
- You can move up form Economy to Business but you will need to use the mileage upgrade rate for both steppes (i.e. the rate from Economy to Premium Economy and then from Premium Economy to Business).
- You can only upgrade to First from a PAID Business Class ticket
- Only certain fares are upgradable
Business Class > First Class
| Booking Class | J/C/D/I |
|---|
Economy Class/Premium Economy Class > Business Class
| Booking Class | W/R/Y/B/H/K |
|---|
Economy Class > Premium Economy Class
| Booking Class | Y/B/H/K |
|---|
- Most importantly – these upraises are capacity controlled. While you can waitlist, that is very risky. I would call and check availability and book while on the phone if available.
Multi-City Awards in the US using JAL Mileage Bank – Alaska Airlines / American Airlines
You can use the oneworld partner chart to construct some pretty cool multi-city trips since it’s distance based and
You can fly up to 4,000 miles in Economy for 25,000 JAL Mileage Bank miles – or 48,000 miles in Business Class
If you are on the West Coast, you could do something like SFO-LAX-LAS-SEA-SAN-SFO for the above price.
On the East Coast (I’ll include a trip to the Midwest here as an example), you could fly LGA-YYZ-ORD-MIA-LGA (of course, YYZ needs to be a stop and not a layover or it would violate cabotage rules.
Partner Awards
They do have some interesting partnership for awards, such as Korean Air (only in Economy and Business, though – sadly. That said, I was not able to find any business class award from JFK-ICN when researching for this article.
Emirates in Business Class from JFK to Dubai or even to MLE via DXB would be 85,000 JAL Miles.
LATAM also presents some interesting options via JAL.
JetBlue Mint
I cover this in a separate article (Book JetBlue Mint with JAL Mileage Bank for a Steal) but highlights include East Coast to Caribbean like NY-Aruba round trip in Mint Business Class for 42,000 miles and US Transcons (i.e. LAX-JFK) for 60,000 miles in Mint Business Class (including the newest cabins).
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
If this post helped you, please consider sharing it!
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
