Insider Advice for Tokyo Joe and Other First Class Asia Dreamers to Save 91%

How to score First Class seats when fares are sky-high

One of our readers, let’s call him “Tokyo Joe,” asked, “Hey Bennett, with the world starting to open up again, what’s the First Class situation for getting to Asia?”

I said, “Joe, this is a lily that’s hard to gild right now, so I’m gonna lay it down straight: First Class fares to Asia are high. Fuji-high.” Have a look at these sobering numbers for nonstop First Class flights to Asia:

• All Nippon: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to Tokyo ranges from $11,700 to $21,827.
• American: Dallas to Hong Kong is $10,815.
• Cathay Pacific: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to Hong Kong ranges from $16,145 to $19,736.
• Japan Airlines: Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to Tokyo ranges from $19,826 to $25,751.

Ouch.

Or as Joe might say: 痛い!

Mmm, What About Availability Using Miles or Points?

“Joe, you’d better sit down. Award space is low. Panda-butt low.” Then again, I started thinking it’s more glass half-full. In fact, you could argue that award availability is quite Business-friendly as there are lots of single seats available into next year. Also consider single-seat availability for groups of more than one who don’t mind sitting in different cabins and other single-seat options.

At a glance availability chart below, here’s a quick summary of where the gems are:

All Nippon: Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to Tokyo: one seat available for two or more months and one seat available for New York to Tokyo for travel in June 2022.

American: Dallas to Hong Kong: a handful of days have two seats for travel in May 2022.

Cathay Pacific: As always, they’re only offering one seat for two or more months in both directions on their Boston-, Los Angeles-, New York-, and San Francisco-Hong Kong routes. See below.

Japan Airlines: Chicago to Tokyo: a handful of days with one seat available in July 2022 and a handful of dates with one seat available in June 2022 and July 2022 on the Los Angeles- and New York-Tokyo routes.

Routes with no award availability:

• All Nippon: Washington, DC - Tokyo
• Cathay Pacific: Chicago - Hong Kong
• Singapore Airlines: Los Angeles - Tokyo

Joe’s a business guy who likes to plan ahead and travel in maximum comfort. Maybe he could travel in First Class and book the family in Business Class, or have his spouse in First because he's crazy about her and he sit in Business.

Or not. We’ve got ways for Joe to find more than one seat father below.

Here’s a chart that shows the bigger availability picture:

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Good News? We Can Squeeze Some Juice Out of this Dragon Fruit

When fares are high, America turns its lonely eyes to mileage accounts, and smart Americans turn them to miles transfer partners, along with opportunities to buy miles cheaply. Check out this chart. It shows the straight-up miles cost from the airline and then the cost using transfer partners. It’s a mixed bag, but certainly worth considering, particularly for All Nippon and Amex/Virgin Atlantic.

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Building a Great Wall of Miles

As we mention, often in these reports, buying miles is a fantastic option if your mileage accounts are low, as Joe’s are. If you buy American miles for American flights or partner flights, or United miles for United partner flights when they’re on sale (often down to 1.8 cents per mile), you can still get a great deal. Sales pop up as often as at Macy’s.

All Nippon partners with Amex and Marriott and Cathay Pacific partners with three credit card rewards programs — Amex, Citi, and Marriott — so you can easily get the miles you need. We found that the typical transfer time from Amex is instantaneous (not ALL of the time, but mostly), while a transfer from Marriott points can take up to three days.

You can buy up to 500,000 Amex Rewards points per year and they only cost 2.5¢ each. Given the baseline First Class fare from New York to Tokyo is often $18,000 to $21,000 and that you can buy 120,000 Amex Rewards Points and transfer to Virgin Atlantic for about $2,040 (plus taxes of about $65), you’d end up saving up to $18,895, or 91%.

Here’s a happy chart with more price differences when you buy miles on sale.

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Most airlines are currently offering a “travel fee waiver,” which includes mileage award flights. That means it won’t cost you anything to cancel or change your ticket. Read more about it here.

Bridge Route Connections

When using the available First Class long-haul award flight as a “bridge” to Asia, the connecting flight from the U.S. and/or international hub can be booked either in Business Class or economy, based on availability. If only economy is available on the short connecting flights, it’s not a disaster, as the most important part is getting the long-haul flight in First. More here on “If you don’t see your home airport or destination.”

Want More Than One Seat?

Joe’s still torn. He’d love to have the family on that next trip to Asia but keeps seeing only one seat available. Is this the end of the road? No!

Confucius wisdom: He Who Learns But Does Not Think (About Snaring More Than One Award Seat) Is Lost.

FCF’s Get-More-Than-One-Seat Plan of Action:

• Rather than starting your search for two seats, start with a search for one. Then go wider. For example, Cathay Pacific typically only releases one First Class award seat at a time, but they sometimes drip-feed availability up until departure. Other airlines do the same. Sometimes you just have to play the patience game.
• Grab one seat now in First, another in Business, and keep checking back for another one in First Class to open up. Clare may disagree, but she and Joe could always draw straws for the more luxurious option.
• Play the brinkmanship game. Award space tends to open up much more as departure approaches. Get the seat in Business then rebook when and if an opportunity arises. I do this often.
• Waitlist if other ways aren’t working. Cathay Pacific and All Nippon offer waitlists in Business and First Class. Japan Airlines allows waitlisting in First Class only.
• If all else fails, buy one ticket with cash and the other with miles. At least you’re able to get 50% in front.

When Round-Trip Awards Aren’t Available

When you can’t score the round-trip award, consider one-way tickets instead. Divide and conquer: Split your itinerary in two and search for the best deal for each leg. I rarely book round-trip mileage awards on a single ticket. There’s simply too much opportunity when you look at more airlines and their partner opportunities. I’ll do this to get better seats or schedules from different airline programs (with the exception of All Nippon, as it only offers round-trip awards).

Consider the Leg Stretch Strategy (LSS) to Asia

You can use all of the above to kickstart FCF’s out-of-this-world Leg Stretch Strategy (where airlines connect three continents for an extremely low price) to Asia and another continent. Read all about it here.