What’s New and 12 Reasons You Should Consider the Opportunities
In early February, Japan Airlines (JAL) announced mileage award program changes involving three of its partners, Air France, American, and British Airways, which take effect on March 28. The changes hardly put a dent in this program (see below), which is encouraging. It also caused us to be reminded of all the reasons why we like the program. (Including the fact that it doesn’t spring big changes on us!)
Given that JAL’s program is easily accessible via its partnership with Starwood, now’s the time to take a second look at why this program should be in your strategy portfolio.
First, let’s look at the three partner awards that are changing, then we’ll continue with all the reasons why we like this pro-gram and why you should keep it in the front of your mind:
Free Upgrade to First Class on British Airways
Under the current JAL mileage program, it takes only 100,000 JAL miles for a First Class award to London from Los Angeles; while British Airways charges 150,000 miles. Book with JAL, and call this a “free upgrade” because BA charges 100,000 miles on this route just for Business Class. This JAL award level—100,000 miles—will also get you from the U.S. to most of Europe as well as Israel, Morocco, Russia, and Turkey—where BA will want to charge you even more for Business Class than JAL will for First.
Changing for the worse—so book before March 28: This is when partner BA changes from a “zone” to a “flight-distance” mileage program, and many routes will see increases.
Lower-priced First Class Award Tickets on American
Under the current JAL mileage program, it takes only 80,000 miles for a First Class award to London from New York on American – while American charges you 125,000 miles, a savings of 45,000 miles. This Mileage Bank award level is valid for non-stop itineraries of less than 8,000 flight miles round-trip; itineraries up to 10,000 flight miles are 95,000 miles and up to 16,000 flight miles would cost 110,000 miles
Changing for the worse—so book Before March 28: When award rates increase 20,000 to 45,000 miles.
Lower-priced Business Class Award Tickets on American
Book a Business Class award ticket from New York to Paris or Madrid using American miles and it costs 100,000. By using JAL miles, the same ticket on AA costs only 60,000 miles—the same amount AA charges for a coach award.
Changing for the worse—so book before March 28: When award rates increase to 63,000 miles.
New Lower-priced Business Class Award Tickets on British Airways
Changing for the better—so wait until March 28: For certain British Airways international Business Class flights, those which are 10,000 or less flight miles, JAL currently requires 80,000 miles. On the 28th, the rate drops to 63,000 miles for under 8,000 flight miles, and 65,000 miles for under 10,000 flight miles; a savings of 15,000 to 17,000 miles.
New Lower-priced Business Class Award Tickets on Air France
Changing for the better for travel to the South Pacific — so wait until March 28: That is when Air France changes from a “zone” to a “flight-distance” mileage program and the JAL miles required to fly LAX-Papeete in Business Class will drop to 65,000 miles from 110,000 round-trip. Air France’s own Flying Blue program charges 120,000 miles for this flight, a savings of 55,000 miles.
Changes for travel to France are mixed: In some cases, a mileage award ticket will cost less than before. For ex-ample, the current New York-Paris JAL mileage award rate is 80,000 for Business Class; under the new program, it drops to 63,000, a savings of 17,000 miles (and 37,000 miles less than Air France’s Flying Blue program). And in other cases, the cost will increase slightly: Los Angeles-Nice will go from 80,000 to 85,000 JAL miles for Business Class, not too bad.
Free Business Class Upgrade to Asia in Apri
At the discounted rate, which is valid April 1 to 26 for Tokyo, it only takes 70,000 JAL miles for a Business Class award — the same amount as Delta charges for coach. Book this award and call it a free upgrade, compared to the poor guy who booked via SkyMiles. Standard rates are only 10,000 miles more throughout the rest of the year.
Free First Class Upgrade to the South Pacific
130,000 JAL miles is the discounted cost for a First Class award ticket to Sydney (via Tokyo) whereas United charges 135,000 miles for a Business Class ticket.
[aside headline="FCF’s Definition of An Upgrade" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]FCF defines an upgrade as “any way of getting a better result than you would by paying the straight fare or by following ordinary practices.” In this case, the “better” is the class of service or comfort that can be had, at no extra mileage cost, if not less, by follow-ing the approaches outlined here.[/aside]
Free Business Class Upgrade to the South Pacific
It only takes 100,000 JAL miles at the discounted rate for a Business Class award ticket to Sydney— while Delta gives you economy for that price.
Cheaper-Than-Free Upgrade to First Class on Qantas
A First Class Los Angeles-Sydney award ticket through Qantas Frequent Flyer costs 288,000 points. Using JAL miles, it costs 170,000 miles—22,000 miles less than Qantas charges for Business Class.
Cheaper-than-Free Upgrade to Premium Economy
When all else fails you can try to redeem your miles for a Premium Economy ticket on JAL, which often costs less than an economy award seat on a U.S. carrier. For example, the discounted JAL Premium Economy rate from the U.S. to Tokyo is 55,000 miles, whereas Delta charges 70,000 miles for economy, and American and United 65,000 miles. Fewer miles than economy, and a much better seat.
Almost Free First Class Upgrade on Cathay Pacific
A First Class award ticket New York-Hong Kong through Cathay Pacific Asia Miles costs 220,000 miles, whereas that same Cathay flight costs only 160,000 JAL miles. That’s only 15,000 miles more than Cathay charges for Business Class.
Lower-priced First Class Award Tickets on Emirates
It costs 217,500 miles for a First Class New York-Dubai award ticket through Emirates Skywards, while JAL charges only 180,000 miles, saving you 37,500 miles.