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![Best Ways To Book Japan Airlines Business Class With Points [Step-by-Step]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Japan-Airlines-airplane.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
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Japan Airlines’ business class product is a great option when you have a long trans-Pacific journey ahead of you. You can expect a great meal, a nice lounge, and fantastic service all the way through.
Let’s dig into what the business class experience is like and how you can book this flight using points.
As a business class passenger with Japan Airlines, you will have access to the Sakura Lounge at Tokyo-Narita (NRT) and Tokyo-Haneda (HND) before flying to the U.S. The Sakura Lounge provides a nice selection of food and drink and a place to relax before your flight.
If you enjoy plane-spotting, the views of the tarmac from the lounge at Narita are particularly nice.
Japan Airlines also has a very nice business class seat that it calls the Sky Suite. While the business class cabin on Japan Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 features a 2-2-2 layout and its Boeing 777-300ER has a 2-3-2 layout, all seats have direct aisle access and are lie-flat.
Aisle seats have a decent amount of privacy, while the middle seat in the middle section of the Boeing 777-300ER has tons of privacy thanks to partitions on each side. However, the middle seat can feel a bit tight with both partitions raised.
For the best experience on either aircraft, try to book a window seat. While the space to get to your seat is narrow, you won’t have to step over anyone, and these seats have a ton of room — with the partition raised, they are very private without the cramped feeling of a middle seat on the 777-300ER.
Hot Tip: Try to book in row 5 in the 777-300ER — it’s essentially a mini-cabin and feels like you’re on a private jet! Don’t miss our review of business class on a JAL 777-300ER flight from LA to Tokyo!
Japan Airlines has new business class seats on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which features reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 cabin layout. However, these are typically deployed on regional flights instead of long-haul flights.
Just as you will find in first class on Japan Airlines, the service in the business class cabin is excellent. The cabin crews are always friendly and happy to help make your flight as enjoyable as possible.
You can book Japan Airlines business class through one of its Oneworld partners or one of its non-alliance partners, such as Emirates. Let’s take a look at some great ways to book business class.
Availability is usually best either 1 to 2 days before departure or 2 to 3 weeks before departure.
Japan Airlines releases all unoccupied seats available for award redemption 1 to 2 days before departure, so if there are vacant seats, you’ll have a great chance of finding close-in award availability.
Occasionally, you’ll notice award availability very far in advance, but your best bet will always be closer to the departure date.
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank uses a region-based award chart for its own flights. This is a different award chart than the distance-based award chart it uses for booking award flights with its partners.
| Region | Class | Miles |
| North America | Economy Class | 50,000 |
| Premium Economy Class | 65,000 | |
| Business Class | 100,000 | |
| First Class | 140,000 |
Follow the simple steps below to book your next business class flight on Japan Airlines:
Make sure there is award space — Japan Airlines will also show you waitlist space, which does not guarantee you a seat.
Hot Tip: Keep the image above with you while booking so you know what to look for under the Seat Availability column to ensure you get a seat.
Here’s an example of what you’ll see:
In this example, the flight from New York (JFK) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) has award space for 3 seats.
If you need to connect on American Airlines (or another partner airline) to get to your flight on Japan Airlines, you will need to use the partner award chart to determine the number of miles required.
| Total Trip Distance | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
| 1 to 1,000 | 12,000 | 17,000 | 24,000 | 36,000 |
| 1,001 to 2,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 |
| 2,001 to 4,000 | 23,000 | 30,000 | 42,000 | 65,000 |
| 4,001 to 6,000 | 37,000 | 46,000 | 60,000 | 90,000 |
| 6,001 to 8,000 | 45,000 | 59,000 | 80,000 | 120,000 |
| 8,001 to 10,000 | 47,000 | 62,000 | 85,000 | 135,000 |
| 10,001 to 12,000 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 100,000 | 145,000 |
| 12,001 to 14,000 | 55,000 | 77,000 | 110,000 | 165,000 |
| 14,001 to 20,000 | 70,000 | 94,000 | 130,000 | 190,000 |
| 20,001 to 25,000 | 90,000 | 112,000 | 145,000 | 220,000 |
| 25,001 to 29,000 | 110,000 | 135,000 | 160,000 | 250,000 |
| 29,001 to 34,000 | 130,000 | 160,000 | 190,000 | 290,000 |
| 34,001 to 50,000 | 150,000 | 180,000 | 210,000 | 330,000 |
Additionally, a booking that involves a partner will mean that you have to call Japan Airlines to complete it.
If you want to fly on American Airlines from Philadelphia (PHL) to Chicago (ORD) and then connect on Japan Airlines to Tokyo-Narita (NRT), this will require you to use the partner award chart.
If you need some travel inspiration, take a look at the best ways to redeem Japan Airlines miles.
Japan Airlines has just 1 transfer partner: Marriott Bonvoy.
You can transfer points at a 3:1 ratio with a bonus of 5,000 JAL miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at a time to Japan Airlines. Transfers take around 2 business days to process.
For more fun ways to earn miles, check out the best ways to earn Mileage Bank miles.
Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is another great way to book business class on Japan Airlines. For 60,000 Alaska miles, you can fly between North America and Japan in business class.
Hot Tip: Keep in mind that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan intra-Asia awards on Japan Airlines must be booked at least 72 hours in advance. Other routings are not affected and can still be booked last minute.
To book, go to Alaska’s website and follow these simple steps:
You can even book a stopover on one-way awards when booking with Alaska Airlines.
For some more ways to use your miles, you can check out the best ways to redeem Alaska miles.
Alaska Airlines, just like Japan Airlines, has just 1 transfer partner: Marriott Bonvoy. You’ll transfer points at a 3:1 ratio in around 4 business days. And for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred in 1 transaction, you will get an additional 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles.
Additionally, Alaska Airlines has partnered with Bank of America to offer co-branded credit cards that earn miles directly!
For Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program, you’ll need to check mileage by partner airline using Asia Miles’ calculator. As an example, New York (JFK) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) business-class round-trip is 150,000 miles.
Here are the steps to search for award space and book over the phone:
Cathay Pacific has several credit card transfer partnerships that can be used to earn Asia Miles.
American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, and Citi ThankYou Rewards, and can all be transferred at a solid 1:1 rate. Amex usually takes just a few hours but can take up to 1 week to complete. Bilt and Citi are almost instant transfers, Capital One takes up to 36 hours, and Brex takes 1 business day.
You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio in around 5 business days. For every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer at a time to Asia Miles, you will get an additional bonus of 5,000 Asia Miles.
Recommended American Express Cards (Personal)
Business Owner? Check out our article on the best Amex business credit cards that earn Membership Rewards.
Hot Tip: Check out our Transfer Partner Tool to easily calculate how many miles you’ll need to transfer for your award.
American’s AAdvantage program is one of the most popular ways to book awards on Japan Airlines.
| Route | Main Cabin | Business/First | First |
| U.S. to Asia Region 1 | 35,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
Here are the simple steps to book:
If Japan Airlines isn’t your thing right now, there are other great options for redeeming your American AAdvantage miles, too.
Hot Tip: The ability to put award seats on hold for 5 days makes using American miles one of the easiest ways to book Japan Airlines business class.
Currently, American Airlines AAdvantage is transfer partners with just 2 partners: Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. Bilt transfers at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly and Marriott Bonvoy transfers to AAdvantage at a 3:1 ratio in around 2 business days.
However, one of the best ways to get AAdvantage miles is to make purchases on American Airlines co-branded credit cards from Barclays or Citi.
Any of Japan Airlines’ Oneworld partners, including British Airways, can be used to book award flights. Unfortunately, the redemption rates on these other carriers are often quite poor.
Let’s start with some typical awards and then move on to some interesting options between the U.S. and Japan.
You can use 100,000 Japan Airlines to fly from New York (JFK), Chicago (ORD), or Los Angeles (LAX) to Japan. These routes can also be booked for 120,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles, 120,000 American AAdvantage miles, or 150,000 Asia Miles.
Here are the top U.S. routes, along with each frequent flyer program’s redemption prices:
| Route (One-way) | Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Cost | Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Cost | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Cost | American Airlines AAdvantage Miles Cost |
| Boston (BOS) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| Chicago (ORD) – Tokyo-Haneda (HND) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Tokyo-Haneda (HND) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| Los Angeles (LAX) – Osaka (KIX) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| Los Angeles (LAX) – Tokyo-Narita/Haneda (NRT/HND) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| New York (JFK) – Tokyo-Narita/Haneda (NRT/HND) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| San Francisco (SFO) – Tokyo-Narita/Haneda (NRT/HND) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
| Seattle (SEA) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT) | 50,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 61,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
If you want to fly Japan Airlines as part of a broader, “round-the-world” award trip, Asia Miles has the following award chart for Oneworld multi-carrier awards. These complex itineraries could provide huge value!
| Award Zone | Distance in Actual Miles | Economy | Business | First |
| 01 | 1 to 1,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 70,000 |
| 02 | 1,001 to 1,500 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
| 03 | 1,501 to 2,000 | 35,000 | 65,000 | 90,000 |
| 04 | 2,001 to 4,000 | 35,000 | 70,000 | 95,000 |
| 05 | 4,001 to 7,500 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 140,000 |
| 06 | 7,501 to 9,000 | 65,000 | 100,000 | 150,000 |
| 07 | 9,001 to 10,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 | 160,000 |
| 08 | 10,001 to 14,000 | 90,000 | 135,000 | 220,000 |
| 09 | 14,001 to 18,000 | 100,000 | 155,000 | 250,000 |
| 10 | 18,001 to 20,000 | 105,000 | 165,000 | 260,000 |
| 11 | 20,001 to 25,000 | 115,000 | 185,000 | 280,000 |
| 12 | 25,001 to 35,000 | 130,000 | 210,000 | 300,000 |
| 13 | 35,001 to 50,000 | 150,000 | 240,000 | 345,000 |
Here are some wild multi-carrier/round-the-world award trips you can book with Japan Airlines as a long-haul carrier:
This itinerary would cost around 165,000 Asia miles, which represents a huge discount compared to if the segments were booked separately.
Here’s another RTW award ticket you can book:
This itinerary would also be priced at 165,000 Asia Miles!
Hot Tip: If Tokyo is a bucket list destination for you, check out our in-depth Tokyo travel guide for great ideas on things to do, see, eat, etc.
Ready to book a flight in Japan Airlines business class, but don’t have enough miles for the itinerary you want? Here is the summary of transfer partnerships for the major frequent flyer programs we discussed:
In the past, we’ve seen transfer bonuses to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles from Brex Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards of anywhere from 15% to 25%. We haven’t seen any transfer bonuses for Japan Airlines, Alaska Airlines, or American Airlines.
Simply put, if you have any credit card that earns points from a major transferrable currency, you can book Japan Airlines business class with points. Even Chase Ultimate Rewards (not discussed in this guide) has transfer partnerships with British Airways Executive Club, although we wouldn’t recommend this due to high redemption prices.
Flexible travel dates will make your award search easier, as business class award space on Japan Airlines is not always easy to find.
Once you know when you’d like to travel, start your search. Space is not always available months in advance, but keep checking — Japan Airlines might release award availability closer to the date of departure.
For long transpacific flights, comfort is always a top priority. When you book business class on Japan Airlines, you can expect a comfortable flight and so much more.
Every seat has direct aisle access, so you won’t have anyone climbing over you. If you’re in a window seat, you don’t have to crawl over anyone either!
A window seat should be your first choice (especially if you’re traveling alone) since it has the most privacy without feeling cramped. You might even feel like you’re flying in first class!
You will also enjoy a fully lie-flat bed, which makes it so much easier to sleep on the long journey across the Pacific.
Japan Airlines has cultivated a reputation for having absolutely amazing cabin crews in both first and business class. They seem to take so much pride in their jobs, and you can tell by how they treat every aspect of the flight. Not only are they attentive to your needs during the flight, but they do their jobs with a refreshing friendliness.
Business class on Japan Airlines really is a wonderful way to fly. From the moment you set foot on board, you can relax and enjoy yourself. Enjoy a glass of Champagne and a great meal knowing that you’re going to have fun on this flight!
If you happen to be flying out of Tokyo, visit the Sakura Lounge to make this an even more memorable trip.
With several great ways to book a business class flight on Japan Airlines, all you have to do is figure out when you can jump on the opportunity!
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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
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15 comments
Cora Martin
July 11, 2019
Hello, I am curious if the comment on reward flights opening up 2-3 weeks before travel applies to only bookings through JAL or if that is also the case for Alaska?
Thank you!
Stephen Au
July 12, 2019
Hi Cora,
Generally, the availability you’ll see on Alaska is less than the availability on JAL’s website. This is a way to reward people who earn JAL miles and want to redeem with JAL. Thanks for reading.
Nico
July 11, 2019
Is it possible to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to redeem JAL Business Seats?
Jarrod West
July 12, 2019
Hi Nico,
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points to British Airways or Iberia Avios in order to book JAL business class!
Xuan Vuong
July 12, 2019
Can I use AAdvantage from American airline to upgrade JAL flight?
Stephen Au
July 12, 2019
Hi Xuan,
Unfortunately you can’t use AA miles to upgrade JAL flights.
BklynProf
September 22, 2020
We are planning a trip to Japan in September 2021 (need something to look forward to) because the trip we had planned in May of this year was cancelled. We had transferred 130,000 miles from our Citi Thankyou points account to my AsiaMiles account, so those points are now stuck there. Currently there is wide open availability on JAL business class using 150,000 AsiaMiles for the outbound flights in mid-September. I’m concerned about booking the NY to Tokyo portion now without knowing if we’ll be able to get award flights back in mid-October. We have enough points for two round trips using Virgin Atlantic but we can only book round trips, not one-way flights. We also have enough points in either Citi or Chase accounts for return flights through Star Alliance or OneWorld. Should we take the chance and book those flights now or wait and also take a chance that those flights will no longer be available when we can book the return flights a month from now? Buying one-way tickets from Japan is almost as expensive as buying round trip tickets, which are astronomical in business class so we might be stuck. We are reasonably flexible in our dates, both the outbound and inbound portions.
Also, is AsiaMiles separate from Cathay Pacific in that if CP goes bankrupt the award flights booked through AsiaMiles will still be honored by JAL? That’s another concern about booking the flights now.
Thanks for any insight/advice.
Stephen Au
September 22, 2020
Hi BklynProf,
Without knowing your specific situation, it can be hard to tell.
For example, if your family and you are incredibly flexible, it makes a lot of sense to wait. The reason why is because the availability is wide open on JAL business class, so there would be multiple viable dates, as long as you are flexible.
Asia Miles is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, a lot like LifeMiles is for Avianca.
Without getting into the details of their corporate finance, it is unlikely that Cathay Pacific will go bankrupt in the same way that people usually imagine bankruptcy.
Cathay Pacific would be able to raise funds and the Hong Kong government has already lead a huge rescue package for Cathay Pacific.
It is likely that your Asia Miles flights will still be honored by Japan Airlines, but it is not guaranteed.
And if you feel like you’d get value from a service that will optimize your award travel and offer ultra-personalized points wealth management, please feel free to contact me directly at stephen@upgradedpoints.com to inquire about a monthly subscription service.
Brad
December 01, 2020
American Airlines’ web site shows JL flights now in its award search results. There is no need to search for availability on British Airways’ site and then to call AA Reservations. Once AA shows your flight is ticketed, you will still have to call AA to get your JL PNR, which you’ll need in order to select seats on JL’s website.
This has been the case since July 2019.
Austin
May 08, 2021
Alaska Airlines virtually removed First Class awards for JAL. Last availability was April 31st. Have searched every route online and called as well. AA & BA show availability in First Class but Alaska shows nothing!
Noi
December 09, 2021
It’s very helpful information overall for me. I am a 78-year-old lady and would like to travel to BKK with my daughter. I like to use AS miles for my daughter’s tickets. I like to buy my tickets with c/c so I can earn AS miles. I would like to treat my daughter and myself by fly business lay flatbed once in a lifetime. Could you please advise how to book the flight? My business class budget at $3,200. Thanks for your help.
Stephen Au
December 10, 2021
Hi Noi,
It’s actually not that difficult to get those tickets for free with Alaska Airlines miles. Just follow the steps outlined in the Alaska Airlines section of this guide to book the business class ticket for free!
Mike
May 26, 2022
Hi Stephen, thanks for your informative article. I have American Airlines points and am trying to book business class for my honeymoon to Bali. There is a nice option on JAL to Kuala Lumpur but it will not release Business or first class using points. Any suggestions on how to use my points???
Stephen Au
May 27, 2022
Hi Mike,
I recommend being flexible on your travel dates and following the steps in this guide. Thanks for your question!
Ron
May 28, 2023
I understand that Hawaiian miles can be used to book Japan Airlines flights but Hawaiian is very opaque and not at all helpful on the steps required; (and Japan’s website, like that of most foreign carriers, is impossible to navigate due to inadequate English translation).
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