JAL miles are hard to earn, and the recent ability to transfer Capital One (1,000:750) and Bilt miles (1:1) is a welcome development. I transferred around 200K Capital One miles during the last 30% bonus promotion and am looking at ways to spend them before they expire in 36 months.
Some of my favorite award sweetspots for JAL miles with low taxes
- JAL: Fly one-way from JFK to Tokyo for 55K in business (easy to book 360 days ahead from Chicago route).
- JAL: Fly one-way from Tokyo to Sydney for 45K miles in business class (easy to book 360 days ahead).
- Latam: Roundtrip business class from the US to Santiago or Buenos Aires for 85K miles (easy to book 330 days ahead).
- American Airlines: JFK to London round-trip business class for 80K miles, or first class for 120K miles.
- American Airlines: Philadelphia to Paris round-trip business class for 80K miles.
- American Airlines: JFK to Milan round-trip business class for 85K miles.
- American Airlines: Miami to Madrid round-trip business class for 85K miles.
- Iberia: US Cities to Madrid (e.g., DFW-MAD) round-trip business class for 85K miles and around $300 USD in taxes.
- Air France: US East Coast under 4,000 miles (e.g., JFK/BOS/IAD/ORD) to Paris one-way business class for 42K miles (60K from other US cities) and $5.60 in taxes & fees.
- British Airways: US East Coast under 4,000 miles (e.g., JFK/BOS/ORD/IAD/CLT) to London one-way business class for 42K miles (first class for 65K) and reasonable taxes of around $200 USD (easy to find matching award space).
- JetBlue: Same mileage requirements as AF and BA, but difficult to find award space.
- Emirates: Newark to Athens round-trip business class for 85K miles and reasonable taxes of around $200 USD (difficult to find matching award space).
- Emirates: JFK to Milan round-trip business class for 85K miles and reasonable taxes of around $200 USD (difficult to find matching award space).
Booking Latam business class from the US to South America
Since Alaska Mileage Plan broke their alliance with Latam, JAL miles remain the cheapest way to book Latam business class flights to Santiago.
Looking for Latam award space
Latam releases consistent award space to partners and seats.aero is the best way to check for Virgin Atlantic availability (10-11 months ahead).
1st Step: Look for outbound & inbound Latam flights with award space on Virgin Atlantic
Once you see the desired cabin space available here, you can head over to JAL and find the matching availability. While Virgin charges 95K points for a one-way business class booking, JAL charges 85K for a roundtrip business class trip or 60K for a one-way booking (see images below).
Step 2: Book a roundtrip Latam business class on JAL for 85K miles
Once you sign into the JAL Mileage Club (link), head over to the international award booking section (link) and click on the JMB Partner Award Tickets tab (see images below).
Book Open-Jaw to visit multiple countries in business class for 85K JAL miles
JAL miles can be used to book an open-jaw roundtrip on Latam business class to visit two countries (e.g., outbound from the US to Santiago and inbound from Buenos Aires to the US – see image below).
Example 1: Visit Chile & Argentina
Example 2: Visit Peru, Chile & Argentina for 85K miles in business class roundtrip
If you want to stretch your trip to cover 3 South American countries, JAL miles will work to book all business class flights using the “build your own trip” tab (see image below).
Free one-way stopovers in South America with JAL miles
If you’d rather cover two South American nations in one trip, JAL miles can be used to fly Latam business class with a free one-way stopover in Santiago on your way to Peru for 60K miles. To book this journey, you must click on the “Build your own trip” tab (see image below). The total mile requirement varies between 60K to 85K depending on the total travel distance (60K miles to travel to Peru & Argentina and 85K miles to travel to Sau Paulo).
Conclusion
JAL miles have several great uses that are unmatched by other mileage programs, and careful planning is required (11-12 months ahead of time) to make proper use of them before their hard expiration date of 36 months.