How to use Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank to book award flights!
May 26, 2025JAL just became a transfer partner of Bilt Rewards, the first time it has become a transfer partner of any major bank or credit card. This is a very exciting development, as JAL Mileage Bank offers some great redemption prices and good partner availability to members.
How do I know about this program?
In 2018, I booked an epic trip in Emirates first using JAL, and I learned a ton about the program in the process. In fact, I was the first person to ever report that stopovers were allowed on one-way itineraries - it took careful reading of the terms and conditions, and speaking with a JAL agent to confirm this is true! We transferred SPG points at the time to JAL (RIP Starwood, what a great program), used the award charts, found partner availability and called to put it all together. We booked SIN-DXB-LAX, nearly 24 hours in Emirates first, with a 7-day stopover in Dubai. Sadly Emirates first isn't bookable anymore, but this program still represents a powerful way to get around the world.
So what do you need to know about JAL?
Sign up for an account way in advance
Even if you don't plan to make a JAL redemption in the near future, sign up for a free Mileage Bank account right away. JAL does not allow redemptions within the first 60 days of account opening, so don't expect to open, transfer and book immediately. Bilt is allowing waivers on this when you link your account and transfer points, but it can still take up to 7 days after you transfer.
How can you earn JAL points?
Bilt now transfers 1:1 to JAL, making it the most efficient way to transfer points.
Marriott also transfers to JAL at 3:1, with a 5000 point bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points you transfer. While this isn't a great deal, it can be used to top off a balance if you have a lot of Marriott points.
You cannot buy JAL points, so there's no way to pad your booking if you need a few more.
There are two JAL credit cards - a personal and business card. They do not have welcome offers, rather you get a 5000 point bonus after your first JAL international flight. With earning of 1 point per dollar on all spend and 2 points per dollar on JAL spend, this isn't a quick way to accumulate points.
You can also credit OneWorld flights or spending to JAL, though you must consider the opportunity cost of this compared to status with other airlines.
Lastly, you can use their shopping portal or partners to earn miles. Interestingly, I found that Disneyland in California is a partner. You can earn 1 JAL point for every dollar you spend on Disneyland tickets. The site is in Japanese, but if you use a web browser translate extension, it looks like a very good stacking opportunity here!
How can you redeem JAL points?
JAL is the rare airline that still has award charts, but interestingly the charts are different for their own metal and for partner airlines. Prices are extremely reasonable!
Start on the Mileage Bank homepage. Redemptions are separated by JAL tickets and partner airlines.
For JAL flights, there is a fixed award chart based on region. This is the updated chart after a devaluation that will occur on June 10, 2025 (Japan to North America prices going form 50,000 to 55,000 for example, so it's not a bad devaluation):
These are the awards to Europe:
You can even get to Australia ... why not combine two award tickets and get there for 100,000 points in business, that's still a great deal!
For JAL flights, there's even an availability calendar you can search to find the lowest priced awards. This is LAX to Tokyo for example:
And when you click on an individual date, the whole week will pop up so you can further investigate the awards. This is LAX to Osaka. The number of available seats will show up when you click on the date.
For partner awards, redemptions are distance based. Here are all the JAL partners, OneWorld and beyond:
And here is the cost of the redemptions based on distance for OneWorld carriers:
And the distanced for non-OneWorld partners:
If you need to know how far your flight is, you can use their own calculator to get an accurate estimate:
There is no calendar for partners, so I recommend checking partner award availability through other programs. For example, for Emirates award availability, I'll check Qantas, either directly on their website or through Seats.Aero. You'll find the same availability to Qantas and JAL.
On Seats.Aero, click "Explore" then "Qantas Frequent Flyer". Put North America to Anywhere and filter your arrival to "DXB." This should bring up all the partner Emirates award availability.
When you find the date, then put it into JAL's partner booking site, and it will come up like this!
85,000 miles for a business flight from LAX to DXB is a stellar deal. Compare this rate to Emirates, where you'll spend 157,000 points and $1100 or so, and even Qantas, where you'll spend 119,000 points and roughly the same taxes and fees. If you can use JAL, it's nearly half the cost of Emirates!
Bottom line
If you can accumulate points (which is easier now through Bilt), JAL offers a nice alternative to other programs for booking their own awards and partners. I'll certainly be looking to increase my JAL balance going forward!
