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Booked: Japan Airlines Business Class Sky Suite (valued over $38,000)

Jason

ADVERTISER DISCLOSURE: DaddyTravelsNow is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as MileValue.com  This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.

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Failed attempts to rebook ANA

I tried, Lord knows I tried. The miles and points world buzzed a few days ago when ANA released premium cabin award seats. These coveted award seats have not been available for some time, so it felt like a huge Black Friday sale. Members of many travel award community, including members of my Daddy Travels Miles and Points Facebook group shared their success in booking ANA. I searched high and low for ANA first and/or business class availability so I could book my return trip to Japan. I have 220,000 points sitting with Virgin Atlantic (from my old Japan trip that fizzled due to COVID travel restrictions). I guess my points will just have to stay with Virgin for awhile, according to Virgin, my points won’t expire.

Japan Airlines availability wide open

A few days after the ANA release, I saw lots of rumbling yesterday where you could book one way business class from SFO-HND for 60,000 AA miles + $5.60. This was flying via Japan Airlines. This means to do a roundtrip, I needed 120K AA miles. And since there were two of us traveling, we needed 240,000 AA miles to make this booking work.
Unlucky me, I only had 117K AA miles, and I began checking ways to fill the void via points transfer or purchasing more miles. 
Image courtesy of Japan Airlines

Think fast

  • I could transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy to American Airlines – this could take 48-72 hours
  • Buy AA miles
  • Transfer miles from another AA account

I was 123,000 miles short, and none of the above choices made sense.

Zirk to the rescue

One of my trusted travelers and big-time supporters  is Michael Zirk. He posted the Japan Airlines deal over on Daddy Travels Miles and Points Facebook. I replied and said that I was short of miles He offered to help. Mike’s got a boatload of AA miles. He and I have had this discussion before. He helped book the trip for me, and in return, I’d transfer points that are of value to him.

Here’s how to book Japan Airlines using American Airlines website

I had to search availability using American Airlines website. I simply went to search for business class availability.

  • Choose Advanced/Multi-city search
  • Redeem miles
  • One way
  • Pick a date
  • # of passengers
  • Airports (I chose LAX-TYO for Tokyo airports)
  • Class: Business/First
  • Airlines: ALL Airlines
  • Once you hit search, it will take you to a results page. You will an option to click CALENDAR that gives you a 30-day view.
  • Anything in GREEN means that’s the lowest fare available on that date of that month
  • For the Japan business class deals, I looked for the ones that charge 60,000 one way and $5.60 in fees.

I checked for the dates that would work for me. Once Mike and I connected in the afternoon, I provided him the flight info and traveler info (just me and Nancy), anything needed for the booking. I had enough points to book 1 one-way ticket, while Mike booked the rest for me. 

That was easy

If this was a Staples commercial, “that was easy” – the hardest part was deciding on the dates for this trip. It’s going to be a short trip before the holidays in December – just “for research” Thank you so much, Mike!!!

The damage

If you have AA miles, these were the costs per person
  • LAX-HND on business class at 60,000 AA miles + $5.60 in fees
  • HND-LAX on business class at 60,000 AA miles + $47.75
All in all, for two us, we needed
  • 120,000 AA miles per person + $53.35
  • For both of us , 240,K AA Miles + $106.70

If we paid in cash

This would’ve been extremely pricey and something I would never ever do.
  • $19,59 (per person)
  • $38,716 (for two)

There is NO WAY I would pay that amount. But thanks to credit card miles and points, this all became possible

It’s not too late

You can still book this deal. You could use your AA miles, or check Alaska Airlines website and book a similar deal for 60,000 points.

For more deals, follow me on my travel page on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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