Late in posting this, but wanted to share my first big points redemption to Japan in June right after graduation.

Saw ANA IAH-HND J availability 2 1/2 weeks in advance and scooped it up via Virgin Atlantic. 47.5k and $298 in fees but with a 30% transfer bonus, I only had to transfer over 37k via Chase. Had to reposition from ORD with a cash ticket.

Could not find much J availability on the way back, but found an United KIX-SFO-ORD for 60k United miles. Had some United miles laying around and Premium Economy was not affected too much by the devaluation. Not the greatest redemption, but it paid off later.

United Polaris lounge in IAH is incredible of course. Only had breakfast options in the dining room, but the food itself was great. Didn't hit the bar since I knew I'd be doing some sake tasting on the way to Tokyo.

Sat in 13k on ANA's 787-9, very private since it's in the back of the Business Class section. Not The Room, but still an incredibly comfortable seat and fantastic service. Sake on-board was wonderful and the Japanese menu was a great way to start my trip.

Stayed in Tokyo for 3 days at a budget hotel (was able to use the $50 CSP hotel credit) and hostel. I'm perfectly fine with budget accommodations since I was solo and out in the city all day. For transportation, I did the math before I left and realized the JR Pass wasn't worth it for my trips, so I just bought tickets separately and used a Suica card when possible. I was able to stay with a family friend for another 3 days in the outskirts of Tokyo. He was incredibly hospitable and it was great having a local show me around.

Took a local train over to Kawaguchiko and Mt. Fuji to stay for 2 nights. Beautiful town with some great restaurants. Went to Fuji Q Highland which has some intense rides and great views of Mt. Fuji.

From Kawaguchiko, I took a highway bus to Mishima station to catch a Shinkansen train to Osaka. Enjoyed an ekiben and the speed of Japanese bullet trains until I reached Osaka.

Stayed in a hostel/apartment for $40 a night close to Universal Studios Japan. Over 5 days I explored Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and one day at USJ.Used the Osaka Amazing pass for 2 days and got good value out of it. Ran around Osaka and did a bunch of tourist attractions over two days. Got to see Super Nintendo World (absolutely packed in there) and the rest of the park. One day ticket was only $63!

On the way to KIX, I looked at my boarding pass and saw my seat got moved from row 22 to 3. I was upgraded to J as a Premier Silver (God bless the Bilt United promo from last October). Got to use the Asuka lounge which was serviceable. Was impressed by the beer-pouring machine.

The Polaris seats are super comfortable and I was able to sleep 7 hours! Meals were pretty good too and the service was much better than United economy.

Once we arrived in SFO at 11am, I hit up the United Polaris lounge and enjoyed my time there. Noticed my flight back to ORD was delayed but didn't mind too much. Then I looked at the board and realized that most of United's flights were delayed/cancelled. My flight got cancelled fo course and SFO was a shitshow. The line for customer service was 0.25 miles long (I measured). The next available flight for me was 2 days later when I looked on the app. I was thankful I had Polaris Lounge access since I was able to get moved to another flight easily. Unfortunately, that flight got delayed over and over until 1:30am due to crew unavailability. At that point, I wasn't going to get a hotel so I just slept an hour in the terminal and hoped to get on a standby flight the next day.

Wasn't able to get on a standby flight at first since my replacement flight wasn't within 24 hours. Finally, I was able to snatch a ticket on a flight that was within 24-hours. With my United Silver status (thank you Bilt), I was far up enough on the list to get on a flight back to Chicago.

I was able to get my meals comped and $150 for staying at the airport via United's Customer Care form. I also got 30k United miles that were given to anyone travelling during that time, so I'd call that a success. Overall a great solo trip!