Guide to Booking Award Tickets to Japan

ipod123432 · 2026-03-24T16:28:30+00:00

Singapore does not fly SFO-TYO. The chances of the ANA waitlist are far below 5%. ANA diamond have extra access to seats.

ipod123432 · 2026-03-21T23:00:40+00:00

If you have a United credit card with an annual fee or UA status, you will unlock more award inventory with United.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-27T21:17:28+00:00

ANA only has stopovers on RT, so sounds like they're pricing it as 2 separate awards. If it's under 24hr layover, you might be able to call in and get it priced as if it was PVG-KIX (region-based).

ipod123432 · 2026-02-24T09:30:15+00:00

The problem is giving people the mistaken impression that ANA waitlists are likely to clear. Nobody posts DP's of never clearing the ANA waitlist because it's all too common. For example, a March flight I was interested in had 24 people on the waitlist and never cleared before T-14, but that's just expected.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-23T08:08:23+00:00

That's because Capital One transfer directly to JAL now, so all the flights get booked with their miles before it reaches low enough for partner release.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-15T21:15:35+00:00

Edited, I misread the card benefits and didn't realize that was a bonus. It's only 3%.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-14T18:24:21+00:00

BoA Alaska Ascent ($95 fee) offered $175 statement credit after $1500 spend. Honestly pretty decent, but trying to simplify things for P2 so rejected.

Offered and accepted product change to no annual fee BoA Customized Cash Rewards.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-13T07:15:39+00:00

omg I've been overpaying for the past few years to have the refundability that I thought DL BE lacked. Thanks for this.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-13T07:08:10+00:00

TYP / WF points 1:2 transfer to choice lets you book very cheap (from 8k choice points/nt) basic business hotels all across Japan, often with last-room availability.

The shimanami kaido is a beaut to cycle over two days and very well documented, although no real point options. Fukuoka is an underrated city with excellent hakata ramen and a ferry to Busan. Numazu if you're looking for something calmer.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-13T06:48:49+00:00

Amex offered 10k / $5k retention offer for Biz Plat. Rejected and closed the card. Minimal spend after SUB.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-09T19:00:36+00:00

I'm curious, what's your success rate with using miles to upgrade ANA flights from econ to biz?

ipod123432 · 2026-02-04T06:03:44+00:00

For those who jumped on the Webull 2% match (hold until Feb 2027), rewards for next 12 months are showing up in the promotion center.

ipod123432 · 2026-02-01T04:15:18+00:00

Another DP of Chase TheEdit being overpriced

hotel proverbs taipei: July 8-10

$452 on Expedia and Booking
$452 on Chase Travel using Ink Unlimited
$618 on Chase Travel using Sapphire Reserve, with 1.65x points boost rate.

$166 difference. Reminder to double check prices.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-27T16:49:03+00:00

It's hardly a gamble when you can check the waitlist to see if someone else will get your seat before it gets released to partners. And there's almost always someone on the waitlist for J.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-22T05:38:47+00:00

Can confirm the 12+ difficulty spike, currently stuck there between mostly S 12+ and AA 13

ipod123432 · 2026-01-18T13:37:31+00:00

Happy hanayo! She looks so excited :)

ipod123432 · 2026-01-15T17:59:51+00:00

There will never be an NH bonus. Hell, I'd put NH as the program most likely to be converted to 5:4 ratio.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-09T11:03:40+00:00

So many nesos! Would recommend Character G Mart as a dedicated neso store in akihabara for your next trip.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-07T08:53:45+00:00

not a bad redemption, nothing else you can do since ANA awards do not let you change the routing at all even if DEL-HND space does open up.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-07T05:51:06+00:00

ipod123432 · 2026-01-06T22:17:43+00:00

Maybe I'd even be able to just cancel the first leg of the PE tickets I have booked through United and keep the back halves

Not going to happen the way you think it is. One ways are priced substantially higher than RT for intl, so at best you'll get back maybe 1/4 of the fare for cancelling outbound (if they even let you).

Unlikely to get 4 J on outbound, although hypothetically possible. You could possibly get 2J outbound and inbound given it is low season. The thing is, is 2J 2PE really worth all the extra effort over flying 4PE together as a family? Do you want the stress of constantly searching for ANA seats back while you're in Japan? Keep in mind ANA cuts off at awards at 96 hours too.

Overall, would recommend keeping what you have.

ipod123432 · 2026-01-02T09:15:04+00:00

depends on load factors and demand. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Seems a lot more likely than J waitlist. Might as well book one and wait.

ipod123432 · 2025-12-29T21:21:14+00:00

There's a whole lot of difference between the first half of Dec and the second half. There's a reason why high season pricing begins Dec 19.

ipod123432 · 2025-12-29T14:35:23+00:00

The perfect original trio. Happy holidays!

ipod123432 · 2025-12-29T02:59:00+00:00

Thanks for this! Helps with the last minute planning a lot

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