Japan Airlines First Class Wide Open to Australia for 60,000 American Airlines Miles

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Japan Airlines First Class space is widely available for 1-4 people per flight between Tokyo and Sydney in 2017 for only 60,000 American Airlines miles each way, one of the rare First Class sweet spots on the new award chart.

Japan Airlines First Class is one of the nicest products in the world, and right now you can get all the miles you need to book this trip from Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®, which is offering 60,000 bonus American Airlines miles and Admirals Club lounge membership for a limited time.

You can very cheaply book Japan Airlines First Class with American Airlines miles as part of a larger trip that includes both Asia and Australia.

• How good is Japan Airlines First Class?
• Where does Japan Airlines fly?
• How many miles do you need between Tokyo and Sydney? How many miles from the United States to Sydney?
• How can you search for and book the award space?
• How can you get American Airlines miles?

How good is Japan Airlines First Class?

Japan Airlines First Class is a world class flat bed enclosed in a suite.

I haven’t flown the product personally, but everything looks top notch and Asian airlines have the best service in my experience.

Here’s a tour of the plane.

Where does Japan Airlines fly?

The only Japan Airlines plane with First Class is the 777-300ER. Seasonally, Japan Airlines adds its 777-300ER to its Tokyo-Narita to Sydney route.

Japan Airlines also flies its 777-300ER to America, specifically between Tokyo and San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

The San Francisco route flies to Tokyo-Haneda, so it doesn’t connect to the flight to Sydney. The others fly to Tokyo-Narita. From either airport, you can connect throughout Asia.

How Many Miles Does the Award Cost?

Despite American Airlines’ devaluation in March, Japan Airlines First Class is still cheap. American charges only:

• 60,000 miles one way in First Class between the Japan (Asia 1) and Australia (South Pacific)

You cannot route from the United States to Australia via Japan on a single American Airlines award. You’d have to pay for one award from the United States to Japan and a second award to Australia. American charges:

• 80,000 miles one way in First Class between the United States and Japan

I realize almost no one reading this blog lives in Australia or Japan, but I still think highlighting these foreign deals is important because, hey, why not dream big and book a round-the-world trip as a series of one way awards?

How Can You Search and Book the Award Space?

Search on ba.com. At the moment, I see one First Class seat on many flights from Sydney to Tokyo during the Australian summer.

In April 2017, the Australian fall, there are four First Class award seats on many flights from Sydney to Tokyo.

If you’d prefer a redeye, the Tokyo to Sydney flight also has four First Class award seats on many April 2017 flights.

Note the date, cabin, and flight number of the award space you like.

If necessary, pair it with other airlines’ award space you find on ba.com as part of a segment-by-segment searching strategy. Once you’ve found all your space, call American Airlines at 800-882-8880 to book the award by feeding the agent the date, cabin, and flight number of each flight. There is no longer a phone booking fee to book awards that cannot be booked at aa.com, so you’ll just pay the miles plus taxes.

Pay your award taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges with the Citi Prestige® Card. The first $250 in award taxes, fuel surcharges, airfare, or airline fees per calendar year are refunded to you as a statement credit. If you’ve already maxed out the statement credit, you will still earn 3x ThankYou Points on the award taxes.

Alternatively, instead of booking now, you can put the award space on hold for five days for free when you call American Airlines.

How Can You Get American Airlines Miles?

For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® comes with 60,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $5,000 in the first three month. The card also gives the main cardholder Admirals Club lounge membership (and up to 32 other people Admirals Club access.)

The card has a $450 annual fee, but the miles and lounge access will make that worth paying for many people.

Bottom Line

Book–or put on hold–Japan Airlines First Class award space between Japan and Australia today with your American Airlines miles. Japan Airlines First Class suites are world class, American Airlines’ award chart is underpriced on the route, and 1-4 First Class award seats on many flights in 2017.