Japan Airlines is likely going to become a transfer partner of Bilt within the next few weeks, but in the meantime there’s a new way to book award flights with them, this time using JetBlue TrueBlue points.
Availability currently seems to be very hit or miss, but if you can find award flights bookable with TrueBlue points, there could be some good value to be had.
The nonstop flight from New York JFK to Tokyo Haneda is available in economy for 34,500 points.
Premium economy meanwhile can be had for 59,000 points from Los Angeles to Osaka. That’s not good value, so it’s not worth redeeming almost 60k points for that.
A much better option – if you can find the availability – is the nonstop option from Seattle to Tokyo Narita in business class. That too is only 59,000 points.
At the moment you only appear to be able to book in economy, premium economy or business class – not first class.
Bear in mind that you can also book Japan Airlines awards through other programs like American Airlines AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, so it’s worth checking award pricing across programs because depending on the route, you might be able to do better elsewhere.
JetBlue TrueBlue is a transfer partner with the following programs:
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Capital One miles
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Citi ThankYou
Of those, Amex and Capital One offer a poor transfer ratio of 250:200 and 1,000:600 respectively. Those programs are therefore only worth considering in the event of a generous transfer bonus. Chase and Citi meanwhile transfer on a 1:1 basis so those will generally be better options depending on your balances in each program.
If you’re interested in booking Japan Airlines flights with JetBlue points, it could be prudent to do that sooner rather than later. JetBlue has form for launching partner awards at one rate and then having buyer’s remorse and thus swiftly increasing award pricing. Fingers crossed that this competitive pricing remains – particularly for business class awards – but don’t be too surprised if it doesn’t.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Is Jet Blue showing the same award inventory on JAL as AA, AS, and BA? meaning if I don’t see award inventory on either of those 3, can I assume it won’t show on Jet Blue either?
I would also add that AMEX charges that excise tax for jetBlue whereas Citi and Chase doesn’t.
Also, I’m seeing a Carrier Imposed Surcharge of $199.80 at checkout on B6, this is for the BOS-NRT route in economy.
Are you sure that JetBlue isn’t passing on surcharges? The search option shows taxes and fees of $205 for business class for SEA-NRT route, which sounds like a surcharge to me.
I didn’t think they were, but it looks like I was mistaken – I’ve fixed that.