Introduction
Founded in 1951, Japan Airlines (JAL), is the national carrier of Japan, and a part of the Oneworld alliance. As of March 2023, JAL had a fleet strength of 224 aircraft, which it flies to a total of 33 domestic routes and 66 international routes. JAL has a presence in 64 countries and operates out of 376 airports. Like all major airlines, JAL also has an FFP to reward its loyal customers, JAL Mileage Bank (JMB).
However, until a few months ago, many of us wouldn’t have even cared about JMB. The non-popularity of JMB among Indian credit card (CC) enthusiasts is understandable given that there were no direct transfer partner/earning opportunities other than transferring from Marriott Bonvoy (albeit at a poor ratio) or by flying JAL (or a Oneworld alliance partner).
However, since Axis has onboarded JMB as a transfer partner in April 2023, the excitement among everyone is palpable, and rightly so. What if I told you that you can travel to Japan in business class for just 40,000 miles per person one way (which can easily be earned via Axis Magnus credit card in a span of 2 months) or a round-trip economy ticket per person on the same route for just 35,000 miles. Sounds too good to be true? Thankfully, it’s not. Continue reading our article as we cover all the details on how one can extract maximum value out of this FFP.
Status and Eligibility
JMB has a total of 4 status levels for its frequent fliers: Crystal, Sapphire, JGC Premier, and Diamond, of which Crystal is the lowest and Diamond the highest.
Qualifying Criteria
Here are the qualifying criteria for each of the membership status levels:
Status | Crystal | Sapphire | JGC Premier | Diamond |
Qualifying criteria* | Accrued at least 30,000 FLY ON Points (including 15,000 FLY ON Points on JAL Group flights) OR has taken a min. of 30 flights (including at least 15 JAL Group flights) and 10,000 FLY ON Points | Accrued at least 50,000 FLY ON Points (including 25,000 FLY ON Points on JAL Group flights) OR has taken at least 50 flights (including at least 25 JAL Group flights) and 15,000 FLY ON Points | Accrued at least 80,000 FLY ON Points (including 40,000 FLY ON Points on JAL Group flights) OR has taken at least 80 flights (including at least 40 JAL Group flights) and 25,000 FLY ON Points | Accrued at least 100,000 FLY ON Points (including 50,000 FLY ON Points on JAL Group flights) OR has taken at least 120 flights (including at least 60 JAL Group flights) and 35,000 FLY ON Points |
Tier Benefits
Here is the list of benefits for different status levels:
Benefits | Crystal | Sapphire | JGC Premier | Diamond |
Corresponding Oneworld Alliance status | Oneworld Ruby | Oneworld Sapphire | Oneworld Emerald | Oneworld Emerald |
Dedicated reservation desk | For Japan region members only | Check-in through JAL first-class counters | Dedicated Diamond/Premier reservation desk | Dedicated Diamond/Premier reservation desk |
Priority waitlist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advance Front Seat Assignment | Only available on JAL international flights | Available on JAL group flights | Available on JAL group flights | Available on JAL group flights |
Bonus miles accumulation rate based on FLY ON membership level | JAL Group flights: 55%; AA* flights: 55%; BA** flights: 25%; Iberia flights: 25%; Malaysia Airlines^: 25% | JAL Group flights: 105%; AA* flights: 105%; BA** flights: 100%; Iberia flights: 50%; Malaysia Airlines^: 35% | JAL Group flights: 105%; AA* flights: 105%; BA** flights: 100%; Iberia flights: 50%; Malaysia Airlines^: 35% | JAL Group flights: 130%; AA* flights: 130%; BA** flights: 100%; Iberia flights: 100%; Malaysia Airlines^: 50% |
Priority check-in | Only on JAL International flights through JAL business class check-in counters OR JAL domestic flights when flying business class | Check-in through JAL business class counters | Check-in through JAL first-class counters | Check-in through JAL first class counters |
Priority baggage | Only on JAL International flights OR JAL domestic flights when flying business class | ✓ | Highest priority tag | Highest priority tag |
Extra baggage | JAL domestic flight: +10kg; JAL international flight: 1 extra checked bag | JAL domestic flight: +20kg; JAL international flight: 1 extra checked bag | JAL domestic flight: +20kg; JAL international flight: 1 extra checked bag | JAL domestic flight: +20kg; JAL international flight: 1 extra checked bag |
Priority standby | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Special security gate | ❌ | ❌ | At select airports in Japan | At select airports in Japan |
Priority security line | ❌ | ❌ | At select domestic and international airports | At select domestic and international airports |
Priority boarding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Lounge access | Only status holder | Status holder + 1 | Status holder + 3 | Status holder + 3 |
Redemption Eligibility
As per JAL’s definition, apart from the JMB member, the JMB member’s spouse (including domestic partner), the JMB member’s relatives within the second degree of kinship, and the spouses of the JMB member’s brothers/sisters-in-law can be issued an award ticket through JMB member account.
All award tickets for relatives can be booked online or via the India reservation desk through this number (1800-102-4135) between 06:30-15:00 hrs. Customer care would be closed on Saturday, Sunday, and during the Chinese New Year holidays.
Award Ticket Cancellation
Below mentioned is the table containing charges for the cancellation of award tickets.
Type of award ticket | Cancellation charges | Deadline for cancellation |
Domestic | JPY1,000 | 20 minutes prior to the departure of the first flight sector on your booked itinerary |
International | JPY 3,100 | Should be cancelled until 23:59 hrs (departure city time) on the day prior to the commencement of travel. |
Upgrade awards | NA | Cannot be cancelled |
Expiry and Cool-off Period
JMB Miles are valid until the last day of the 36th month from the day they were earned/transferred. For ex., any miles earned/transferred on 1st July 2023, will remain valid until 31st July 2026 i.e., 3 years later. There’s no provision in JMB to extend miles validity by way of earning/transferring points.
A JMB member account should be at least 60 days old to redeem an award ticket.
Earning Miles
As a JMB member, you can earn miles from flights, hotel stays, etc., with the main activity being flying with JAL or with Oneworld alliance partners.
Flying within JAL Group
Flight mileage will be automatically credited to your JMB account when you travel on eligible flights based on the sector mileage specified for the sector(s) traveled and on the accumulation rate for the fare of the purchased ticket.
Sector mileage = mileage based on IATA (International Air Transport Association) Ticketed Point Mileage. One can find sector mileage for JAL group domestic and international flights here.
Accumulation rates = vary on the type of class flown. Below mentioned are different accumulation rates for a number of scenarios:
International flights on JAL:
Domestic flights with JAL group:
For example, if you’re flying from Delhi to Tokyo on JAL in economy class (wherein, the fare type is classified as either Y or B), then one will be eligible to earn a total of 3,656 miles (wherein, 3,656 – is the sector mileage as shown in the image below *100% – which is the accumulation rate for this specific fare type). You can calculate your mileage through the calculator provided by JAL here.
FLY ON Points and How to Earn Them
You must’ve noticed that for earning status with JMB, one has to earn FLY ON points. For every eligible flight you take, you’ll be awarded FLY ON Points in addition to flight miles. Based on the FLY ON Points collected or the number of qualifying flights taken during the previous calendar year, you will receive FLY ON membership status and the corresponding services and benefits for your tier of membership.
The number of FLY ON points is calculated below:
Here, Flight mileage = as per the same calculation shown for earning flight miles
FLY ON point conversion rate = For domestic flights within Japan × 2; JAL flights connecting Japan with Asia, Oceania or Vladivostok × 1.5; and all other international flights: × 1
Bonus FLY ON points as per the table below:
JAL group domestic flights:
JAL international flights:
Continuing with the above example where one had earned 3,656 miles while flying from Delhi to Tokyo on JAL in economy class, one will be eligible to earn 5,884 FLY ON points (3,656 – flight mileage * 1.5 – for JAL flights that connect Asia to Japan + 400 bonus points for applicable booking class i.e. Y or B).
Please note: FLY ON points can only be earned when flying with JAL group or Oneworld alliance partners.
Flying with Partner Airlines
As JAL is a part of the Oneworld alliance, one can earn miles on all eligible fares for flights taken with partner airlines. JAL has also partnered with airlines outside of the Oneworld alliance such as Vistara, China Eastern Airlines, Korean Air, etc. The number of miles earned on these flights would be calculated in the same way as that of JAL group flights, with the major difference being the accumulation rate, which is different for each partner airline. You can find the accumulation rate for each partner airline according to the fare class here.
Hotel Stays
One can also earn JMB miles by staying at partner/participating hotels or booking through Kalingo.com. You can find a list of all the eligible hotels here
Transfer Partners
Flying with JAL or partner airlines is an effective way to earn miles, however, a majority of us end up flying either only 1 to 2 times a year for a holiday trip, and accumulating miles just by flying for such a short span is certainly not enough for that dream redemption. Now here’s where credit card and transfer partners come into play. Many credit cards and hotel programs allow the transfer of points into air miles at a pre-determined ratio. Let’s look at all the credit cards in India and the various hotel programs which allow transfer of points to JMB:
Transfer partner | Ratio |
Axis HNI cards (Reserve, Burgundy Private, and Magnus) | 5 Edge reward points: 4 JMB miles |
Axis Atlas | 1 Edge Mile: 2 JMB miles |
Axis Select & Privilege credit card | 10 Edge reward points: 2 JMB miles |
All other Axis Edge Reward points eligible cards | 20 Edge reward points: 1 JMB miles |
HDFC Diners Black and Infinia* | 1 point: 0.5 JMB mile |
ALL Accor points | 1 point: 0.5 JMB mile |
Marriot Bonvoy (MB) | 3 points: 1 JMB mile** |
IHG One Rewards | 10000 points: 2,000 JMB miles |
Hyatt | 5,000 points: 2,000 JMB miles |
**Bonus of 5,000 miles when transferred in a batch of 60,000 MB points.
To find the review of all the best credit cards in India to earn air miles, you can refer to our article here.
Redeeming Miles and Award Bookings
Now that we’ve looked at the different status levels, how to earn miles, etc. let’s move to the fun part i.e. scoring that dream redemption. Unlike United MileagePlus, Flying Blue, etc. which have now moved towards a dynamic award chart, JMB still employs a fixed mileage award chart for traveling on its own metal and a distance-based award chart for partner airlines.
JMB categorizes its awards into 4 categories:
JAL Domestic Award Tickets
The fixed mileage award chart is divided into seven zones, from A (short-haul) to G (long-haul), depending on the distance between the departure and arrival locations. The mileage varies from 4,000 miles (per person one way) for the shortest route (zone A) to 10,000 miles (zone G) for the longest route.
Zone | Routes | Mileage |
A | Sapporo – Hakodate, Okushiri; Hakodate-Okushiri; Osaka-Tajima, Kochi; Izumo-Oki; Fukuoka-Matsuyama, Tsushima, Goto Fukue, Amakusa, Miyazaki, Kagoshima; Nagasaki-Tsushima, Iki, Goto Fukue; Kumamoto-Amakusa; Kagoshima-Tanegashima, Yakushima; Amamioshima-Kikaijima, Tokunoshima, Yoron; Tokunoshima-Okinoerabu; Okinawa (Naha)-Okinoerabu, Yoron, Kumejima; Ishigaki-Miyako, Yonaguni; Miyako-Tarama; Minamidaito-Kitadaito | 4,000 (Economy); 5,000 (Business) |
B | Sapporo-Rishiri, Memanbetsu, Kushiro, Aomori, Misawa; Tokyo-Sendai, Yamagata, Niigata, Nagoya; Osaka-Matsumoto, Oki, Izumo, Matsuyama; Matsuyama-Kagoshima; Fukuoka-Izumo, Kochi; Okinawa (Naha)-Amamioshima, Miyako | 5,000 (Economy); 6,000 (Business) |
C | Sapporo-Akita, Hanamaki; Tokyo-Akita, Hanamaki, Komatsu, Osaka; Nagoya-Niigata, Izumo, Kochi; Osaka-Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki; Fukuoka-Tokushima, Yakushima; Kagoshima-Kikaijima, Amamioshima, Tokunoshima; Okinawa (Naha)- Ishigaki, Kitadaito, Minamidaito | 6,000 (Economy); 7,000 (Business); 12,500 (First; only on Tokyo-Osaka route) |
D | Sapporo-Akita, Hanamaki; Tokyo-Akita, Hanamaki, Komatsu, Osaka; Nagoya-Niigata, Izumo, Kochi; Osaka-Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki; Fukuoka-Tokushima, Yakushima; Kagoshima-Kikaijima, Amamioshima, Tokunoshima; Okinawa (Naha)- Ishigaki, Kitadaito, Minamidaito | 7,000 (Economy); 8,500 (Business); 15,000 (First; only on Tokyo-Hiroshima route) |
E | Sapporo-Akita, Hanamaki; Tokyo-Akita, Hanamaki, Komatsu, Osaka; Nagoya-Niigata, Izumo, Kochi; Osaka-Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki; Fukuoka-Tokushima, Yakushima; Kagoshima-Kikaijima, Amamioshima, Tokunoshima; Okinawa (Naha)- Ishigaki, Kitadaito, Minamidaito | 8,000 (Economy); 9,500 (Business); 16,000 (First; only on Tokyo-Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kagoshima; and Osaka-Okinawa (Naha) routes) |
F | Sapporo-Akita, Hanamaki; Tokyo-Akita, Hanamaki, Komatsu, Osaka; Nagoya-Niigata, Izumo, Kochi; Osaka-Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki; Fukuoka-Tokushima, Yakushima; Kagoshima-Kikaijima, Amamioshima, Tokunoshima; Okinawa (Naha)- Ishigaki, Kitadaito, Minamidaito | 9,000 (Economy); 11,000 (Business); 18,000 (First; only on Tokyo-Okinawa (Naha) route) |
G | Sapporo- Hiroshima; Tokyo- Amamioshima, Okinawa (Naha); Nagoya- Okinawa (Naha); Osaka- Memanbetsu, Miyako, Ishigaki; Fukuoka- Sapporo; Okinawa (Naha)- Komatsu | 10,000 (Economy); 13,000 (Business); 20,000 (First; only on the Tokyo-Ishigaki route) |
JAL International Award Tickets
JAL International Award Tickets allow you to redeem your miles for travel on JAL international flights. Awards can be redeemed starting at 7,500 miles for one-way travel and 15,000 miles for round-trip travel. JAL has divided mileage based on regions for its award chart which is summarized in various tables below:
East Asia: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Seoul | 7,500 | NA | 18,000 | 30,000 |
Bejing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hongkong, Shanghai, Tianjin, Taipei | 10,000* | 15,000** | 24,000 | 36,000 |
**Only available for Hong Kong and Shanghai sectors.
Southeast Asia/ South Asia: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Bangkok (to/from Tokyo) | 13,500* | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Bangkok (to/from Osaka) | 12,500 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Bengaluru, Delhi | 17,500 | 25,000 | 40,000 | NA |
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh | 13,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Jakarta | 15,500 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Kuala Lumpur | 14,500 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Manila | 10,000 | 15,000 | 24,000 | 36,000 |
Singapore | 12,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Oceania: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Melbourne | 20,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Sydney | 18,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Europe/Russia: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Frankfurt | 23,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
Helsinki | 23,500 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
London | 22,500* | 35,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
Moscow | 17,500 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
Vladivostok | 9,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | NA |
Paris | 26,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
Hawaii: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Honolulu/ Kona | 20,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
North America: To/from Japan (one way per person)
Route / Mileage | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver | 25,000 | 32,500 | 50,000 | 70,000 |
JMB Partner Award Chart
JMB is a part of Oneworld alliance and has partnership with other airlines, which include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Malaysian Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Air France, Bangkok Airways, China Eastern Airlines, Emirates, Hawaiian Airlines, Korean Air, LATAM Airlines, and Vistara.
JMB has 4 distance-based award chart which has different mileage requirements depending on the region to which the member belongs. For ex. if the person is residing in India, in which case, we would need to select the “Asia & Oceania Region”. The different regions specified by JMB are in the image below.
Hence, for our specific purpose, we’ve used the award chart for Asia region, which is summarized below:
Total Distance (in miles) | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
1 -1,000 | 12,000 | 17,000 | 24,000 | 36,000 |
1,001 – 2,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 |
2,001 – 4,000 | 23,000 | 30,000 | 42,000 | 65,000 |
4,001 – 6,000 | 37,000 | 46,000 | 60,000 | 90,000 |
6,001 – 8,000 | 45,000 | 59,000 | 80,000 | 120,000 |
8,001 – 10,000 | 47,000 | 62,000 | 85,000 | 135,000 |
10,001 – 12,000 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 100,000 | 145,000 |
12,001 – 14,000 | 55,000 | 77,000 | 110,000 | 165,000 |
14,001 – 20,000 | 70,000 | 94,000 | 130,000 | 190,000 |
20,001 – 25,000 | 90,000 | 112,000 | 145,000 | 220,000 |
25,001 – 29,000 | 110,000 | 135,000 | 160,000 | 250,000 |
29,001 – 34,000 | 130,000 | 160,000 | 190,000 | 290,000 |
34,001 – 50,000 | 150,000 | 180,000 | 210,000 | 330,000 |
Oneworld Award Chart
While the above partner chart is used for calculating mileage for a single partner, however, if someone is planning that elusive world trip or a multi-city itinerary, JMB has a Oneworld distance-based mileage chart, which allows us to book a multi-city multi-carrier award ticket involving 2 or more Oneworld partners.
Total Distance (in miles) | Economy | Business | First |
1 – 4,000 | 25,000 | 48,000 | 72,000 |
4,001 – 8,000 | 40,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 |
8,001 – 10,000 | 50,000 | 85,000 | 110,000 |
10,001 – 12,000 | 60,000 | 110,000 | 160,000 |
12,001 – 14,000 | 70,000 | 115,000 | 165,000 |
14,001 – 20,000 | 90,000 | 120,000 | 170,000 |
20,001 – 25,000 | 120,000 | 150,000 | 230,000 |
25,001 – 29,000 | 140,000 | 190,000 | 280,000 |
29,001 – 34,000 | 150,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 |
34,001 – 50,000 | 160,000 | 220,000 | 330,000 |
Best use cases
Now that we know the mileage requirement across various sectors and partner airlines, let’s take the JMB award chart for a spin and see the best use cases. Please note that all the fares mentioned in the below itineraries are for one person one-way trip unless mentioned otherwise.
India (Bengaluru/Delhi) to Japan (any international airports) for 17.5k miles (plus ~Rs.15k in taxes) for an economy ticket
This is one of the best use cases of JMB, in our view. JAL has the lowest requirement in miles for the India-Japan route. The next best alternative is to book a JAL flight with Alaska (25k miles) or American Advantage (AA) (22.5k miles). However, both of these programs don’t have any direct credit card transfer partners in India.
A special mention here to Alaska FFP, wherein, one can book a one-stop Cathay Pacific flight to Japan for just 12.5k miles in economy. However, the availability is few and far between.
We were able to see as many as 6 seats available on a particular date and wide open throughout all of the months. One can use the seat availability calendar provided by JAL to see availability across the entire year.
For those who think the tax component is high for an economy ticket, the 2nd sweet spot is just for you!
India (Bengaluru/Delhi) to Japan for 40k miles (plus ~Rs.16k in taxes) for a business-class ticket
This is the cheapest mileage requirement across any of the FFPs for a ticket between India and Japan. Although taxes might look a bit high, in comparison to the revenue rate of ~Rs. 1.3 lacs for either an ANA or JAL for a direct flight from Delhi/Bangalore, the tax amount looks reasonable. Plus, there is wide open availability across the entire year.
The next best alternative is to book ANA via United MileagePlus at 60.5k miles per person one way or JAL via Alaska at 50k miles.
Notable mention of Alaska here as well, where one can get a business class ticket for 22.5k miles on Cathay Pacific. However, finding availability will be like a needle in a haystack.
Domestic flights within Japan (4,000-10,000 miles + ~Rs.500 in taxes) for a economy ticket
Domestic flights within Japan vary between 4,000-10,000 miles per person one way. Popular routes such as Tokyo-Osaka (6,000 miles), Tokyo-Hiroshima (7,000 miles), etc. have wide open availability across the entire year. We even saw the availability of 6 seats in economy on certain dates.
Now that the prices of JR Pass have increased by up to ~77%, the option of flying between cities becomes a no-brainer. One can even choose a business class seat which costs ~1,000-3,000 miles more depending on the route. However, don’t expect a Vistara-level business class seat or service. One will only get drinks service in JAL domestic business class.
The other excellent option is to use United MileagePlus to book ANA flights. All domestic routes within Japan will cost 5.5k miles + ~$3 in taxes. However, before booking on United, we request users to check on either ANA/ Singapore Airlines/ LifeMiles for phantom availability before transferring their hard-earned miles.
Fly cheap on some of Vistara’s International Routes:
Some popular routes such as Delhi to Frankfurt will cost 23k miles in economy, 30k miles in premium economy, and 42k miles in business vs m iggt30k, 55k, and 1.2lac miles respectively on Vistara’s own award chart. Taxes are also low as Vistara doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges.
Other routes include Delhi to Paris, which will cost 46k and 60k miles in premium economy and business class respectively on JAL vis a vis 55k and 1.2Lac miles on Vistara’s own award chart.
One easy and straightforward way to find availability is to call the Vistara helpline number. Singapore Air and United also show Vistara award availability, however, some of them may be phantom award space.
- India to Kenya via Qatar Airways:
Enjoy your Masai Mara safari adventure in style by flying Qatar Airlines for 23k miles in economy and 42k miles in business class (plus ~Rs.5k in taxes). One can book the same itinerary using American AAdvantage miles or Alaska, however, the requirement is higher, as well as there is no direct transfer partner.
Round the world trip through Oneworld partners
Just like everyone used to rave about Cathay Pacific’s award chart for multi-carrier multi-city itineraries, JMB’s Oneworld chart is equally impressive, if not better.
One can plan that elusive world trip on some of the excellent business class/ first class products offered by Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Alaska, and Qatar Airways.
Here’s an example of a round-trip that one can do using JMB. Here we take Cathay Pacific from Mumbai to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to Tokyo, JAL from Tokyo to New York, Alaska from New York to San Francisco, Qatar from San Francisco to Doha, and Doha to Mumbai. The total trip distance is ~24,000 miles, which means one will need only 150,000 JMB miles to book this itinerary, which is an absolute steal.
However, there are a few rules which one must comply with for building such kind of an itinerary:
- For each award, a maximum of 8 flight sectors excluding surface sectors will be permitted in the whole itinerary. In the above example, we would be flying 7 sectors. A surface sector is when you travel independently between two flight points en route to your final destination. For example. If one flies from Mumbai to Bangkok (as a part of his round-the-world trip), and his next flight is from Singapore, the sector from Bangkok-Singapore will be called as a surface sector.
- For each award, a maximum of 7 stopovers (a stay more than 24 hours or surface sector) are permitted in the whole itinerary.
- “One city” can be included 3 times at maximum for the whole itinerary. Stopovers at “one city” are permitted once in the whole itinerary.
- A surface sector is counted to be “one stopover” regardless of the sojourn time.
- The distance of a surface sector will not be included in the total trip distance (miles).
- One-way trips are permitted.
- “Point of origin” and “Final returning point” may be different and those cities may be located in different countries.
- Itineraries cannot back-track to the point of origin in order to continue onwards to a final destination. For ex., one cannot come back from Hong Kong to Mumbai and then fly to Tokyo as a part of the round-trip. The same example can be used for the next condition.
- Itineraries cannot backtrack to the country of origin in order to continue onwards to a third country.
Tips and final thoughts
- One needs to go to https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jmb/ to login into their JMB account and redeem rewards. This might seem silly, however, once you go to JAL’s website, you will find yourself lost rather easily.
- American Airlines and Alaska would be a great starting point to search award availability for Oneworld partners given that they have an option to see calendar view. One can then search on JAL for specific dates.
- Note down your JMB number as you’ll need it every time to login on JAL’s website. JAL doesn’t send you an email stating the membership number in your registration email, hence, if you don’t remember your registration number, the only way to retrieve is to call the customer care.
- Transfer time to JMB from Axis (which is a direct transfer partner) takes at least 7-14 days, in our experience. Hence, one needs to plan well in advance to book award tickets since there’s a chance that the space disappears by the time miles hit your account.
- Use JMB’s calendar view option to search award tickets on JAL’s own metal. This makes it easier to search award space across the entire year.
- Taxes and surcharges are low for airlines which don’t pass them to partners. For ex., Vistara, Qatar, Sri Lankan, etc.
All in all, JAL Mileage Bank is a great addition to the various FFPs which serve as a transfer partner to Indian credit card holders. The program can be peculiar, difficult to navigate, and irritating at times, however, the rewards can be magnificent.
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