INDEX
- What is an award ticket?
- Renewal points and how to use them
- Miles required vary depending on distance
- You can board flights with limited availability or when they are crowded with passengers for extra miles.
- Why not enjoy a great deal on a long vacation and avoid the peak season?
- How about a slightly luxurious trip home for the New Year holidays?
- Enjoy smart connecting travel with award tickets
- Cancellation fees are low. You can rest assured even if you have to cancel due to an unexpected reason.
- How to book domestic flight award tickets
- Randomly select your destination with the great "Dokokani Miles" service
- If you use JAL domestic award tickets effectively, traveling with miles will become more accessible.
JAL offers a variety of programs based on the miles you have accumulated. In particular, JAL Domestic Award Tickets have been well received by many customers, and we have now renewed them for flights from April 2023 onwards.
What is an award ticket?
First of all, an award ticket is a service that allows you to make reservations and board flights using accumulated miles. The service provided is no different from the general purchase method. There are various ways to use the miles you have accumulated on business trips, etc., such as "rewarding yourself for your hard work" or booking your usual trips at a slightly cheaper price.
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Renewal points and how to use them
And in the spring of 2023, the domestic flight award ticket program was renewed to be even more convenient. By choosing weekdays and times, you can still get great deals with fewer miles as before, and you can now make reservations by adding miles even during busy periods such as weekends, Golden Week, and summer vacation, when award ticket slots were often unavailable in the past. In addition, while previously only economy class and Class J seats were available for reservation, first class seats are now also eligible. In addition, the cancellation fee when canceling has been reduced to one-third.
So, how exactly will it change and how can you use it? Let's take a look at how to travel with reward tickets using miles.
Miles required vary depending on distance
In line with this renewal, the division of the required number of miles for each route has changed. Short distances are more advantageous. There are seven zones, from A (short-distance routes) to G (long-distance routes), depending on the distance between departure and arrival points. The specific basic number of miles and flight examples are as follows.
| A Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 4,000 miles, Class J 5,000 miles ●Applicable routes Sapporo - Hakodate, Fukuoka - Miyazaki, Kagoshima - Yakushima, Okinawa (Naha) - Kumejima, etc. |
| B Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 5,000 miles, Class J 6,000 miles ●Applicable routes Sapporo-Aomori, Tokyo-Nagoya, Osaka-Izumo, Okinawa (Naha)-Miyako, etc. |
| C Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 6,000 miles, Class J 7,000 miles, First class 12,500 miles ●Applicable routes Tokyo-Akita, Tokyo-Osaka, Osaka-Fukuoka, Fukuoka-Yakushima, Okinawa (Naha)-Ishigaki, etc. |
| D Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 7,000 miles, Class J 8,500 miles, First class 15,000 miles ●Applicable routes Sapporo-Sendai, Tokyo-Hakodate, Tokyo-Hiroshima, Nagoya-Fukuoka, Osaka-Kagoshima, etc. |
| E Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 8,000 miles, Class J 9,500 miles, First class 16,000 miles ●Applicable routes Tokyo-Sapporo, Tokyo-Fukuoka, Nagoya-Sapporo, Osaka-Okinawa (Naha), Fukuoka-Okinawa (Naha), etc. |
| F Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 9,000 miles, Class J 11,000 miles, First class 18,000 miles ●Applicable routes Tokyo-Okinawa (Naha), Nagoya-Okinawa (Naha), Osaka-Ishigaki, Fukuoka-Sapporo, Okinawa (Naha)-Komatsu, etc. |
| G Zone | ●Basic mileage Economy class 10,000 miles, Class J 13,000 miles, First class 20,000 miles ●Applicable routes Tokyo-Ishigaki, Nagoya-Miyako, etc. |
For details on the number of miles required, please visit the following website.
JAL Domestic Award Ticket Required Miles
You can board flights with limited availability or when they are crowded with passengers for extra miles.
With the introduction of the "JAL Domestic Award Ticket PLUS," even if there are no more seats available for reservations using basic miles, you can now reserve a flight if there are seats available by adding 100 miles or more. For example, in the Tokyo-Osaka example below, with the previous award ticket, you would often only be able to choose JAL101 or JAL125, which had seats available in the award slots, but with the new system, you can choose and reserve the flight that is most convenient for you by adding miles.
Example: Tokyo (Haneda) - Osaka (Itami) on a weekend
Even during busy seasons such as weekends, Obon, and the New Year holidays, you can now travel easily by using additional miles to reserve flights on your desired dates and at convenient times.
Why not avoid the busy times and enjoy a slightly more affordable trip?
If seats are available on weekdays and holidays, you can fly for the lowest base mileage. For example, a busy early morning flight might cost 8,000 miles one way, but a late morning flight might cost just 6,000 miles.
Please consider adjusting your itinerary to enjoy great value travel with fewer miles.
How about a slightly luxurious trip home for the New Year holidays?
As a change from the previous system, you can now use your miles to purchase award tickets even during peak seasons and peak times. You can even use your miles to make reservations during Obon and New Year's holidays, when flights are often fully booked.
For such trips, we recommend upgrading your seat to enjoy a more relaxed flight. Previously, you could reserve economy class seats or Class J with an award ticket, but from now on, you can also reserve First Class with miles. Also, if there are seats available in Class J or First Class on the day of departure, you can upgrade your seat for a set fee. Even if you are using an award ticket, you can use the lounge if you are flying First Class.
Enjoy smart connecting travel with award tickets
Previously, when transferring with an award ticket, miles were required for each section, but with the renewal, they are now treated as one itinerary. This makes the number of miles much more affordable. For example, if you fly from Tokyo to Yoron Island via Kagoshima, you can book from 9,000 miles, instead of the total of 15,000 miles if you book each section separately.
iStock/wataru aoki
Since the number of miles required for short routes has decreased, why not use your miles to visit remote islands in Kagoshima or Okinawa that you have never been to before?
Cancellation fees are low. You can rest assured even if you have to cancel due to an unexpected reason.
The cancellation fee has been reduced from 3,100 yen to 1,000 yen. You cannot change the reservation of an award ticket, but the discounted cancellation fee will allow you to get back the miles you used for the reservation. (Only miles that are valid at the time of refund)
iStock/maruco
From now on, you can book with peace of mind even if there is a risk of cancellation due to an urgent work request or your child having a fever.
How to book domestic flight award tickets
Now let's actually try reserving an award ticket using miles. First, log in to the official JAL website and select "Flights & Services" from the menu. Press "Award Tickets" in the center of the screen and select "View Award Ticket Menu." In this example, select "JAL Domestic Award Tickets" under "Domestic Flights."
Select "Round trip (or any two sections)" or "One-way (1 section)" according to your preference. Let's try reserving a one-way ticket for one adult from Tokyo (Haneda) to Osaka (Itami).
For economy class, the first flight at 6:30am costs 6,000 miles, but the busier 7:30am flight costs 8,500 miles. For the 6:30am flight, which requires fewer miles, choose Class J for a slightly more luxurious option.
Next, just like with a regular reservation, enter your customer information and reserve your seat. Finally, confirm your reservation, enter your credit card information (only if you are using a route to or from an airport that is subject to the domestic Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)), and click "Complete Procedure" to complete your reservation.
Randomly select your destination with the great "Dokokani Miles" service
There are many other ways to use your miles. For domestic flights, we recommend the "Dokokani Miles" service. This allows you to book a round-trip ticket to "somewhere" within Japan for 7,000 miles.
When you say "somewhere," you just enter the departure point and desired date and time, and four possible destinations are suggested, from which one is chosen at random. You can make reservations up to one month in advance, so it may be perfect for a casual trip.
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If you use JAL domestic award tickets effectively, traveling with miles will become more accessible.
By making good use of the newly redesigned JAL Domestic Award Tickets, air travel will become more accessible. At the same time, you will surely find more ways to enjoy flying. Make good use of your accumulated miles and use them to help you with your travels.
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The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
