Find Flights for Me Recap: Week ending 2/1/26

This is the one section I hope you read about this week or at least revisit. It’s a bit bulky, but there’s a lot of good education in this section.

I’m surprised this transfer bonus is back, but Capital One points now has a 30% transfer bonus to Japan Airlines (JAL) again for the entire month of February. Prior to the bonus, Capital One points transferred at a 4:3 ratio, so every 1,000 Capital One points transferred became 750 JAL miles. With the 30% bonus, you’ll now get 1,000 Capital One points becomes 975 JAL miles, so nearly 1:1.

So what’s the big deal?

JAL has more award availability for flights compared to booking JAL flights through partner airlines (like AA, Alaska, Finnair, etc.). Additionally, there are some pretty good redemption rates when booking partner awards as a round-trip (more details below). In addition to Capital One, Bilt transfers 1:1 to JAL, and Marriott transfers 3:1. As you can see, it can be relatively hard to get JAL miles as there aren’t many options.

If you don’t already have a JAL account, you should certainly create one now. It’s free, and they should still mail you a physical membership card, which is cool. However, you usually can’t book a JAL award until 60 days after account opening. However, it’s been reported (Reddit) that if you transfer miles from Bilt or Capital One that this waiting period is shortened to 7 days.

In addition to JAL having more award availability between the US and Japan on their own metal (their own planes), JAL has great rates for booking partner awards. Pricing may not always be at the cheapest rate of 55k points, but there are different buckets of pricing. There’s usually ok availability at the 75-80k points rate and pretty decent at the 110k rate.

There’s also an award calendar but it seems to be somewhat inaccurate. You can visit the JAL site here and click on 1) International, 2) Award Tickets, 3) International Award Tickets Seat Availability Calendar Check to find it. You’ll need to be logged in to view.

Here’s what the calendar looks like from JFK to HND. It’s showing prime time availability June for 75k points in business class one way on the newer A350. However… when you click through it will actually be at a higher rate.

But you can get a bit lucky and plan far out, there’s 55k award availability for 2!

JAL Mileage Bank program provides great partner award redemption rates

JAL is part of Oneworld and there are some great awards you can book through Oneworld. Iberia for North America/Spain; American Airlines for all over; and British Airways for North America/Europe. JAL also has some partnerships with other airlines not in Oneworld including Air France, JetBlue (ending on March 31 though), and Emirates.

The sweet spot comes from JAL’s award chart based on total trip distance and not passing on all fuel surcharges. Total trip distance is important because booking a round-trip counts as a total trip instead of two separate one-way flights. So,

JAL sweet spot examples (see chart below)

Other readings on JAL mileage bank

Thrifty Traveler details on round-trip bookings

Reddit guide on JAL Mileage Bank

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JAL updated their 2026 flight schedules and it has led to people on the ORD-TYO routes to have schedule changes. Someone on Reddit said they were able to move to a JFK-TYO flight (exception to the norm, as usually you need to stay within a certain distance of the original airport but if you don’t ask, you won’t get!)

Although stressful as your original plans might be in limbo, I like to think of schedule changes as an opportunity to potentially come out ahead. It’s like a “get out of jail” card where you could potentially rebook to a more convenient routing, extend your vacation by changing dates, or even fly on a nicer plane. You could even get a combination of the three.

Strategically, you might even book a saver award (or even cash ticket) that goes from point A→B→C because it’s cheaper than booking A→C directly. But a schedule change or flight cancellation on that itinerary means you could potentially rebook on A→C at no additional cost.

My checklist if I get a schedule change email

1) See if the airline has already rebooked you or offered different flight options on their website
2) Make sure the options are acceptable to you including the dates, airline, routing, and cabin class. Then make sure the changes are confirmed if required.
3) If you are unhappy with the schedule change, go on Google Flights and search the original route to see what flights are available. Try to stay within the same airline alliance or airline partnership (Oneworld flight cancelled/changed, find another Oneworld flight).
4) Call the airline (I avoid chat as usually chat reps are not as empowered) and propose they move you to the new routing/airline you found online. Note that it may not always be possible to rebook on a partner airline when it comes to rebooking award travel but many airlines have a liaison for situations like these to open up award space for partners.
5) If step 4 doesn’t work, hang up and call again (HUCA) and explain there was an involuntary schedule change and you’re hoping to reroute without taking on much burden. Again, maybe it works maybe it doesn’t.

Hyatt and/or all-inclusive lovers rejoice. 22 all-inclusive properties under the Bahia Principe Hotel & Resorts flag will be joining Hyatt on March 24, 2026. Details here on Hyatt site.

These properties will start at 12k Hyatt points a night (off-peak) and will be subject to Hyatt’s elite program where Hyatt elite members earn 5x points per $1 spent and on-property benefits as well.

The 22 properties are in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Jamaica) Mexico (Riviera Maya), and Spain (Tenerife and Mallorca). Check out all of them here on the Bahia Principe site.

Fly Emirates business class between New York (EWR) and Athens (ATH). This is currently on a 777 with all lie-flat seats in business class in a 1-2-1 configuration. So all seats have direct aisle access.

Dates below are saver dates bookable on partners such as JAL and Qantas. Booking direct on Emirates has much more availability.

Transfer partners:
Amex: Transfers 5:4 to Emirates and 1:1 to Qantas
Bilt: Transfers 1:1 to Emirates and 1:1 to JAL
Capital One: Transfers 4:3 to Emirates, 4:3 to JAL (1,000 to 975 with 30% bonus now), and 1:1 to Qantas
Chase: None
Citi: Transfers 5:4 to Emirates, 1:1 to Qantas

Book with:
Emirates: 87k miles and $434-476 in tax/fees one-way. Potential to book a round-trip for 108k miles and ~$910 in tax/fees round-trip.
JAL: 60k miles and ~$100 in tax/fees one-way or 85k miles and ~$250 in tax/fees round trip
Qantas: 98.4k miles and $434-472 in tax/fees one-way

Routes:
EWR-ATH
February: 4, 6, 7, 10, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25
March: 1-3, 11, 15, 17, 18
October: 14, 21, 26, 28, 29
November: 2, 4, 5, 9, 19, 26

ATH-EWR
February: 12-14, 19
March: 3, 4, 11, 17, 18, 26, 30
April: 1, 6, 15, 23, 29, 30
May: 1, 8, 20
November: 11, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 27
December: 1-3, 7-10, 14, 15

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