[First Class Deal Alert] 2 seats on Japan Airlines First Class

Routes: ORD-HND, ORD-NRT,

Airline: Japan Airlines

Programs to book with: British Airways, Cathay, Japan Airlines

Travel timeline: September 2026

Cost: Starting at 123.75k points and ~$200-237 in tax/fees each way before transfer bonuses

Transfer partners: American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Wells Fargo

Summary: Take advantage of a rare opportunity to book 2 first-class seats (it’s the older-but-still-really-nice one) between the US and Asia. There’s a handful of dates in mid-to-late September 2026. This is a rare phenomenon as JAL generally only releases 1 first-class seat until potentially closer to the departure date. Only 96k Chase points required with 30% transfer bonus to British Airways!

Also, you can’t use AA miles because you can only use AA miles to book as far as 331 days in advance. These dates are outside of that window.

ORD to NRT
September: 14, 15, 17, 19-24, 28

NRT to ORD
September: 16, 17, 21-24, 27, 28

HND to ORD
September: 23

There are more dates in September through early October that have only 1 first-class seat.

British Airways: 123.75k points + ~$200-237 in tax/fees one-way. $55 change/cancel fee
Cathay Pacific: 135k points + ~$200-237 in tax/fees one-way. $120 cancel fee or $50 change fee
Japan Airlines: 125k points + ~$196-237 in tax/fees one-way. 3,100 JPY change/cancel fee

Credit cards that transfer
Amex: British Airways, Cathay
Bilt: British Airways, Cathay, JAL
Capital One: British Airways, Cathay, JAL (1 to 0.975 rate until 10/22, then 1 to 0.75 afterwards)
Chase: British Airways
Citi: British Airways (by transfer to Qatar first), Cathay
Wells Fargo: British Airways

Transfer bonuses: Chase 30% to British Airways, Capital One 30% to JAL (makes it 1 to 0.75 rate to 1 to 0.975 rate)

JAL points are likely to become a more popular option to book award flights in the future. Capital One recently added JAL as a transfer partner and Rakuten payouts may soon be paid out as Bilt points (1:1 JAL transfer partner).

However, I noticed that the first class award flights I found are generally only bookable with partners such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. Most days that I found availability are not bookable on JAL’s own program.

1) Searching for dates that have 2 seats is a somewhat manual process. I prefer using British Airways to search. Once you find dates on the British Airways site, book with your preferred program.

2) On the British Airways site, log in and choose “Book” on the top of the screen, then choose “Book a flight with Avios”

3) On the search screen, input your dates, destinations, choose “One way only”, and choose either business/club or first class as your preferred cabin. Then hit “Get flights” to search.

4) Find dates that have the number of seats you want, double-check availability with the program you plan to use, then transfer points to book!

Currently, the route is serviced by JAL’s 777-300ER with their JAL Suite first class. There are 8 first-class seats onboard in a 1-2-1 arrangement. I’m hearing that flights to Japan are now loaded up with the fancy Salon champagne as well ($1,000+ bottle of champagne wow!).

Review #1 SFO-HND (One Mile at a Time)
Review #2 BKK-TYO-ORD (Frequent Miler)
Review #3 LAX-NRT (Live and Lets Fly)
YouTube Video Review (Nonstop Dan)

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About Find Flights for Me.

I started the idea of Find Flights for Me back in 2023 to help educate and inspire people to use their credit card points more effectively, with a focus on using points to fly business and first class flights.

When I’m not working on Wall Street or searching for flight deals, you can find me planning for my upcoming wedding, enjoying local restaurants, helping my parents book their next trip, traveling internationally, or visiting friends/family in NYC, Philadelphia, or DC.