Book dirt cheap Japan domestic flights [UPDATED 2020]

Amin Benzaza

British Airways Executive Club (BAEC) Avios miles will give a lot of value on your reward flights. Fly domestic Japan with Japan Airlines is a mind-boggling deal. See details and how to make it happen.

Travel Domestic In Japan

For many of us Japan is a destination we dream of. A far-away insular land with strong idiosyncratic cultural traits we often  look forward to. However as a Canadian traveller you need to budget carefully as domestic transportation in Japan can be expensive. The Shinkansen train is great and you cannot us it to go across the country, it’s just too expensive. But there is a way to fly across Japan’s three major islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu & far away Okinawa).

I’ll use the following itinerary Tokyo (HND) – Sapporo (CTS) – Fukuoka (FUK) – Osaka (ITM) flying Japan Airlines (JAL). As a Canadian resident you can burn your British Airways Avios points towards the entire trip. Here’s how:

Map of Japan with Tokyo-Sapporo- Fukuoka- Osaka route
Map of Japan with Tokyo-Sapporo- Fukuoka- Osaka route
 

Fly Domestic Japan With British Airways Executive Club Avios Points

Leg 1 : Tokyo-Sapporo

Flight 1 – Tokyo (HND) – Sapporo (CTS):         6,000 Avios – C$8.76

 

Leg 2 : Sapporo-Fukuoka

Flight 2 – Sapporo (CTS) – Fukuoka (FUK):      9,000 Avios – C$3.33

 

Leg 3 : Fukuoka-Osaka

Flight 3 – Fukuoka (FUK) – Osaka (ITM):          6,000 Avios – C$3.21

Leg 4 : Osaka- Tokyo

Flight 4 –  Osaka (ITM):          6,000 Avios – C$6.79

With 17 flights a day, there is plenty of seats to be had on the Osaka-Tokyo shuttle. The inventory only shows up to 2 to 3 months in advance. So if you have plans in one year from now, don’t panic. Wait for it, it’ll show.

FLY TO THE JAPANESE ISLANDS

OKINAWA: FROM TOKYO

Japan Airlines airlines flies Tokyo to Naha (OKA), Okinawa seven times a day in the summer season. All flights depart from Haneda (HND) which is conveniently in the city of Tokyo. The airliner uses long range wide-body jets: B767s and B777s. Japan Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance. Which means I can burn my British Airways Avios (BAEC) on Japan Airlines reward flights. So how much Avios for an Okinawa flight?

Haneda-Okinawa JAL flight using BAEC Avios
Haneda-Okinawa JAL reward flight using BAEC Avios

9,000 Avios and $5.01 in taxes for a one-way ticket in July 2019.
I didn’t bother showing Aeroplan’s numbers: I wasn’t shown any result.

OKINAWA: FROM OSAKA

Japan Airlines flies 6 daily flights to Naha out of Osaka’s Itami (ITM).  When I requested a reward flight on my British Airways Executive Club account, this is the result I got:

Itami-Okinawa JAL flight using BAEC Avios
Itami-Okinawa JAL reward flight using BAEC Avios

Again a great reward value of 9,000 Avios and $4.65 in fees or taxes. Before British Airways made changes to oneworld partners reward tickets, the fees were 0$.

VERDICT

It’s hard to get a better deal than that should you fly to Okinawa. Since Aeroplan would not give me any result, I won’t do the comparison. How can I earn the most amount of British Airways Avios to redeem this great flight? We will share the answer on Amin On Miles Club on Facebook.

Conclusion

So there you go, you just went across Japan for C$22.09 in taxes & airport fees and by burning a mere 27,000 British Airways Avios.

In Canada, RBC and British Airways have a co-branded credit card, you can also transfer your RBC Rewards Points towards British Airways Avios.

If you want to know how to do this, or for any question, please contact me via my Facebook page.

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