How to Fly Business Class to Japan for Free

With the right combination of travel rewards credit cards, you can get almost anywhere for practically free. For example, if you earn points in one of the four major credit card programs, you can use those points to book free flights through their travel portals:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital One Venture Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards

You can also transfer those points to a variety of airline partner programs, turning them into frequent flyer miles. Miles awards tend to have at least a few fees, but they're often quite minimal.

If you want to transfer your points and/or use airline miles directly, here are some of the best options I could find.

American Airlines

I found the most award availability -- and the most affordable awards -- through American Airlines (AA). If you're leaving from the West Coast, you can fly via Japan Airways or on an AA plane for just 60,500 AAdvantage miles and $5.60 in fees.

From the East Coast, the cheapest award I could find was 84,500 miles plus $11.20. This is actually really great for lie-flat business class from JFK to LAX and then business class to Japan from there.

Earning American Airlines miles

The downside to AA awards is that the miles can be harder to earn than other programs, since AA isn't a transfer partner of the big four programs.

As such, the easiest ways to earn AA miles is through the AA cobranded credit cards. You earn AA miles directly with spend (and welcome bonuses), plus your purchases count toward AA elite status.

Technically, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to AA (and other airlines), but this is a wretched idea in most cases. Transfers are at a 3:1 rate, meaning you only get 1 mile for every 3 Bonvoy points you transfer. This represents a big devaluation and will rarely be worthwhile.

Alaska Airlines

Another surprisingly affordable place to find award space to Japan is Alaska Airlines. While availability wasn't great, it was there, and I found a few trips from the West Coast to Tokyo for just 75,000 Alaska Airlines miles plus $19 in fees via Japan Airways.

Earning Alaska Airlines miles

Again, earning Alaska miles isn't easy because the airline isn't a transfer partner for the big four travel rewards programs. However, you can get cobranded Alaska Airlines credit cards through Bank of America that earn Alaska MileagePlan miles. (You can also do the Marriott transfer described above, but again, generally a terrible idea.)

United Airlines

Another place you can find moderately well-priced award tickets is through United's website. I found a few awards from LAX to Tokyo for 110,000 United MileagePlus miles and $12.90 in fees on Asiana Airlines aircraft.

Folks trying to leave from the East Coast will have to fork over way more points. The best I could find from JFK ran 200,000 miles plus $5.60 in fees.

Earning United Airlines miles

What works in United's favor here is that the miles are easier to get than some of these other options due to its partnership with Chase. You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United at a 1:1 rate. (I've seen some 100,000 welcome bonuses on Chase credit cards before!) Plus, there are also several United cobranded cards to earn miles directly.

ANA Mileage Club

ANA is one of Japan's home airlines, so it's worth a mention. ANA publishes an award chart that suggests one-way business class award fares start at 105,000 miles (it used to be 85,000 but was recently updated).

As far as actually finding those awards goes, however -- well, it didn't go. ANA is notorious for having sparse award space, and I was stymied on every route and date I tried. No matter what combos I tried, everything got hit with the dreaded "Waitlist." (Worse yet, it claims seats are available on one page, then hits you with the Waitlist the next!)

ANA via Virgin Atlantic

I've seen a lot of folks online say you can book ANA flights using Virgin Atlantic miles. Since ANA flights have gotten more expensive, this could potentially be a good way to use fewer miles. However, you can't book these flights online. You'd have to call to make it happen.

Availability changes constantly

Availability can change from day to day or even from hour to hour. So if you don't find an award that suits your needs, consider watching and waiting for a bit. Either check the airline's app regularly, or sign up for one of the many services that will alert you automatically (these typically have a fee).