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POP: Japan Airlines First Class 777-300ER Tokyo to Los Angeles

a desk with two monitors

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Sometimes flights just aren’t long enough.

Let’s be honest. Sometimes you don’t want to read a whole review. So we have a series called POP: Pictures Only Post. Posts in this series will feature the product, minimal description, and focus on 5-10 Pics.  A more detailed review will come in the following week or two, but here’s a quick look at Japan Airlines First Class.

A quick intro

We flew to Japan for 2 nights on a SUPER fun, whirlwind, surprise birthday trip for my girlfriend. On the outbound we utilized systemwide upgrades to fly AA’s 772 in their new B/E super diamond seated business class.  Being able to cap the trip off in a truly world class 1st class was the icing on the cake. Here’s a quick look – if you’re interested in how to book ( read this )

Cost:

  • 70k Alaska for 1 ticket
  • 80k (72k after 10% Aviator discount) AA for the other
  • ~$100 in taxes and fees for both tickets

Our Ride.

an airplane at an airport

Miles was ready

a stuffed animal on a chair

 

A quick look at other seats.

Middle two are great for couples or buddies.

a desk with two monitors

New Porsche Design Amenity Kit.

$400 Champagne Salon champagne. I mean…

Comfy Bed. Firm or Soft mattress pad selection.

a bed with a pillow and a seat belt

They knew it was for a birthday celebration. They gave not only my girlfriend a gift, but also me ( mine was the 4th.)

a red bag with a gold ribbon and a black box on a table

Review to come!

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with lines and symbols

Learn More

 Affiliate link 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

4 Comments

  • […] great way to spend those miles…Japan Airlines First Class. Just 70k from the States to […]

  • Ryan Thompson September 11, 2017

    Just flew this same route last week. JL F space reliably opens 14 days before the flight. What gift did you get? Another long handle mug?

  • Tony September 11, 2017

    How long you waited to book the F seat, i cant find any F for my dates. Also, do AS allow to move up class for free if i book business and wait for F to open up?(similar to AA)

    • Miles September 11, 2017

      Tony – I found the first ticket 30 days in advance and the second at 14 days. If you don’t carry Elite status AS will charge a $125 change fee within 60 days of travel – if there is a schedule change you can avoid it. Also, only one partner is avail on an award ticket as well ( you can add on alaska flights to JAL, but not another partner)

      Click the link in the post as I go into a much more in depth explanation of how I found this tix.

      Good luck!

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