Japan Points Update: Fall 2026
It’s been fairly quiet since my summer Japan update, but there have been a few notable updates in Japan points travel. JAL miles are getting much easier to earn, fuel surcharges have eased a little, and we’ve seen some excellent award sales—while my old favorite cheap hotel redemption keeps getting worse.
✈️ Getting There
JAL is getting interesting again. JAL Mileage Bank has solid availability and award pricing as of my searches over the past few weeks, though the fuel surcharges (more on those later) really make economy redemptions hard to justify on Japan routes. In the past few months, both Rove and Citi have added 1:1 transfers, joining Bilt (1:1) and Capital One (4:3, but with frequent 30% bonuses).
Match JAL and Marriott status. Niche but fun: if you’re a Marriott Titanium or Ambassador (not easy to reach), you can get elite status with JAL and Oneworld.
New routes. Delta is storming back into Tokyo Narita, while United is expanding to Okinawa.
Fuel surcharges easing… slightly. For now. In the last update, surcharges on ANA and JAL had risen to 65k JPY (about $400). ANA surcharges through October have dropped to 55k (about $350) while JAL surcharges fell to 50k (about $315).
Best deals I saw recently
We saw two Global Getaways offers for round-trips to Tokyo for just 55k Atmos points. 🤯 If you’re willing to book a positioning flight to get to Japan, Thrifty Traveler flagged two bargains to Hong Kong & Taipei: one deal for round-trips under 65k Delta SkyMiles (50k from the West Coast, and less with a Delta credit card), and a separate deal for 44k SkyMiles or less (as low as 29k from the West Coast or DC with a Delta credit card).
🏨 Staying There
Choice hotels are getting pricy everywhere. I’ve been scanning around Japan for hotel options for our next trip, and the 8,000-point-per-night Choice hotels I once relied on are getting increasingly difficult to find even in more rural areas. To make things worse, Citi lowered its transfer ratio to Choice from 1:2 to 1:1.5. Wells Fargo still has a 1:2 ratio, and the flexibility of refundable bookings could make this a viable option, but it’s not the steal it once was.
Tokyo’s taxes Airbnb stays. The revised accommodation tax is likely to result in higher charges overall, and will now extend to Airbnb and other short-term rentals.
🗾 On the Ground
Too lazy to carry bags? There’s a new service to send bags by Shinkansen and ride the train “hands-free.”
No more tax-free discounts in-store. Starting in November, tourists can no longer get taxes deducted in store—they’ll have to pay the full price in store and seek a refund when leaving the country.
Lazy Take 🦥
Japan remains one of my favorite uses of points, and the options keep getting better. Citi has become much more interesting thanks to direct transfers to JAL and American, while Bilt and Atmos are still my favorites for easy economy awards and Global Getaways bargains. Meanwhile, falling fuel surcharges make JAL and ANA slightly less painful—even if they’re still hard to justify in economy.