Best Miles to East Asia Showdown

There are so many miles to collect, it can be hard to know where to start. So here is the showdown for the “best miles” to use when getting to Southeast Asia, North Asia and Japan.

First I’ll compare all the prices and point out the best options, then we’ll talk about the details of the best options. This way, you can decide the cheapest way to get somewhere before you start earning the miles.

First off, let me quick compare the award charts from North America. *All prices will be for a roundtrip.

Look for the best option by finding which prices are bolded.

Tickets to Southeast Asia

Popular airlines with which to collect miles:

• United = 80k/140k/160k
• US Airways = 80k/120/160k
  
• American Airlines = 70k/110k/135k
  
• Delta = 80k-175k/120k-350k
• Air Canada = 90k/130k/180k
• British Airways* = 75k-180k/150k-360k/225k-540k
  
• Alaska = 70k-105k/100k-150k/140k-200k
• Lufthansa = 80k/135k/210k
  

Other Amex & SPG transfers

• Air Berlin = 120k/240k
  
• ANA* = 65k-100k/105k-145k/160k-220k
  
• Asia Miles* = 90k-110k/135k-160k/190k-235k
• Alitalia = 70k/95k
  
• JAL* = 60k-85k/100k-125k/155k-200k
  

“*” = means that it is a distance based airline. The further you fly, and the more connections, usually the higher the price gets.

 

Tickets to North Asia and  Japan

Popular airlines  with which to collect miles:

• United = 70k/130k-140k/160k
• US Airways = 60k/90k/120k
  
• American Airlines = 50k–70k/100k/125k
  
• Delta = 70k-160k/120k-350k
• Air Canada = 75k/125k/175k
• British Airways* = 50k-75k/100k-150k/150k-225k
  
• Alaska = 50k-65k/100k/125k-135k
• Lufthansa = 80k/135k/210k
  

Other Amex & SPG transfers

• Air Berlin = 100k/200k
  
• ANA* = 55k-65k/85k-105k/120k-160k
  
• Asia Miles* = 85k-90k/115k-135k/155k-190k
• Alitalia = 60k/90k
  
• JAL* = 50k-60k/80k-100k/115k-155k

“*” = means that it is a distance based airline. The further you fly, and the more connections, usually the higher the price gets.

 

So Who’s The Best?

Once again, ANA shows how awesome it is, American Airlines proves to be a consistent option and Delta remains the most useless of the legacy airlines. I should also note that Alaska just mirrors its partners’ award charts. So in many cases here, it just mirrors AA.

To South East Asia…

Roundtrip on American for 70,000 miles is looking like a great deal. Before their devaluation United was a little bit better, but not anymore.

In business class, AA is still a good deal with 110,000 miles but Alaska offers an incredible business class award on Cathay Pacific for 100,000. Cathay is one of my favorite airlines.

In first class, AA and Alaska are similarly good deals 135,000 and 140,000 miles.

To Japan/North Asia…

There are a few great options to Japan. First, American Airlines has 25,000 mile, one way awards for off peak season – which is the colder half of the year. Although their normal 32,500 mile price isn’t so bad.

US Airways has a killer award chart for North Asia and Japan. Round trip business class for 90,000 miles is nearly the same as many airline’s economy prices. The 60k/90k/120k with USA is the best all around award chart in this region.

 

Distance Based Programs and Their Fuel Surcharges

Again, ANA has some killer prices. The problem with ANA however is fuel surcharges. Even British Airways has a decent price of 25,000 one way from west coast to Japan. But normally it depends on with whom you redeem your miles.

See, when redeeming miles, there are airlines that do pass on fuel surcharges and airlines that don’t. Often the distance based programs and foreign programs do pass on the fuel surcharges… which is bad.

So ANA could be a really cheap ticket from the west coast, but the fuel costs could be astronomical. In some other cases there are airlines to redeem with that don’t have fuel surcharges to pass on, but not really to Asia.

For this reason, I really recommend the typical AA, United, and US Airways redemptions.

Except, OneWorld’s newest member Malaysia Airlines has no fuel surcharges to pass on. Plus, they have a flight direct from LA to Tokyo. This means that you could use 25,000 British Airways miles (aka Avios) to go from LA to Tokyo without fuel surcharges. Similarly you could use JAL miles to get to Asia on Malaysia Airlines.

*Apparently Malaysia is cutting this route at the end of April.

Similarly, British Airways doesn’t charge fuel surcharges on American when crossing the Pacific.

This makes JAL and British Airways reasonable options. Use their miles (or Avios) to fly AA to get across the pacific and connect to Malaysia Airlines.

But again, if you use an airline that doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges in the first place (like AA, United and US Airways), you don’t have to worry about it.

 

Stopovers

Let’s quick go over the stopover rules again. All the information here is taken from The Completeish List of Airline Stopover Rules.

• United – 1 stopover and 2 open-jaws.
• US Airways – 1 stopover or 1 open-jaw.
• American – 1 stopover in the “North American gateway city” on oneway awards.
• Lufthansa – 2 stopovers and 2 open-jaws.
• Air Canada – 2 stopovers or 1 stopover and 1 open-jaw.
• Delta – 1 stopover and 1 open-jaw.
• Alaska – 1 stopover on oneway awards.
• Air Berlin – 1 stopover on a two region award, and 2 stopovers on a three region award on a one way
• Asia Miles – 4 stopovers on a roundtrip (they say 5 stopovers, but one is the destination).
• ANA – 3 Stopovers on a roundtrip (they say 4, but one is the destination).
• Alitalia – 1 stopover on roundtrips.
• JAL – 6 stopovers, or 5 stopovers and 1 open-jaw.

I also wrote a specific post on using United miles and stopovers to SE Asia to work the system and get better prices with those stopovers. Read that post, Best Use of United Miles to Asia.

 

Showdown

DC to Bali (in economy)

Going from the east coast USA to SE Asia will eliminate a lot of the distance based award chart opportunities.

Assuming we fly via Chicago (or NYC) and then to Hong Kong and then Bali, we’re talking about a flight that’s 21,037 flown miles.

With distance based award charts: ANA miles = 85,000 miles; JAL miles = 85,000 miles; British Airways miles = 104,000 miles…

But if we were starting from the west coast, like LA, and only going to Bangkok, the prices would be more like this: JAL miles = 60,000 miles; ANA miles = 65,000 miles; etc…

But as it is, east coast awards are much better off with region based pricing. AA is only 70,000 miles. And even United is only 80,000 miles. This is certainly a better way to get to Bali, especially when you consider the ease of booking and lack of fuel surcharges.

LA to Tokyo

Now from the west coast, the short hop to Japan can be done at much lower prices.

LA to Tokyo direct is 10,902 miles roundtrip. Now suddenly JAL = 50,000 miles, ANA = 55,000 miles roundtrip, and British Airways = 50,000 miles.

In this case the distance based prices win out. Although AA’s off peak prices are stellar if you happen to be going in that cold half of the year. But even the normal awards aren’t so bad.

 

Winners

Economy to Southeast Asia:

• 70,000 miles with AA
• 60,000 miles with JAL (from the west coast (with possible fuel surcharges))
• 65,000 miles with ANA (from the west coast (plus unavoidable fuel surcharges))
• 70,000 miles with Alitalia (with fuel surcharges)

Business Class to Southeast Asia:

• 100,000 miles with Alaska when flying on Cathay
• 110,000 miles with AA
• 100,000 miles with JAL (from the west coast (with possible fuel surcharges))
• 105,000 miles with ANA (from the west coast (plus unavoidable fuel surcharges))

First Class

• 135,000 miles with AA
• 140,000 miles with Alaska when flying on Cathay

Economy to North Asia/Japan:

• 50,000 miles with AA off-peak
• 60,000 miles with US Airways
• 50,000 miles with British Airways (from the west coast to Japan)
• 50,000 miles on JAL (from the west coast)
• 55,000 miles on ANA (from the west coast (with fuel surcharges))

Business Class to North Asia/Japan:

• 80,000 miles on JAL (from the west coast)
• 90,000 miles on US Airways
• 100,000 miles on AA
• 100,000 miles on British Airways (from the west coast)
• 85,000 miles on ANA (from the west coast (with fuel surcharges)
• 90,000 miles on Alitalia (with fuel surcharges)

First Class to North Asia/Japan:

• 120,000 miles with US Airways
• 125,000 miles with AA
• 115,000 miles with JAL (from the west coast)
• 120,000 miles on ANA (from the west coast (with fuel surcharges))

Conclusion

The only thing that this chart doesn’t consider is the ease of earning miles.

So real quick, of the winner airline miles, let me break down how you can earn them.

You can earn:

• AA miles – from the AA credit card, and transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG.
• US Airways miles – from the US Airways credit card, and transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG (Starwood) points.
• British Airways miles (aka Avios) – from the British Airways credit card, transferring 1:1 from American Express points, transferring 1:1 from Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG (Starwood) points.
• ANA miles – from transferring 1:1 from American Express points, and transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG (Starwood) points.
• JAL miles – from transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG (Starwood) points.
• United miles – from the United card, and transferring 1:1 from Chase Ultimate Rewards Points (from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Bold/Ink Plus)
• Alaska miles – from the Alaska Airlines credit card, and from transferring 1:1 (or 20,000:25,000) from SPG (Starwood) points.

Of course, you can always earn from flying but… who wants to pay money?

 

Given the fuel surcharges issue, AA is looking really good right now. Although, JAL surprised me with its low prices and also in having Malaysia Airlines as an option, like direct from LA to Tokyo.

One thing you can do is take AA off-peak to Japan with a stopover in Hawaii. And then use Avios or United miles or something else… to go from Japan to SE Asia. You could even start in Japan to do a version of the Pacific Hopper.

Whatever you’re planning, I hope this helped find some cheaper options!