RResidents in Japan

JAL vs ANA loyalty programs

Looking for some feedback on JAL versus ANA loyalty programs. Overall benefits, difficulty of redeeming miles tickets, etc?

Basically I fly enough for work to have been delta platinum/diamond the last ten years. Also put about 1,200,000 a month on my JP amex delta card in business expenses that I would switch over if I change teams. However their 2024-25 program will make it drastically more difficult to attain status, not to mention their coverage in Asia is abysmal.

9 comments

  1. If you go with ANA and get platinum or better via flying, you can change your CC to a super flyers card which essentially locks in star alliance gold status for life (well as long as you keep the same credit card). That’s great if you think you might fly less in the future. ANA is the only airline to give this alliance wide benefit in the world AFAIK.

  2. Also as an aside, I’ve found ANA mileage harder to use without status (award seats go quick, but with diamond you can book earlier which helps with this a lot). They tend to be very good value though. JAL you get less travel for your miles but seats are easier to find.

  3. My husband has a United miles card and it’s great. It covers ANA flights too and the miles never expire

  4. Slim chance for it to work, but you could try asking a status matching?

    Beyond that, I think both ANA/JAL miles programs are pretty much the same.. I think it’s down to your personal preference.

  5. Are you sure the changes you are seeing apply to the Japan issued AMEX? I haven’t looked into it close enough yet, but the cards issued in Japan have better benefits than the cards issued in the U.S.

  6. The Japanese airlines make it difficult to obtain status on economy class flights, especially discounted fares. You should review their qualification criteria and do an estimate of how many qualifying miles you would rack up on flights based on distance and class.

    Also their redeemable miles expire 3 years after earning and there is no way to extend them. So you can’t bank miles for years and years the way you can with US-based airlines.

    If you fly a lot on cheap tickets, you might find it easiest to obtain elite status on American thanks to their “loyalty points” system. American status would also get you alliance benefits on JAL.

    If you have a choice between elite status in several programs, then there are other considerations. JAL has much better award ticket availability than ANA, and they have some nice non-alliance partners like Air France and Emirates. I prefer JAL’s in-flight products and lounges to ANA’s. On the other hand, ANA and United together have the most robust US-Japan route coverage and will probably offer you far more options for any given destination.

  8. Neither of them are as good as the American airlines, assuming that you fly to the US for the fact that all miles expire after three years of earning them. There is no way to extend them

  9. ANA is fantastic. It’s SUPER easy to accumulate tons of ANA points, just thru everyday life, via their partners … which includes American Express Membership Rewards, T-Point, Nanaco Point, Rakuten Edy Point, IHG Hotels…

    I generally “earn” 2500-3000 ANA Miles per month without even trying.

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