I might be crazy saying this but traveling on High-Speedpeed Shinkansen doesn’t appeal to me, especially the most popular Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen. The trains come with nothing but seats and bathroom. There is no cafe car, dining car, free Wi-Fi or any onboard amenities. This might be fine for many people since you can purchase snack and meal virtually everywhere around the train stop. Who needs Wi-Fi if the view outside of a window is amazing.

The no-frills business model is extremely profitable for the companies, JR Central and JR West, but it kills the joy out of the travel. *JR Central made 11 billion dollars on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka alone, making the line one of the most profitable high-speed lines in the world.

Because it is not that fun to ride the Shinkansen for me and I don’t earn nor I can’t redeem anything, my preference has slowly shifted towards flying. In this post I want to talk about how to redeem miles on JAL domestic fliths.

Using Miles on Japan Domestic Flights

If you have miles with United or British Airways you are in luck.  Wit just 4500 British Airways Avios points, you can redeem on flights up to 650 miles (Flights in North America, 7,500 Avios points is the minimum). For the value perspective, it is really good for last minute expensive tickets.

British Airways Avios

Using Avios on British Airways’ partner Japan Airlines’ domestic flights are great. Most domestic flights in Japan except Okinawa and some area in Hokkaido are within 650 miles from Tokyo. This makes flying very economical using Avios.

Plane vs. Train (Tokyo – Hiroshima)

I searched one-way fare for both train and airplane from Tokyo to Hiroshima. The cheapest one-way cash price for a flight was 12,590 yen ($117), and it is cheaper than the Shinkansen (14,000 yen). On average I found flights to be priced around 12,590 yen ($117) to 19,890 ($185), which is fairly competitive with the rail fare.

Unlike Shinkansens, domestic flights on both JAL and ANA operated flights come with FREE Wi-Fi, check-in luggage and drinks (alcoholic beverage for purchase). If you are someone who needs to be connected, the plane is the way to go as the Tokaido-Shinkansen does not offer free Wi-Fi for anyone who doesn’t have a contract with the network provider, and Cellular (pocket Wi-Fi included) service often gets cut off in tunnels.

Using Avios on JAL flights

Now for Avios, you can easily search for JAL domestic flights from the British Airways’ website. Usually, the availability of JAL domestic flights is excellent, even flights on the same day that cost an exorbitant amount of money.

The Value of using Avios

After picking the flight, the website shows you that the flight requires 4,500 points plus a 300 yen ($2.7) fee (It’s cheap!!). You should note that on select routes, there is no fee on JAL domestic tickets. British Airways lets you pool points within family members so it’s easy to accumulate Avios points. And British Airways is a transfer partner of Chase, Amex and SPG so you can easily transfer points if you have one of the partner accounts.

You can maximize the value of Avios by purchasing a last minute ticket. The last-minute fare usually runs around $300 so your Avios would worth 6.7 cents per point.

You don’t have to fly to collect Avios

Now you saw how you can save money using Avios on JAL domestic flights but how you can collect Avios without ever stepping on a plane? There are a couple of ways to do this.

1. Open the Chase British Airways credit card

   • Bonus offer at this moment is 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000
   • If you want to aim higher, you can spend $10,000 or $20,000 to collect 75,000 or 100,000 points respectively. With 120,000 Avios points, you can take 26 short flights.

2. Shop on British Airways Shopping Portal

   • This is an easy way to collect Avios. Most major airlines like Delta, United and American have similar shopping portals that you can collect miles by shopping online from their shopping sites. There is a good article talking about the online shopping aggregators to collect miles and cash back.

Verdict

The cash price on JAL/ ANA domestic flights is very competitive thanks to Shinkansen high-speed trains yet for a 400-mile trip (556 miles by train), the fare is relatively on a high side.

Shinkansens are no frills like LCCs. Food and water are there for purchase, even on a green car, the first class. And you have to pay extra for a seat reservation. On the other hand, JAL and ANA domestic flights come with a seat reservation, free checked luggage and free beverages. Some airports are far from city centers but most airports have comfy buses that connect you multiple destinations.

So using Avios can save you tons of money while traveling in Japan. I know many people talk about the Japan Rail Pass but if you have many Avios points laying around, you should take advantage of it. You can easily manage to make your Avios points worth more than it is on JAL domestic flights.