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With its unique culture, cuisine and stunning natural beauty, it's no wonder why Japan is a popular destination for travelers from around the world. From ancient temples to modern cities, there is something for everyone — making it the perfect place for a memorable vacation. However, Japan can also be incredibly expensive, thanks to the high cost of food, lodging and airfare. The solution? Points and miles.
Traveling to Japan using points and miles is a great way to experience this fascinating country's culture, cuisine and natural beauty without breaking the bank. With an abundance of airline rewards programs offering flights from North America for as little as 40,000 miles round-trip, making your dream trip a reality with some strategic planning.
From taking advantage of airline loyalty programs or signing up for credit cards with generous rewards points, there are plenty of ways for travelers looking for a budget-friendly journey through Japan.
Here’s everything you need to know about traveling to Japan using points and miles:
Flying to Japan using airline miles is fairly attainable, with many airlines servicing Osaka and two airports in Tokyo (Haneda and Narita). Award rates are also reasonable for international travel, especially on business and first class.
Here’s a look at the cheapest award flights to Japan, broken down by airline, along with ways you can earn the required miles through credit card welcome bonuses:
All Nippon Airways is a Japan-based Star Alliance carrier with many direct flight options. ANA Mileage Club offers some of the lowest mileage rates to Japan, starting at just 40,000 round-trip in economy class. ANA utilizes a seasonal award chart, with prices varying during low, regular and high season.
ANA miles are easy to earn, thanks to a 1:1 transfer partnership with American Express Membership Rewards. With the current welcome bonuses offered by
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A time-out-of-mind atmosphere pervades the mountain town of Magome, a centuries-old staging post on the eastern border of Gifu Prefecture. On the main street, stone steps ascend alongside a trickling stream, where a wooden waterwheel ticks around slowly like a sleepy clock, setting the town’s somnolent tempo as it has for some 300 years. Houses line the road, old but beautifully preserved, shuttered with wooden screens and hung with swaying lanterns. Gingko and maple leaves crown the street in a blaze of saffron and cardinal red.
The Travel & Tourism sector entered 2023 like a marathon runner hitting the last six miles of a race. It fought its way through almost two years of the COVID-19 pandemic — only to be overwhelmed, as the disease waned, by an unprecedented surge in travel by people tired of quarantines and lockdowns. With many in the sector still struggling to fill their workforces to handle this significant uptake of travel, big and small companies alike now face their next challenge — the accelerating transition from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting. Are they ready for it?
For ultra-wealthy travel lovers, six-figure getaways continue to trend ever upward. Encouraged by the pandemic’s wake-up call to maximize life’s positive experiences, these vacationers are engaging luxury outfitters to brainstorm off-the-beaten-path itineraries that illuminate exclusive, eye-opening, one-of-a-kind adventures. Among the best of the best tour-planning companies, Abercrombie & Kent — founded in the 1960s by visionary safari pioneer Geoffrey Kent — just announced its latest pinnacle, Around the World With Geoffrey Kent: An Inspiring Expedition by Private Jet. Limited to 46 participants, this epic 26-day transit (October 13 to November 7, 2024) will touch down in Japan, India, Malta, Senegal, Saint Helena, Uruguay, Easter Island and French Polynesia. Kent, who will accompany the group from start to finish, explains to Forbes: “It’s true that the world is well-traveled, but there are still unexplored spots. My goal is to take A&K guests to places of immense beauty and rich culture, but where others rarely venture.” Indeed, many of the destinations are dazzlingly remote with unique behind-the-scenes encounters. To smooth this far-flung journey en route: a chartered Boeing 757, featuring all lie-flat, first-class seats, with a dedicated crew and executive chef. Price: $184,950 per person; see below for further details. (Perhaps you may be inspired by these highlights to tuck one or two intriguing ideas onto your DIY wish list.)
In the distance, the verdant North Downs stretch out for miles, the chalk hills gently undulating until their ridges merge with the horizon. Closer, still, are fields of white lacey Cowslip and wild yellow Woodsorrel which dot the landscape with pops of colour. It’s hard to believe that we’re a short drive away from central London.
ITB Asia, Asia’s leading travel trade show, is pleased to announce its top exhibitors for the highly anticipated 16th edition, set to take place from 25 – 27 October 2023 in Singapore.
A tourist climbed onto a historic statue in Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday and accidentally broke a portion of it, according to a report by the local newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
The internet is calling a TikToker "disrespectful" and "rude" after he filmed himself entering a women-only train carriage in Japan and compared it to gender-based segregation that countries like Saudi Arabia mandate.
Soho House is a brand with bona fide British celebrity and royal bragging rights: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their first date at one in London. Soho Farmhouse, the brand's countryside inn a two-hour drive outside London, has hosted everyone from former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to Princess Eugenie and (my personal favorite) top-selling U.K. band Girls Aloud.
St. Louis is known as the Gateway to the West. A major stop on the Mississippi River and just south of the Missouri River, it was the jumping-off point as the United States expanded its border westward and the city boomed in 19th and 20th centuries. Today, you can see vestiges of an affluent past mix with a forward-thinking, artistic community that make St. Louis an exciting destination year-round.
A new line-up of international cuisine and dining experiences for fans to enjoy while the 10 teams race around the Yas Marina Circuit track in November.