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Hello,
I’m fairly new to spending points. I’ve been saving them for many years, and now hopefully have enough to fly my family (2 adults, 2 teens) over to Japan in PE in July/August 2026. I’m not after best value for the points, I’ve been saving them up to make this special trip. Obviously the flights for summer 2026 aren’t available yet, but I’m struggling to find any reward flights at all, at any point between now and next January, from any UK/EU airport, to any Japan airport, to try and get a feel for whether this trip is feasible.
LBA or MAN are our easiest airports, however we can get down to LON easily enough if that’s where we need to be. I’d been intending to fly into OSA and out of TYO, but again that’s flexible based on what we can get for flights. Our specific dates are flexible, but our trip needs to (mostly) be in the school summer holidays; preferably the earlier half. I know there will be at least one stop, maybe even two, on route. I’m not crazy enough to expect ANA flights. I was anticipating KLM via Amsterdam, or AF via Paris. We can make our own way to Europe if we can’t do a connected flight. If we need to drop to Economy that’s ok. If we can get 2 seats as rewards and pay for the other 2, that might work as well.
I’ve been trying the Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Air France websites and apps for points flights. Most of the time just looking for one person flying any class, and I’ve tried using various different devices. I’m just trying to get a feel for availability, taxes, and the process of gathering details of likely reward flights before doing it for real later in the year. But most of the time all the websites/apps are just giving me an error. “Sorry, something went wrong… please try again.” I’ve not had a single points flight show as available!
Am I doing something wrong? Or is my expectation of being able to use the points to travel to Japan unrealistic?
I just looked quickly on the KLM website (search for flights with miles assuming you have a Flying Blue log in), and for example there are reward flights available from LBA to HND on 18-25 November. Premium Economy is a lot of points however!
You don’t want to go to Japan in summer because the weather in August and September can be scorching hot and humid with temperatures reel feel nearly 40. It’s been like that for the past few years. It also doesn’t ease at night. July is slightly better but it’s the end of rainy season in the first half.
I’d suggest you look during spring or winter holidays. It’s equally great.
Regarding using points, are you ok to fly ANA economy? That’s mostly available. You have to search either on ANA website or one of Star Alliance airlines’ websites (United and Aeroplan are good) and then call to book. Remember also that Virgin has access to awards only 330 days before, but flights are released 355 days in advance with other airlines.
I’ve been checking similar dates/routes and found fairly good availability in various classes with Vietnam Airlines. Keep looking, or call Virgin.
Unfortunately our travel times are limited to summer as it’s GCSE year for the eldest child, so we can’t really fudge the timings to miss any school around winter or spring. We’re expecting the heat and humidity, and will just plan a more sedate itinerary around that – where we can flake out during the heat of the day!
The KLM website seems extra dead at the moment, but I’ll give it another try once it’s back up and running and try plugging in that route/date combo – thanks! I’m expecting a very, very big number of points – which will hopefully be covered by what we’ve been able to save.
Looking on United was a good call, thanks! Their website seems to provide many more options for flights using points, particularly from LON. It looks as if Korean Air might be a viable option, as if we can get to ICN with points then we can plan a stopover (to reduce connection risks) and then pay cash for flights from ICN to and from Japan. I hadn’t considered Vietnam Airlines, but will go and take a look and see what I can find.
Thanks so much, everyone! I feel more optimistic now that I can make this happen.
I’m not familiar with Virgin/Star Alliance, but using Avios I haven’t been able to find a non stop to or from Japan (in J) since before the pandemic. Look at routing via Hong Kong, Seoul, or even Singapore. (Or possibly Shanghai, Beijing, or Taipai)
If you have to go in high summer, I would suggest spending some time in Hokkaido to escape the heat.
Or anywhere mountainous. Nikko or places around Gunma are not that far from Tokyo.
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