Bilt Is Adding Japan Airlines as a Transfer Partner. Here’s How You Can Benefit.

Bilt Rewards just added JAL Mileage Bank, the loyalty program for Japan Airlines, as a new transfer partner.

Starting May 13, 2025, you can transfer Bilt points to JAL Mileage Bank miles at a 1:1 ratio, with most transfers expected to be completed within 10 minutes. It’s the latest in a string of eye-catching transfer partners that are cementing Bilt’s status as a top transferable currency.

Securing the airline as a transfer partner is an impressive get for Bilt, as the top-rated Japanese carrier does not partner with any other major transferable currency. Until now, the best way to transfer points to JAL Mileage Bank was through Marriott Bonvoy at a ratio of 3:1.

Bilt is perhaps best known for its unique value proposition of letting users earn points on rent payments each year. Users can earn Bilt points when they pay rent using any credit card, with transactions incurring a 3% fee. However, that fee is waived on rent payments made with the no-annual-fee Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, which earns 1 point per dollar spent on rent, up to an annual cap of 100,000 points per year. (You must use the card five times each statement period to earn points. If you do not make at least five transactions in a statement period you’ll earn a flat 250 points when you use your Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card to pay rent through the Bilt app or website.)

Before you transfer all your Bilt points to JAL Mileage Bank, keep in mind that this is a quirky program with its own rules. For example, new members typically aren’t allowed to make award bookings for the first 60 days after account opening. However, Bilt members get a special exception: After transferring your points, you only have to wait up to seven days before you can redeem them if you haven’t met the time requirement.

With that said, even if you don’t have plans to redeem Japan Airlines miles right now, it doesn’t hurt to create an account sooner rather than later to start the 60-day countdown.

Adding JAL Mileage Bank unlocks some great redemption options for Bilt users looking to book flights on Japan Airlines, Oneworld alliance members and other partners like Emirates.

Japan Airlines is one of the best airlines in the world, and it flies from various U.S. cities to Tokyo, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Some of their aircraft feature first class cabins, in addition to business class, premium economy and economy seating.

The loyalty program offers reasonable redemptions for one-way flights between Tokyo and North America. The number of miles required to book are especially attractive for those on the East Coast because the cheapest award tickets start at the same price, no matter whether you’re starting from San Francisco or New York.

However, Japan Airlines announced that it would be raising award prices for tickets issued starting June 10, 2025. Most of the changes are minor, but those looking to fly in first class will need to fork over significantly more miles.

Award miles required for JAL flights between Tokyo and the U.S.

Keep in mind that new Mileage Bank members who transfer points from Bilt will have to wait up to seven days before making a JAL award booking. That means if you’re trying to score pre-devaluation award prices, you’ll want to transfer your points from Bilt by June 1, 2025, to be safe.

Japan Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance, which includes airlines like Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. It also partners with non-alliance airlines, including Air France, Emirates, Korean Air and LATAM.

For partner awards, pricing is distance-based, meaning the further you fly, the more miles you’ll need to pay. Award charts will vary depending on whether you are flying a Oneworld partner or a non-alliance partner.

One way you can get excellent value from your JAL Mileage Bank miles by flying round-trip in Emirates business class from New York to Dubai for 110,000 JAL Mileage Bank miles.

You can maximize JAL’s award chart by flying longer distances, because prices don’t rise proportionately to distance flown. For example, you can fly up to 10,000 miles on a Oneworld partner in first class for 110,000 miles; however, itineraries up to 20,000 miles are 170,000 miles — only 55% more miles for double the distance.

Plus, JAL Mileage Bank has generous stopover rules that make it easy to add other cities to a trip. Awards on Oneworld partners can have up to seven stopovers per reservation, while non-alliance partner awards can have up to three.

Transferring Bilt points to JAL Mileage Bank can be a great deal, but you should avoid transferring your points unless you have a specific redemption in mind.

Speculative transfers often defeat the purpose of transferable currencies because they negate their flexibility. It doesn’t make sense to lock yourself into having JAL Mileage Bank miles if you’re not sure how you’ll use them.

That’s especially true because Bilt is a rare transfer partner to Alaska Airlines, another Oneworld member that offers excellent redemptions when booking with its Mileage Plan miles. For example, you may want to book a Oneworld partner flight that’s cheaper via Alaska Airlines than Japan Airlines. If you’ve already transferred your Bilt points to JAL Mileage Bank, you wouldn’t be able to transfer them back to Bilt and then to Alaska Airlines.

While Japan Airlines is a great transfer partner for Bilt, there are some downsides in addition to the upcoming devaluation.

The airline’s outdated website can be clunky and difficult to navigate. But if you can get over the technological hurdles, you can find excellent ways to use your JAL Mileage Bank miles.

While you can book awards for other people using JAL Mileage Bank miles, they must be related to you by blood or marriage and be within two degrees of kinship. That includes grandparents, parents, siblings, children and grandchildren, as well as their spouses. If you have a spouse, you can also book for their parents, grandparents and siblings, as well as their siblings’ spouses. But if you’re planning to travel with friends and want to use miles, they’ll need to book their own tickets.

Changes to award tickets for JAL flights are not allowed, and you cannot pay to upgrade an award reservation. If you want to make a change, you’ll need to cancel your ticket, pay a fee of around $22 (at the time of publishing), get your miles reinstated and rebook. For partner awards, changes to flight numbers and dates are permitted.

Top photo courtesy of Japan Airlines.