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I’ve already planned my holidays for 2025, including trips to Thailand for Easter and Canada in the summer. As a result, I’ll be using up all my points and companion vouchers.
My goal is to take my son (a big fan of sushi and One Piece) to Japan in summer 2025. Ideally, I’d like to book business class for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids), but I’m open to using points for economy if needed.
Starting from zero points today, what would be the best strategy to achieve this? Would it require 440,000 Avios and 2 companion vouchers for business class? Are the upgrade vouchers from Barclays worth considering? For context, I can apply for the Barclays Premium account, credit card, and I don’t have a Platinum card yet, so I could also earn those bonus points.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
On a slightly related note, are you aware of the temperature and humidity in Japan during summer?
Also, consider Finnair. Companion voucher not valid but the rewards seat prices aren’t that bad. Also also, availability might be better then BA. Also also also they fly into two additional cities which might have even better availability.
I think it will be very difficult to secure anything other than economy or premium economy flights for summer 2025. Qatar, JAL or Finnair have plenty of options.
I would seriously avoid going in summer (June to October). My colleagues who normally don’t mind the humidity complained that it was unbearable this year. This isn’t your typical destination because humidity among concrete and glass buildings the humidity is felt differently. Predictions are that the Autumn foliage this year won’t start until very late November/early December as a result of heat and you can expect 30+ degrees throughout October.
As per the above posts, direct business class flights to Tokyo is almost impossible to get if you’re looking for summer of 2025 as it’s already less than 355 days ahead.
Given you’re starting from scratch, I would probably recommend trying to get enough points (alongside any companion voucher) to redeem BA flights to Shanghai as reward seats are still wide open for summer 2025. Then make the short hop to Japan, either with cash or Avios.
(And then pray that BA doesn’t cancel their last remaining route to mainland China!)
If you want sushi, be aware Japanese don’t eat it during summer months. You want to go there when it is cold. (In that case stick to Hokkaido in the north, fly from Tokyo to Chitose and visit Otaru).
Hokkaido will be OK in summer (but still potentially hot), however most of the rest of Japan will be unbearable.
Since you’re starting from zero points, and booking less than 1 year ahead, personally I would just look to pay cash in that situation. Keep an eye open for sales, companion fares etc. Potentially consider flying to another Asian city and connecting to Japan on separate flights.
@yonasl yes, they don’t, but there are still plenty of options to eat it in the summer (for tourists of course).
@hairo – do you mean 2026 for Japan? You stated you’re in Canada for summer 2025.
@hairo, if you’re starting from scratch again collecting avios out you’ll find Rob’s articles on the various credit cards and earning strategies very useful.
There are also a number of threads on this site specifically dealing with Japan and the best strategies for getting award seats.
@hairo – do you mean 2026 for Japan? You stated you’re in Canada for summer 2025.
Good spot.
@yonsal
Eh? The Japanese eat sushi year round, I can assure you of that.
@ianmac69 while it’s available all year around, sushi is not very popular among Japanese. They might eat it once in a while and usually at parties and going to a sushi restaurant is usually reserved for entertaining clients. Also dishes like ramen, udon, tempura, etc. are considered fast food in the same way as McDonalds/KFC.
Yeah sorry noticed I made a mistake the Japan trip would be for august 2026.
August 2025 is booked and Canada is already sorted 🙂
Availability is very thin, but Royal Jordanian have a Madrid to Tokyo fare in Business for around £1800.
That would earn you a moderate slug of avios, 840 tier points (so more than enough for BA Silver, half way to Gold), and potentially be not all that much more than the taxes+fees on a BA club avios redemption from London to Tokyo.
@meta Just showed your post to my Japanese wife and her visiting family. They laughed pretty hard at that.
@meta Just showed your post to my Japanese wife and her visiting family. They laughed pretty hard at that.
This seems rather an odd post when Japanese people are usually so incredibly polite. Sushi originated in China anyway and the Americans created its global commercial success, a clever way of selling a cheap ingredient expensively.
So many experts here on what Japanese people like/don’t like, are/aren’t like. Who knew.
To the OP: advice on time of year is spot on. Summer is brutal, no relief this year at all and does impact activities. Plenty of sushi around, high-end, low-end and everything in between, anytime of year you go, don’t worry about that bit.
@ianmac69 You clearly haven’t learned that Japanese people will be very proud of foreigners liking their food so they won’t say a thing. In any case, it may have not occurred to you, but they may have laughed for other reasons…
I have lived in Japan in my youth and spent time in host families (from relatively modest to ultra rich ones). I now visit for work and leisure 4-5 times a year.
@Hairo back to your original Q. Do you currently or in the last 24 months have any amex cards and if yes which one?
I presume you meet the minimum income requirement, what about your spouse? How much do you think realistically you can push through credit cards between now and June 2025 as a family.
Are you expecting to travel in peak school holidays or are your kids in private school and can go earlier?
Madrid to Tokyo on IB will be the best value option, which is particularly important since my understanding is they don’t have any Avios at the moment.
The Royal Jordanian cash fare mentioned above is also excellent value, cheaper even than an Avios fare from Madrid and the connecting flight from the UK.
We have been to Japan a couple of times in Japan in the summer. We went there this year and had a really good trip.
It’s certainly hot but it’s okay if you plan around it and don’t try to fit in too much.
Summer dishes include cold noodles and shaved ice. You won’t have a problem finding sushi if you’d like some.
Also, consider Finnair. Companion voucher not valid but the rewards seat prices aren’t that bad. Also also, availability might be better then BA. Also also also they fly into two additional cities which might have even better availability.
Is there an easy way to see reward availability on Finnair, other than checking each day on Fin website?
The comment on Japanese people not eating sushi was based on comments from my Japanese friends. (Of course Japanese eat sushi all year but I was always told the freshest was during winter).
Maybe it is based on some past misconception of fish being less fresh during summer months.
For instance in Spain it is common not to eat fish on Mondays as fishermen used to rest Sundays. In France oysters are available all yea round but traditionally fall and winter months are considered best. Etc …
I can vouch for the summer heat in Japan from personal experience last month. Took my grandson to Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and on our 2nd day in Tokyo at Disneyland I collapsed with heat exhaustion.
Given that you’re planning to travel in Summer 2026, which means booking flights from Summer 2025, then you would have one year to collect the required amount of Avios.
As such, the Avios Subscription could come in handy, and can get you 200k Avios by this time net year
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