Booked: Skiing in Niseko Japan on Points

Japan is open again, and the ski season is in full swing! In this post, I wanted to show you how I went about booking my trip to the snow and how I funded the whole trip mostly on points. Considering it’s hard to find flights in and out of Australia, with a bit of flexibility, it’s doable, as I’m about to show you.

All the flights in this post were booked not so long ago, and as time goes on, I may change some of the itinerary as more interesting options open up! Where am I going skiing in Japan? When my friends (who are also travel nerds: Jarvis – The Luxury Traveler, Albert Foxtrot Dash and Ricky from Prince of Travel) came up with the plan for a ski trip to Japan, the obvious answer was: “yes,” followed by “where and when?!”

The location: Niseko, a small town located in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As it turns out, both Hyatt and Marriott opened some of their most high-end hotels in the ski resort in recent times, so the allure of luxury and snow was an obvious choice.

Pro tip: going overseas? Make sure you have the best travel debit card with you to avoid fees!

About Skiing In Niseko

• Season Duration: Late November to early May
• Mountain Top: 1,200m
• Skiable Terrain: Just over 50 km worth of trails – 50% of these are suitable for beginners, ie. ME!
• Number of Lifts: 32
• Lift passes: available online here

How am I getting to Japan?

Since I’m based in Perth, we have a few options to get to and from Japan. My preferred method is Singapore Airlines, either in business class on points or a mix of business and first class from Singapore to Japan.

Unfortunately, Singapore Airlines didn’t have any saver award space available, which led me to plan B, Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpur. Out of Perth, we have two daily flights to Kuala Lumpur, one with the A330 (which features a flat bed), and the second option is a daytime flight with the B737, which has similar recliner seats as you’d find on Qantas or Virgin.

How to book points flights to Japan

Once you find flights to where you want to go, the next logical question is: “which frequent flyer program offers these flights at the lowest cost?”

Having an American Express card which earns Membership Rewards, I have access to a whole range of frequent flyer programs. This allows me to then compare prices between programs and opt for the least expensive option.

Since Malaysia Airlines is a OneWorld airline, we can use any of the OneWorld frequent flyer programs to redeem this flight. In my case, I have points in Asia Miles, Alaska Mileage Plan, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Aadvantage, and British Airways Avios. This means there are a few options to compare!

Listed below are the one-way pricing by my frequent flyer programs of choice for one-way journeys in business class. It’s important to note that Alaska Mileage Plan seems to be hard to redeem on flights with a stopover. I suspect this will be fixed at some stage, but it makes it hard to research flight availability.

• 30k Alaska Mileage Plan
• 40k American Airlines AAdvantage
• 65k Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (Amex transfer partner)
• 73,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (Amex transfer partner)
• 92,750 British Airways Avios
• 104,500 Qantas Frequent Flyer (Amex transfer partner)

As you can see, we have really viable options when it comes to transferring Amex MR points. If you have a balance with something like Westpac Altitude (check out the Westpac Altitude Black for a huge sign up bonus) or St George Amplify (check out their bonus offer here), you’d have similar options. In my case, I still had a stash of AA miles which I purchased during one of their incredible bonus point sales.

So here’s what I booked: Perth-Kuala Lumpur-Narita with Malaysia Airlines in business class for 65k Asia Miles. And on the return: Osaka-Haneda-Kuala Lumpur-Perth using 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles with a mix of Japan Airlines (also One World) and Malaysia Airlines. The taxes on both these redemptions were incredibly low; we’re talking around the $100 mark per booking.

Which card do I use? Currently, my main cards are American Express Platinum (check the sign-up bonus here) and American Express Platinum Business (check the sign-up bonus here). Both earn me valuable Membership Rewards, which can be transferred to multiple airline programs.

Best Ski Resorts in Japan?

Now let’s look at the ski resorts we can book using points in Japan! Since we’re going to Niseko, there are a few points options, but of course, I’m aiming for the best, so Park Hyatt Niseko and the Ritz Carlton Reserve are the options worth considering.

Both these resorts are positioned as a ski-in ski-out resort with direct slope access; why waste time getting to and from the snow when you can literally roll out of bed and onto the slopes?!

Ritz Carlton Reserve Niseko

There are only a handful of Ritz Carlton properties around the world with the “Reserve” branding. The reserve means it’s considered the best of the best and a step above your standard Ritz Carlton Hotel. This is the option I booked, as at the time of booking Park Hyatt was sold out…

Marriott Bonvoy members can book this hotel for 80k points per night or around $650 outside the ski season. During the season, the prices go up much higher. When you’re booking Marriott hotels on points, you get the 5th night free if you’re silver or above.

This means you can drive the price down to 64k Marriott Bonvoy points per night, which is outstanding value in my book. Marriott Bonvoy is an Amex transfer partner, so you can send your credit card points to the program and book hotels like this.

Alternatively, when booking cash, make sure to get in touch with a Marriott STARS authorised agent, as this will result in you getting extra perks such as free breakfast, $100 food and beverage credit, upgrades and more.

Flight Hacks is an authorised STARS agent, so feel free to reach out if you need help with your booking (or ANY Marriott booking for that matter); there’s no fee to do so!

Park Hyatt Niseko

Just like the Ritz, this is also a brand new resort with outrageous prices. Luckily, Hyatt point connoisseurs can book this property for 35k points per night. While you can’t transfer World of Hyatt points from Amex Australia, Hyatt often has sales on its points which allow you to buy them at a discount.

Alternatively, when booking a cash rate at a luxury resort like this, make sure you do it via a Hyatt Prive authorised agent, which will get you a whole suite of perks such as breakfast, upgrades, food and beverage credit + more! At Flight Hacks, we’re a Hyatt Prive agent and charge no fees for your bookings! Best of all, you will still earn points and status for your stay.

Summing up, Japan on points isn’t as hard as you think!

The last 6 months, I’ve heard a lot of complaints about people not being able to use their points (i.e. not finding rewards). The reality though is that it’s still very much possible to book business class flights on points; it just requires a bit more work and planning. Understanding all the different routing options, (hint: use this site to check routes!) and which loyalty programs you can utilise is the key here.

On top of that, it’s also a timely reminder that flexible reward programs trump individual programmes every time! In any case, I look forward to sharing my Niseko experience with you and if you haven’t done so already, connect with me on Instagram here.