Rove Miles has added Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as its latest transfer partner, joining Capital One and Bilt in partnering with the Japanese carrier.
While Rove Miles will have a transfer ratio of 1:1 with JAL, travelers can enjoy a 50% bonus for a limited time, until March 31, 2026. This means 1,000 Rove Miles will equate to 1,500 JAL Miles.
Rove is a relatively young program, and it continues to look to add lucrative benefits to further attract customers. “We’ve had phenomenal growth since our launch last year, from debuting Loyalty Eligible hotel bookings to giving hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to earn transferable rewards without needing a credit card,” Rove said in a statement. “Today marks another milestone in Rove’s journey with the announcement of our newest transfer partner: Japan Airlines.”
With the addition of Japan Airlines, Rove now has a total of 14 transfer partners:
- Aeromexico Rewards
- ALL Accor
- Cathay
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club
- Air India Maharaja Club
- JAL Mileage Bank
- Miles & More
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
Rove allows travelers to earn miles through travel and shopping, often with high earning rates.
Although Japan Airlines has many partner carriers that allow booking through other loyalty programs, there are a couple of advantages of booking an award ticket directly with JAL:
- Better availability. I consistently notice that Japan Airlines releases more availability to its own members than to partner programs. If you’re specifically looking to book a flight in a premium cabin to, through, or from Japan, I’d take a look at booking through Japan Airlines if you have some Rove Miles to burn.
- Award space 360 days out. With Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, you can access award space immediately, right when it gets released. Other programs, like AAdvantage, only get award space 331 days out.
Japan Airlines has an award chart for its cabins. Flights can be booked for as low as the following:
Note that JAL releases a limited amount of these low award redemptions; you can often see business class awards going for much higher. Make sure to confirm availability first and don’t solely rely on the award chart above.
Rove’s ongoing transfer bonus also comes at a time after Capital One and Bilt’s transfer bonuses, and availability may be a bit scarce because of that. Again, have somewhat of a plan before you transfer your miles.
Additionally, one of the biggest negatives of Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is that miles strictly expire after 36 months. For this reason, it’s a good idea to only transfer an amount of Rove Miles you know you will use. You won’t want any JAL miles leftover and end up with no trip to use them for as they approach expiration.
Bottom Line
With the right use in mind, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank can deliver some great redemptions, especially on long-haul flights in premium cabins. While Rove is still a young program, it can be a good chance to take advantage of its lucerative benefits and transfer partners while it attempts to reel in more customers.
Featured image by the author.
