You earn JAL Mileage Bank miles by flying Japan Airlines or a oneworld partner with your JMB number on the booking, by using a co-branded JAL Card or a transfer partner, or through JAL's shopping partners — and those miles are valid for 36 months, expiring at the end of the 36th month after the month you earned them. Japan Airlines sets that validity rule out on its mile validity page.
Two things matter more than the earning rate itself: knowing that miles and status points are different currencies, and knowing that you can reclaim flights that failed to credit for up to six months afterwards. Both are covered below, and both are worth more to most members than shaving a few miles off an earning rate.
JAL Mileage Bank is not a credit card
This trips up more new members than any other point. JMB is a free frequent-flyer programme — no fee to join, no annual fee. Japan Airlines separately issues co-branded JAL Card credit cards that earn miles into your JMB account on everyday spending, but they are a distinct product with their own charges and eligibility rules.
You do not need any credit card to hold a JMB account, to earn miles, or to redeem them. If you have not opened an account yet, start with our guide to creating a free JMB account, then come back to this page.
The four ways to earn JAL miles
1. Fly Japan Airlines
The most direct route. Add your JMB number to the booking before you fly, and the miles credit automatically. How many you get depends on the route and, importantly, on the fare class you bought — a deeply discounted economy ticket typically earns a fraction of what a flexible or premium fare earns on the same aircraft. JAL publishes the accrual rates by fare type in the JMB section of its site, and it is worth checking before you assume a cheap fare will build a balance quickly.
2. Fly oneworld and JMB partner airlines
Japan Airlines belongs to the oneworld alliance, so eligible flights on partners such as British Airways, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Iberia and Finnair can credit to JMB instead of the operating airline's own programme. Enter your JMB number at booking or check-in rather than the partner's number.
Partner earning rates vary by airline and fare class and are generally less generous than flying JAL itself. If you fly one partner far more than JAL, credit into that airline's programme instead — the alliance lets you choose, and choosing badly is how balances end up scattered across five programmes and expiring in all of them.
3. JAL Card and transfer partners
Co-branded JAL Card products earn miles on everyday spending. In several markets you can also move points across from flexible bank or hotel currencies into JMB. Transfer ratios, minimums and processing times differ significantly by market and by partner, and transfers are almost always irreversible once made — confirm the current terms with both programmes before you commit points.
4. Shopping and everyday partners
JAL runs shopping portals and partner offers covering retail, hotels and other spending. Individually these are small; their value is that they keep an account active and top up a balance that is short of a redemption.
Claiming miles that never showed up
This is the most useful thing in this article, and most members never use it.
If a flight did not credit — you forgot to add your number, the name did not match, the partner's system dropped it — you can request post-flight credit. Japan Airlines accepts these requests for up to six months after the flight date, and will also consider flights you took before you joined JMB, provided the request comes within that same six-month window. The procedure is documented on JAL's post-flight credit page, with a step-by-step version for partner airlines at JAL's registration flow guide.
You will normally need your boarding pass or e-ticket receipt, so keep them until the miles appear. If you joined JMB recently and flew JAL or a oneworld partner in the preceding months, check this before the window closes — those are miles you have already earned and simply have not been given.
When do JAL miles expire?
JMB miles are valid for 36 months. Precisely, they expire on the last day of the 36th month following the month of the flight or transaction that earned them, per JAL's validity page.
Two consequences worth internalising:
- Activity does not extend them. Unlike programmes where any earning or redemption resets the clock on your whole balance, each block of JMB miles runs its own 36-month timer from when it was earned. A new flight does not rescue miles from 2023.
- Expired miles are generally gone. Japan Airlines does not offer members a way to extend validity or reinstate lapsed miles, so a balance you are slowly accumulating "for something big" can quietly bleed away at the back end while you add to the front.
The practical rule: know the expiry date of your oldest miles, and plan to spend within three years of earning.
Miles versus FLY ON Points: two different currencies
A distinction that causes real confusion. Miles are the spendable currency — they buy award flights and upgrades, and they expire after 36 months. FLY ON Points are the status currency — they determine your elite tier, they are counted over a calendar year, and they cannot be spent on anything.
Flying earns both at once, at different rates. JAL sets out the qualification thresholds on its FLY ON membership levels page: broadly, JMB Sapphire needs around 50,000 FLY ON Points including 25,000 earned on JAL Group flights (or a flight-count alternative), JGC Premier around 80,000, and JMB Diamond around 100,000. Sapphire carries oneworld Sapphire benefits including lounge access; JGC Premier carries oneworld Emerald. Verify the current numbers and the JAL Group conditions on that page before planning around them.
Getting value back out
JMB miles are generally strongest on oneworld partner awards and premium-cabin redemptions rather than on cheap economy seats, where the cash fare is often low enough that spending miles is poor value. JAL publishes its domestic requirement chart at JAL Domestic Award Tickets required mileage, and the conditions attached to international awards — including waitlist behaviour and the fact that miles are deducted only once a seat is confirmed — at its award ticket rules page.
One rule to note before you plan: a newly opened JMB account generally faces a waiting period of around 60 days before it can book awards at all. If you are opening an account specifically to redeem, open it early.
Frequently asked questions
How do I earn JAL miles? Fly Japan Airlines or a oneworld partner with your JMB number on the booking, use a co-branded JAL Card or a transfer partner, or earn through JAL's shopping partners. Flying JAL directly on a higher fare class earns the most.
Is JAL Mileage Bank a credit card? No. It is a free frequent-flyer account with no joining or annual fee. JAL Card is a separate credit card product that earns into it.
Can I use Asia Miles on Japan Airlines? Yes. Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles is a oneworld programme, so it can be redeemed on JAL flights, and JAL flights can usually be credited to Asia Miles instead of JMB. Each programme has its own award chart, so compare before choosing where to credit.
What happens if my flight did not credit? Request post-flight credit within six months of the flight date via JAL's post-flight credit page. Flights taken before you joined JMB may also qualify within the same window. Keep your boarding pass.
Do JAL miles expire? Yes — 36 months, ending on the last day of the 36th month after the month you earned them. New activity does not extend miles already earned, and expired miles are generally not reinstated.
What is the difference between miles and FLY ON Points? Miles are spendable on awards and expire after 36 months. FLY ON Points determine elite status, reset each calendar year and cannot be spent. You earn both on the same flight at different rates.
Rules, earning rates and thresholds change, and Japan Airlines is the only authority on its own programme. This guide was last checked in September 2026 — always confirm current terms on JAL's own site before you book or transfer.
Comments