It’s common for airline and hotel loyalty programs to have partnerships, given that those who are frequent flyers are also often frequent hotel guests. In the case of Marriott Bonvoy, the program has close partnerships with programs like Emirates Skywards, Singapore KrisFlyer, and United MileagePlus.
We can now add another program to the mix, as Japan Airlines Mileage Bank now has a preferred partnership with Marriott Bonvoy. While I wouldn’t get too excited about the points opportunities, the potential status match opportunity might be interesting to some.
In this post:
Marriott & Japan Airlines launch points, status opportunities
Marriott Bonvoy and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank now have a preferred partnership, which includes both points earning and elite status opportunities.
For the most part, I’d ignore the points angle of this:
- You can transfer Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles to Marriott Bonvoy at a 4:3 ratio, though I wouldn’t consider that, since Japan Airlines miles are worth more than Marriott points
- You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank at a 3:1 ratio, but that’s just the standard Bonvoy airline mileage transfer ratio
- While you can earn Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles directly for Marriott stays, that’s not a good value, and you’re better off earning Marriott Bonvoy points, which then give you the flexibility to convert them later, at a better ratio
What I think is much more interesting is the status match and challenge opportunities between the programs. Japan Airlines Mileage Bank members can get complimentary or accelerated status, with a challenge to keep that Marriott Bonvoy status in the long term.
Meanwhile Marriott Bonvoy members can receive a certain number of FLY ON points toward Japan Airlines Mileage Bank status, with that being the metric by which you can unlock status, in conjunction with some flying on Japan Airlines.
This is an interesting path to oneworld elite status
I suspect for most OMAAT readers, the opportunity to unlock Japan Airlines Mileage Bank status using Marriott Bonvoy status will be more appealing than the inverse (though I imagine this will also greatly swell Marriott Bonvoy’s elite ranks in Japan, as if they’re not swelled enough).
FLY ON points are the metric by which you can earn status with Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, and as you can see, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn anywhere from 2,000 to 40,000 FLY ON points toward status, depending on their tier.
That sounds exciting on the surface, since it makes it pretty easy (particularly for Marriott Bonvoy Titanium and Ambassador members) to unlock oneworld elite status. For example, oneworld Sapphire status requires 50,000 FLY ON points. That’s the point at which you get lounge access, including access to American Flagship Lounges when flying exclusively domestically.
However, that’s where the major catch comes into play — as you can see, to unlock Japan Airlines status, you need to earn a certain number of FLY ON points from travel on Japan Airlines. So this is really only useful if you otherwise have travel planned on Japan Airlines. While you can of course also credit oneworld partner flights to the program, that doesn’t help you with unlocking that minimum amount needed.
Anyway, it certainly won’t be for everyone, but there are some niche situations where I can see the math mathing, assuming you have some travel coming up on Japan Airlines, and especially if you value oneworld Sapphire status and Flagship Lounge access.
Bottom line
Marriott Bonvoy and Japan Airlines have launched a new preferred partnership. While there’s a points opportunity element to this, I wouldn’t consider that to be a good deal. Instead, what’s intriguing here is the potential for reciprocal status, including a way to unlock oneworld status, assuming you have a high tier status with Marriott. However, you do still need to fly a fair bit on Japan Airlines.
So I’d put this more in the category of “good to know” rather than “no brainer with wide appeal.”
What do you make of this new partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and Japan Airlines?
I'm a huge fan of JAL (and ANA), so this is interesting. However..."So this is really only useful if you otherwise have travel planned on Japan Airlines." Yeah, so, to keep it, that'd be 'cash,' not points, for those flights you'd need to be planning to fly JL on. Unless you're based in Japan, a little harder to pull-off.
Sorta related, with the BILT transfer bonus from earlier this year (March 1, 2026), a...
I'm a huge fan of JAL (and ANA), so this is interesting. However..."So this is really only useful if you otherwise have travel planned on Japan Airlines." Yeah, so, to keep it, that'd be 'cash,' not points, for those flights you'd need to be planning to fly JL on. Unless you're based in Japan, a little harder to pull-off.
Sorta related, with the BILT transfer bonus from earlier this year (March 1, 2026), a lot of folks pre-emptively transferred a boatload of points to JAL, thus leading to a lack of award availability, say, for long-haul in F or J to TYO, which is what folks really wanted. Just sayin', a bit too goo to be true lately with finding sweet spots on JL.
Flyertalk is saying that these Fly On points are being credited as JAL Group FOPs, at least for now.
They are being posted as JAL FOP. I am sure that will remain.
While the wording from Marriott is not clear on that, there are plenty of cases reported already
Maybe no JAL-Group-FOPrequirement in some cases. The official FAQ gives a similar example: a member already holding 30,000 FOP receives 20,000 FOP from Marriott Platinum and is immediately upgraded to Sapphire at 50,000 FOP. It seems that it does not impose the normal 25,000-JAL-Group-FOP condition in that example.
But also the partnership terms state that after receiving Crystal or another status through the program, anyone seeking a higher JAL status must meet JAL’s normal published...
Maybe no JAL-Group-FOPrequirement in some cases. The official FAQ gives a similar example: a member already holding 30,000 FOP receives 20,000 FOP from Marriott Platinum and is immediately upgraded to Sapphire at 50,000 FOP. It seems that it does not impose the normal 25,000-JAL-Group-FOP condition in that example.
But also the partnership terms state that after receiving Crystal or another status through the program, anyone seeking a higher JAL status must meet JAL’s normal published qualification requirements. That means once you get crystal status, 25,000-JAL-Group-FOP condition should apply to get sapphire status.
That FAQ is unclear then. If you get 20,000 FOP from Marriott, that will credit as JAL Group FOP, then you still need another 5,000 JAL Group FOP to achieve Sapphire. You can then have another 30,000 that are all from partner airlines and not achieve Sapphire.
Minimum fly on points requirement with JAL group flights might still apply to get the status. In that case, 25,000 FOPs with JAL group flights for acquiring Sapphire status are needed even with 40,000 FOPs bonus.
For your scenario about having Titanium status, you’re not only 10,000 points from oneworld Sapphire though because a minimum of 25000 of the fly on points need to be from JAL Group flights.
Why would you receive automatic Ruby status by simply having 30000 fly on points? isn't 15000 required on jal metal?
@ LY -- Totally forgot to factor that in, my mistake. Post updated now... thanks.
15,000 is required to be JAL FOP and these are JAL FOP so you get instant Crystal if you are Titanium.
@Ben,
LY's comment is a red herring. You were correct in the post initially.