Our Japan trip for early 2027 is finally starting to come together, and it has turned into one of those trips where the points strategy did not always go as planned.
Earlier this year, we wrote about how to book ANA First Class with Aeroplan, and we used that exact strategy to secure two First Class seats in both directions. Since then, we have made changes to the original booking and finalized hotels across six stops in Japan.
What surprised us most is that many of the hotel decisions favoured cash rates rather than points redemptions. In a destination where the weak Japanese yen has created some excellent hotel pricing, saving your points can sometimes be the better play. We wrote about this in detail in our why cash currently wins in Japan post.
The Itinerary
Our trip currently looks like this: Toronto to Chicago to Tokyo Haneda, then on to Kyushu, the southern island where we will spend most of the trip working through Kagoshima, Aso, and Nagasaki. From there we need to make our way back toward Tokyo for our return flight, so we added Hiroshima and Osaka along the way before flying home from Tokyo Narita via Chicago to Toronto.
We last visited Japan back in 2019 on a round the world trip using the old Aeroplan program, and that trip covered the traditional golden route of Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka. This time we wanted to see a different side of the country. Our trip falls in March, slightly before cherry blossom season reaches much of Japan, and the south stays a little warmer earlier in the season. That is what pointed us toward Kyushu, a region that receives far fewer international visitors than the typical tourist route.
The flights
As mentioned in our guide to booking ANA First Class with Aeroplan, we originally booked Toronto to Chicago, then Chicago to Tokyo Haneda in ANA First Class, with the return routed from Tokyo Narita to Chicago in ANA First Class and on to Toronto.
Once we settled on Kyushu, we needed a way to reach Kagoshima. While Japan’s rail network is excellent, the trip from Tokyo would consume most of a day. Because we booked the outbound ticket using a flexible reward, we were able to call Aeroplan and add an ANA economy flight from Haneda to Kagoshima.
Interestingly, adding the extra flight actually reduced the price. Our original booking cost 120,000 Aeroplan points per person. After adding the domestic ANA segment, the itinerary repriced at 105,000 points per person, saving us 15,000 points each while adding another flight.
Mixed cabin itineraries involving Air Canada segments occasionally produce unusual pricing results, and this is now the second time we have seen Aeroplan lower the total cost after adding a segment. We will leave it there, but there is likely a way to use this to your advantage if you get creative.
Our final routing now looks like this: Toronto to Chicago in business class, Chicago to Tokyo Haneda in ANA First Class, Tokyo Haneda to Kagoshima in economy class, then for the return, Tokyo Narita to Chicago in ANA First Class and Chicago to Toronto in business class.
The Hotels
One thing that quickly became apparent while planning this trip was that Japan currently offers some very attractive hotel pricing. As we discussed in our earlier article on Japan hotels and cash versus points, the weaker Japanese yen often means cash rates provide better value than hotel redemptions.
Yokohama
Since we are landing late in Tokyo and our flight to Kagoshima leaves the next day, we will spend our first night after arrival in Yokohama, a much cheaper alternative to staying in Tokyo. It will also let us see some new sights, like the Cup Noodles Museum and the ramen museum, before taking our flight to Kagoshima. After going back and forth between multiple hotels, we eventually settled on the Hilton Yokohama at a cost of 25,088 JPY, about $219 CAD. That was slightly better value than the 49,000 Hilton points required, so we will use Scene points to offset the cost on this one.
Kagoshima
Kagoshima sits in the shadow of an active volcano and has its own onsen culture without the crowds of somewhere like Hakone. In Kagoshima we will be staying at the Sheraton Kagoshima. We usually avoid Sheraton properties, as we feel Marriott has let this brand slide since the merger, but we have heard great things about this particular hotel. We also booked this one with cash and will use Scene points to cover the cost. Three nights will cost 83,047 JPY, about $729 CAD, against 145,000 points. Cash is the clear winner here, as we value 145,000 points at around 1,450 CAD.
Aso
Our next stop is Aso, home to one of Japan’s most active volcanic regions. On the drive up we are stopping at Udo Shrine, built into the cliffs above the Pacific on the southern coast, before continuing inland.
Hotels are pretty limited in the area, so we are staying at a Fairfield. We usually avoid Fairfields in North America like the plague, but this one opened relatively recently, in 2023, and looks to be a very decent example of the brand. Two nights here cost 35,175 JPY, about $309 CAD, against 40,500 points.
Nagasaki
Nagasaki carries a layered history that goes well beyond what most visitors associate with the city. This is one where the points made sense. Three nights at the Nagasaki Marriott cost 108,158 JPY, about $948 CAD, against 81,000 points, which gives a value of over one cent per point, the basis we use to determine if points are worth booking. Interesting to note that a premium room is also priced at 81,000 points, with a cash rate of 124,381 JPY, offering even better savings.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima is our base for two day trips. One goes to Naoshima, the art island in the Seto Inland Sea, reached by ferry from Okayama. The other goes to Miyajima for Itsukushima Shrine and its floating gate. We also plan to visit the Peace Memorial Museum.
Three nights at the Hilton Hiroshima cost 88,011 JPY, approximately $772 CAD. The same stay required 165,000 Hilton Honors points. Since we generally look for Hilton redemptions above half a cent per point, this redemption simply did not provide enough value.
Osaka
We close the loop in Osaka, back on more familiar ground, which makes it the right place to slow down before flying home. We will be staying at the Waldorf Astoria Osaka. The rate here is definitely better on points, 109,250 JPY ($950 CAD) versus 120,000 points a night. We will be using Hilton certificates from our US Hilton card to cover the cost.
Cash Versus Points
| City | Hotel | Cash Per Night | Average Points Per Night | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokohama | Hilton Yokohama | $219 CAD | 49,000 Hilton | Cash |
| Kagoshima | Sheraton Kagoshima | $243 CAD | 48,333 Marriott | Cash |
| Aso | Fairfield Kumamoto Aso | $155 CAD | 20,250 Marriott | Cash |
| Nagasaki | Nagasaki Marriott | $316 CAD | 27,000 Marriott | Points |
| Hiroshima | Hilton Hiroshima | $257 CAD | 55,000 Hilton | Cash |
| Osaka | Waldorf Astoria Osaka | $950 CAD | 120,000 Hilton | Free Night Certificate |
Final Thoughts
We will spend more cash on hotels this trip than we have in a long time, and we are fine with that. Three of six stops went to cash outright, one came down to a Hilton certificate, and only two were clear point redemptions. Having Scene+ and TD Rewards on hand made those cash nights easy to absorb without touching hotel points we would rather save for a stronger redemption elsewhere.
When redeeming points, or even just deciding whether to, the math has to be checked stop by stop, and this trip put that to the test six different times in six different cities.
Once the trip is complete, we will publish detailed reviews of each stop and see whether our cash versus points decisions actually paid off.
