American Airlines' Business Extra adds its third partner airline
American Airlines has not one but two loyalty programs.
Of course, most flyers are familiar with AAdvantage, the program that lets you earn and redeem miles for flights on American and its Oneworld partners.
However, there's a second, lesser-known loyalty program designed for small- to medium-sized businesses called Business Extra. This program rewards employers for their employees' travel in addition to any AAdvantage miles the employees earn.
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You can earn Business Extra points from flight activity, special offers or a dedicated corporate card. You can then redeem those points for award flights, upgrades, lounge passes and more.
However, unlike AAdvantage, Business Extra has historically had a much smaller list of airline partners. Previously, you could only earn points or redeem awards on American, British Airways or Iberia.
As of Sept. 9, American has added a third partner, Japan Airlines (JAL), that'll open up a whole host of transpacific adventures.
Going forward, Business Extra members will be able to earn 1 point per $5 spent on most Japan Airlines flights (excluding domestic travel within Japan).
As part of the news, there are now some new partner awards for flights to and from Japan. You can use Business Extra points for domestic Japan flights as well as those from Japan to other points in Asia, Europe, North America and the South Pacific.
Rates are in line with the Anytime Business Extra awards for travel on American Airlines flights.
With coach tickets from the U.S. to Japan starting at 11,000 points, it's not the best deal. But if your company has a surplus of points, it could make sense to redeem them for Japan Airlines flights. Even if you don't end up redeeming with JAL, at least there's another way to earn Business Extra points.
Related: Guide to earning and burning with American Airlines' Business Extra program
My all-time favorite redemption will likely always be the BXP1 — a one-segment upgrade within North America or flights from North America to Hawaii or the Caribbean for just 650 Business Extra points. Bumping from Flagship Business to First on the Airbus A321T for just 650 points is an incredible redemption.
Either way, JAL is a welcome addition to the growing list of Business Extra partners.