Excellent JAL Premium Economy Deals to Europe

Japan Airlines Premium Economy
Japan Airlines Premium Economy. Photo: Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) currently has some excellent Premium Economy airfares available to European destinations including Paris, London, Helsinki and Frankfurt. Tickets are available for under $3,000 return from multiple Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

These prices are available on various travel dates. The best availability is between November 2023 and February 2024. That may not be Europe’s peak summer season, but it can still be a great time to visit!

Japan Airlines offers a very comfortable Premium Economy product on its long-haul Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 aircraft. The service on board is great too, and Japan Airlines even provides lounge access to Premium Economy passengers.

Japan Airlines planes at Narita Airport, Tokyo
Japan Airlines is a Oneworld alliance member. Photo: Afif Ramdhasuma.

Japan Airlines is a member of the Oneworld alliance. You can earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points and status credits with these fares, albeit at the lower partner airline earn rate. As an example, you would earn 21,400 Qantas points and 180 status credits on a round-trip Japan Airlines Premium Economy trip from Sydney to Helsinki via Tokyo.

Helsinki, Finland
Japan Airlines flies to Helsinki, Finland. Photo: Tapio Haaja on Unsplash.

The main catch is that many itineraries require you to stop overnight in Tokyo on the way to Europe. But this may not be required if you’re flying to London. There are short connections available through Tokyo on the return journey back to Australia.

Stopovers are allowed on these fares, which book into “R” class.

Some examples of cheap Japan Airlines itineraries to Europe

The best deals are out of Sydney, which Japan Airlines serves with a daily flight to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. From Haneda, Japan Airlines flies non-stop to Helsinki, Paris and London. Japan Airlines also flies from Narita to Frankfurt.

For example, you could fly JAL Premium Economy from Sydney to Helsinki from $2,743 return when booking on the Japan Airlines website.

Google Flights example of a JL SYD-HEL fare
Example of a Japan Airlines Premium Economy fare from Sydney to Helsinki. Screenshot from Google Flights.

Japan Airlines also flies from Melbourne to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, but Premium Economy is not consistently available on that route.

Don’t live in Sydney? The good news is that it only costs slightly more to fly from Australian cities other than Sydney. Domestic connections in Qantas Economy are available from Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Darwin.

For example, you could fly from Sydney to Paris (via Tokyo) from $2,833 return. But Perth to Paris (via Sydney and Tokyo) starts from around $2,894 return on the Japan Airlines website.

Google Flights example of a JL PER-CDG fare
Example of a Japan Airlines Premium Economy fare from Perth to Paris. Screenshot from Google Flights.

Admittedly, travelling from Perth to Europe via Sydney does add quite a bit of a detour. Also, the Perth-Sydney leg books into Economy Class.

Flights returning from London are a few hundred dollars more expensive than other European destinations due to the UK’s Air Passenger Duty.

Google Flights example of a JL SYD-HND-LHR fare
Example of a Japan Airlines Premium Economy fare from Sydney to London. Screenshot from Google Flights.

How to book

You can book these fares on the Japan Airlines website or through a travel agent. You may also find it useful to search for cheap flights using Google Flights.

Japan Airlines also has some reasonable Business Class fares from Australia to Europe from around $6,000 return at the moment.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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I noticed last night JL J fares to Europe ex-SYD down to just over A$6k - which is in the Precovid price range. I’m in the process of exploring further!

Last time I flew JL J, I paid $5,980 in 2018 for SYD-HND-LHR (QF/BA) // LHR-TLS (BA) //CDG-HEL-NRT (AY/JL) // HND-SIN-SYD (JL/QF). There was a good connection in HND on the way out, the stopover was necessary on the way back (in part because of the airport change). Back then you could include QF sectors with QF codes 😁 and the free side trip after the LHR stopover was a bonus! The last leg was purely a case of why fly direct when you can fly via for the same price! A great little status run while actually do a holiday trip. The other fun fact was flying four sectors before stepping onto a JL aircraft!

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I actually prefer their Y seats on the 787. The JL PY hard shell makes you slump a bit, and the amenities on board aren't a huge improvement (champagne and pot noodles, although you do get lounge access). Hence, their Y is excellent value for money.

What I really want JAL to do is to move their HEL service from HND back to NRT (or better still move MEL to HND). Before COVID, JAL was a great option to get to northern Europe - two 10 hour flights followed by a short hop on an AY codeshare. Now, for people from MEL, you're limited to connections through NRT (FRA only I think to Europe) unless you want to play 'race across Tokyo' or transit in SYD (yuk!).

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click to expand...

I noticed last night JL J fares to Europe ex-SYD down to just over A$6k - which is in the Precovid price range. I’m in the process of exploring further!

Yeah, I just put in a booking for SYD to Europe for around A$7.5k over Easter on JAL, which I think is pretty good for that time period. Also, free stopover in Tokyo.

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Is there any special fares with Virgin Australia to Europe via their new Sydney/cairns/ Tokyo service

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That Virgin 737 flight is going to be plain nasty sitting on for such a long flight to Tokyo. I wouldn't do it.

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Yes could be painful flighr

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I actually prefer their Y seats on the 787. The JL PY hard shell makes you slump a bit, and the amenities on board aren't a huge improvement (champagne and pot noodles, although you do get lounge access). Hence, their Y is excellent value for money.

Agreed, recently did the 787 in both Y and PE and I also think that their Y seat is more comfortable personally and there is not much difference between them in terms of the soft product.

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Agreed, recently did the 787 in both Y and PE and I also think that their Y seat is more comfortable personally and there is not much difference between them in terms of the soft product.

Personally I disagree also having tried both, the more generous recline on PE makes a big difference for me when trying to sleep, especially when the seat in front cannot enter your space due to the hard shell, however I would agree the Y is very good.

I would say the JAL Y seat has surprisingly limited recline, for better or worse.

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Now, for people from MEL, you're limited to connections through NRT (FRA only I think to Europe) unless you want to play 'race across Tokyo' or transit in SYD (yuk!).

Surely the SYD T3->T1 transfer is better than NRT->HND! 😳

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JAL is a great airline with perfect services and I was using JAL last sept to London via Haneda with 3 hrs transit and their business class pricing is very attractive since its around 6K return and anyone going to Europe this is the best bet and other is ANA.
Take a break in Tokyo and visit Yodabashi, to see the latest electronics and you will not be disappointed. I was station there few yrs ago, and nice central place to stay is Shinjuku since night life, great bars, good hotels and possibly world busiest rail station. Other factor is Haneda airport is 30 mins to Tokyo.

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