May 18, 2026
Family Travel to Japan with Points: Flight Booking, Hotels & Real Itinerary Details
Episode Description
Have you ever been tempted to completely change your vacation plans because of an irresistible points deal?
That’s exactly what happened when Japan Airlines did a random first class award dump last April. I couldn’t resist jumping on the opportunity to book our family of four in first class to Tokyo – even though it meant splitting us across two different flights and completely scrapping our original Mexico plans.
For the first time in this podcast’s history, my husband Brandon joins me at the mic to recap our spring break trip to Japan with our two kids. In part one of this two-part series, Brandon and I walk through how this accidental trip came together, what it was like flying Japan Airlines first class as a family, our stay at the newly renovated Park Hyatt Tokyo, and the reality of traveling with kids in Japan – from the Pokémon Cafe to nearly missing the bullet train to Kyoto.
This is an honest, unfiltered look at what goes right and what goes wrong even with advanced planning, as we cover the flight drama, the Tokyo highlights, and everything that happened before we made it to Kyoto.
Turn your expenses into points and save tens of thousands of dollars a year on your travel wishlist. Don’t miss out! Click here to know more about my comprehensive online program, Points Made Easy.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode
- How a random Japan Airlines first class award dump led to an accidental spring break trip
- What it’s actually like to fly Japan Airlines first class with kids
- How to book and navigate the Park Hyatt Tokyo with a family
- The reality of traveling in Japan with children at different ages
- Which Tokyo activities worked well for our family and which ones we’d skip
- The real points and cash costs for a nine-day family trip to Japan
Featured On the Show
- Book the Pokémon Cafe here
- Find the Daruma doll decorating activity here
- Find the family food walking tour of Harajuku here
- Book the Shinkansen bullet train here
- Follow me on Instagram
- Get on the waitlist for the Points Made Easy Course here!
- Get My Cash-Back Credit Card Cheat Sheet!
- If you have any questions or you want me to dive deeper into a specific topic, email me here: podcast@pointmetofirstclass.com
Click here to download the full episode transcript
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Point Me to First Class is the show for professionals and business owners with higher-than-average personal or business expenses, who want to learn to leverage these expenses into credit card points they can spend on travel.
Each week, I share valuable tips, tools, and strategies to help you uplevel your skills earning and redeeming credit card points, so you can expand your travel and expand your experiences.
