How to earn miles on two of your airlines (in Japan) at the same time – 2021 edition

In 2018 I wrote a post here on City-Cost, on how to earn miles for two of your airlines of choice. At that time I was still actively collecting JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) and Delta Skymiles, and have just started working on my ANA Mileage Club (AMC) collection.

A lot has happened since then – other than COVID-19. On my end, due to the lack of air travel opportunities I have shifted my mileage collection focus from JMB to AMC, mainly so that I can turn my miles to cash via T-Point. With that shift, I have discovered yet another way to earn miles on two airlines.

Since Japan started giving rewards for using cashless payment options in 2019, companies like Rakuten, LINE and NTT Docomo have launched their own digital payment applications. Convenience stores like Family Mart and 7-11 (via PayPay) now also have their own apps supporting digital payment. However, it was not until recently that an airline has launched its own digital payment system.

On December 2020 All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched their new mobile payment service called ANA Pay, which can be used from the AMC app. To use ANA Pay, you must first have an AMC account and download the AMC app (or if already downloaded, update to their latest versions). Then after opening the app and logging in, tap the ANA Information Bar where the menu will then be shown. From the menu, tap the ANA Pay icon to proceed to registration of your email address, phone number and setting of your password.

ANA Pay can be used at establishments that have either the ANA Pay or SmartCode logos at check out, and can be charged using any JCB card. That means, if you have any airline co-branded JCB credit card, you can earn ANA miles and the airline miles on your card. For example, I use my Delta Skymiles JCB Take-Off card to charge my ANA pay. Currently, other major carriers that have co-branded JCB credit cards are JAL, United Airlines, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana, Thai Airways, and Air France/KLM. Starflyer and Peach are Japan's low cost carriers that also have JCB credit cards.

Frankly, I still have to see how many miles I am about to earn on both airlines since I have just made my first ANA Pay purchase last month, at a fast food restaurant. However, just the fact that I have another method to add to my mileage collection excites me no end.