My family is traveling to Japan this summer, and my daughter and I decided to add a quick trip to Shanghai, China to the end of that trip to visit Shanghai Disneyland. Last month, I wrote about a change to China’s visa-free transit rule that tempted me to add Beijing to my itinerary (see this post). But, I didn’t want to shake up my itinerary if I couldn’t find comparable flights for a later date using miles and points. I’m happy to say that I found a solution.
Adding Days and Cities to Japan/China Trip
My old itinerary included 4 nights in Tokyo (including a visit to Tokyo DisneySea), 4 nights in Kyoto and 3 nights in Shanghai. We were booked on nonstop flights home on AA from Shanghai to DFW in Premium Economy seats for 91k miles each.
I’ve been checking award flights for the past few weeks, and I only found more expensive flights home from China. Then a few days ago, I saw the same Shanghai to DFW flight on a later date in Premium Economy for 61k miles each. Yes!
The only problem was that it was a few days longer than I wanted to stay in China. But, I decided “Go Big or Go Home” applied to this trip. My daughter and I both have the time off this summer, and when would I have another chance to see The Great Wall?
But instead of spending 9 days in China between Shanghai and Beijing, I decided to extend our time in Japan by a few nights by adding Hiroshima to our trip before we fly to China. Leana spent time in Hiroshima on her trip to Japan and raved about it (see her post here).
Our new itinerary:
4 nights in Tokyo, 4 nights in Kyoto, 3 nights in Hiroshima, 3 nights in Beijing and 3 nights in Shanghai. We will be taking the bullet train between Beijing and Shanghai. In Beijing, I plan to visit the Mutianyu section of The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
The great thing about booking flights with miles and points is the flexibility to change and cancel. I was able to change our flights from Japan to China and our flights home from China with no penalties.
This trip is definitely going to wear me out, but I’m excited!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Congrats on visiting all 6 Disney parks.
@Nat That’s been a dream of mine for a while now!
Nancy, I don’t know if it’s feasible, but I recommend looking into spending at least one night in Miyajima if possible. This is something I wish we did, though the logistics were too complicated due to having my elderly MIL with us. They have small guesthouses on the island that look really cool, some with onsens. It’s a hassle to switch hotels, but I would do it in a heartbeat to enjoy the island once the day trippers leave.
Great idea, Leana!
I loved Hiroshima. Try to go to a baseball game if there are any in town… even if you’re not into baseball it’s a blast.
@bc Thanks for the recommendation!