The Airline That Left Its Card Behind: Did American Miss Its Moment in Japan? (Part 4 of 4)
American Airlines possesses something Delta lacks: a deep partnership with JAL and access to a major Japanese domestic network. It once paired that relationship with the Resona AAdvantage Visa, giving Japan residents a direct way to earn American miles through everyday spending. That card disappeared after the partnership ended, leaving AAdvantage without a comparable local acquisition channel. This article asks why American retreated, what can actually be verified, and whether its absence represents a missed strategic opportunity for both American and JAL today.
Of the three large U.S. airline loyalty programs, American Airlines AAdvantage should arguably have been one of the easiest to sell in Japan.
American has what Delta lacks: a powerful Japanese airline partner. Its relationship with Japan Airlines permits AAdvantage members to earn and redeem miles on eligible JAL flights, including qualifying domestic services. American also grants Loyalty Points on eligible JAL fares according to the published earning tables.
The airlines’ relationship extends well beyond ordinary alliance membership. Their transpacific joint business began on April 1, 2011, following regulatory approvals, with coordinated schedules, expanded codesharing and connecting itineraries within Japan and North America. In 2026, JAL describes the partnership as celebrating its fifteenth year and says the two airlines continue to coordinate their networks, schedules, lounges and mileage programs.
American therefore had the airline foundation for a compelling Japanese credit card proposition. For a time, it had the card too.
The Resona/AAdvantage Visa Card was offered in Classic, Classic Wide and Gold versions. The Classic product earned one AAdvantage mile per ¥200, while Classic Wide and Gold earned one mile per ¥100. The cards gave Japan residents a direct method of keeping an AAdvantage balance active through ordinary spending while building miles for American, JAL and other oneworld awards.
Then the partnership ended.
Resona announced on March 10, 2021, that American Airlines and Resona Card had agreed to terminate their partnership. New applications, product changes and additional family-card applications had already ended on December 25, 2020. Card renewals were then stopped progressively, beginning with cards expiring at the end of November 2021. Resona also stated that the portfolio would not be transferred to another card company.
What the official announcement does not provide is a commercial explanation. It confirms the termination agreement and timetable, but it does not state whether the decision resulted from portfolio size, profitability, strategy, regulation, the pandemic or another factor. Any attempt to assign a specific cause would therefore be speculation.
What can be evaluated is the consequence. AAdvantage retained its airline relationship with JAL, but lost its principal co-branded consumer acquisition channel in Japan.
That makes American the missing piece in this series.
United maintained numerous locally issued cards and connected their miles to ANA. Delta maintained an even broader local card portfolio, although it lacked a Japanese full-service airline partner. American retained a comprehensive relationship with JAL but withdrew from locally issued cards.
Was that a missed opportunity for JAL?
From JAL’s perspective, the immediate answer is not necessarily yes. JAL operates its own strong JAL Mileage Bank and extensive JAL Card portfolio. A local AAdvantage card would compete for spending that might otherwise generate JAL miles. Encouraging Japanese travelers to join a foreign program could weaken JAL’s direct ownership of the customer relationship.
There is, however, another side to the argument. A locally issued AAdvantage card could have attracted residents who wanted a foreign mileage currency, particularly those who regularly travel to the United States or value American’s oneworld awards. Without such a card, those customers may not automatically move to JAL Mileage Bank. They may choose MileagePlus, SkyMiles or flexible bank points instead.
That is where American’s exit may become a missed strategic opportunity for both airlines. An AAdvantage card could have complemented JAL’s program rather than simply competing with it, giving travelers another reason to direct transpacific loyalty toward the American-JAL joint business.
American has continued investing in the operating partnership. Its Haneda-to-New York service, launched in June 2024, complemented two daily JAL-operated flights on the same route and connected customers to JAL destinations beyond Tokyo. The airline relationship therefore remains active and commercially important even though the local credit card has disappeared.
This produces the series’ final paradox.
United historically struggled to make Japanese cardholders feel fully visible, but gave them ANA. Delta made its Japanese cardholders highly visible, but could only offer a limited domestic redemption arrangement with Skymark. American had JAL and once had a Japanese card, yet allowed the card side of the equation to disappear.
Perhaps American did not abandon Japan. It abandoned one particular way of building loyalty in Japan.
The unanswered question is whether that decision left AAdvantage without a place in Japanese wallets just as airline credit cards became increasingly central to the major U.S. loyalty programs. And if a new Japan-issued AAdvantage card appeared tomorrow, would JAL flyers see it as unnecessary competition, or as the foreign-program alternative that has been missing since 2021?