Great ANA First Class Award Availability, and a Brief Window to Book at a Discount

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There’s a 30% bonus on transfers from Amex to Virgin Atlantic right now and Virgin offers the cheapest US-Asia first class awards on their partner ANA.

So it seemed worth taking a look at ANA first class availability. And right now the Houston and Chicago routes especially have great availability beginning in 2019 through end of schedule.

This space is actually accessible using miles from a variety of programs — in the Star Alliance and through other airline partnerships as well. ANA offers one of the best and most consistent first class products in the world. It’s not as flashy as Emirates or Etihad, but the service and food are fantastic.

I’ve written a bit about availability on ANA the past several months, including on the Washington Dulles, Houston, and Chicago routes. New York space usually exists but isn’t quite as generous, same with Los Angeles, though the San Francisco Coast route can be tougher at times.

Here’s ANA first class availability for two passengers, Houston – Tokyo, in April:

Booking ANA first class awards:

  • Roundtrip first class between the US and Japan on ANA for 110,000 – 120,000 Virgin Atlantic miles From the West Coast it’s just 110,000 miles for first class (90,000 in business class).

    You can put the award on hold for 24 hours. Points transfer from partners instantly. Roundtrip travel is required, Virgin Atlantic awards have a $50 per passenger change fee, and a cancel/redeposit fee of $50 as well. No changes are permitted within 24 hours of travel.

  • United on the other hand charges 110,000 miles each way.

  • Aeroplan charges 105,000 miles each way.

  • Avianca LifeMiles charges 90,000 miles each way.

With United, Aeroplan, or LifeMiles you can easily add ANA connecting flights beyond Japan to destinations throughout much of Asia albeit for additional miles if your destination is in South Asia.

Notably Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to United — or to Virgin Atlantic. Chase’s annual fee Ultimate Rewards cards transfer to miles, for instance:

  • Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card has the best signup bonus — 80,000 point signup bonus after $5000 spend within 3 months. That can even be enough for a roundtrip business class award ticket between the US and Europe.

    It earns 3 points per dollar on travel — that’s airlines, hotels, rental cars, tolls, even Uber — and 3 points per dollar on shipping and advertising on social media and search engines, so great for anyone who advertises on Facebook or Twitter, or who spends money advertising with Google. It also comes with $600 protection against theft or damage when you use it to pay your cell phone.

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred Card lets you earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

    The card earns two points on travel and dining at restaurants and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide. The card has an introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95. I suggest it as the number on card to get started with in miles and points. Get Sapphire Reserve later, perhaps, the card’s annual fee makes this the one to get first.

American Express points transfer to Aeroplan or to Virgin Atlantic. And Citibank points transfer to Virgin Atlantic as well.

For the Chicago and Houston flights (as well as San Francisco) you even get access to United’s Polaris lounge prior to departure. And I’m just a huge fan of ANA’s first class meal service onboard.


United Polaris Lounge Chicago O’Hare


Midflight snack

I consider ANA first class to be a top 10 product, notably it’s not Singapore, Etihad or Emirates first but it’s a great way to get between the US and Asia.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. Gary, your first sentence says that there is a 30% bonus on Citi transfers to VS, but the link is to an article discussing a 30% bonus from Amex transfers to VS.

  2. EK is not a top 10 F product (at east not the old seat). How much do you bloggers get paid to prop it up?

  3. Does ana have qualifying flights from Boston or Nyc? I’m new to this blog and not sure how to search for it.

  4. “With United, Aeroplan, or LifeMiles you can easily add ANA connecting flights beyond Japan to destinations throughout much of Asia albeit for additional miles if your destination is in South Asia.”

    Does this mean that redeeming an award on ANA via VS miles does not allow for ANA connecting flights beyond Japan? Im looking to go LAX-TYO-ICN, and it would be good to know if I should expect to get a separate award/buy tickets TYO-ICN.

    Thanks!

  5. ANA First is better than Emirates and Etihad and about even or better than SQ. All my best 1st class flights have been on ANA. Absolutely perfect. No showers or doors (stupid feature) Just a big comfy seat with 5 star service and the best Japanese food in the sky.

  6. @Darin: yes, ANA awards booked through Virgin are to Japan. Onward travel requires an additional ticket.

  7. Thanks for the information Gary. One last question, can the award still be roundtrip but have a different outbound and return? Say LAX-NRT-SFO for example.

    Thanks!

  8. @Gary, @Darin — same question as Darin. Is it possible to do LAX/SFO/HOU – NRT – EWR as a single round-trip on ANA booked through Virgin?

  9. I booked ORD-NRT-LAX for two people all in first and was charged 235,000. Not sure why but still seemed like a pretty good deal.

  10. Can Virgin Atlantic request award space if only 1 of 2 seats required are available according to UA’s website?

  11. Check for NH F award availability through ExpertFlyer.com. It seems only 1 of 8 F seats are award seats. Chat up VA on their website to get information first, then call them up when you have the miles and are ready to book. I was able to book NH F NRT-ORD through VA after AmEx 30% VA transfer bonus. But, after having read some reviews, want to change from NRT to HND, not only because HND is closer to Tokyo and easier to get to, but also because I’ve read that HND First Suites lounge is nicer than the one at NRT. NRT-ORD is being used as the last leg of an upcoming trip. I have to rebook my current July ORD-NRT for a later date subject to that $50 rebooking fee, nothing compared to the $20k that RT NH flight actually costs.

Comments are closed.