For more than a decade now, I have lived in Japan and for a good portion of that, I used an ANA credit card as my main card. Because of that, ANA Mileage Club is the frequent flyer program I tend to use the most.
The program has some obvious downsides like not allowing the booking of international one-way award tickets and charging fuel surcharges on most flights.
That said, with ANA being a member of Star Alliance, it offers award tickets to almost any destination you can imagine and the award tickets are relatively low priced (in terms of the number of miles required). It is also an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner which, if you are in the US, makes acquiring ANA miles fairly easy.
Continue reading to see what some of my favorite award redemptions using ANA miles are.
The Basics of Redeeming ANA Mileage Club Miles
First, though, let’s start with some of the basics of ANA Mileage Club award redemptions that will help you maximize the value of your ANA miles even further.
ANA miles can be used for both domestic and international award tickets. While most of the sweet spots that I will talk about later are related to international awards, I’ll go over the basics of both here as there are some valuable domestic redemptions to be had too.
Domestic Award Tickets
ANA’s domestic awards use a distance- and season-based award chart that can be found here. There are four distance ranges with different pricing, each with different pricing for low, regular, and high seasons. Codeshare flights operated by Air Do, Solaseed Air, and Starflyer can be booked too.
With the exception of some flights to Okinawa’s outlying islands involving a transfer in Naha, domestic ANA award tickets are priced and have to be booked sector by sector. While this means more miles are required for one-stop itineraries, it also means one-way domestic award tickets can be issued.
In addition to the required mileage, passenger facility charges (PFC) for the departure and arrival airports have to be paid when booking a domestic ANA award ticket. At less than $5 for most tickets, though, these are negligible.
International Award Tickets
Unfortunately, ANA Mileage Club doesn’t allow one-way international award tickets. That said, it has a fairly generous stopover and transfer policy. With some reasonable restrictions, it also allows multi-city itineraries and mixed-class itineraries.
International itineraries booked using ANA miles can have (with some restrictions) up to two transfers outside of Japan and up to two transfers within Japan each way. They can also have one stopover (in the case of tickets originating in Japan, the stopover cannot be in Japan). The stopover counts as a transfer.
With the above, you could, for example, fly from New York to Tokyo, spend a few days there, fly on to Sapporo, and then return from Sapporo to Los Angeles via Tokyo. You could fly from New York to Tokyo in business class and from Tokyo to Los Angeles in economy class.
Three types of regular international award tickets can be issued using ANA miles:
- ANA international flight awards: These can only include ANA (and domestic codeshare) flights and, in addition to zone-based pricing, also vary in price depending on the season in the same way (low, regular, high) that domestic awards do. This is the only type that permits waitlisting for flights without availability.
- Star Alliance partner awards: These can include ANA and other Star Alliance member airlines’ flights and have purely zone-based pricing. Airlines within a single itinerary can be mixed (e.g. you could fly on ANA one way and on Singapore Airlines the other or you could connect from Lufthansa to Austrian).
- Non-Star Alliance partner awards: Not all ANA Mileage Club airline partners belong to Star Alliance. When issuing award tickets on those that are not (like Vietnam Airlines and Virgin Australia), airlines cannot be mixed within a single itinerary. In other words, you can book a roundtrip from Tokyo to Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines using ANA miles, for example, but you cannot book the same routing with the outbound flight on Vietnam Airlines and the inbound flight on ANA.
In addition to that, ANA Mileage Club also offers Star Alliance Round the World tickets. These are priced based on a distance-based chart and can include up to 12 flights with a maximum of 8 stopovers. The detailed rules of these tickets are a topic for another article, though.
What is more important to note in this article is that you will have to pay fuel surcharges on most international flights booked using ANA miles. That said, ANA doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges on some airlines (Air New Zealand, Scandinavian Airlines, and Singapore Airlines) and some airlines like LOT and Ethiopian Airlines have relatively mild fuel surcharges.
All international ANA and Star Alliance award tickets can be booked online; for most non-alliance partner awards you will have to book using phone.
Changes on international award tickets issued through ANA can be made up to 96 hours before the departure of the flight you want to change. That said, you can only change the departure date and time; i.e., the routing and the airline of each sector need to remain as originally booked.
International award tickets can be refunded up to an itinerary’s first flight’s departure. In that case, a refund fee of 3,000 miles applies and miles that would have expired in the meantime are not refunded.
6 Best Uses of ANA Miles
Below are what I think are some of the best ways to spend ANA miles. That said, the best way for you to spend your hard-earned ANA miles will depend on what other miles you have, where you live, where you hope to travel, and so on.
Because of that, rather than thinking of the list below as a definitive, think of it as a collection of starting points for generating ideas about what options you have for spending your ANA miles or how you could integrate an ANA award ticket into an upcoming trip that you are planning to book or have already booked.
Heavily Discounted Domestic Award Tickets Using TOKU-TABI
There is one domestic “sweet spot” to spend your ANA miles on that I haven’t seen other similar articles mention – TOKU-TABI. This is a promotional fare that allows ANA Mileage Club members to book heavily discounted domestic award tickets to a different set of destinations each week.
Sectors that would otherwise cost 6,000 miles (e.g., Tokyo – Osaka) during the regular season can be had for 3,000 miles. Those that would cost 7,500 miles (e.g., Tokyo – Fukuoka) can be booked for 4,500 miles. Longer sectors that would otherwise cost 9,000 or 10,000 miles cost 7,000 miles. During the high season, the TOKU-TABI prices increase slightly.
ANA announces TOKU-TABI destinations every Tuesday around noon Japan time. TOKU-TABI tickets to those destinations can then be booked for a week, starting the following day (i.e. Wednesday). Travel has to be done between Thursday of the week the destinations were announced and Wednesday the following week. You can find the latest list of TOKU-TABI destinations here.
Due to the way this promotional fare works, it is not suitable for planning in advance. However, it is still great to know about if you have a trip planned to Japan. It might turn out that a destination you want to visit (or that you had no idea you wanted to visit) pops up on the list of TOKU-TABI destinations available during your stay.
If you decide to use TOKU-TABI, keep in mind that when you search for award availability even on the eligible routes, you will first only see the regular required mileage amount. Only once you click through to the passenger information input screen, you will have a chance to switch your pricing to “Campaign Mileage.”
Low Season ANA Business Class Award Tickets to Japan
In case you want to travel to Japan then booking ANA flights – especially in business class – during low season can represent a good use of miles. To use ANA miles in this way, you will need to either live near an airport with an ANA flight or position to one. That said, in the latter case, you might be better off just paying the extra miles needed to book a Star Alliance partner award ticket.
The dates that fall within the low season vary slightly each year and also depend on your origin. Generally, most of January, February, and April are included. For some regions, the second half of May, all of June, and the first half of December are included too. The exact breakdown of international award seasons for this year and the coming two years can be found on this page on the ANA website.
For flights in the low season, roundtrip ANA business class flights to Japan only cost, for example:
- 80,000 miles from Europe
- 75,000 miles from North America
- 65,000 miles from Oceania
You will have to pay fairly hefty fuel surcharges in addition to the required mileage but even then good value can still be had.
While you can also book similar awards in economy, premium economy, and first class, those do not represent as much value in my opinion. Economy class tickets cost more than half of, premium economy tickets more than 80% of, and first class tickets double the number of miles required for business class tickets.
To maximize the value you get out of this redemption (and to see more of the country), you can also add a couple of extra flights around Japan. In addition to the time you spend in your final destination, the rules allow you to add one stopover and two transfers of up to 24 hours each way (including the stopover).
So ultimately, if you are traveling from Los Angeles, for example, you could book an itinerary along the lines of:
- New York to Tokyo in ANA’s excellent The Room, followed by a few day stopover in Tokyo
- Tokyo to Fukuoka, followed by an up to 24-hour transfer in Fukuoka
- Fukuoka to Okinawa, followed by a few days in Okinawa (the final destination of the ticket)
- Okinawa to Osaka, followed by an up to 24-hour transfer in Osaka
- Osaka to New York via Tokyo with an up to 24-hour transfer in Tokyo
That’s not a bad deal for just 75,000 miles and a fairly reasonable $450 or so in taxes and surcharges!
You can book similar itineraries using the “multiple cities/mixed classes” option on ANA’s website and, if you do not have enough miles to travel in business class both ways, could also book one way in economy class (or first class for that matter if you want to splurge…).
Japanese and Korean City Hopping in Economy Class
On the opposite spectrum of the flight duration and luxury spectrums is another one of my favorite redemptions – a roundtrip economy class award ticket from Japan to South Korea maximizing ANA Mileage Club’s generous transfer and stopover rules and taking advantage of Asiana Airlines’ good number of destinations in Japan.
Theoretically, starting in Tokyo (or a different Japanese city for that matter), you can visit up to four other Japanese cities for up to 24 hours, as well as two cities in South Korea for as long as you want (one as a stopover point and another as a destination) and another two for up to 24 hours.
In practice, how many cities you will be able to visit will be restricted by Asiana Airlines’ domestic route network. To get around its relatively limited network, you might also opt for an open-jaw ticket and arrange a separate low-cost airline ticket or ground transportation to close off the itinerary.
The ANA ticket will set you back 18,000 ANA miles (plus taxes and surcharges).
Using this redemption, you could book an itinerary like the one below:
- Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo on ANA, followed by an up to 24-hour transfer in Sapporo
- Sapporo to Fukuoka on ANA, followed by an up to 24-hour transfer in Fukuoka
- Fukuoka to Seoul Incheon on Asiana Airlines, followed by a few day stopover in Tokyo
- Seoul Gimpo to Jeju on Asiana Airlines, followed by a few days in Jeju (the final destination of the ticket)
- Jeju to Gwangju on Asiana Airlines, followed by a few day stopover in Gwangju
- Gwangju to Osaka Kansai on Asiana Airlines, followed by an up to 24-hour transfer in Osaka
- Osaka Itami to Tokyo Haneda on ANA
You could also do similar itineraries but to Thailand, China, and any other country with a Star Alliance presence for that matter. The required mileage would be higher and the international flights would be longer, though, so it would not be as much of a “hopping.”
Business Class Within the Middle East and Africa
Leaving Asia, another sweet spot in ANA Mileage Club redemptions are roundtrip flights within the Middle East and Africa, particularly in business class.
The reason for that is the generous way ANA defines the region. “Zone 8,” as the region is referred to in ANA’s partner award chart, covers everything from Cairo and Dubai all the way to Nairobi and Cape Town. The only countries that geographically belong in the Middle East and Africa but actually are part of the zone which includes Europe are the North African countries of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
With some of these cities being thousands of miles apart, being able to fly between them and use ANA’s generous stopover and open-jaw rules along the way for just 55,000 miles roundtrip in business class is a steal. For reference, economy class tickets are 30,000 miles and first class tickets are 90,000 miles roundtrip.
As an example, you could fly between Dubai and Cape Town which are almost 5,000 miles apart on Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa for 55,000 miles and just $100 or so in taxes and surcharges. If you wanted to, you could also do a stopover in Ethiopia or add a couple of domestic sectors on South African Airways; all in business class.
You could also build any other valid itinerary for the same amount of miles as long as you stayed in these 60+ countries: Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and PrÃncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Business Class from Europe to South Africa
ANA charges 68,000 miles roundtrip for business class between “Zone 7” (Europe) and “Zone 8” (the Middle East and Africa).
The amount equivalent to 34,000 miles one-way (although only roundtrips can be booked) is not too exciting for flights between Europe and the Middle East or the northern half of Africa. However, it is spectacular for flights between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa in particular.
As an example, next year, I plan to go on a safari trip to South Africa with my dad. Paying just 68,000 miles and $400 in taxes and surcharges per person, I booked two roundtrip tickets from Vienna to Cape Town – two cities that are 5,650 miles apart – with a stopover in Johannesburg.
The itinerary includes a short hop from Vienna to Zurich on Austrian, a 10.5-hour Swiss flight from Zurich to Johannesburg, a two-hour South African Airways domestic flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and a pair of mid-haul flights on Ethiopian Airlines from Cape Town to Vienna via Addis Ababa.
Similar itineraries but with a stopover in Ethiopia or Egypt among other places are possible too.
Not a bad way to see Africa if you are based in Europe!
Business Class from North America to the Middle East or Africa
This ANA Mileage Club sweet spot is very similar to the above but useful if you are living in the United States (including Alaska but excluding Hawaii) or elsewhere in North America.
For itineraries between “Zone 6” (North America) and “Zone 8” (the Middle East and Africa), ANA Mileage Club charges 104,000 miles in business class. For itineraries between North America and Europe, the airline charges 88,000 miles. What this means is that for just 16,000 miles roundtrip extra, you can visit not only Europe but also the Middle East or Africa.
You could, for example, fly from New York to Vienna on Lufthansa, then spend a week in Vienna and fly on to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines, spend some time in Ethiopia, and finally fly back on Ethiopian Airlines’ one-stop service from Addis Ababa to New York.
Summary
ANA Mileage Club is, perhaps, not the program that comes to your mind first when thinking about booking an award ticket on Star Alliance airlines. After all, unless you live in Japan, ANA miles are not that easy to come by, the program only allows roundtrip redemptions (with the exception of domestic flights in Japan), and you have to pay fuel surcharges on most award tickets issued through ANA Mileage Club.
That said, there certainly are some great uses of ANA miles that are worth knowing about. While some of those – like TOKU-TABI – can come in handy if you have an already planned trip to Japan, others (like low season ANA business class awards) provide a great way to get to Japan and beyond.
What I think is the best sweet spot in the entire ANA Mileage Program, though, is the way it defines “the Middle East and Africa zone.” This allows for some interesting and cheaply priced itineraries both within the region (like Dubai to Cape Town), from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa (like Vienna to Cape Town), and from the United States to the Middle East or Africa with a stopover in Europe.
