[2023] Guide to Booking ANA Business Class Award Flights to Japan
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
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In this video, we'll be discussing how to book last-minute award flights to Japan with ANA. We'll take you through the steps of earning and redeeming the points and miles necessary for these flights, as well as how to find the elusive award availability. If you're interested in flying to Japan in style without breaking the bank, this video is for you!
00:00 Intro
00:41 What are close-in bookings?
01:16 Earning points for ANA Business Class
02:35 Redeem for ANA Business Class
03:02 Searching for ANA Award Space with United
05:25 Searching for ANA Award Space on Air Canada
06:20 Booking ANA through Virgin Atlantic
08:43 Maximizing ANA Award Bookings
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Great video, clean and to the point! Keep up the great work, thank you.
Thanks for update and detailed instructions. It's been quite difficult to find award bookings. Glad to know they're becoming a little more available.
Awesome, detailed, helpful and clearly presented video, thank you so much for your great content!
Top notch content my bro!! Love watching your content full of gems!
Very helpful tips! Thanks Max!
Great video, I learned so much! I am much more confident now about finding business class seats. Thanks!
You are the best! We booked 4 flights of Business class on Virgin Atlantic! THANK YOU
Oh ny god, you are a life saver, i fly my mom from Singapore and i really needed to figure these thjngs out and had no clue where to even start!
Great video and information bro! Will send this to my cousin, he is planning to to transfer points to flight ANA to Japan. 👍
Great info Bro😮
Great video Max. I flew ANA F (the suite) last year via Virgin before the horrific devaluation. Gunna book it in J this time around
Great video! You’re right, flexibility is key! Thank you!
💯 the best way to maximize miles/points is flexibility!
Thanks for the updated video, was watching your older video and was so confused by I could not find anything. Didn't realize it was just hard to find any ana flight. Just sucks with my work I kinda need to book over 1 month in advance =\
Before I got into the credit card game, this was the one redemption that I knew about which goes to show how popular it is. This is by far the best video I've personally seen on this redemption, so great work on this one man!
To answer your question, whether I'd rather book with more points or more cash out of pocket would really depend on whether I had a points surplus or not. Plus, if I had some other big bookings coming up where I knew I could really use the extra points over the cash, then I'd pay more in taxes and fees, but that's just me!
Thanks, Spencer! Thanks for watching!
Thanks so much for an example from IAD! I just found 75,000 redemption through Air Canada!
Thanks for the video. This is the exact route I am looking for but with kids in school, we are not flexible so it is hard to even find 4 economy seats on ANA. Mostly shown waitlisted.
Nice. so helpful
Glad to hear it was helpful!
Another helpful vid! Close in was also totally gone Dec 2022 but returned by January. I panicked because I needed LAX TYO in February to start a rtw trip that was otherwise already booked. Phew. Definitely more YQ and fewer miles is my preference especially as you said with transfer bonuses. And what’s your best guess how long the VS partnership will stay? ✌🏽
Excellent video, liked and subscribed. Usually I follow the points guy website. Cheers 👍
Thanks for the sub!
Nice video!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the detailed videos. I booked Qatar qsuites. Turkish biz and a trip to Switzerland by watching your videos. U r awesome, Max.🎉
Can you talk about backup cash flights and how you book hotels and tours without confirming your flights first?
great video, saw this too late and spent 110k miles for business in December. With your video I would had gotten a round trip ticket. Thanks for the tips
Max, great video… Thanks so much.
Question here, how would you know how many are business class available in Virgin Atlantic before calling/transfering.
Thanks so much, appreciate ♥️
Hi Max! Thank you for sharing this. Question for you, if I find award space (I) on United, but cannot find the same flight on Air Canada, does it mean it's a phantom availability?
Thanks for the informative video. One question…. How do you go about booking the return flight? Since availability is usually only shown for the next 1-2 weeks? I was able to find an outbound flight but wondering what I should do for the return? Thanks in advance.
Alpha Dawg!!😂🙏👍🏻
booked a BC ticket on SQ from LAX to BKK via HND for 73k aeropoints. used the chase UR 20% bonus. Getting over 5 cpp i think.
Thank you so much for this really helpful, easy to understand tentorium video!! One question! How to book the return flight bossiness class seat? I am thinking to go to Japan for about 6 weeks, but do I need to book return flight as a one way trip as well when I book the flight to Japan? Since it's the last minutes booking with credit card points, Probably I can't find a good deal on return flight, I wonder. Can I book a return flight while I stay in Japan, when it gets closer to go back to Amerima?
This is such a well done video, thank you so much!
I had a question, how does the award availability for The Room and The Suite look?
You’d have to check some of the routing but SFO to HND is still operated by an aircraft that has the room. Business class is tough to find first class is even tougher so finding award availability for first class and operated by an air craft that has The Suite chances are slim
Hey! Thanks for the tips! I just checked the flights 3-4 weeks out from today and they are all pretty high in points (200K-400K). Are the flights you found with lower points specifically in the summer?
Hi Max, I love your video. I'm learning on using my MR points. However, I use the same search on UA website, but I can't find ANA flights, only UA flights. Any advise?
Awesome Video, what's the best way to search for Business class from DFW to Ho Chi Minh City? Thank you so much in advance
It looks like today they removed all saver reward space accessible to Aeroplan. Hopefully it returns, just yesterday everything was bookable via aeroplan and I was seeing J seats 21 days out.
This DID HAPPEN to me and my wife back in April 2023! 😊
🙌🏼🙌🏼 yup when it rolled into May 2023 the award space stopped being released 🥲 but now it’s back!
@@MaxMilesPoints
I want to THANK YOU SO MUCH for your videos that helped me and my wife flew to Japan in Nov-2022 from LAX to HND via ANA Biz then 1st Class back from NRT to LAX using Virgin-miles redeemed with 30% bonus! 😄
In April we flew ANA Biz from SFO to HND then back via JAL originally Biz but changed to another 1st Class from HND to LAX using the AA Miles! 😁
We indeed were rather flexible and don’t mind paying Virgin some fees changing flights.
I also have tons of Avios hopefully can be used for Qatar Q-Suite!
Love your channel. Can u show some premium economy redemptions?? I'm planning on going to London on either British Airways or Virgin
Hi Max, thanks for the video. It's very informative. I gave this a test to see if I understand it. On ANA website, I found two business from LAX to HND departing Aug 28, 2023. But when I check United, it gives me LAX>HNL>NRT and LAX>IAD>HND. I couldn't find the same availability on the United website for LAX to HND. Any ideas?
This is a good option if you had a different flight booked that is cancellable and then the close in space becomes available
This is exactly what I was thinking. Book refundable seats and then search for availability in the weeks leading up to your trip and cancel the tickets if you find these deals
Does it have to be a one-way trip or does this still work with round-trips(?). And when doing one-way bookings are you also booking one-way trips back on your desired [but flexible] return date/s as well?
Hi Max, is there a reason you need to call VA instead of searching on their website? Is it because ANA and VA are not in the same alliance and hence the VA website doesn't show ANA flights?
Very very helpful. I have 200K ANA miles been stuck at ANA for 4yrs since/prior Covid. Any advice how to use them?
Hey Max, did you find return flights available? I have seen many flights to Tokyo but no award flights returning to the US.
This video is helpful but I don't see any direct flights out of SFO for this month.
Awesome video! Thank you for the information. Do award flights typically cost more points if you book them closer to the departure date versus booking the award flight months in advance? Or are they usually the same amount of points?
same amount of pts
Hey Max, thanks for the guide. What about the returning flight?
You're welcome. For the return flight do the same thing in reverse
I'd rather use fewer points and pay more in taxes & fees. For me it's easier to earn cash than it is to earn points.
Great vid, btw!
I have this video saved. Thanks! I see award space for business on Aeroplan (75K). However, when I called Virgin Atlantic, they did not see any award space. Any reason why?
I gave the united award calendar search a try for dates further out. I see the "110k points" but when you select it, it does not show up. So guess the space is not 'released' yet? Who knows, Ill honestly be checking almost daily for our potential trip in 2024. FYI I am seeing 75k RT (!) via ANA website/points but with the dreaded waitlist.
Can you a connecting flight with less points to redeem?
nice video
hey Max, thanks for the video! I found the saver award space on United but nothing showed up on aircanada why is that?
Aeroplan have issues right now so you have to call Aeroplan for booking ANA flights
Definitely doing less miles and more taxes in that scenario. I'd rather pay the extra $150 or so in taxes and save the 30k points
💯 good point. I'd probably do the same. 30k points can go a lot further than when redeemed for travel than $150
Same here
This was so helpful, along with your video on how to book thru BA as well. How hard are these to come by?? I originally wanted to look in June-July 2024 for a trip from east coast of US to Japan. But realized that was probably not going to happen as they look to peak times. Been scouring both AA and United month calendars in search for these saver business class seats for two - literally have not found even one example for the whole year to book business for sub 80k points one way on either British Airway or Air Canada. Does availability change/update daily? Is it feasible to find one of these business class seats for sub 100k that isn't T-21 days out?
Please let me know if you found anything, in regards to reward availability. I have been looking a few days. Week for a month and still nothing.
Newbie, here. Thank you for the content. When booking these biz class award flights to Japan, can you explain whether it is best to fly out of other major cities as oppose to your hometown? Is it better to fly out of major hub like Houston, Dallas, LAX, SFO, DC, etc? Thank you
yes as those city have availability for business class seats so there is a term they call repositioning where u fly out of those major hubs then fly there from your home airport
First of all, another great video. I have learned a ton from your content.
I'm aiming to book ANA Business Class (ideally Room) for a North America to Tokyo. I see that right now they fly the old 777 business class out of Chicago and, to my understanding, the Room is only available from JFK or SFO to TYO.
Few questions if anyone can help:
1. Will ANA be switching up their offerings/offering more The Room flights between now and January 2024 (trip date)? I see they have summer and winter travel schedules.
2. Do any The Room flights become available from JFK to TYO? Or is it only SFO for points bookings?
I believe the room is only LAX to HND?
question, do your parents earn their own set of points as well?
Ive been looking for flights. Saw it on united as a (I) flight but aerocanada shows nothinf with ANA at all. Is this common to happen?
Hey Max, I see there are business class seasts going to Tokyo for about 75kpts. I don't see any return flight from Tokyo cooking back the the states for anything less than 170k pts in either united or Air Canada.
Also, there are no ANA return flight, only air canada or united.
How do you get the date to show a month instead of having to select a specific date?
Is there an easy way to get notified of when transfer bonus becomes available?
Every time I book a flight normally, I get emails about upgrading. If I book with points, will I be able to upgrade later??
With the BILT 100% transfer bonus last month, it only costs 22500 bilt points! Wish I would have transferred more BILT points to VA last month....
Hi max, I see the flight on ua from sfo to Tokyo but there are no flights s available in both virgin or air Canada websites. 7/3 one way. Do you know why? Thanks
Too bad I didn't see this before buying my flights for Japan 2 months ago. I was totally in that award category but didn't even think check how much it would be in points. My economy round trip was definitely close to a business class round trip with Virgin + transfer bonus
Do you have to do the same thing to book the flight back?
Any chance to have a video about award flight to China?
Very informative but did not mention the high airline surcharge for Air Canada and Virgin aside from the taxes/fees.
So when is your trip to Japan with the family?
Idk if I'm doing something wrong but I did all these exact steps and have called multiple different times and the virgin agent rarely seems to see the availability on their end....
I like Max Miles because I am based in San Diego (Coronado) and he has great tips, the hardest one I have found is Manila I can easily get to LAX but have trouble finding Business class to Manila. I have Capital One and American Express points, along with Flying Blue, Delta, and Jet Blue miles. Would love if someone has a good way to get to the Philippines in Business Class. Thanks
How will a transfer bonus if I'm flying from Hawaii to Tokyo.
Need some advice.
I wonder how many points it is for an economy flight with virgin
How does one find out when a transfer bonus event is happening?
I wish Point transfers were instant for German amex cards as well…
Basically we are trading cash with points for tax. If the points worth less in this case, it's definitely better to pay cash.
How in the world did you make it so easy to find 4 business class flights on ANA! I can barely find economy
How do u know which airline shows which airline’s award or mileage ticket😬???
I'm looking for award availability for June of 2024, and I can't find anything. Am I searching too early, or am I too late? When is a good timeframe to look into these award availabilities?
(Please help; trying to travel for the first time to Japan)
Hi Max, have you booked your return flight? I checked and there was nothing that is decent in points even in economy. Any tips?
Same question. No idea what to do to book business for the return flight.
Hi Max, Thank you very much for this informative video. I did a dry run for 09/26/2023 (SFO->TYO) and indeed found award seats for ANA business (I), but couldn't find the same seats in Air Canada's Aeroplan website. Any clue?
Hey! I just have this a run and saw the same thing you saw. Then I ran the search over on avianca lifemiles (another star alliance partner) and saw the flight over there. That leads me to believe that Air Canada is having issues seeing ANA the award space at the moment or for that particular flight. Sometimes this happens from time to time
@@MaxMilesPoints Thank you so very much for the quick response . Yes, Avianca is another good option since they require less points than Aeroplan (sometimes) and they offer purchase bonus quite often.😃
what about the return flight?
Thanks for the video. I have American airline miles and trying to figure out the best way to get to Japan in March. Any suggestions on which search engines I can use for availability?
If you have American Airlines miles, your best option is to search on American Airlines. You'll want to see if you can find Japan Airlines operated flights.
@@MaxMilesPoints thanks I have looked there. I just didn't know if I could get better miles with a transfer partner.
@@MsJolmstead *Maybe* Alaska Airlines. I don't know if they formally are OW now, but I also don't think they're a xfer partner with anyone. The Japanese airlines are notoriously difficult to book using points, unless you're solely within their airline miles program. JAL has a partnership with Alaska Airlines, and I think that's about it. American Airlines can book as a partner as well, but as Max stated, the US based airlines are infamous for their points devaluations. They're pretty much trash, honestly. ANA has a very lucrative points program, but typically only with ANA's own system. VA partnership is actually *quite rare*, so that's the next best thing in terms of available xfer partners with a broad credit card points partnership, as opposed to Alaska Airlines. That's why the VA booking for ANA is so popular. If you see any availability for some dates you're considering, it's best to book them as soon as you see them since they tend to get scooped up fairly quickly. Otherwise it will quickly run up to 30k+ points for a similar flight with a different redemption program.
I will say, from time to time you can find ANA space with Avianca LifeMiles, but that doesn't help with your JAL with American Airlines miles. You can also try out Cathay Pacific or Malaysian Airlines Business Class with a destination in TYO, possibly for less than trying to find JAL, but never tried it since I don't have AAdvantage miles. Cathay Pacific is supposed to have a great Business Class, unsure about Malaysian.
What's the best way to search for award availability and book through ANA ( if you have points stuck in ANA)?
Search on Air Canada or United and you have to find round-trip award availability when booking through ANA
Great Vid as usual, but rather use points and save on taxes.
Does ANA also operate out of Hawaii? I believe they go from HNL to TYO but it wasn’t listed in the video.
Yes they do! I often forget about that route 😅 sorry!
Hello
I'm always curious with these type of videos. What to you do to come back?😂
#ScumClass
Premium Economy one-way is about $1200 to $1500, depending upon destination.
Is it harder to find a way back to the states? What is your thought process on finding trips back to the states?
Right now there’s no award space coming back to the US 🥲. When they had close-in award space in the past they had outbound and inbound award space. Maybe they’ll open up those later on or maybe there’s high demand right now not sure hopefully inbound award space opens up soon
So did you fly back in gen pop? Did you use cash or more miles?
Wait, can I transfer my united points to aeroplan?
Hi Max, I have points expiring at Ana March of next year, if I found saver flight at United, does that means the seats are also available at ANA?
ill buy ur points if u are open to selling them. I need ANA points for my booking soon.
Can we have two Aeroplan Credit card?
Have been seeing ANA flights on United but not on Air Canada anymore🥲 did they changed their system?
Max do you know what is going on with Aeroplan cannot call them at all. How do you change anything if you need to?
I've heard it's been tough to get them on the phone 😭. Sorry I don't have a solution to get around it
Hi, I have quite a few United points, but buying a United flight as you said become impossible. Since Turkish airline and air Canada are part of star alliance, can I buy through their website a ticket with United points if I don’t have Turkish or air Canada points?
Yes! That works
Hi Max, I found some ANA business award tickets JFK to HND from Sep 4-7 on United app. However, I cannot find these tickets on air Canada app. Does ANA only share these tickets with United?
If it’s saver award space it should be shared amount all partners. Whether the partner is able to see the award space or not that will vary. United is usually a step above at seeing award space for star alliance airlines.
Does it need to be round trip? I remember reading about some rule about how it has to be round trip in a certain case
Booking via Air Canada or Virgin Atlantic does not require round trip! Round trip is required only if booking through ANA
Hey max, you mentioned air Canada and virgin Atlantic, but will this work with British airways (one way flight) since it is also part of oneworld?
Hey! This video is about ANA operated flights ANA is star alliance. ANA has a special partnership with Virgin Atlantic which is a Skyteam airline. So that makes that possible. ANA does not have a partnership with British Airways so it is not possible to book with British Airways avios
@@MaxMilesPointsohh thank you. I’ve been mixing up the two Japan airliners 😂
All great but I notice that all of the "maximize your CC miles" channels talk about searching for one way flights. Do you really book one way flights, what did you do about the return flight, pay full price for a basic economy seat?
Yes One ways are easier to search, it keep it flexible so if you can’t find award availability for the same award program you can book with another program or maybe from a different departing airport. One ways also makes it easy to cancel an individual flight leg too if you need to. Very few loyalty programs reward you for booking round trip. For the return flight reverse the route and it’s the same search and booking process.
Would you waitlist on ANA? I’m planning my trip for a family of 4 and I found waitlist availability but I’m hesitant, should I be concerned?
I would not, you likely won’t be cleared off the waitlist
Any clue why Business class space (I) would show on United but not on AirCanada ?
Good question I’ve been looking into it and seems like it’s happening to some ANA flights and some Asiana flights not sure what’s going on hopefully it gets resolved soon