Sweetspot,SPG,ANA,Membership Rewards
Unbeatable Sweet Spot: 75,000 Miles Roundtrip in Flat Bed to Japan
May 12, 2016
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has reduced fuel surcharges drastically on awards that travel to or from Japan. Now you can fly to Tokyo from the United States for 75,000 miles in flat bed Business Class roundtrip plus low taxes plus a $4--yes four dollar--fuel surcharge. That's tens of thousands of miles fewer than competitors charge.
The above screenshot is of a roundtrip Business Class award flying ANA between Los Angeles and Tokyo in February 2017.
Routing Rules
ANA has two award charts.
ANA,Membership Rewards,Star Alliance
How to Use the ANA Search Tool for Awards with United and other Star Alliance Miles
February 10, 2016
I use united.com for most of my award searches when redeeming Star Alliance miles because it shows most Star Alliance partners' award availability, but it does have some drawbacks. Namely, it doesn't show all partners and it sometimes displays phantom award space--award space will show as available but in reality, it doesn't exist.
Star Alliance Airlines Whose Award Space I Want to SearchThe best way to confirm Star Alliance award space is using the All Nippon Airways (ANA) search tool. ANA's tool is trickier to use, but it's the most reliable.
Best Of,LifeMiles,ANA,Aeroplan,Copa,Lufthansa,Singapore,Star Alliance,Asiana
Comprehensive Spread Sheets of Eight Star Alliance Award Charts: Cheapest Awards to Every Region
January 29, 2016
Updated 1/29/16 to reflect new Aeroplan award prices effective for awards booked 12/15/15 or later.
Updated 10/6/15 to reflect new ANA award prices effective for awards booked 10/15/15 or later.
In the last few weeks, I have published some comparative charts of Star Alliance award charts. I'm putting all of those charts into this post for easier reference.
You can use any type of Star Alliance miles to book almost any Star Alliance flight. (Swiss, Lufthansa, and Singapore hold back some premium cabin award space for their own members.
ANA Devalues Its Award Chart, Effective October 15, 2015
October 5, 2015
ANA is devaluing its award charts for bookings made October 15, 2015 or later. This is all the notice they've given. (Hat tip @saianel on Twitter.) To beat the devaluation, book by October 14 for travel through mid-September 2016.
This devaluation affects you because you "have" ANA miles in the form of Membership Rewards and SPG Starpoints, both of which can be transferred to ANA miles.
Luxurious ANA First Class Award Space Wide Open for 50,000 Miles
January 28, 2015
ANA's "First Square" is one of the nicest First Classes in the world.
The fully enclosed suite featured on ANA's 777-300ERs is a top of the line hard product, including a fully flat bed.
In addition, it comes with--from the reports I've read--typical, excellent service you would expect from a top Asian airline and fancy touches like caviar.
ANA has announced schedule changes that put the 777-300ER on new routes this year.
Tokyo-Narita to Houston starting June 12
Tokyo-Narita to Singapore starting March 29
Tokyo-Narita to Seattle starting May 6
Tokyo-Narita to Frankfurt starting May 7
The only one of
United,ANA,How to,Star Alliance
How to Request United to Manually Sell Award Seats
January 29, 2014
Here's how I got United to "manually sell" me award seats for an itinerary. While this technique is not possible in most circumstances, in my case, it turned no award into my dream award!
I was in the midst of constructing a simple roundtrip itinerary from the US to Europe when I ran into some big trouble.
United's online award calendar displayed Austrian award space on the only day I could return to the States.
Trip Report: ANA Business Class from Tokyo to Washington D.C.
January 29, 2014
This review is a continuation of my fun US Airways redemption that I wrote about back in this post. I reviewed Turkish Business Class: Washington DC to Istanbul and Cathay Pacific Business Class: Tokyo to Hong Kong already.
I was extremely excited for my nonstop flight from Tokyo to Washington-Dulles on ANA.
US Airways,United,Award Booking,ANA
Amazing Award Space for Two from the US to Asia
January 27, 2014
All Nippon Airways (ANA)--a Japanese Star Alliance carrier--launches a new route between Tokyo-Haneda and Vancouver from March 30, 2014.
Saver award space is excellent on the route in economy and business class. You can book the space this week--by January 31, 2014--with United miles at pre-devaluation rates.
Ultimate Rewards,Aeroplan,United,US Airways,ANA,Membership Rewards
Gold Mine Award Space to Europe This Summer in Business Class with American, US Airways, United Miles Plus Membership or Ultimate Rewards
January 9, 2014
There is currently gold mine business class award availability on US Airways flights from the US to southern Europe for this summer.
Award space on US Airways flights is especially advantageous because it means that you can book the space at favorable mileage rates (and no fuel surcharges) with:
US Airways miles
American Airlines miles
United miles (until March 30, 2014)
Ultimate Rewards (until March 30, 2014)
Membership Rewards (until March 30, 2014)
What are the routes? How good is the space? How good is US Airways Business Class?
United,ANA,Award Booking,US Airways,Star Alliance
United Has Better Access to Air Canada Award Space?
October 22, 2013
While booking a family of four to Australia through our popular Award Booking Service, I ran into a vexing problem with Star Alliance award space.
On a certain Air Canada route, Air Canada's own Aeroplan members had access to more award seats than its Star Alliance partners. That's not a surprising practice on the surface. Air New Zealand never releases transpacific space to Star Alliance partners.