For Later 2020 + Into 2021 Travel: First Class Availability from the East Coast to Tokyo with Amex Partner, All Nippon Airways (Just 120K Miles)
Flash Deal Summary
All Nippon Airways has been notoriously stingy when it came to confirmable availability of ANA Mileage Club discount First Class redemptions, almost without exception. Not any more.
All Nippon Airways has been notoriously stingy when it came to confirmable availability of ANA Mileage Club discount First Class redemptions, almost without exception. Not any more.
For up to two travelers (and possibly more), FCF’s research team has discovered an opportunity to save up $18,686/86% if you don’t have any miles and want to pay in cash or 280,000 miles when compared to normal/everyday prices traveling to/from the U.S.
Sample Savings via American Express, Chase, Citi and Marriott’s points-to-miles transfer partnership with Virgin Atlantic: New York to Tokyo normal/everyday price can often be 400,000 miles round-trip when using United miles but if you use Amex Rewards Points partner Virgin Atlantic miles the cost can be as low as 120,000 miles. United Airlines charges 150,000 miles for Business Class.
NO MILES? NO PROBLEM
United is currently running a deal whereby miles can be acquired for as low as 1.75¢ each (includes taxes and processing fee), through a new, up to 100% bonus miles buy promo, which runs through April 8, 2020.
More Info on United Promotion.
SAMPLE SAVINGS FROM U.S. TO Asia IN First Class:
The published First Class fare on All Nippon Airways’ New York to Tokyo route is $21,786 r/t; through the United purchase strategy, you can pay $3,193 r/t (includes about $132 in award tax), a savings of $18,592 (85%).
More here on getting flights (based on availability) from around the U.S. to the hub (New York or Washington, DC) AND/OR flights from the destination (Tokyo) to Asia.
Example Deal Routes
Deal Availability
Availability using {{ bookingPartner.name }} miles flying on {{ bookingPartner.partner }} is displayed below:
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Sample Best Deals Found
How to Book
- Confirm that the flights/dates you want are available for the upgrade using miles by requesting upgrade award space on the "All search options" page.
- Click on the "Upgrade type" search in the middle of the page.
- Select the "Upgrade to Premium Economy or Business" option to search for upgrade space to Business Class in the "Fare preferences" section, after you click on "Upgrade type." See below:
- When your search results come back, it will not only show fares and flight schedules, it will also show what flights offer an upgrade, and what the cost is.
- Select your flights, making sure that you are logged into your mileage account, and that you have the miles required in your account; then pay for your ticket.
- This can all be done online. If you want to book over the phone, call 800-421-4655
After you get a sense of “where good availability is” (perhaps using our survey), call American and confirm that the flights/dates you want are available for the upgrade using miles, and book it.
If the upgrade on the flights/dates you want is not available, have the agent check other dates/flights.
This cannot be done online. Call 1-800-433-7300.
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Everybody knows how frequently airfares change (some estimates claim that there are up to 500,000 fare changes daily). Because that’s a few too many for First Class Flyer to keep up with, FCF cannot guarantee that all fares discussed will be available when you go to make a booking. Also, for the sake of quick and easy “executive summary” format, all fare rules and restrictions can’t possibly be included. Fares quoted usually include the average taxes and fees for the routes in the chart.