17 Ways to Redeem All Nippon Airways (ANA) Miles for Max Value

BY 

Stephen Au

- UPDATED: May 13, 2021   |    25

1. Travel  / 
2. Airlines

25

We may be compensated when you click on links from one or more of our advertising partners. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone. See our Advertiser Disclosure for more details.

Headquartered in Tokyo, All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the largest airline in Japan and is part of Star Alliance — the largest airline alliance in the world.

This combination offers many interesting possibilities for redeeming miles to all kinds of destinations, especially since it’s possible to easily earn ANA miles through various American Express credit cards.

It’s also possible to book award flights for travelers other than yourself, but you must register these companions (up to 10) as award users. Award travel can be booked between 4-355 days before departure.

Using ANA Miles With Airline Partners

You can easily earn ANA Mileage Club miles by signing up for various credit cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points.

In addition, you can credit any flights taken on United Airlines or other Star Alliance members to ANA and earn miles when you fly. These miles can be redeemed for travel on ANA airlines and other Star Alliance partners.

American Express Membership Rewards Credit Cards

Amex Membership Rewards can be transferred to ANA airlines at a 1:1 ratio. Transfers generally take less than 24 hours but may take up to a week. The following cards generally offer great welcome bonuses, so you can earn miles even faster!

Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)

Recommended Amex Cards (Business)

Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

You can earn Marriott points and transfer points to ANA at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 Marriott miles bonus.

Recommended Marriott Cards

The 17 Best Ways to Use ANA Miles

The following redemptions are some of the best ways to use your ANA Mileage Club miles. Where are you flying?

1. Fly Round-Trip in ANA Business Class to Japan Starting at 75,000 Miles

Flights to Japan cost 85,000 miles round-trip in ANA business class during the regular season but can go as low as 75,000 miles during low season and 90,000 miles during high season. Flights on partners will always cost 85,000 miles in business class.

First class awards require 150,000 Mileage Club miles during both low and regular seasons and 165,000 miles during high season. In 2019, low season is January 5-February 28, April 1-26, and December 1-20. Regular season includes the following dates: March 1-14, May 7-July 31, and August 26-November 30. High season includes January 1-5, March 15-31, April 26-May 6, August 1-25, and December 21-31.

If you would rather save some miles and fly in economy, flights between North America and Japan on ANA metal require 40,000 Mileage Club miles in low season, 50,000 miles in regular season, and 55,000 miles in high season, which is a pretty great rate! Flights on partners aren’t subject to seasonality — instead, ANA charges cost 50,000 miles round-trip on all partner flights in economy between North American and Japan.

Most frequent flyer programs start award flights to Japan at 70,000 miles round-trip in economy, just to give you an idea of how valuable ANA miles can be when compared to the other airlines.

Please note that award space can be booked only from the North American cities that ANA services, such as Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Use our definitive guide to ANA’s direct routes from the U.S. to help guide your travel planning.

Hot Tip: Some award options, especially close to departure, can show up as waitlisted. This means that these flights are unavailable at the moment of booking, but could become available down the road if someone cancels a flight. A waitlist could clear or not; you never know. The best option is to look for awards that are available now, especially when multiple people are traveling.

2. Fly North America to Asia Starting at 80,000 Miles in Business Class During Low Season

ANA breaks up Asia into 2 zones. Asia Zone 1 consists of China, Guam, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and The Philippines.

Asia Zone 2 on ANA includes India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. If you just read ANA’s website, you might stop there… but Asia Zone 2 also includes the “stan” countries like Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

Some of these countries are typically very expensive to get to from North America, so using miles can present some incredible value opportunities!

A round-trip business class ticket to Asia Zone 1 will only cost 80,000 miles during low season when flying on only ANA-operated flights. Round-trip business class tickets to Asia Zone 2 countries only cost 100,000 miles during low season or 55,000 miles in economy class.

If you need to (or want to) fly partners to get to your final destination, ANA’s partner award chart to Asia isn’t quite as good as the ANA-only chart, but it still presents some decent options. Partner flights to Asia Zone 1 cost 95,000 miles in business class or 60,000 miles in economy.

Partner flights to Asia Zone 2 cost 115,000 miles in business class or 70,000 miles in economy. It’s your only option if you want to visit a central Asian country such as Uzbekistan. No matter how you slice it, ANA offers some fantastic redemption rates on its own product as well as on partners.

Hot Tip: Flying to Asia carries lower fuel surcharges compared with flying directly to Japan on ANA — even when your flights to Asia go through Japan!

3. Fly From North America to Europe Starting at 55,000 Miles Round-Trip

ANA presents a lucrative opportunity to redeem just 55,000 Mileage Club miles for a round-trip flight to Europe. Most award programs start at 60,000 miles for a basic redemption, so booking with ANA offers automatic savings.

Be mindful of high fuel surcharges with some airlines in the Star Alliance, such as Lufthansa or Swiss International Air Lines.

Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines do not pass on exorbitant fuel surcharges to award tickets, so we recommend booking flights operated by those airlines if possible.

Business class redemptions require 88,000 frequent flyer miles and first class requires 165,000 miles if you can find availability.

4. Fly From the U.S. to South America for 88,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class

This is another one of ANA’s sweet spots when it comes to business class award travel on partners. Many award charts split South America into 2 regions: northern South America and southern South America. The fact that ANA doesn’t presents some great redemption options!

A Star Alliance award requires just 88,000 miles round-trip in business class. For example, an award from New York (JFK) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) on flights operated by Copa Airlines doesn’t even add much in taxes — less than $100 for a round-trip.

Economy redemptions come to 55,000 miles round-trip, which is another good redemption option if you want to save a few miles. Most domestic airlines charge 60,000 miles for a round-trip to Brazil.

Believe it or not, the route superiority goes to domestic carrier United Airlines, as Avianca’s network typically involves Bogota (BOG). This means that the surcharges you will experience are going to be minimal, as United Airlines doesn’t levy much in surcharges.

5. Fly Intra-Japan Starting at 5,000 Miles Each Way

Flying within Japan gives you the unique ability to redeem your ANA miles for one-way tickets, as most other redemptions with ANA require round-trip bookings.

One-way flights within Japan start at 5,000 Mileage Club miles, but the actual redemption rates are based on the season and the distance between cities. Blackout dates apply to some departure and arrival cities.

* 2020 Low Season: January 6-February 29, April 1-25, and December 1-20.
** 2020 Regular Season: March 1-12, May 11-August 6, and August 24-November 30.
*** 2020 High Season: January 1-5, March 13-31, April 24-May 10, August 7-23, and December 25-31.

For example, Tokyo to Osaka requires just 5,000 Mileage Club miles to book a one-way award in low season. The same award space in high season requires 7,500 miles.

It’s important to note that when 2 one-way trips are booked, they would each cost the number of miles for the distance and season of each leg. However, when 2 one-ways are booked as part of an open-jaw trip, the mileage is calculated based on the distance and season of the total trip.

Be careful when calculating the distance of each segment vs. the total distance of an itinerary!

To illustrate this with an example, a one-way ticket from Tokyo to Miyako in economy comes to 10,000 miles, or 20,000 miles round-trip. However, going through Okinawa and adding a multi-day stopover each way also comes to 20,000 miles.

Moral of the story: it’s possible to see multiple destinations for the same cost in miles!

Bottom Line: Intra-Japan flights make for a great use of ANA miles since you can redeem for one-way flights and sometimes make stops for no additional miles.

6. Fly Intra-Africa/Middle East for 30,000 Miles Round-Trip in Economy

This is a much more specialty use of ANA frequent flyer miles, but it’s just too good not to mention! Flights within Africa can be extremely expensive, so the ability to redeem only 30,000 miles to fly round-trip between anywhere in Africa and the Middle East in economy is great.

These redemptions can be made on Star Alliance partners like South African, Ethiopian, and Egypt Air.

7. Fly Between North America and Australia/New Zealand From 115,000 Miles Round-Trip in ANA Business Class

If you depart from one of the North American cities that ANA flies to, you can score some great award flights to Australia in ANA business class.

For example, a redemption for the round-trip flight from New York (JFK) to Sydney (SYD) comes to just 115,000 miles! This is a great deal for 2 long-haul flights. The same flight in first class requires 210,000 Mileage Club miles, but there aren’t any first class flights to the South Pacific, only business.

If you’re short on miles, the same trip comes to 70,000 miles in economy.

8. Fly Between North America and India From 100,000 Miles Round-Trip in ANA Business Class

Again, this kind of booking would apply to the U.S. cities serviced by ANA. If you live in one of these cities or can get there cheaply, these redemption rates are great!

Business class awards from New York (JFK) to Delhi (DEL) with a connection in Tokyo (NRT) during April, for example, come to 100,000 miles. Since a stopover is permitted, it is possible to visit multiple destinations for the price of 1!

Economy awards require just 55,000 miles round-trip, but these costs vary depending on the season. For example, the same flights in June go up to 60,000 miles in economy and 105,000 miles in business class, which are still a great deal.

9. Fly North America to Japan for 90,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class on Star Alliance

ANA offers one of the lowest redemption rates on flights operated by Star Alliance partners between North America and Japan.

A Star Alliance award requires 50,000-55,000 Mileage Club miles in economy class, depending on the origin of travel. Business class award flights require 90,000 miles, and first class redemptions require 165,000 miles.

Any of these segments can include ANA-operated flights, which is especially helpful if you have connections.

10. Book Singapore Airlines Premium Cabins on Intra-Asia Flights from 55,000 Miles Round-Trip

Singapore Airlines doesn’t allow business or first class bookings on partners, with 1 key exception: intra-Asia flights. Notably, you can book business class and sometimes even first class flights with ANA miles!

Unfortunately, it’s extremely rare to see award space on their new A380 in business class. There’s no easy way to filter out searches in a calendar view to see the most options on a specific flight, so you’ll have to manually comb through, like finding a needle in a haystack.

Still, if you’re fine with trying the 777-300ER or a non-A380 in business (and sometimes even first class), you can pay as little as 55,000 miles for round-trip flights.

You can fly round-trip in business class within Asia 2 for 55,000 ANA miles and first class for 90,000 ANA miles. If you start or end your trip in Asia 1 instead of Asia 2, you’ll pay 56,000 ANA miles in business class and 93,000 ANA miles in first class.

Here are some great example routes you can take:

• Singapore (SIN) – Hong Kong (HKG) round-trip for 55,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Manila (MNL) round-trip for 55,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Jakarta (CGK) round-trip for 55,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Beijing (PEK) round-trip for 55,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Shanghai (PVG) round-trip for 55,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT) round-trip for 56,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Tokyo-Haneda (HND) round-trip for 56,000 ANA miles in business class
• Singapore (SIN) – Seoul-Incheon (ICN) round-trip for 56,000 ANA miles in business class

The good news is that on these flights, award availability is wide open, on all dates in some routes.

11. Book ANA’s A380 from 60,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class

ANA unveiled their maiden A380 on routes between Tokyo and Hawaii, and it presents an upgrade over their older 777-300ER product. The flight itself is around 8 hours each way, and it would give you a rare opportunity to try a fantastic business class product on the epic A380.

Taxes and fees will run around $300-400 round-trip, but the flight itself is 60,000 miles round trip in business class during low season. Not a bad deal for 16 hours total with a brand-new lie flat seat and fantastic service.

Regular season prices are 65,000 miles and high season is 68,000 miles.

12. Book ANA’s A380 From 120,000 Miles Round-Trip in First Class

ANA has an impeccable A380 first class which can be had for 120,000 miles round trip during low and regular season. With 33 inches of seat width and 78 inches of bed length, a phenomenal new soft product, and an exclusive cabin of 8, this is one of the best first class products out there.

If you find yourself flexible enough to get to Hawaii with a positioning flight, you’ll find yourself dazzled by ANA’s A380 first class. It’ll cost 120,000 miles round trip plus $300-$400 in taxes and fees.

Similarly, the high season price is 129,000 miles.

13. Fly From Hawaii to Oceania With a Stopover in North Asia From 100,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class

In the spirit of excellent redemptions, adding a flight from Japan to Australia or New Zealand in business class will only increase the round-trip cost from 60,000 miles to 100,000 miles round trip during low season. You’ll effectively add a 9-10 hour flight for 20,000 miles in each direction!

This will give you an amazing opportunity to try out ANA’s time-tested business class and their newest A380 business class for 100,000 miles round trip. To top everything off, you’ll be allowed a free stopover in Japan.

The other seasonal prices are 110,000 miles in regular season and 115,000 miles in high season.

Here’s is a great example route you can take to redeem amazing value:

• Honolulu (HNL) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT), Osaka (KIX) – Sydney (SYD) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT) – Honolulu (HNL) round trip for 100,000 miles in ANA A380 business class and ANA business class

14. Fly from Hawaii to Australia/New Zealand for 85,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class on Star Alliance

Oddly enough, ANA’s award chart is advantageous for partner travel on Hawaii-Oceania routes. Whereas ANA charges 100,000-115,000 miles in business class, on these round trip routes with ANA metal they charge only 85,000 miles on partner flights.

There is a nonstop flight from Hawaii to Auckland on Air New Zealand, which would be the only nonstop flight to the 2 countries. You can book round-trip tickets in business class for 85,000 miles, which would get you around 18 hours in business class.

If you were open to enjoying more business class and adding a stopover to your trip, you can check out these great example routes:

• Honolulu (HNL) – Seoul-Incheon (ICN) – Sydney (SYD) – Seoul-Incheon (ICN) – Honolulu (HNL) in Asiana business class with a stopover in Seoul
• Honolulu (HNL) – Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL) in United Airlines business class and Asiana business class with a stopover in Los Angeles
• Sydney (SYD) – Seoul-Incheon (ICN) – Honolulu (HNL) in United Airlines business class and Asiana business class with a stopover in Seoul
• Honolulu (HNL) – Tokyo-Narita (NRT) – Auckland (AKL) – Honolulu (HNL) in United airlines business class and Air New Zealand business class with a stopover in Tokyo

15. Fly From the United States to Africa for 104,000 Miles Round-Trip in Business Class on Star Alliance

When you consider that nonstop flights to Africa can be as long as 15 hours one way and connecting flights to Africa via Europe can entail as much as 40 hours of in-flight time round-trip, that’s a ton of time to sit in economy. Luckily, ANA allows you to book round-trip business class from the U.S. to Africa.

You can even add a stopover in Europe or another African country if you like. The biggest challenge will be finding award availability, as European carriers can be stingier than Asian airlines.

Here are some great example routes you can take:

• New York City (JFK) – Johannesburg (JNB) round trip in South African Airways business class
• Newark (EWR) – Cape Town (CPT) – Victoria Falls (VFA) – Cape Town (CPT) – Newark (EWR) round trip in United business class and South African Airways business class with a stopover in Cape Town
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Istanbul (IST) – Kigali (KGL) round trip in Swiss Air business class with a stopover in Istanbul
• San Francisco (SFO) – Zurich (ZRH) – Nairobi (NBO) round trip in Turkish Airlines business class with a stopover in Zurich

16. Fly From the United States to Africa for 149,500 Miles Round-Trip in First Class then Business Class on Star Alliance

If you are looking for excellent value and are willing to be as flexible as possible by booking your departure flights less than 2 weeks before actually leaving, you’re in luck.

You can book a first class flight to Africa on Lufthansa and a business class flight returning back to the States for only 149,500 miles.

Note that the only first class flights to Africa on Lufthansa are:

• Frankfurt (FRA) – Johannesburg (JNB)
• Munich (MUC) – Cape Town (CPT)

All flights from the United States on Lufthansa arrive into Frankfurt and Munich, so you’ve got virtually unlimited possibilities here, as long as you can find award space.

Here are some great example routes you can take:

• Los Angeles (LAX) – Frankfurt (FRA) – Johannesburg (JNB) – Zurich (ZRH) – Los Angeles (LAX) on Lufthansa first class and Swiss Air business class with a stopover in Frankfurt or Zurich
• San Francisco (SFO) – Munich (MUC) – Cape Town (CPT) – Istanbul (IST) – Los Angeles (LAX) on Lufthansa first class and Turkish Airlines business class with a stopover in Munich or Istanbul
• Chicago (ORD) – Frankfurt (FRA) – Johannesburg (JNB) – London (LHR) – Chicago (ORD) on Lufthansa first class, South African Airways business class and United business class with a stopover in Frankfurt or London
• Miami (MIA) – Munich (MUC) – Cape Town (CPT) – Vienna (VIE) – Miami (MIA) on Lufthansa first class and Austrian Airlines business class with a stopover in Munich or Vienna

The carrier surcharges will vary, but expect to pay up since these carriers levy high taxes and fees.

17. Book an Around-the-World Trip

One of the most amazing redemptions available with ANA airlines is their around-the-world booking. Many airlines have gotten rid of these redemptions, but ANA’s round the world awards are still going strong.

If you have the time and want to make a bunch of stops, this might just be the best ANA redemption available!

When making an ANA partner redemption, you can make up to 8 stopovers on an around-the-world trip.

There are some restrictions to consider. For example, only 3 stopovers in Europe and 4 in Japan are allowed, and you must choose only 1 direction in which to travel (east or west).

This isn’t going to work for a short trip because you’re not allowed to return to the country of departure in fewer than 10 days. You are also not allowed to use an open jaw in North America, South America, or Latin America.

However, you can make some incredible trips if you have the time, flexibility, and patience to plan them out! The mileage cost is calculated based on the distance flown.

Itineraries start at 20,000 points in economy (for trips 0-2,000 miles) and go up to 450,000 points in first class (for trips 44,001-50,000 miles).

Using Your ANA Miles

ANA is the Japan-based member of Star Alliance, and they have 2 separate award charts. One chart is valid when travel is solely on ANA, while the other chart is valid for travel on partners.

List of Star Alliance ANA Airline Partners

You can book flights on all of the following Star Alliance members with your ANA miles:

List of Non-Alliance ANA Airline Partners:

• Air Dolomiti
• Air Macau
• Alitalia
• Etihad Airways*
• Eurowings
• Garuda Indonesia
• Germanwings
• Olympic Air
• Philippine Airlines
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

*On December 8, 2017, ANA suspended most awards on Etihad.

The ANA Award Chart

ANA does not offer an easy award chart to view the cost of itineraries with only ANA-operated flights. Instead, you’ll have to look at a couple of different charts to find out the information you need depending on where you are trying to travel.

Note that the first section of award charts below are valid only when flying on ANA-operated flights. If you have a flight on a partner, you will need to refer to ANA’s partner award chart.

Fortunately, the award chart for partner flights is more straightforward.

The around-the-world chart is distance-based, and pricing is determined based on the class of service and total distance flown.

Awards Bookable Online Versus by Phone

ANA airlines award search engine is one of the best available for Star Alliance because it can search every Star Alliance partner. Garuda is the only non-Star Alliance partner that is able to be searched on ANA’s site.

Generally, any itinerary with partners that are searchable on ANA’s site should be bookable online. If you are booking on a non-Alliance partner that doesn’t show up on ANA’s site, you can call to book and ask ANA to waive the telephone booking fee.

Award Redemption Rules

The following are the terms and conditions for award redemptions per ANA.

When booking on ANA-operated flights:

• Travel is only permitted on ANA-operated flights.
• Awards must be booked for round-trip travel, except intra-Japan flights.
• 1 stopover is permitted.
• 2 open jaws are permitted.

When booking on Star Alliance partners and ANA-operated flights:

• Can include multiple partners on a single itinerary.
• Awards must be booked for round-trip travel.
• 1 stopover is permitted.
• 2 open jaws are permitted.

When bookings are on non-Star Alliance partners:

• Travel is only permitted on 1 partner airline.
• Awards must be booked for round-trip travel.
• 1 stopover is permitted.
• 2 open jaws are permitted.

When booking around-the-world awards:

• Must travel in only 1 direction (east or west).
• Cannot return to origin country in less than 10 days.
• Up to 8 stopovers are permitted (only 3 in Europe and 4 in Japan).
• Not allowed to use an open jaw in North America, South America, or Latin America.

Final Thoughts

ANA’s program is complicated because of the number of different charts that apply to various redemptions, but there are great values to be had if you invest a little time in thinking about your award redemption.

Additionally, the ease of earning ANA miles from American Express Membership Rewards makes these redemptions even more worth paying attention to!

Happy travels!

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card,  click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.