ANA Mileage Club Guide: How to Earn, Redeem, and Maximize This Valuable Amex Transfer Partner ANA Mileage Club Guide: How to Earn, Redeem, and Maximize This Valuable Amex Transfer Partner

ANA Mileage Club Guide: How to Earn, Redeem, and Maximize This Valuable Amex Transfer Partner

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Most travelers are familiar with the major U.S. airline loyalty programs. But don’t overlook those offered by international carriers. Plenty of them offer excellent value, even if they come with a few quirks. One program worth knowing is ANA Mileage Club, the frequent flyer program of one of Japan’s largest airlines.

Mileage Club is packed with valuable sweet spots, and understanding how the program works can help you unlock outsized value from your miles. Here's everything you need to know about this program.

Should You Join ANA Mileage Club?

ANA Mileage Club lets you earn and redeem miles across a wide range of Star Alliance and other partner airlines, so don’t assume you need to be flying ANA to get value.

We’ll show you how to earn ANA miles, how to use them for great redemptions, and why membership can be useful even if you rarely (or never) fly ANA. Signing up is free, so it’s worth joining even if you don’t have immediate plans to use the miles.

How to sign up for ANA Mileage Club and track your account activity

You can sign up for an ANA Mileage Club membership using this link. Once you enter your personal details, you’ll receive a Mileage Club frequent flyer number. For easier tracking, we recommend adding your ANA membership number to AwardWallet.

To make sure your activity is tracked, link the email address associated with your ANA Mileage Club account to AwardWallet. Alternatively, you can change the email on your ANA account to [username]@awardwallet.com and we’ll automatically track your account and forward any emails to you.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787 plane on the tarmac
Credit: All Nippon Airways

ANA Mileage Club Partner Airlines and Destinations

ANA is one of Japan’s two largest airlines and serves more than 40 international destinations across about two dozen countries. Its main hubs are Tokyo’s two primary airports: Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT). As a member of Star Alliance, ANA partners with many major airlines and also has a handful of unique, non-alliance partners.

Star Alliance partners

As a Star Alliance member, ANA Mileage Club gives you access to a wide range of partner airlines for earning and redeeming miles. Star Alliance partners include United Airlines, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, Turkish Airlines, and many more.

Star Alliance partners
Credit: Star Alliance

With so many Star Alliance partners, it helps to organize them by geography. You have options for earning or redeeming ANA miles in most parts of the world.

graphic showing map and stats of Star Alliance airlines

Independent partners

In addition to its Star Alliance partners, ANA Mileage Club partners with 9 independent airlines, so you'll have over 30 options when redeeming ANA miles. Independent partners include:

  • Air Dolomiti
  • Air Macau
  • Etihad Airways
  • Eurowings
  • Olympic Air
  • Philippine Airlines
  • Vietnam Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic
  • Virgin Australia

Related: Beginner’s Guide to Airline Alliances and Partnerships

How to Earn ANA Mileage Club Miles

As with most airline loyalty programs, you can earn ANA miles by flying with ANA or its partners. There are also several other ways to accumulate ANA Mileage Club miles. The most effective strategy is earning transferable points through either Marriott Bonvoy or American Express. We’ll start there, then cover additional ways to earn ANA miles.

Transfer flexible rewards to ANA Mileage Club

U.S.-based travelers can convert two flexible points currencies to ANA Mileage Club miles: Marriott Bonvoy and American Express Membership Rewards.

U.S. Membership Rewards points transfer to ANA at a 1:1 ratio, in increments of 1,000. You’ll need to link your ANA Mileage Club number to your American Express account before initiating a transfer. Transfers to ANA are among the slowest in the Membership Rewards program, typically taking at least one day, although in some cases it may take up to three or four days.

American Express® Gold Card
American Express® Gold Card
Welcome Offer As High As 100,000 points. Find Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee$325Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
Credit ScoreGood, Excellent
  • 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
  • 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
  • 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
  • 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel booked on amextravel.com
  • 1X on other eligible purchases
The Platinum Card® from American Express
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Welcome Offer As High As 175,000 points. Find Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee$695Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
  • Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Welcome Offer: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
Annual FeeNo annual feeRates & Fees
(Terms Apply)
Credit ScoreGood, Excellent
  • Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.

Marriott Bonvoy points also transfer to ANA at a 3:1 ratio, with a minimum transfer of 3,000 points. ANA is one of the airline partners where you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 60,000 Marriott points, netting you a total of 25,000 ANA miles for every 60,000 points transferred.

Other hotel programs, including Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG, also allow transfers to the ANA Mileage Club. However, the transfer rates are generally poor, and you’ll likely lose significant value by using your points this way. For that reason, we don’t recommend transferring most hotel points to ANA miles. Here's a table of the programs that transfer points to ANA Mileage Club.

From
To
Transfer Ratio
Min.Transfer
Average Time
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
1,000:1,000
-
1 day
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
3:1
3,000
4 days - 7 days
Hilton (Honors)
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
10,000:1,000
-
Unknown
Hyatt (World of Hyatt)
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
1,250:500
Bonus for transferring 50,000+ points
5,000
Unknown
IHG Hotels & Resorts (One Rewards)
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
10,000:2,000
-
Unknown
Shangri-La (Circle)
All Nippon Airways (ANA Mileage Club)
500:500
1,000
Unknown

Does ANA have its own U.S. credit card?

Yes, there is an ANA co-branded credit card issued by First National Bank of Omaha for U.S. residents. However, the sign-up bonus and ongoing benefits are underwhelming. It’s not worth considering, especially compared to the much better value you’ll get from American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points.

ANA 787 landing in Tokyo
Credit: Tienko Dima/Unsplash

Earn miles by flying ANA

When flying ANA, you earn miles on flights based on both the distance flown and the fare class booked. Domestic flights work a bit differently from international ones. For domestic routes, ANA uses its own set of fare descriptors. The following table shows accrual rates for ANA-operated domestic flights:

Fare(s)Mileage Accrual Rate
Premium Flex150%
Value Premium, Super Value Premium125%
Flex100%
Value, Super Value, Value Transit, Super Value Transit75%
Tour fares, Youth/Senior Special fares50%

International flights are more straightforward, as ANA uses lettered fare codes. Here are the accrual rates for ANA international flights:

CabinFare code(s)Accrual rate
FirstF, A150%
BusinessJ150%
C, D, Z125%
P70%
Premium EconomyG, E100%
N70%
EconomyY, B, M100%
U, H, Q70%
V, W, S, T50%
L, K30%

For both domestic and international flights, multiply the flight distance by the fare class accrual rate to determine how many miles you’ll earn for a given segment. I like to use the Great Circle Mapper to find flight distances. Here’s a quick example:

  • Round-trip ANA flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) in economy (fare class “K”)
  • Flight distance is 5,160 miles one way
  • Fare class “K” earns 30% of miles flown (cheapest economy category)
  • Total: 3,096 ANA base miles for the round-trip

If you have ANA elite status, you can earn a bonus of 40% to 120% on the base miles earned. We cover those details further down in the ANA Mileage Club elite status section.

Earn miles on ANA partner airline flights

You can also credit flights on partner airlines to your ANA Mileage Club account. As with ANA-operated flights, the number of miles earned depends on the fare class and flight distance. However, each partner has its own earning chart, so you’ll need to reference the specific ANA partner airline charts to determine how many miles you’ll earn.

Most partner flights earn between 30% and 150% of the flown distance as redeemable miles. As an example, here’s the economy class accrual chart for United Airlines:

ANA United partner award chart
Credit: ANA

Partner first and business class fares earn the most miles, while discounted economy fares earn the least. Award tickets do not earn miles. Bonus miles may be available with select partners, but only on flights operated by United Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, or Austrian Airlines.

Codeshare flights operated by a partner will earn miles based on the operating carrier’s accrual chart, not the marketing airline.

To get an idea of how many miles you’ll earn across various programs, check out WhereToCredit.com. It’s a helpful tool for deciding whether to credit a flight to ANA or another loyalty program.

Related: How to Credit Airline Miles to Partner Frequent Flyer Programs

Other ways to earn ANA miles

In addition to earning miles through transferable credit card points or by crediting flights to ANA Mileage Club, there are a few other ways to build your ANA balance:

  • Credit hotel stays to ANA Mileage Club. ANA partners with several major hotel chains, including Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott. However, the earning rates are generally poor compared to what you’d earn by crediting stays to the hotel’s own loyalty program.
  • Shop using the ANA Sky Shop duty-free catalog. You’ll earn 1 ANA mile for every 100 yen spent. ANA cardholders also get a 10% discount.
  • Rent a car with your ANA Mileage Club number. Most rentals earn between 300 and 500 miles, depending on the partner. ANA partners with Alamo, Avis, Dollar, Hertz, National, and Sixt.
  • Explore ANA’s other earning partners. ANA has a handful of additional partners across various industries. Earning rates vary by partner.

Do ANA miles expire?

Yes, ANA Mileage Club miles do expire. And unlike many other programs, the expiration policy is a bit more complicated. We cover the details of ANA's mileage expiration rules in a separate, dedicated post.

Can you transfer ANA miles to other people?

ANA miles cannot be transferred directly to another person. However, ANA does offer the AMC Family Account Service, which allows members living outside of Japan to pool miles with immediate family members. This can make it easier to book award flights using shared mileage balances.

How to Redeem ANA Mileage Club Miles

As a member of Star Alliance and a partner of several non-alliance airlines, ANA Mileage Club gives you the ability to redeem miles for flights on more than 30 airlines. This provides access to a great global network, and you can use ANA miles to reach destinations all over the world.

We recommend using ANA miles for both ANA-operated flights and awards on partner airlines. While there are a few other redemption options, booking flights is the best way to get strong value from your ANA miles.

Flight awards on ANA

ANA uses two different award charts for its own flights: one for domestic awards and another for international travel. Domestic awards are priced based on distance, while international awards follow a region-based chart, with pricing based on your origin and destination regions and cabin class.

For ANA-operated flights, award pricing is broken into three seasonal tiers: Low, Regular, and High. You’ll need to check ANA’s website to see which dates fall into each season. Below is the award chart for domestic round-trip ANA flights:

Flight distanceLowRegularHigh
0-300 miles6,0006,5009,000
301-8007,0008,50010,500
801-1,0008,0009,50012,000
1,001-2,0009,50010,50013,000

For itineraries with connections, add the distance of each segment to determine the total distance and price. Flights that depart from or arrive at Okinawa’s outlying islands are subject to adjusted pricing. Domestic ANA awards can include up to four segments.

If your itinerary has a departure in one season and a return in another, the total cost will be the sum of the one-way prices for each season. One-way domestic awards are allowed within Japan.

International awards are priced differently. Instead of distance-based pricing, these awards follow a region-based chart. Pricing depends on the combination of your origin and destination regions. Like with domestic awards, international ANA flights are also subject to seasonal pricing across three tiers. Below is the ANA international award chart for round-trip flights departing from the United States:

Destination from US
Low Season Regular Season High Season
Zone 1 - JapanEconomy: 40,000
Premium Econ: 62,000
Business class: 100,000
First class: 150,000
Economy: 50,000
Premium Econ: 72,000
Business class: 105,000
First class: 170,000
Economy: 72,000
Premium Econ: 101,000
Business class: 165,000
First class: 300,000
Zones 2 and 3 - South Korea and Asia 1Economy: 45,000
Premium Econ: 66,000
Business class: 108,000
First class: 165,000
Economy: 55,000
Premium Econ: 76,000
Business class: 114,000
First class: 185,000
Economy: 79,000
Premium Econ: 105,000
Business class: 173,000
First class: 315,000
Zone 4 - Asia 2Economy: 55,000
Premium Econ: 84,000
Business class: 137,000
First class: 200,000
Economy: 65,000
Premium Econ: 94,000
Business class: 143,000
First class: 222,000
Economy: 92,000
Premium Econ: 130,000
Business class: 204,000
First class: 368,000
Zone 10 - OceaniaEconomy: 60,000
Premium Econ: 88,000
Business class: 137,000
First class: 210,000
Economy: 70,000
Premium Econ: 98,000
Business class: 153,000
First class: 230,000
Economy: 98,000
Premium Econ: 136,000
Business class: 216,000
First class: 360,000

ANA’s chart includes some excellent sweet spots. One standout is business class to Oceania — just 68,500 miles each way during low season. You’ll need to route through Japan, but that means two long-haul flights on one of the world’s best airlines for an outstanding price.

How to search for ANA Mileage Club awards

To search for ANA award flights, go to the ANA website and log in to your Mileage Club account. You must be logged in to search for award availability. In the main booking form, click the “Flight Awards” tab, then select the “Award Reservation” link. This will open the award search form. The other links lead to seasonal date calendars and award rules.

ANA award search
Credit: ANA

Enter your origin, destination, travel dates, and preferred class of service, then click Search. ANA will display results for the selected dates. If your travel dates are flexible, check the box to search +/- 3 days and browse availability for an entire week.

ANA award flights
Credit: ANA

From there, select your desired flights. If no awards are available or only waitlist space shows, use the arrows to move forward or backward one day at a time. Once you select your flights, the total mileage and taxes will be displayed at the bottom. Click “Next” to continue with the booking process as usual.

ANA also releases award space earlier than many other programs. This gives you an edge when booking ANA-operated flights, as you may find availability before those same seats become available through partner programs.

We also have a step-by-step guide to booking ANA Mileage Club award flights if you need more help.

Related: How Far in Advance Can You Book Airline Award Tickets?

Partner award flights

Like ANA’s international awards, partner award flights use a region-based award chart. The key difference is that there’s no seasonal pricing. The mileage required stays the same year-round.

For Star Alliance partner bookings, you can include flights operated by multiple Star Alliance airlines on a single itinerary. However, when booking awards with ANA’s non-alliance partners, you’re limited to a single partner airline per ticket.

Below is the award chart for ANA partner award flights departing from North America. All pricing is for one-way tickets as ANA now allows one-way award ticketing.

Destination Region (for U.S. origin)EconomyBusinessFirst
Japan (Zone 1A)25,00055,00085,000
Japan (Zone 1B)27,50058,50093,500
South Korea / Eastern Russia (Zone 2)30,00065,000102,000
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Philippines (Zone 3)30,00065,000102,000
Remainder of Asia / Central Russia (Zone 4)40,00068,000120,000
Hawaii (Zone 5)23,50042,50067,500
North America (Zone 6)15,00027,50045,000
Europe and Western Russia (Zone 7)27,50050,00082,500
Africa and Middle East (Zone 8)35,00065,000105,000
Central and South America (Zone 9)30,00048,00090,000
Oceania (Zone 10)35,00072,500123,000

Japan Zone 1B pricing applies if your itinerary includes a connection outside of Japan. ANA allows up to three segments in each direction on partner award bookings.

Keep in mind that ANA passes along fuel surcharges when booking partner awards. If you’re considering flights on Lufthansa Group carriers or other airlines known for high surcharges, these fees can add up quickly. In such cases, you may want to consider using another program to book those same flights.

ANA varies the surcharges on its own flights. Currently, ANA charges modest surcharges on its own flights — such as $170.50 in taxes/fees from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo Narita (NRT):

ANA award cost
Credit: ANA

ANA award availability and rules

Here are the rules you should know when it comes to booking awards on ANA's own flights or on its partners:

  • All ANA awards can be booked as one-way, round-trip, or open-jaw.
  • You’re allowed one stopover, unless your itinerary departs from Japan.
  • You can have up to two connections each on your tickets.
  • ANA restricts routing based on three major regions. For example, if you're flying from Area 1 (the Americas and Hawaii) to Area 2 (Europe, Africa, and the Middle East), you cannot connect through Area 3 (Asia and Oceania). Basically, if flying within one Area, you can't have connections in other areas. If flying between two areas, you cannot connect in the third area.
  • You can book open-jaw tickets. However, the open-jaw must be within the same country, with a few exceptions (e.g., the U.S. and Canada are treated as the same country).
  • Award tickets can only be booked for the Mileage Club member or designated family members. Eligible family includes a spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, or grandparent, along with the spouses of any of these. It also includes your spouse’s siblings, parents, and grandparents, as well as their spouses.

Availability on ANA-operated flights can be hit or miss depending on the season and how far out you’re searching. I’ve found that your best chances are either when the schedule first opens or within a few weeks of departure. Economy seats tend to be much easier to find than premium cabin space, especially in first or business class.

ANA planes at Tokyo Haneda Airport at sunset
Credit: Norikio Yamamoto/Unsplash

Star Alliance Round the World award tickets

Through June 23, 2025, ANA allowed you to book Star Alliance Round the World tickets. These were an incredible value but have since been eliminated. Any tickets issued on or before June 23, 2025 remain valid until their expiration date, even if you need to make changes.

Best ways to use ANA Mileage Club miles

While a few sweet spots were devalued in 2024, ANA Mileage Club still offers excellent value. Here’s a quick look at some of the best award redemptions available:

  • ANA business class between the Western U.S. and Japan: 50,000 miles each way in low season
  • Star Alliance business class between the U.S. and Europe: 50,000 miles each way
  • Star Alliance business class between the U.S. and South America: 48,000 miles each way
  • Star Alliance business class between the U.S. and Africa: 65,000 miles each way

We explore the ANA award sweet spots in greater detail if you want to know the best ways to use your ANA miles. You might also want to check out how to fly ANA's newest premium cabins.

What are ANA miles worth when booking award flights?

While AwardWallet doesn’t track a specific cent-per-mile value for ANA Mileage Club, the program’s excellent business class sweet spots mean you can often get above-average value compared to many other airline programs. Using Membership Rewards as a proxy, AwardWallet members get an average value of 2.95¢ apiece when redeeming for international long-haul business and first-class flights.

In many cases, you’ll exceed that value, depending on your itinerary. Long-haul premium cabin flights remain one of the best ways to get outstanding value from your ANA miles.

How to Earn ANA Mileage Club Elite Status

Like most airlines, ANA Mileage Club offers an elite status program that provides additional benefits when flying ANA. You earn Premium Points toward elite status, which are tracked separately from award miles.

ANA elite tiers

ANA Mileage Club has three elite status tiers with the following qualification thresholds:

  • Bronze: 30,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, with at least 15,000 from ANA Group-operated flights
  • Platinum: 50,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, with at least 25,000 from ANA Group-operated flights
  • Diamond: 100,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, with at least 50,000 from ANA Group-operated flights

There is also an alternative path to elite status through a combination of flights and various “life support services,” but this route is specific to residents of Japan and isn’t relevant to most travelers. As such, we don’t cover it here.

ANA Mileage Club elite status tier requirements
Credit: ANA

Qualifying for elite status with Premium Points

Calculating how many Premium Points you earn from a flight is more complex than calculating award miles. Like award miles, Premium Points are based on flight distance and fare class accrual rate. However, the result is then multiplied by a route ratio:

  • Domestic flights within Japan: multiply by 2
  • Flights to Asia, Oceania, or Vladivostok: multiply by 1.5
  • All other routes: multiply by 1

In addition, you may receive up to 400 extra Premium Points per segment as a boarding bonus.

ANA premium points accrual
How you determine how many Premium Points you earn from ANA flights. Credit: ANA

At minimum, you’ll earn as many Premium Points as base award miles for any given flight. Note that there is no elite status bonus that boosts your Premium Points earnings.

Timing and status validity

The qualification period for ANA elite status runs from January 1 through December 31 each year. Once earned, your benefits start almost immediately and continue through the end of the following Japanese fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). Here's how it works:

  • You earn 30,000 Premium Points between January and May 2026, which qualifies you for Bronze status. You'll receive the benefits of this status tier as soon as it reflects in your ANA account.
  • By September 2026, you've accrued 50,000 Premium Points, which bumps you up to ANA Platinum status. Your benefits will be upgraded to this tier.
  • These benefits will be available through March 31, 2027, as “early service” and then from April 1, 2027, to March 31, 2028, as the next full status year.

Once you hit a qualifying tier, it typically takes 2–3 days for your ANA Mileage Club account to reflect your updated status.

ANA Premium Member Status benefits

Bronze

Once you qualify for ANA elite status, you'll unlock the benefits provided at each level. Here's what you can expect to receive as a Bronze Service Member:

  • 45% bonus miles (55% if second or higher continuous year of elite status)
  • Access to the Premium Member Service Desk
  • Access to the ANA Lounge (at a cost of 1,000 miles or 2 upgrade points)
  • Ability to guest additional passengers into lounge (costs 2 upgrade points)
  • Early and Priority Seat reservations for ANA Domestic Japan flights
  • Waitlist priority and priority standby for full flights
  • Star Alliance Silver status
  • Priority check-in
  • Additional baggage allowance (international flights only)
  • *Potential upgrade points (usable for seat upgrades or lounge access)

Platinum

As a Platinum Service Member, these are the perks you'll receive all the Bronze member benefits, with the following adjustments and additions:

  • 95% bonus miles (105% if second or higher continuous year of elite status)
  • Access to the ANA Lounge (no mileage charge)
  • Ability to guest additional passengers into lounge (at a cost of 2,000 miles or 2 upgrade points)
  • Waived advance seat reservation charges on international ANA flights
  • Waitlist priority for international flight awards and upgrade awards
  • Star Alliance Gold status
  • Complimentary valet parking at Narita airport and priority parking at Haneda airport
  • Priority baggage service
  • Exclusive security checkpoint at some Japan airports
  • *ANA Suite Lounge voucher once you earn 80,000 Premium Points
  • *Potentially additional upgrade points (usable for seat upgrades or lounge access)

Diamond

At the highest Diamond Service Member tier, you'll enjoy all benefits of a Platinum member, with the following adjustments and additions:

  • 120% bonus miles (130% if second or higher continuous year of elite status)
  • Access to the ANA Suite Lounges
  • Ability to guest additional passengers into lounge (at a cost of 2,000 miles or 2 upgrade points)
  • Waived international flight change or issuance charges
  • Concierge service at Narita and Haneda airports
  • Extended date of mileage expiration
  • *Potentially additional upgrade points (usable for seat upgrades or lounge access)
  • *Exclusive name tag
  • *Additional exclusive benefits

Benefits marked with an asterisk are not available prior to the full status year. So, if you qualify for ANA elite status in 2026, these will become available in the 2027 fiscal year (April 1, 2027, to March 31, 2028).

Using ANA upgrade points

One of the most valuable perks of ANA elite status is the upgrade points you earn each year. These are awarded based on how many Premium Points you accumulate from ANA Group-operated flights. Premium Points earned on Star Alliance partners or ANA’s other airline partners do not count toward upgrade points.

Upgrade points are granted after the qualification year ends and can be used during the following full status year (aligned with the Japanese fiscal year). Here’s how many upgrade points you’ll earn based on your Premium Points from ANA Group flights:

Premium Points earned in previous year (ANA flights only)Upgrade points
1-9,9994
10,000-19,9996
20,000-29,9998
30,000-39,99910
40,000-79,99920
80,000-119,99940
120,000-149,99950
150,000-199,99960
200,000-249,99980
250,000+100

You can use upgrade points in a few different ways, including lounge access, lounge access for guests, or seat upgrades. One of the best uses is for upgrading from economy to business class on flights between the U.S. and Japan, which requires just 10 upgrade points.

You can also convert upgrade points to ANA SKY COINS at a rate of 1 point to 1,000 SKY COINS. Alternatively, award miles can also be converted to SKY COINS. These can be redeemed toward ANA flight tickets and other ANA travel products. This is another way to put your upgrade points to use if you don’t plan to use them for upgrades or lounge access.

ANA lifetime status

ANA Mileage Club offers a lifetime status program. Only flight miles on ANA-group-operated flights count toward lifetime status. Benefits start when you accrue 1 million miles, and include the following:

  • No mileage expiration
  • Eligibility to apply for an ANA Super Flyers credit card (only available to members with a registered address in Japan)
  • Custom ANA original name tag (first available at 500,000 lifetime miles)

If you accrue 2 million lifetime miles, you also receive permanent ANA Suite Lounge access.

Additional custom name tags are issued as you reach higher lifetime mileage milestones, up to 4 million miles. However, compared to lifetime status programs from other airlines, ANA’s is relatively weak. Most other programs grant a permanent tier of elite status starting at 1 million miles, which is something ANA does not offer.

Final Thoughts

ANA Mileage Club offers valuable miles with some excellent redemption opportunities. This is the best aspect of the program, and as a partner of American Express Membership Rewards, there are plenty of cards that can earn ANA miles. Being able to book a round-trip business class ticket from the U.S. to Asia for 105,000 miles is unbeatable, and the ability to do the same to Europe in United business class for 100,000 miles, with minimal taxes and fees, is similarly excellent.

That being said, the program has its downsides. The miles transfer time for Membership Rewards can be frustrating, as you may lose the seats you hoped to book. The restrictions on who you can redeem miles for are another downside. Overall, the elite program is strong enough, but the million miler program is exceptionally weak.

Still, if high-value redemption opportunities are what you're after, you'll not want to neglect ANA Mileage Club. It's a solid program from a top-tier airline, and one that many fliers find irresistible.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)

AwardWallet Tip of The Day
Did you know you can see the transaction history for most of your loyalty program accounts in AwardWallet? In your AwardWallet account dashboard, click the + sign next to the account you want to view. Then, click the History tab to see your individual transaction history.
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