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Each hotel and airline program offers unique loyalty program sweet spots. In this guide, we’re shining the light on the All Nippon Airways (ANA) loyalty program, Mileage Club. While redemption rates have increased over the years, Mileage Club continues offering a handful of great redemptions.
But it isn't the most straightforward loyalty program to use. ANA publishes multiple award charts for its flights and flights operated by partners, with ANA-operated flights subject to seasonal pricing. However, it retains distance-based charts for domestic and round-the-world (RTW) awards.
We’ve written an in-depth post to help members understand ANA’s complex award charts, routing rules, and stopover policy. That's a great place to start if you’re new to Mileage Club. We also have a guide on how to book ANA awards, which will help explain the practical side of booking awards.
Let's look at the best ANA award sweet spots for redeeming your miles.
Page Contents
- Does ANA Allow Stopovers or Open-Jaw Awards?
- ANA Mileage Club Sweet Spots
- ANA business class from the U.S. to Asia 1 from 105,000 miles round-trip
- ANA business class from the U.S. to Japan from 100,000 miles round-trip
- ANA business class from the U.S. to Asia 2 from 125,000 miles round-trip
- Star Alliance business class from the U.S. to Europe for 100,000 miles round-trip
- Star Alliance business class from the U.S. to Africa and the Middle East for 130,000 miles round-trip
- Flights from the U.S. to Oceania from 60,000 miles round-trip
- ANA business class round-the-world awards
- Earn ANA Mileage Club Miles
- Final Thoughts
Does ANA Allow Stopovers or Open-Jaw Awards?
Yes, but the rules differ between awards for ANA flights and partner flights, which we cover in this post. In short:
- ANA international awards: No stopovers when your itinerary departs Japan, but you can book stopovers and open-jaw awards when departing from other countries.
- ANA partner awards: Book one stopover and an open jaw on flights departing any country.
- ANA round-the-world awards: Up to eight stopovers (maximum of three in Europe + four in Japan).
When booking an open jaw at your destination, the cities must still be within the same zone, which opens up some fantastic routing opportunities. ANA divides the world into 10 different zones.
When you book an open jaw returning to a city other than your departure city, both cities must be in the same country. There are two exceptions to this rule: the U.S. and Canada are considered one country, as is nearly all of Europe.
Related: Beginners Guide: What Is a Stopover & What Is an Open-Jaw?
ANA Mileage Club Sweet Spots
Getting maximum value from ANA Mileage Club is as much about knowing which partner to choose as knowing where you want to fly.
ANA passes on variable carrier-imposed surcharges with most partner awards, so try to avoid booking tickets on airlines that charge them. Some airlines that do not add fuel surcharges include Air New Zealand, Air Canada, Etihad, LOT Polish Airlines, and United. Thus, flying with other partners could incur high out-of-pocket costs for your taxes and fees after redeeming miles.
Fuel surcharges on ANA-operated flights fluctuate over time. This is because the Tokyo-based carrier continuously adjusts what it chooses to pass on to customers. Sometimes, you'll pay more in taxes and fees, and sometimes you'll pay less.
Before we proceed, remember that all awards require round-trip (or open-jaw) bookings. You can't book one-way award tickets with ANA Mileage Club.
ANA business class from the U.S. to Asia 1 from 105,000 miles round-trip
If you’re chasing the sweetest awards from North America to the Asia 1 zone, search for ANA flights. We’ve chosen Seattle (SEA) to Hong Kong (HKG) as our example, but you can apply this award to the other countries of ANA's Asia 1 zone (Guam, Taiwan, Mainland China, The Philippines, Hong Kong, and Macau).
Depending on whether it's low, regular, or high season, you can book this award for 105,000, 112,000, or 115,000 miles, respectively, plus taxes and fees.
ANA business class from the U.S. to Japan from 100,000 miles round-trip
Again, ANA offers the best fares you’re likely to find flying from North America to Japan. It’s worth remembering that ANA treats all of North America as one country (as far as awards are concerned), so pricing also applies to ANA's flights to Canada.
At 105,000 miles plus roughly $368 in taxes and fees flying business class to Japan, it’s hard to beat this price. Low- and high-season flights cost 100,000 and 110,000 miles, respectively. Meanwhile, round-trip economy awards cost 40,000 miles during the low season, 50,000 during the regular season, and 55,000 during the high season.
ANA business class from the U.S. to Asia 2 from 125,000 miles round-trip
At just 132,000 for a standard season round-trip award, Asia 2 is another attractive option with ANA Mileage Club. Asia 2 includes gems like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Nepal, Laos, the Maldives, and Vietnam, plus some more obscure destinations, such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Flying ANA will set you back 55,000 miles during the low season, 65,000 during the regular season, or 70,000 during the high season in economy. That increases to 125,000, 132,000, and 135,000 miles in business class, depending on the season.
Partner awards cost 80,000 or 136,000 miles for round-trip economy or business class awards.
Star Alliance business class from the U.S. to Europe for 100,000 miles round-trip
United doesn't add fuel surcharges to award tickets, so you can fly the airline to Europe in business for just 100,000 miles round-trip, plus as little as $100 in taxes and fees. In economy, you'll pay 55,000 miles. This pricing also applies to other Star Alliance partners, but fees may vary.
Here's an example of a round-trip flight from Chicago to London. The taxes and fees will vary based on your destination in Europe. London is at the high end of the spectrum (due to the U.K.'s Air Passenger Duty), so you will likely pay less when flying to and from other European countries.
ANA Mileage Club counts Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, the Azores and Madeira, and the Canary Islands all within Europe awards. Likewise, most of Russia is included in Europe without being split into regions.
Star Alliance business class from the U.S. to Africa and the Middle East for 130,000 miles round-trip
Africa and the Middle East are one region — and yes, that includes the entire continent of Africa (except Morocco). Round-trip awards to the region cost just 70,000 miles in economy and 130,000 miles in business. If you can fly partners that don’t pass on surcharges with ANA, it's one of the best ways to fly to Africa and the Middle East on points.
Here's an example of a business-class award from New York to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for 130,000 miles and just under $134 in taxes and fees.
Flights from the U.S. to Oceania from 60,000 miles round-trip
ANA Mileage Club miles are a great way to get from the U.S. to Oceania. The program puts Australia, New Zealand, and most of the Pacific (excluding Hawaii) in the same zone, so you can leverage the program's stopover and open-jaw rules to create exotic itineraries, like this one from the U.S. to Australia with a stopover in Japan.
Round-trip awards from North America to Oceania cost 75,000 miles in economy and 145,000 in business on partner airlines. If you fly on ANA metal, it's 130,000, 137,000, and 140,000 miles in business class during the low, regular, and high season, respectively. That drops to 60,000, 70,000, and 75,000 miles in economy.
ANA business class round-the-world awards
ANA has a distance-based award chart for round-the-world awards, but there are restrictions to be aware of. We detail the full list of rules in another post, so we'll only summarize them here:
- Awards must fly in one direction and must cross both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
- Fare is based on total sector mileage.
- Up to eight stopovers, with a maximum of three in Europe and four in Japan.
- Minimum of 10 days between first and last flights.
- Can only fly Star Alliance partners.
You can view ANA's full round-the-world award chart on its website. For example, you can book the sample itinerary below for 115,000 miles, plus taxes and fees, in business class — provided you can find partner award availability. An economy award following this routing costs 75,000 miles.
- Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines
- Paris to Frankfurt (FRA), Lufthansa
- Frankfurt to Bangkok (BKK), Thai Airways
- Bangkok to Hong Kong (HKG), Thai Airways
- Hong Kong to Tokyo-Haneda (HND), ANA
- Tokyo-Haneda to New York-JFK, ANA
Calculate the length of your itinerary using a tool like GCmap. Then, compare it to ANA's round-the-world award chart to calculate the mileage cost of your desired itinerary. The above itinerary clocks in at 19,153 miles and falls in the 18,001 to 20,000-mile price band.
Earn ANA Mileage Club Miles
In addition to offering the ANA Card U.S.A. (not a card we’d recommend given its poor sign-up bonus), ANA Mileage Club is a transfer partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. That means points earned from any of these cards can help you book ANA Mileage Club awards:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Transfers from Amex to ANA can take up to a day, while transfers from Marriott can take 4–7 days on average, according to recent AwardWallet user data points. ANA will let you put most awards on hold, so do this before transferring your points.
Final Thoughts
With the seemingly constant deterioration of value in U.S. frequent flyer programs, it’s important to look further afield for opportunities to maximize the value of your points and miles. ANA Mileage Club is a great example of finding value in foreign programs.
ANA’s booking engine can be glitchy when booking anything but the most basic awards, but for a $25 fee, you can speak to a representative and book over the phone. We've found that ANA phone reps generally know the program's routing rules and what you can and cannot book.
Don’t forget to read our guides to ANA's award charts and booking ANA awards. These posts provide a deeper insight into one of the world's best frequent flyer programs.
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