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Now, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve received a ton of requests for Japan in early 2020. Considering that Amex is running a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club right now, this seemed like the perfect time to find award space for ANA first class.

 

Routes: IAD/IAH/LAX/ORD-NRT/HND
Operating airline: All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Class of service: Frist and business class
Dates: January – April 2020
Seats available: 2 (sometimes more)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1
Book with (first/business – per person, one-way):

  • Air Canada Aeroplan – 105k/75k miles
  • ANA Mileage Club – 150k/75-85k miles (round-trip only)
  • Asiana Club – 80k/60k miles
  • Avianca LifeMiles – 90k/75k miles
  • Etihad Guest – 63k or 78k (biz only, first not worth it)
  • EVA Infinity MileageLands – 105k/87.5k miles
  • Miles & More – 105k/67.5k miles
  • Singapore KrisFlyer – 140k/115k miles (yikes!)
  • Turkish Miles&Smiles: 100k/67.5k miles
  • United MileagePlus – 110k/80k miles
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – 110k/90k (round-trip, west coast), 120k/95k (round-trip, east coast)

Taxes/fees incl surcharges (per person):

  • One-way: ~$115
  • Round-trip: ~$270

Bank transfer partners:

  • Amex Membership Rewards – Aeroplan, ANA, Avianca, Singapore, Virgin
  • Capital One – Aeroplan, Avianca, Etihad, EVA, Singapore
  • Chase Ultimate Rewards – Singapore, United, Virgin
  • Citi ThankYou Points – Avianca, Etihad, EVA, Singapore, Turkish, Virgin

Details

ANA First Class - Impromptu Sake Tasting

ANA First Class - Impromptu Sake Tasting

ANA first class is absolutely wonderful. While the seat itself isn’t a suite with doors and it’s kind of an odd cube, the food, the Krug champagne and the service are fantastic. If you’re looking for a couples trip or want to grab a buddy and jet off to Japan, this is a fantastic way to fly.

Alternatively, while I’m not seeing space for 4 in business class, I’m seeing lots of dates for 2 as well. If you want to take a group of 4, you’ll notice that there is overlap on the dates in which you can fly from Chicago (ORD) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Tokyo Haneda (HND). So, all you have to do is split into two groups of 2 and you’ll arrive the same day. Put yourself on the flight to HND if you want a quick ride into Tokyo.

Also, there are multiple flights between LAX and NRT. I have indicated how many flights have space for two on a dive date with a number in parentheses. For example, January 22 (2) means there are 3 flights with space for 2. Again, another great way to get groups to Tokyo on the same day.

Surprisingly, more dates had first class space.

Below, you’ll find dates out of Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, DC. Some dates will have 3 or 4 seats in biz class — plus the occasional 3 in first — but I’m focusing on space for 2. Two final notes before we get to the award space.

First, I searched some of this last night so things could have shifted a bit since then. Second, while I didn’t include SFO and JFK — a quick glance didn’t show as much space — or SJU and SEA as these routes don’t have first class cabins.

Now, let's check out the dates (there's a lot). We'll start with first class award space:

ORD-NRT FirstNRT-ORD First
January 13, 15, 18, 20-22, 25, 28January 15, 21, 22, 28, 30, 31
February 1, 3, 4, 10-12, 17-20, 24-26February 4, 7, 8, 13, 15, 19, 22, 25
March 2-4, 9-11, 23, 24, 30, 31March 3-6, 10-13, 21, 31
April 1April 1, 3, 4
ORD-HND FirstHND-ORD First
January 6, 12-15, 19-21, 27, 28 January 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30
February 3-5, 10, 11, 16-20, 23-26 February 4-8, 11, 13, 15, 18-21, 25-27
March 1, 3, 4, 8-10, 16, 17, 24, 25, 31 March 4-7, 12, 18, 20
April 1, 2April 1, 2
LAX-NRT FirstNRT-LAX First
January 13, 19, 20, 21 (2), 22, 23 (2), 26, 27 (2), 28 (2), 29January 21, 22 (2), 23 (2), 24
February 4-6, 19, 20, 26, 27 (2)February 6, 7 (2), 11, 12 (2), 13 (2), 14 (2), 18 (2), 19 (2), 25 (2), 27
March 30March 3, 4, 5, 7, 11-13, 17, 19, 20, 26, 27, 31
April 1 (2)April 1, 2
IAH-NRT FirstNRT-IAH First
January 8-10, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28-30January 16, 23-25, 29
February 5, 6, 11, 17-19, 22, 24-27 February 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 26-28
March 2-4, 9, 10, 17, 25, 28, 30, 31March 4, 6, 7, 10-13, 17, 20
April 1-3April 3
IAD-NRT FirstNRT-IAD First
January 8, 9, 16, 17, 29, 30 January 21, 23, 28, 30, 31
February 5, 6, 21, 25-27February 6, 11, 19, 26-29
March 10, 24, 25, 31, 1, 2March 3-5, 10
April 2

Now, for the business class award space:

ORD-NRT BusinessNRT-ORD Business
January 13, 14, 21, 22, 26, 28, 29Return space is garbage.
February 3, 4, 10-12, 17-20, 24, 26
March 1,3, 4, 8-11, 16-18, 23, 24, 29
ORD-HND BusinessHND-ORD Business
January 12-15, 19-22, 26, 29January 25, 28, 30
February 2-5, 10-12, 16-20, 25, 26February 5, 11, 13, 14, 18, 26, 28
March 1-4, 8-10, 18, 23, 24, 30, 31March 4, 5, 12, 13, 21
April 1April 1
LAX-NRT BusinessNRT-LAX Business
January 20 (3), 21, 22 (2), 23, 26 (2), 27, 28, 29 (2)January 21, 22 (2), 23, 24, 28 (2), 30
February 3-5, 11, 12, 17  (2), 18 (2), 19, 20 (2), 24 (3), 25 (2), 26 (2), 27February 11 (3), 12 (3), 13, 18 (2), 19, 21, 25, 27
March 3 (2), 3 (2), 4 (2), 9, 10 (2), 11, 16 (3), 17, 18, 23-25, 30March 4, 5-7, 10 (2), 11 (2), 12, 17, 27, 28 (2), 31
April 1
IAH-NRT BusinessNRT-IAH Business
January 21, 22, 27-29
February 5, 18, 24February 6, 12, 27
March 2, 4, 9, 17, 18March 5, 17, 25, 31
April 1
IAD-NRT BusinessNRT-IAD Business
January 23, 29, 30January 25, 31
February 6, 11, 25, 26February 4
March 3, 9-11, 22, 24

Best Ways To Book ANA First Class

If you can book a non-stop round-trip ticket, your best is Virgin Atlantic miles — especially with the 30% transfer bonus from Amex. From the west coast, you can book for 110,000 Virgin miles which means you only need 85,000 Membership Rewards points during the promo. From the east coast, it’s 120,000 Virgin miles (93,000 Amex points).

You can also transfer Chase and Citi points. You’ll need to call to book but you can put tickets on hold for 48 hours while you transfer. The only tough parts are that you need to book round-trip and award space is only accessible 331 days prior to departure.

If you need to book a one-way first class ticket on ANA, 90k Avianca LifeMile is great when you factor in the lack of surcharges and ability to transfer from Amex, Capital One and Citi.

ANA Mileage Club is a bit steeper than Virgin when booking round-trip first class, but you sometimes get access to an extra award seat. 150,000 ANA miles might make sense in that case. You can transfer Amex points but remember that ANA won’t hold tickets and transfers can take a couple of days.

Best Ways To Book Business Class

ANA’s own program will be your best bet for round-trip business class. Whether its low or regular season, 75,000 and 85,000 miles round-trip is your best bet. Check the seasonality charts if you want to know how many miles to expect on your preferred dates.

For a one-way ticket, 75,000 LifeMiles is again a great one-way way option, though 80,000 United miles isn’t a bad way to go for those with Chase points. United won’t pass on surcharges either.

Things To Remember

If you book with Virgin miles, remember that you’ll have to book a positioning flight if you don’t live near an airport where ANA flies. Additionally, ANA has different rates if you include connections on partner airlines such as United so you might want to book a separate positioning flight.

Aeroplan, Etihad and Turkish provide some decent rates for one-way but you’ll be on the hook for surcharges. Additionally, Etihad and Turkish will require phone calls to book.

Booking Process

If you don’t know the exact dates you want to fly, keep things simple and use United’s calendar search option.

  1. Run a flexible date search for your ideal month of travel on United
  2. If booking with another Star Alliance partner, confirm space by searching with the respective program. LifeMiles often has issues so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t show space — if you’re brave, you can try talking with one of their phone agents
  3. Transfer points (if necessary)
  4. Log into your account
  5. Run the search again
  6. Complete the booking

If you know the exact dates you want to travel, go ahead and search with the program you plan to use. With Miles & More (Lufthansa), you need at least 7,000 miles in your account to run a search online.

Booking with Virgin Atlantic and Etihad is slightly different.

  1. Search with United
  2. Call to hold award space (Virgin-only) or call Etihad to confirm space
  3. Transfer points
  4. Call back
  5. Complete the booking

Final Thoughts

Tokyo is full of amazing things to do and things to eat — plenty with Michelin stars. Personally, I thought go-karting around the city dressed up as Mario was a silly and fun way to explore. If you have time, there are plenty of other places to explore and a ride on a bullet train just makes it even more fun.

Happy booking!