Intro to ANA

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
  • ANA - All Nippon Airlines
  • Star Alliance Partner
  • Distance Based Program
  • Earning:
  • Membership Rewards 1:1
  • SPG 1:1.25 (when transferring 20,000)
  • ANA Card from First National Bank of Omaha - 1:1 with small 5,000pt signup bonus.
Introduction

The ANA program is a distance based award program. You need to map out the total length of your journey, and the ticket will price based upon miles flown. I recommend using GCMAP.com to check distances, though on occasion they can be a little discrepancy between this and what the airlines price at. As ANA is part of Star Alliance, you are able to fly upon their partner airlines, further to this they have additional airline alliances.

There are 3 different charts:

ANA Metal (further divided by 3 seasonal rates)





Star Alliance Metal (can use more than one airline)




Other Partner Metal (can only fly one airline)


The Partner Award chart is used for both the Star Alliance Partners, and the Other Partner Metal - the difference being that you can mix and match airlines on a Star Alliance itinerary, but you must only use one partner on the Other Partner Metal List.

The Partner Award Chart


Stop Overs/Open Jaws
  • 3 stopovers, 1 open jaw. Full terms here
  • They have some rules that restrict the stopovers, see the link for more details. Notable:
    • Only one stopover in Japan if coming from overseas.
    • You can't stopover in the country of origin on route to another destination.
--Pro Tip--
You will get the best value by staying just under each award tier, if you find your itinerary has a lot of excess 'fat' in it, consider adding in stopovers, making your trip more elaborate, and burning up the free miles. Example:

Good Itinerary - JFK-LHR
(note it is good because it prices at 6903 miles roundtrip, bringing it into Tier 3, however taxes and fees can be high on this route)



Distance 4,001-7,000 Economy miles (RT) 38,000 Business miles (RT) 63,000 First miles (rt) 90,000

Bad Itinerary EWR-CDG
This is a bad itinerary because it prices at 7298 miles, pushing it into Tier 4



Distance 7,001-9,000 Economy miles (RT) 43,000 Business miles (RT) 68,000 First miles (rt) 100,000

While this is still a great price (in miles) to Europe you have left 1702 (9000-7298) miles on the table, this could be improved by adding in free stopovers/openjaws.

Improved Itinerary EWR-CDG-EWR-MIA

If you took the same itinerary as above, and then added on a free one way to Miami, it would still be within Tier 4 pricing, so it would cost no more miles to fly RT to Paris, and then later take the one way to MIA. Note the rule that you must end the trip in the same country (not city) as the origin.

Great domestic value
Sam from Milenomics has a good post on how to get two RT journeys in the US, from as low as 20,000 total. Check it out here
 
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imMia430

Level 2 Member
Premium Supporter
Thanks for the resources!! I love ANA!! And I may be the only person who enjoyed ANA J more than CX F ;) (sample size =1 each, highly subjective, YMMV lol). And that's exactly why my valuation for United/UR points goes downhill. #sadface
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for the resources!! I love ANA!! And I may be the only person who enjoyed ANA J more than CX F ;) (sample size =1 each, highly subjective, YMMV lol). And that's exactly why my valuation for United/UR points goes downhill. #sadface
ANA J was my first J experience, bumped up from Y on a discounted revenue ticket from NRT-JFK. Ruined me :)
 

AIM

Level 2 Member
Thanks Matt, great resource. You might want to add in whether fuel surcharges are passed on (I think so but haven't redeemed ANA miles before).
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Fuel charges do vary by airline, but I think a comprehensive list would take a bit of time to piece together.
 

AIM

Level 2 Member
Fuel charges do vary by airline, but I think a comprehensive list would take a bit of time to piece together.
Agreed, and of course it varies by destination. I was mainly suggesting you note that this issue exists and that fuel surcharges could run into the hundreds of dollars for some routes that seem like a good deal when compared with United's mileage requirements.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Agreed, and of course it varies by destination. I was mainly suggesting you note that this issue exists and that fuel surcharges could run into the hundreds of dollars for some routes that seem like a good deal when compared with United's mileage requirements.
Yep- I skirted that when I said that 'this is a good award' but only based on miles... Does need some more attention.
 

imMia430

Level 2 Member
Premium Supporter
Matt, ANA F worth it? My usual destination is at the 8000 mile tier. #awkward
 
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