ANA Mileage Club

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is one of two largest airlines based in Japan. A member of Star Alliance, the carrier operates a massive fleet of 212 aircraft to over 50 destinations in 25 countries.

In Canada and the US, ANA flies to Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Washington DC, Chicago, New York, and Honolulu.

ANA Mileage Club is the airline’s frequent flyer program that unlocks redemption opportunities across all its cabins, including its well-regarded First Class.

The program also allows redemptions on its Star Alliance partners, including Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, and EVA Air, among others.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about ANA Mileage Club, including how to optimize your earning and redeeming within the program.

Earning Miles Through ANA Mileage Club

There are a number of ways that allow you to earn ANA miles in Canada and the US, including credit card spending, and flying with ANA and its partner airlines.

 

Transferring from Other Programs

ANA Mileage Club isn’t a transfer partner of any bank in Canada. In the US, meanwhile, American Express allows Membership Rewards points to be transferred to the program at a rate of 1 MR point = 1 mile.

Marriott Bonvoy points could be transferred to ANA Mileage Club at a rate of 3 Bonvoy points = 1 mile, with a bonus of 5,000 miles for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred.

Even with the bonus, it’s an unfavourable exchange altogether, so you should only convert your Marriott Bonvoy points to ANA miles when you need a top-up on a planned redemption. Otherwise, you should save your Bonvoy points for aspirational hotel and resort stays.

Other than Marriott Bonvoy, you could also transfer points from the following hotel programs at suboptimal rates:

• Hilton Honors: 10 points = 1 mile
• IHG Rewards: 5 points = 1 mile
• Shangri-La Golden Circle: 1 point = 1 mile
• World of Hyatt: 2.5 points = 1 mile (plus 5,000 miles bonus for every 50,000 points transferred)

Co-Branded Credit Card (US)

In the US, the First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) issues a co-branded credit card called ANA Card USA, which is intended for expats moving from Japan.

The card’s welcome bonus is a measly 5,000 miles with no spend requirement. Its earn rates, on the other hand, are equally lacklustre at 1.25 miles per dollar spent on ANA purchases, and 1 mile per dollar (USD) spent on all other purchases.

Note that FNBO doesn’t require a US social security number to apply. However, you must intend to be a resident of the US within 90 days of applying, if you aren’t one already.

Flying with ANA

By default, you’ll earn ANA miles on paid tickets, and the number of miles you’ll receive is based on distance flown, cabin, and fare class.

Depending on the fare class, you can expect to earn the following:

• Economy: 30–100% of the distance flown in miles
• Premium Economy: 70–100% of the distance flown in miles
• Business Class: 70–150% of the distance flown in miles
• First Class: 150% of the distance flown in miles

To easily calculate how many miles you’re entitled to, you can use the flight mileage calculator on the ANA website.

Flying with Partner Airlines

When you fly on a paid ticket with one of ANA’s partners, you can credit your miles to your ANA Mileage Club account. In order to do so, you must add your ANA Mileage Club number during booking or check-in.

ANA is a member of Star Alliance; thus, you can earn miles with any of its alliance partners. The airline also partners with a few non-alliance carriers, as noted below.

The following are ANA’s airline partners:

Star Alliance

Non-Alliance Partners

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

When flying with partner airlines, the number of miles you’ll earn depends on the airline you’re flying with, as each airline has its own accrual policies.

Other Ways to Earn ANA Miles

You can also earn ANA miles through other means, including hotel stays, car rentals, and shopping. Be sure to quote your ANA Mileage Club number during your transaction, so you’ll be credited the miles you’re entitled to.

When you book your accommodations with the following hotel chains and booking websites, you’ll earn miles at the following rates:

• Hyatt: 500 miles per stay
• IHG: Up to 3 miles per dollar (USD) spent
• Marriott International: Up to 2 miles per dollar (USD) spent
• Melia Hotels: Up to 500 miles per stay
• Okura Hotels & Resorts: Up to 500 miles per stay
• Pan Pacific Hotels Group: 500 miles per stay
• Shangri-La: 500 miles per stay
• WorldHotels: 500 miles per stay

For car rentals, you can earn ANA miles with the following companies:

• Alamo: 300 miles per rental
• Avis: 100 miles per day, up to a maximum of 500 miles per rental
• Dollar: 300 miles per rental
• Hertz: 50 miles per day
• National: 50 miles per day, up to a maximum of 300 miles per rental
• Sixt: 350 miles per rental

Lastly, ANA has its own travel booking website called ANA Traveler’s Hotel, which is powered by Agoda. The portal lets you earn ANA miles on hotel and car rental bookings.

Redeeming Miles Through ANA Mileage Club

There are a number of ways to redeem ANA miles; however, you’ll get the most value by redeeming your miles for award flights.

ANA Flights

When redeeming for ANA flights, ANA Mileage Plus has three pricing tiers: low season, regular season, and high season. You can think of it as ANA’s way to impose dynamic pricing.

Annually, ANA releases dates that correspond to each season, and you’ll notice that holidays, including Golden Week (Ōgon Shūkan), fall under high season.

For domestic awards, flights are priced according to distance, and the cost of each segment is added cumulatively, even if the flights are connecting.

Note that in most cases, you may only redeem up to two segments as round-trip, connecting, open-jaw, or disjointed flights. The exception to the rule is when you’re redeeming flights to Okinawa’s outlying islands – in which case, you’re allowed up to two connecting segments per way, or a total of four segments in one ticket.

Also keep in mind that for domestic awards, only economy class may be booked, even if redeemed in conjunction with an international flight.

For international awards, redemptions are priced by geographic zone, and unlike domestic flights, connecting flights are priced based on the zone of the origin and the final destination.

This means that a Vancouver-Tokyo-Manila redemption isn’t priced as the total cost of Vancouver-Tokyo and Tokyo-Manila flights. Rather, the redemption is priced as Vancouver (Zone 6) to Manila (Zone 3).

All cabin classes, up to First Class, may be booked for international awards. However, the caveat is that awards may only be booked as round trips.

You may somewhat skirt this rule by booking open-jaws. For purposes of redemption, Canada and the US are considered one country, as are all countries in Europe. Hence, you may redeem Vancouver-Tokyo and Tokyo-Seattle flights as a round trip, should you find availability this way.

Flights on Partner Airlines

ANA also uses a zone-based redemption chart for awards on its partner airlines. The chart’s geographic zones are defined similarly as ANA redemptions, save for a few modifications.

Fortunately, there are no seasonal pricing tiers on partner awards. However, you’re limited to so-called “Saver” awards or low-priced redemptions, which are shared among the partners of the operating airline.

Note that you may only redeem flights on one partner airline at a time, and like ANA flight redemptions, you may only redeem partner awards as round trips.

Upgrades

You can use your ANA miles to upgrade your flights operated by ANA and its Star Alliance partners. The miles required to upgrade are priced per flight segment and are based on separate redemption charts – one for international ANA flights, and one for Star Alliance partner flights.

Here’s the chart for international ANA flights:

On the other hand, here’s the chart for Star Alliance flights:

For any miles upgrade request, your flight must be paid under eligible fare classes. For Star Alliance upgrades, it doesn’t matter which Star Alliance carrier issued your ticket.

Since only higher fare classes are eligible for an upgrade with miles, you can’t expect deeply-discounted tickets, such as basic economy ones, to qualify.

Other Ways to Redeem ANA Miles

While redeeming for flights is the best use of your ANA miles, you can also redeem them in a few different ways.

First, you can redeem ANA miles for hotels and car rentals at a rate of 1 JPY (0.7 cents USD) = 1 mile through the ANA Traveler’s Hotel portal.

You may also redeem ANA miles for flight add-ons, such as extra baggage allowance, and digital coupons that can be used on ANA services.

Keep in mind that ANA miles expire 36 months after accruing them. Thus, while the redemptions above don’t give as much value as flights, they might come in handy when your ANA miles are about to expire.

ANA Mileage Club Sweet Spots

One of the best uses of ANA miles is the Star Alliance Round the World award. In a nutshell, it allows you to plan an eight-stop round-the-world itinerary at a fraction of the cost you’d pay with other programs, while flying with some of the best airlines in the world.

The post below provides an in-depth explanation of how it works:

Another redemption you should look into is North America to Japan flights on ANA. In the low season, a round-trip ticket only costs 75,000 miles in business class. Even better, ANA First Class can be had for only 150,000 miles round-trip.

Redeeming with ANA Mileage Club also gives you a better chance at these coveted awards, since naturally, ANA releases more premium seats to its own members than the members of its partners’ programs.

There also are partner airline redemptions of note. This is especially the case when you account for the fact that ANA awards generally cost less in miles than its Star Alliance partners, such as Aeroplan, United MileagePlus, and Avianca LifeMiles.

For instance, you can fly business class from the US West Coast or East Coast to any point in Europe for only 88,000 miles. You can choose from several Star Alliance airlines, such as TAP Air Portugal, Swiss, or LOT Polish Airlines, for your trans-Atlantic crossing.

To cross the Pacific, meanwhile, you can fly Philippine Airlines business class from Toronto to Manila for only 95,000 miles round-trip. Notably, award flights on Philippine Airlines may only be redeemed through ANA Mileage Club, aside from its own program, Mabuhay Miles.

ANA Mileage Club Tips & Tricks

The ANA website features an award calendar, which allows you to easily visualize availability for ANA flights from Japan to all of its international destinations for the coming months.

To access the calendar, click on “Flight Awards” on the ANA homepage. After logging into your ANA Mileage Club account, you’ll see the “Award Calendar” link.

Another feature you should be aware of is the ANA Mileage Club Family Account service, which allows family members to pool miles and redeem them collectively.

Family or relatives up to the second degree must be registered to ANA Mileage Club outside Japan to join the family pool. Unfortunately, unlike other airline programs, there’s a registration fee of 1,000 JPY ($7 USD) per family member to join the pool.

ANA Mileage Club Status

ANA Mileage Club has three “Premium” membership tiers: Bronze, Platinum, and Diamond. In order to progress to the next tier, you must accumulate enough Premium Points.

Premium Points are distinct from miles, and they’re earned by flying with ANA or a partner airline on paid flights. You’ll earn Premium Points based on your flight route, fare class, and the airline you’re flying with.

ANA uses a somewhat complicated formula to calculate the number of Premium Points you’ll earn on every flight; thus, you’re better off using the calculator on ANA’s website.

You’ll need to earn the following Premium Points in a calendar year to advance to the next tier:

Bronze: 30,000 Premium Points (15,000 must be from ANA flights)
Platinum: 50,000 Premium Points (25,000 must be from ANA flights)
Diamond: 100,000 Premium Points (50,000 must be from ANA flights)

You’ll need the same number of Premium Points in the subsequent year to requalify for the same status.

As an ANA Mileage Club Premium Member, you’ll receive a wide range of benefits, including:

• Star Alliance elite status (Star Alliance Silver for Bronze; Star Alliance Gold for Platinum and Diamond)
• Flight bonus miles
• Lounge access
• Seat upgrade awards
• Premium Member service desk and concierge service
• Priority waiting list on cash fares and awards
• Priority check-in, security, boarding, and baggage claim
• Additional baggage allowance
• Personalized bag tags

Conclusion

ANA Mileage Club provides great redemption opportunities on long-haul premium flights on ANA and its Star Alliance partners.

In North America, ANA miles can be accumulated by transferring from other programs, such as American Express US Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. You can also accrue miles by flying ANA or any of its partner airlines.

The biggest caveat of redeeming through ANA Mileage Club is that only round-trip international awards are permitted. Then again, round-trip awards cost less through ANA Mileage Club than other Star Alliance programs, making the program worthwhile regardless.

Plus, through ANA Mileage Club, you have higher chances finding availability on ANA’s premium cabins, especially its sought-after First Class.