How To Book ANA First Class

One of the best first-class products you can book with points or miles is All Nippon Airways (ANA) First Class. Even better, it’s a great use of points.

There’s a few methods to do this depending on the points currency you have, one of my favorite choices are using Virgin points.

ANA is a partner with Virgin, and they operate based on an award chart:

Source: https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/il/en/flying-club/airline-partners/all-nippon-airways.html

For example:

Hawaii to Tokyo would be 37.5k for business and 57.5k for first class.

SFO or LAX to Tokyo would be 52.5k for business class and 72.5k for first class.

From JFK or ORD to Tokyo, you’re looking at 60k for business and 85k for first class.

Virgin is a transfer partner of all the major bank currencies (Chase, American Express, Capital One, Citi).

To do this redemption, you would transfer from Chase to Virgin points and then call in to redeem the flight.

Finding availability can be tough, and you generally need to look months in advance or be willing to fly last minute.

There’s a lot of tools you can use, my favorite is seats.aero:

Doing a search today, Nov 3, 2024, and we see availability through Virgin (Velocity) for Nov 13 and Nov 19, but this would be through Hawaii.

Pro Tip:

Do NOT transfer points until you’re ready to book. Having it as a bank currency gives you more flexibility.

Step-by-Step Guide

If you find availability that works for you, and you’re ready to book, then:

1. Set up your Virgin account / have number ready
2. Log in to your bank account and get to the transfer tab
3. Call Virgin: 800.365.9500
4. Have them confirm that they see the flight
5. Transfer your points on the call (reason for step 1 and 2, so you’re ready to go!)
6. Confirm the booking

If you’re looking for more availability, there are other program options as well that can work such as Aeroplan or directly with ANA.

Alternatives

There are other ways to book ANA First class, but Virgin Atlantic tends to be the best option:

• ANA Mileage Club: Requires more miles but offers better availability
• United MileagePlus: Higher rates, but is a good option for United elite members with PlusPoints
• Aeroplan: More point,s but another option

Tips for Booking

• Book 355 days in advance for best availability
• Keep an eye for “drops” — ANA often will dump 1-2 quarters worth of availability.
• Search for availability on United's website first
• Transfer points from credit card partners like Amex, Chase, or Citi
• Be flexible with dates as First Class availability can be limited

Note that availability can be challenging to find, especially for multiple passengers. ANA usually only releases 1-2 seats in First Class for each flight. Even though there are 8 seats in the First Class cabin, it’s not unusual for it to fly at a lower capacity (i.e., only 1-4 passengers, despite 8 seats).

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