Very clear guidance. Thank you Mark! I will use Air Canada Aeroplan to book recently because there is 20% transfer bonus and the fees are way less than Virgin, another reason is we don’t have to call Virgin😂
Thanks for watching! If you find availability on United for Fare Class (I), then call Aeroplan to see if you can book with them. I've seen discussion online that this sometimes works with Aeroplan when you typically can't book online.
Great guide Mark, it's a dream of mine to someday fly in The Room on points. Likely will have to take the last minute booking approach, since that gives the best shot at finding availability as you said.
Thanks for this informative video. Question for you, could you use this same technique for an economy ticket? Or is this only for the Business Class (I) seats? Thanks !
Havent done full research on this, but I would assume yes you can! But for context, I’ve heard Virgin has had issues lately getting ANA award space. Call in to confirm availability with a rep before transferring any points.
@@__withMark Yes, this doesn't seem to be working right now. To try yourself, look at Aug 28th from LAX-Tokyo; United is showing Biz Class I availability to both HND and NRT, yet when I just called Virgin they don't see any availability on biz class for any of those 3 flights that are showing class I availability on United.
Im not sure if Virgin Atlantic the airline actually flights to Japan. But you can book ANA the airline to Japan through Virgin Atlantic’s award program
It's an award seat that is bookable via other airlines. Basically ANA releases the same seats to multiple airline programs to book through and Business (I) confirms that.
Did a quick search and I see JFK-HND flights on ANA around 5-7 days from departure. Make sure to have the Non-Stop filter on so its easier to find the 100K seat options. Keep in mind JFK is probably the most difficult airport to book seats from so keep checking as your departure date approaches. Hope that helps!
Honestly not too sure. Booking the ANA flight is a special partnership between Virgin & ANA which is why you have to call in to book. I assume if it was possible at all to add LGA-ORD to the itinerary, calling in would be the only way to do so since you can't book ANA through Virgin's website anyways.
I want to get ANA award seats for 2 people during cherry blossom seats is this possible with 2 people? also is it safe and reliable to wait for the last 14 days to travel and look for tickets. Whenever I look at the same details as everyone else that says it’s 60k points I’m always seeing 200k and 400k etc points
Definitely possible but difficult. ANA will sometimes stop providing award seats for busy periods such as cherry blossoms since they know they can fill those seats with customers paying cash. My recommendation is be flexible on which airport you depart from and search daily around 14 days from departure.
Do you plan on spending fewer points with Virgin Atlantic or less cash with United Airlines? Let me know in the comments!
Hi Mark, did you search this one year or 14 days before?
For ANA, searching at 14 days is best. Finding availability a year out is pretty difficult.
How much is the cost usually for Virgin Atlantic flights in points+ taxes?
Straight to the point and not trying to sell credit cards.
Keep it up.
Moving to Japan July 3rd , hasn’t been availability for a while but still checking everyday
Love the content 😊, great info short concise I’ll try using this when booking my trip to Japan later this year, thank you
Best of luck!
Very clear guidance. Thank you Mark! I will use Air Canada Aeroplan to book recently because there is 20% transfer bonus and the fees are way less than Virgin, another reason is we don’t have to call Virgin😂
Thanks for watching! If you find availability on United for Fare Class (I), then call Aeroplan to see if you can book with them. I've seen discussion online that this sometimes works with Aeroplan when you typically can't book online.
Great guide Mark, it's a dream of mine to someday fly in The Room on points. Likely will have to take the last minute booking approach, since that gives the best shot at finding availability as you said.
Same here! Hoping to catch a JFK-HND last minute booking on The Room some day. Thanks for watching Monty!
Thanks for this informative video. Question for you, could you use this same technique for an economy ticket? Or is this only for the Business Class (I) seats? Thanks !
Havent done full research on this, but I would assume yes you can!
But for context, I’ve heard Virgin has had issues lately getting ANA award space. Call in to confirm availability with a rep before transferring any points.
@@__withMark thanks for the feedback!
@@__withMark Yes, this doesn't seem to be working right now. To try yourself, look at Aug 28th from LAX-Tokyo; United is showing Biz Class I availability to both HND and NRT, yet when I just called Virgin they don't see any availability on biz class for any of those 3 flights that are showing class I availability on United.
I'm not even seeing Virgin Atlantic flies to Japan. What am I missing?
Im not sure if Virgin Atlantic the airline actually flights to Japan. But you can book ANA the airline to Japan through Virgin Atlantic’s award program
i seen flights on ana for 75k miles, amex is 1 to 1. isnt that a better deal?
So it's almost impoosible to book a round trip and you have to search by one ways?
Always best to search one-way
What does "Business (I)" mean?
It's an award seat that is bookable via other airlines. Basically ANA releases the same seats to multiple airline programs to book through and Business (I) confirms that.
I need help trying to find this deal for aug 22-29 : (
I can’t get United site to show JFK flights- so no ANA. Any suggestions?
Did a quick search and I see JFK-HND flights on ANA around 5-7 days from departure. Make sure to have the Non-Stop filter on so its easier to find the 100K seat options.
Keep in mind JFK is probably the most difficult airport to book seats from so keep checking as your departure date approaches.
Hope that helps!
Hi Mark can I call virgin to book my flight if its from LGA TO ORD (layover) then ORD to Tokyo NRT?
Honestly not too sure. Booking the ANA flight is a special partnership between Virgin & ANA which is why you have to call in to book. I assume if it was possible at all to add LGA-ORD to the itinerary, calling in would be the only way to do so since you can't book ANA through Virgin's website anyways.
I want to get ANA award seats for 2 people during cherry blossom seats is this possible with 2 people? also is it safe and reliable to wait for the last 14 days to travel and look for tickets. Whenever I look at the same details as everyone else that says it’s 60k points I’m always seeing 200k and 400k etc points
Definitely possible but difficult. ANA will sometimes stop providing award seats for busy periods such as cherry blossoms since they know they can fill those seats with customers paying cash.
My recommendation is be flexible on which airport you depart from and search daily around 14 days from departure.
Good content, I'm keeping you and get rid the others :)
Haha that's high praise! Thanks for watching
Curious…if I call virgin to book a flight that is not class (I) will they just tell me that this flight is not eligible for award redemption?
That's most likely correct, fare (I) specifically indicates the award seat should be bookable with other Star Alliance partners
NO more UA anymore it needs ton of points.
Exactly
I guess Hawaii is not US 😆
Haha I may have forgotten the HNL - HND flights... 😅
🤑🤑🤑
Thanks for watching all my videos!
It won't work to be honest unless get luck or no life.