One of the Best Travel Deals to Book Business Class to Japan
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
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If you can find the availability this is one of the best ways to book business class flights to Japan.
Virgin Atlantic has a partnership with All Nippon Airways (ANA). This means you can book ANA flights via Virgin Atlantic's program using Virgin Atlantic miles.
Virgin Atlantic x ANA partnership website
bit.ly/3OViZtl
Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One and Bilt points all transfer to Virgin Atlantic so that makes it easy to earn Virgin Atlantic miles. Cards like the American Express Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Gold Card, Capital One Venture X and Citi Premier all earn transferable points that you can use for this redemption.
Use United.com to search and confirm the award space then call Virgin Atlantic to complete the booking!
Booking ANA through Virgin Atlantic requires between 90k or 95k points round-trip per person. For comparison, if you booked through Avianca Lifemiles it would be 150,000 miles round-trip or if you booked through United MileagePlus it would be around 168,000 miles round-trip
Sometimes there are transfer bonuses that can reduce the number of miles for the flight down to 70k or 74k per person round-trip.
Virgin Atlantic is one of my favorite Loyalty Programs because of their special partnership with ANA and they have a few other miles and points sweet spots that I'll cover in future videos.
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![[2023] Guide to Booking ANA Business Class Award Flights to Japan](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dTgOIB3_sek/mqdefault.jpg)
![[2023] Guide to Booking ANA Business Class Award Flights to Japan](/img/tr.png)
Hi, helpful video! One question, I saw that Amex points can be transfered directly to Ana. Why do you think booking through Virgin Atlantic is better?
Good question, if you have the Amex points you can definitely transfer directly to ANA and book that way, they might charge you between 75k-90k round-trip and you have to book round trip. Booking through VA you can book one ways and put the award ticket on hold while you transfer the points!
@@MaxMilesPoints are the points shown here from the United website for one way? the Ord flight shows 88k and the return flight shows 80k in your video.
So would it be 88k round trip? or 168k round trip?
Thanks!
@@jollybrancher He's using United to find the saver space not the cost. So it will be 95k round trip via Virgin Atlantic.
Booking through ANA would be better since ANA offers more reward space to their own program, and it's usually a few thousand miles less directly with ANA, rather than through VA. This transfer capability is the *only reason* why I'm considering fetching an AMEX card, but the cost is so ridiculous that it may not be worth it for me since I only go to Asia once every year or two, and Japan would be a stopover going to other countries in the region. JAL would be I think a better fit for me, but the closest you'll get for JAL is Alaska Airlines, but their offers aren't nearly as sweet as the ANA transfer.
great in theory, but finding award space is nearly impossible
My wife and I just booked some flights from Tokyo on business class using this video, thank you!! Was quite the headache finding award space as you mentioned it can be
Glad you were able to find award space! It’s been really tough the last several months to find award space!
How did she find seats? I’m having a hard time
@@karengandrea Found them by searching the Air Canada website for several days. It's slim pickings but there are some single Business class flights i found from Tokyo to most USA destinations (And vise versa) at least a few times a month. If you're using Virgin Atlantic Miles the trick is, VA only books out 330 days in advance. So don't look further on the Air Canada website and expect to be able to book the availability you find.
@@TheDrive110 thanks for the response
You are the man Bro! This is the info I have been looking for to fly my family back and forth to Japan from West Coast. Thanks a million✌🏿
Does this video still work for this year?
Your videos are more helpful than a Travel course I bought for this type of stuff 😭
What travel course did you buy?
Max, you are rapidly becoming my favorite credit card you tuber.....👍
🙌🏼 Thanks!
Im new to this whole award travel and just a tip for all the newbies to to create your Virgin Atlantic account now. I actually found an “I class” recently and on the same day I created my virgin account and they were not able to put my ticket on hold because my virgin Atlantic account was too new 😅
Keep those kind of videos coming. This is what all the beginners are missing on how to book because they are already got so many ideas on how to have a lot of points but they don't know how to put them in good use. Love it.
Please do one like this on how to book business or first class with Emirates and Etihad to go to UAE using points and mikes. Thank you so much again for such a great video.
That way you structure this video was so helpful!! So so organized and easy to understand. Thank you!
Great video Max!!! One thing you did not mention is, when you looked at the United site, there was only 1 seat available, so how did you book 3 people, will the availability increase by calling ANA directly? Thanks Max!!!
I am thoroughly impressed with your videos. You offer jewels i don't see on others!
Still wrapping my head around all the steps but found this super helpful. Thank you!!
This is the most helpful video I've watch so far, thank you! I was on the fence between getting C1 venture or Chase sapphire preferred. My main goal is to get enough points to travel business or first class to Japan from the US with ANA. I am planning on eventually get both cards so I can transfer the sign in bonus from both credit cards into Virgin Atlantic.
That’s a smart strategy! That’s the best part about virgin Atlantic you can transfer points into Virgin from a lot of different credit card points. If you need a referral link for either cards let me know!
@@MaxMilesPoints Thanks! I alredy got the C1 credit card, but when I'm ready for the Chase card I'll let you know for the referral!
I tried multiple times of using the method taught in this video to book a round-trip ANA business class but had 0 luck. Not only the surcharge fee is $900+ per person roundtrip from west coast to Tokyo, but also ALL business classes are marked as "waitlisted" all the way until Nov 2023. Not sure what ANA did but it's nearly impossible to book their business class using awards. Can you please make an updated video to talk about this? I couldn't find any help online in the recent months. #desparate
SAME!!!
Did you book through virgin Atlantic? And it shows as waitlisted?
@@XTCtroll When I checked last time, Virgin didn't show any availabilities. ANA showed everything as waitlisted maybe besides 1-2 flights in December as available
Please take this video down. You’re wasting people’s time.
Using this when I book my trip to Japan 2023!!!
Do Korea!
Love your videos and the info you put out.
Awesome video, kept it simple but filled with great details.
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for information but I’ve noticed recently ANA is charging almost $800 in fees for any cabin level even economy
So helpful, thank you! Hope to go to Japan in the near future!
Great information. I was actually wondering how to do a trip to Japan. Thank you.
Soooooo helpful!!!!
Great information and I'll certainly bookmark this for when I'm able to book travel to Japan. Now if Japan would only open up for tourism!
I think all the “I” category are operated by UA now. Plus VA updated their website to show 120K-130K for business now. Not sure if you’re still able to find flights with this..
That’s interesting. I wouldn’t normally think of using a flyer program for an airline I don’t normally fly (just the once in 2010). I have a UA Explorer card and I’m not about to get another card at the moment. But this is a nice tip to keep in my back pocket, especially since I’ve enjoyed traveling with ANA in the past.
I guess the catch is you need to live without reasonable distance of somewhere ANA flies nonstop or try your luck on booking your own connection.
Thank you so much! I was wondering if I could do that using Chase rewards, and lucky me, right now is the 30% deal with Virgin! One thing I'm noticing is no flights available on many days that match the three criteria. Did you get lucking with your search? I'm coming from east coast. I really appreciate you and this video. Cheers!
Super helpful video, thank you! One question, are you able to transfer points from multiple cards?
Your videos are stellar! I feel more educated. I’m trying to get to S Korea from Texas with my spouse to last week of October Would love to visit Japan either on the way there or back. I have AmEx Gold and nearing 160k points. Would love any advice or video! Do you have a patreon?
Such great content! When would you suggest traveling to Japan for cherry blossom season?
Great video, thank you but how about if Im going to continue my trip to Bangkok, ORD - Tokyo - Bangkok?
Thanks for sharing such helpful information! I’m just now trying to better understand these topics, like how to leverage points and also identify which card might be best for me.
You're welcome! If there's any specific topic you want me to make a video on let me know!
This was very informative. Thanks
Hi Max, so I called Virgin Atlantic and they said they don't hold ANA flights for 24 hours. I tried to book March 16 - April 5th but their calendar only goes 331 days(March 31 now) so I have to cross my fingers and hope those dates are still available in 5 days haha Thanks for the great video!!
That's interesting this is the first data point I heard about them not holding award space. I'll ask around and call myself to check tomorrow! Maybe they changed the rules. Thanks for letting me know!
I just booked but they wouldnt hold either
If Virgin Atlantic won't hold your seat, is it because just like ANA only waitlisted business class available? It seems this is possible if you go standby.
@@allenusc no it was not a waitlisted seat
Super helpful video! A few questions for you:
1. How far ahead of time is it best to book first class tickets? Trying to look at SFO to Tokyo round trip but there doesn't seem to be many first class, round trip options even more than 6 months in advance.
2. How early do flights open up ahead of time? Is there a certain date/time when a certain month"s flights open up for availability?
He can't answer these questions. What he is doing is booking trips around availability of flight rewards!
Thank you for this information. Getting ready to book to Thailand thru ANA. I assume this works for First CLass flights as well?
Very good info! Well done.
Love this walk through. I got into points and miles and racked up 200k alaska miles. Any chance you will do a video on those? Also would you feel safe booking a trip to Japan for next year? It'll be open by then right?
Very informative! However, I am curious where you find this award chart that shows the reward destinations? VA or ANA?
Loving this especially since I'm planning a trip to Japan too!
Question - If you're not near an airport with direct flights for ANA, would you need to book a separate ticket to that specific air port with direct flights?
Yes, you are correct! It's called a positioning flight. Book a separate ticket to position yourself to where the deals or award availability is!
@@MaxMilesPoints Hi, quick question about positioning flight. When you do this, do you have to get out of the airport from Arrival and then check back in through Departure and go through airport security again?
@@nguyenphucquan Pho sure
Nice video. I had my first points transfer take over 48 hours from chase to VS the second time it took only seconds
Why is it so hard to find the flights!?!? Virgin Atlantic says the code Has to read NH like your says but I can’t find that
I'm following your video instructions but it's still so difficult to find a flight. There seems to be no availablity.
Killing it Max!
Thanks man!
No availability on business class flights from California to Tokyo in 2023. I get "waitlisted" on ANA. What does that mean? UAL, Aeroplan, etc charges 175,000 miles for same flights. Please advice.
Great video. Can't wait to try this out.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
In your opinion, when is the best time for cherry blossom viewing?
Great video, thanks for sharing! 1 question: how do you find out if transfer bonuses are happening, and how often do they happen? Thanks!
Very helpful indeed! I have the Venture X card and I see "Virgin Red" Is it safe to assume it is the same thing or rebranded?
Virgin Red is Virgin Atlantic.
Very helpful video! Thank you for making it. But how did you find 2 seats? I have been looking for days now and have only found 1 seat. Today I did find 1 business and 1 first.
It's pretty tough to find ANA award availability now. Check far out in the calendar and I've had the most luck searching for ANA flights out of ORD
I'm not sure if you're still checking these comments, but, is this all still applicable? I've been trying to search for business class for my fiancé and I for our honeymoon next year and am just at a bust :( None of the business classes have come up with (I) either.
Thank you for this very helpful, easy to understand how to video! I've been comparing 'Chase sapphire proffered' and 'capital one venture' for earning points/miles to get an air ticket, specifically going to Tokyo, Japan. I have couple questions. 1) To book ANA, does is have to be 'Capital One Venture X', as you showed on your video? 'Capital One Venture' also works? 2)If I get both 'Chase' and 'Capital One' card, can I combine both points to get one round trip ticket?
man, this guy doesn't respond to any of our questions
Great video! Trying to figure out my next Japan trip using points and this is great! So since all the credit card companies can transfer to Virgin Atlantic, I could realistically transfer points say like half from Citi and half from Chase to Virgin Atlantic to get an ANA flight right? Sorry if that question as an obvious answer, but I'm new to points and trying to figure it all out for possible future travel with them. Also, how often does Virgin Atlantic do those bonus redemptions or any other airline usually? Also once you were in Japan, what were your go to credit cards while there?
Hey Max quick question, why do you need to transfer chase points to virgin atlantic rather than just transferring chase points to united mileageplus to get the same flights?
If you want to book via virgin Atlantic at the lower rate , then you should transfer your points to virgin Atlantic! But only after you find award availability and call virgin Atlantic to confirm they see the award space!
@@MaxMilesPoints gotcha! that makes so much sense, i think i straight up blanked haha appreciate it
Great video, and very helpful, but ANA has a waitlist on reward tickets. How can we be sure to get the seat and not get bumped off? Is there any Airline, that has no waitlist when booking with points?
How come all the flights on united website from ord to Tokyo are like 200 points... Besides November or December. Ideally want to travel when it's warmer.
You said you were able to book your parents these tickets, but I'm noticing that the United website says 'Only 1 Fare left at this price'. Was there actually more availability when you called Virigin?
I personally would rather transfer miles to ANA directly because it can be cheaper to go through them vs Virgin Atlantic.
Yes if you can find the round trip award space.
Does it have to be round trip booking with Virgin for the Ana flights? Or we can still book one way with Virgin with half the pts?
I just tried to do this and Virgin told me they dont put Nippon tickets on hold, they can only book and it has to be ticketed within 2 hours
Question , why not book directly with ANA ?
Amex points are the only points that transfer to ANA so booking through Virgin you'll have more options to earn the points and transfer. Booking through Virgin Atlantic you book one ways too. Sometimes Virgin has transfer bonuses that make the deal even better!
I heard need to exchange miles to skycoins first then redeem but i cant
Finally found a youtube that shows how to book a venture X card point/mile ticket to Japan from California :) But I'm still confuse :(((
Came across your video. Appreciate the step by step. But I’m seeing one way going for 175K (Los Angeles). I don’t see anything for round trips at those low pts.
1. You need to find ANA award availability using United.com
2. Once you find award availability according to how it is detailed in the video you need to call and book through Virgin Atlantic
Give the video a watch again 😄
Great video, and pretty helpful tips. But it seems if you are to fly out of JFK to Hanada, I cant quite seem to find any flights (ECO or BUS) on United operated by ANA. Has anyone traveled from JFK with any luck?
Great video…quick question: can you also book one-way business class or does it have to be round-trip? If you can, how many points is it normally for the one-way? Thanks
man, this guy doesn't respond to any of our questions
Thanks for the awesome video, Max. One question: I'm trying to find the 90k miles RT Business class offerings from the West Coast to Tokyo per what you shared. I saw on the United site that a 1-way business class ticket between SFO to NRT via ANA is anywhere between 80k and 175k. I searched between today and 2023 but can't find those 90k RT rates. Would you mind sharing how you pinpointed those amazing RT rates? Really appreciate it!
Hey! The video walks you through the process.
1. Use United as a search tool, you aren't booking through United.
2. Once you find availability based on the criteria outlined in the video
3. You call Virgin Atlantic to book at the 90k-95k rate
Give the video another watch!
@@MaxMilesPoints Thanks for confirming, Max! I just didn’t realize it would only be 90k miles flat with VA regardless of the rates shown on United. This is indeed a really nice hack. Thanks!
Please pin this comment because I had the same question and was a bit confused. Thank you for the clear answer!
@Deborah Simmons(Dun & Bradstreet Consultant) Bro, quit spamming for your channel. Make your own stuff worth something, almost want to block you and never see anything you make.
Great video! If I have a Citi Aadvantage card can those points be transferred to Virgin Atlantic? Thanks!!
I did a practice run and found a suitable flight on United, then went to the VA site and couldn't find that flight. I went back and re watched the segment and saw you never went to the VA site (except to check when points arrived) So.. is that how it is done, find the saver award space and call VA?
You cant see them on VS site. Find on UA, cross check same date you find on Air Canada. If you can see on both, most likely is isnt a phantom space. Then call VS and they have to book over the phone
This is pretty valuable information! I'm not finding any availability from LAX or SFO for ANA :(
Same! Even from the furthest date possible
Yeah. I give up. Same 🤨
Love the video! Are the tickets confirmed once you book them, or waitlisted? I noticed on ANA website, booking award tickets only gets a waitlisted reservation. I read the status is only revealed 24 hours before flight.
man, this guy doesn't respond to any of our questions
That's what I was wondering. It would be a waste to be just waitlisted
Are you seeing >1 ANA award seat available on United's website in 2022? Seems that ANA may be restricting partner access to >1 seat in 2022 compared to 2021.
Man. Trying to plan my honeymoon to Japan in 2024. Looking June/July but open to waiting to do it August- October. Unfortunately, I cannot find ANY award space on ANA from United, Air canada, Etc. Lots of times not even displaying ANA flights, and the ones I can find only have Economy open. Any suggestions? I have AMEX and Chase points to transfer.
I got so sick eating the volcano black eggs to live 7 more years for each egg. I ate 3. 😢
Hi Max, can you share how to use your miles to buy tickets for your family ? Are there fees if you're transfer miles to other's people frequent flyer account ?
Thank you for the great info.
I have a question, why do you search on united?
Do you search on united for all your reward flights?
Same question.
Hey! When it comes to star alliance United has one of the better search capabilities so I like to start there. They have a 30-day flexible award calendar, the search is fast and the award availability they show is usually pretty accurate. You'll find that if you try to search on other airlines it might give you errors often or sometimes not display the accurate award availability. So it's really just personal preference and my recommendation, you can go search on ANA or Lifemiles for the same award availability but you'll find it's a little more difficult.
Hey Danny! See my response below (or above)!
Oh ok. Now I get it..
thank you for your reply back !!
How were you able to find multiple business award seats? Im looking for 2 J seats from YVR to Tokyo and it seems like only 1 is being released 350 days out. Any availability with more than 1 seat is either mixed cabin with the majority being in economy or astronomically priced.
It doesn’t seem like chase sapphire reserve can transfer directly to ANA. What do I do if Virgin doesn’t show the ANA flight I want to take?
Hi.. thanks for the video! Why did you use united to search.
on the surface this video seemed concise and to the point but pretty hard to follow all the steps since so many little steps were left out. and literally tried all kinds of partner airlines with ZERO award space found as far as 6-8 months out.
As of the last 3+ months ANA award space has always been hard to find. I can’t control what award space the airline releases
Through ANA, I can see 95k points plus $260 for a direct flight from SFO to TPE, business class. With the method you mentioned in the video, we have to go to Japan first, right? We have Chase and Capital One, just no Amex. Is there a way to book a direct flight from SFO to TPE, business class, without spending way more than 95k points?
People are camping out for these award nights so annoyed
Not the easiest award space to find unfortunately 😞. Everyone wants to go to Japan
It looks like the United interface no longer shows class fare info - any ideas on how to find this out?
I see at 5:34 that you are looking at a page that shows where you can transfer points. Is this just the credit card page where you go to transfer? Does it show you there when there’s transfer bonuses? Not sure if that makes sense but basically I want to know how people know about the bonuses.
Can I transfer my points to Virgin Atlantic and book flights for myself and family members or do I need to make Virgin Atlantic accounts for them as well?
Every time I try to find a flight to Japan the only option with miles are economy class. What am I doing wrong?
It's been so difficult to find the award space for me. Ive been trying to find a spot in September or October and i'm coiming up with NOTHING.
Yeah ANA award space is currently tough to find 😪
can you hold for two seats?
Doesn't work anymore with virgin.
I can’t find any tickets under 200k points
when we call to book at least 6 months prior to departure, do we always get a seat or on waitlisted?
Very useful. I liked that you provided step by step details. Was wondering why you looked at united site to find flight and not virgin airlines? Maybe I missed it.
You can't search ANA flights on Virgin's website, or at least I've never been able to! United is one of the better tools for Star Alliance award flight searches too!
@@MaxMilesPoints I just found your youtube channel this week. They are very helpful and now I'm subscribed. Keep up the great content.
How can virgin Atlantic be less points than Delta or AnA? How do they get away with that?
If you have enough points on those credit cards, for example chase Saphire, is it the same as booking the flight through Virgin Atlantic? Why not book direct from the credit card that has the pouts? Why transfer to virgin Atlantic?
Can you do this with LAX > NRT using Singapore Airlines instead of ANA since Virgin Atlantic is a flying partner with Singapore Airlines
I don’t think Singapore releases premium cabins to partners
my flights showing 100k points for econ.... from IAD
how are yours showing for so cheap???
Are the points/cost shown by united irrelevant? I want to find a econ flight to japan from IAD, so I found one on united site but it costs like 100k points one way, if I call up virgin will it only cost 65k points for a round trip?
@maxmilespoints Have United changed their details showing ANA flights? I checked every airport that fly from USA to Tokyo with ANA through the United site and can't find a single ANA operated flight.
So if I go on united and search like book by miles but it seem super hard to find flight that operated by ANA and even when I find one there no business class option. Is there any better way to search for the flights?
This is helpful!
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!
What if you try to fly from IAD to MNL since they can only assist me till I get to Japan? Thanks :)
I am planning my November nonstop flight from JFK to HND but I don't see any reward premium economy seat or business seat available at all at ANA or JAP. Are airlines not releasing the premium seats due to high demand?
Not sure if anyone can give me a insight. I am planning to buy a one way premium economy seat from JFK to HND. Is it better to book directly at JAP or the same via code share at American Airlines site. If there is cancelation due to weather is it easy to rebook/change with codeshare airlines? I personally prefer to credit the mileage into my AA account and it is slightly cheaper at AA too. Also previously it was hard getting customer service with this Asian airlines when I call, hours on queue (Cathay, Ana, Asiana). It seems easier calling US airlines customer services since there are 24/7 while the Asian have working hours and some even lunch hours. Correct me if I am wrong as I don't fly international that much. Previous calling the Asian airlines was oh behalf of relatives flying.
Hi Max, thank you for this great video and others. I've been searching for these same flights, but keep getting "Not available".
Do you know if this's because they're booked up OR I'm doing something wrong.
Any advice on what date of the week I should check again for a 2-week trip?
Hope you can help. Thanks
Ran into same issue