Elite status

ANA Mileage Club Elite Status: How do you Get it and What’s in it for You

0 Comments

June 23, 2020

ANA Mileage Club is one of the most valuable frequent flyer programs in the world. Aside from the fact that this is a great airline with an excellent award redemption chart and exceptional service in all cabins, ANA is also a Star Alliance member and transfer partner with the Amex Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs. ANA also had their own set of 11 partner airlines, and several subsidiaries called ANA Group. Flying on Star Alliance airlines and ANA group airlines earns status miles.

Earning Status

There are three elite levels in the ANA Mileage Club elite program: Bronze, Platinum and Diamond. The qualifications are as follows:

Bronze: 30,000 premium points, including 15,000 from ANA Group flights
Platinum: 50,000 premium points, including 25,000 from ANA Group flights
Diamond: 100,000 premium points, including 50,000 from ANA Group flights

ANA_elite_levels — There are three elite levels in the ANA Mileage Club elite program

Upgrades

ANA has an unusual complimentary upgrade scheme. You can upgrade your flights using so-called upgrade points that are awarded based on the number of premium points earned on ANA Group flights only in the preceding year. For example, if you earn up to 10,000 premium points, that gives you four upgrade points, 20,000-29,000 – eight points, 40,000-79,999 – 20 upgrade points, etc.

Bronze and above (Bronze only on domestic routes)

Flight Bonus Miles:

Bronze: 40%-55%
Platinum: 90%-105%
Diamond: 115%-130%

Fee Waivers

Additional Baggage Allowance: Bronze and above: One bag or 44 lbs (Bronze only on international flights).

Free Valet Parking: Platinum and Diamond at Narita Int’l Airport.
Waived International Flight Service Charges: Diamonds.
Free Premium Economy seat: Platinum and Diamonds.

Airport Services:

Bronze and above:
- Premium Member Service Desk.
- Priority Seat Reservations for ANA Japan Domestic Flights.
- Priority Waitlisting.
- Priority Standby.
- Frequent Visitor e-channels at Hong Kong Int’l Airport.
Platinum and above:
- Early Reservations for ANA Domestic Flights.
- Priority check-in at the ANA Premium and Business Class counters.
- Exclusive Security Check Point.
- Priority Pre-Boarding Announcements.
- Priority parking reservations at Haneda Airport.

Premium members will be invited to board first

Diamond:
- Priority check-in at the First Class counters.
- Concierge Service.
- Original Name Tag.
- Exclusive Name and Baggage Tags for members with over 150,000 Premium Points.

Complimentary Lounge Access

Bronze: Pay with miles or Upgrade Points.
Platinum and Diamond: ANA Lounge, Star Business Lounges worldwide.
Diamond: ANA Suite Lounge, Star First Lounges worldwide.

The ANA Suite Lounge is exclusive for Diamond Members

Star Alliance Status

Bronze: Silver
Platinum and Diamond: Gold

Notable Additional Rewards for Elite members

Diamond:
- Extended Mileage Expiration Date.
- Select from seven Exclusive Benefits (60,000 ANA SKY COINs, six Suite Lounge vouchers, two restaurant vouchers, 12 Upgrade Points, etc.).

Other Ways to Earn Status

None.

Status Match/Status Challenge:

There is no official policy or promotions regarding ANA status match, but there is some anecdotal evidence of the requests being approved sometimes, albeit rarely. In any case, it is very unlikely that ANA would approve a status-matching request from a Star Alliance airline program.

Earning Elite Points on Partner Airlines

You can earn Premium Points by flying on Star Alliance partner airlines and ANA Group airlines.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

ANA Mileage Club Program Review

Gabi Logan

0 Comments

June 25, 2020

All Nippon Airways, or ANA, is a Japanese airline in the powerful Star Alliance, which includes North American carriers United and Air Canada. Don’t confuse ANA’s versatile award program, Mileage Club, with the similarly named Mileage Bank offered by the other major Japanese airline, JAL.

ANA’s powerful award search tool shows availability on all Star Alliance partner airlines. It’s so useful that many frequent flyers use it to search for flights even when they’re booking through another airline.

Though ANA Mileage Clubs Japanese base makes it seem less than useful for a North American frequent flyer, its great redemption rates, numerous partners, and easy-to-use online booking tool make it a must for anyone looking to maximize their points and miles.

PROGRAM	ALLIANCE	CURRENCY
MILEAGE CLUB	STAR ALLIANCE	MILES
POINTS TRANSFER PARTNERS
MEMBERSHIP REWARDS; SPG (STARWOOD PREFERRED)
AIRLINE PARTNERS
Adria Airways Aegean Airlines Air Canada Air China Air India Air NewZealand Asiana Airlines Austrian Hawaiian Airlines Jet Airways Philippine Airlines Virgin Atlantic	Avianca Avianca Brazil Brussels Airlines Copa Airlines Croatia Airlines Egyptair Ethiopian Airlines Eva Air LOT Polish Airlines Lufthansa Scandinavian Airlines Shenzhen Airlines Singapore Airlines	South African Airways Swiss TAP Portugal Thai Airways Turkish Airlines United Airlines Air Dolomiti Air Macau Etihad Airways Eurowings Garuda Indonesia Germanwings

Hubs:

Haneda Airport (Tokyo)
Narita International Airport (Tokyo)
Itami Airport (Osaka)
Kansai International Airport (Osaka)

How Can You Use ANA Mileage Club Miles?

ANA operates two different award charts, one for itineraries only utilizing ANA planes and another for partner airlines. Both charts are zone-based.

The best redemptions are mostly found on ANA-operated flights. But there are a few bright spots when flying on partners.

For example, you can fly roundtrip between the U.S. and Europe for a reasonable, but not outstanding, 55,000 miles in economy. Business class, on the other hand, is a bargain at just 88,000 miles.

Those redemptions can get even better since ANA lumps all of Russia into its Europe zone. If you ever wanted to explore parts of Siberia, you can get there relatively cheap with Mileage Club miles.

Program perks:

Up to three stopovers
Up to 12 segments per award
One open jaw permitted at beginning or end of itinerary
No last-minute booking fees

Bookings quirks:

High fuel surcharges on some ANA and partner flights
No one-way awards
Miles are only valid for 36 months after they are earned
Miles earned on partner flights can be less than 100% depending on fare class
Only one stopover in Japan permitted if itinerary originates overseas
No stopovers in Japan permitted for tickets originating in Japan

Best value awards:

Flying on ANA-operated flights typically gets you the best redemptions. The airline offers different fares on its own metal for the low, regular and high seasons. The dates differ by region and can be found here: ANA’s website. The off-season redemptions are often an exceptional bargain.

You can get a round-trip flight to Sydney, Australia, from the U.S. for as little as 60,000 miles in the low season, 70,000 in the regular season and 75,000 during the high season. That itinerary also includes a free stopover in Tokyo.

Round-trip economy flights between Japan and the U.S. are an incredible deal at only 40,000 miles roundtrip during the off season. Regular and high season economy flights are 50,000 and 55,000 miles, respectively. Business is only 75,000 miles for low, 85,000 for regular and 90,000 for the high season.

Worst value awards:

Though it may be tempting to use ANA to book an around-the-world Star Alliance itinerary, you’ll find better redemptions, more stopovers and open jaws, and lower fees on other Star Alliance partners, most notably Aeroplan.

The Good Stuff: Upgrades and Elite Status

ANA does not process upgrades with miles, but rather with upgrade points. Those are linked to premium points acquired by flying ANA. The number of points it takes for an upgrade is determined by the flight’s zones and your original booking class.

ANA Mileage Club Elite Levels and Perks

Each subsequent level includes the perks of the previous level unless stated otherwise.

Bronze: Star Alliance Silver status, 40% bonus miles the first year and 50% bonus miles second and following continuous years, bronze service desk access, premium economy check-in in Tokyo, free checked bags, access to ANA lounge with 1,000 miles or two upgrade points
Platinum: Star Alliance Gold status, 90% bonus miles the first year and 100% bonus miles second and following continuous years, platinum service desk, priority check-in, priority baggage handling, free premium economy upgrades, priority security screening, priority boarding
Diamond: 115% bonus miles the first year and 125% bonus miles second and following continuous years, miles do not expire, diamond service desk, award ticket reservations available two weeks in advance of general public, ANA suite check-in lane usage, suite-level airport concierge service, one option benefit such as dinner for two at a Michelin-starred restaurant

Associated Credit Cards

ANA does have one co-branded credit card available in the U.S., but if you want to use a credit card to transfer to ANA miles, it is probably not your best option.

The ANA Card U.S.A. earns one mile per dollar, even on ANA purchases, carries an annual fee of $70, and only comes with a 5,000-mile Welcome Bonus that does not go up during promotional periods. The cards primary benefits are 10% off duty-free and in-flight purchases.

Show Full Article