In this post I wanted to take an in-depth look at what I consider to be a solid sweet spot award redemption, which involves redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points on All Nippon Airways (ANA). This continues to be a good deal, though we’ve now seen this redemption devalued twice in the past couple of years.
Let us take a look at how to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points, how Virgin Atlantic redemptions on ANA work, and whether this redemption is even useful anymore, given ANA’s stinginess with award availability.
In this post:
How to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points
If you don’t currently have Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points, don’t worry, as there are lots of ways to earn them with transferrable points currencies, as all transfer at a 1:1 ratio:
- Convert Amex Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic; best cards for earning Amex points
- Convert Capital One miles to Virgin Atlantic; best cards for earning Capital One miles
- Convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic; best cards for earning Chase points
- Convert Citi ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic; best cards for earning Citi points
If you really want to maximize value, we sometimes see transfer bonuses from these programs to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which can stretch your points even further. When we do see transfer bonuses, in most cases they’re in the range of 25-30%.
On top of that, the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program sells points directly, and there are often even bonuses.
Redeeming Virgin Atlantic points on All Nippon Airways
While Flying Club is far from my favorite loyalty program, it has some incredible niche redemptions that you won’t find through other programs, that can make accruing Flying Club points with a specific use in mind an excellent idea.
My single favorite use of Flying Club points is redeeming on All Nippon Airways.
Virgin Atlantic redemption rates on ANA
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has a zone based award chart for travel on ANA, and you can find the redemption rates below (these prices are roundtrip, though you can book one-ways for half the cost of a roundtrip).
As you can see, all awards are to & from Japan, so if you plan on connecting beyond Japan, you’ll need to book your ticket as two separate awards. The good news is that since you can book one-ways for half the cost of a roundtrip, you can easily mix-and-match options. For example:
- You could fly one-way in first class and one-way in business class
- You could fly from the US to Japan, and then fly from Japan to Europe
I want to specifically call out that:
- One-way business class awards between the US mainland or Europe and Japan cost 52,500-60,000 points, while business class awards between Hawaii and Japan cost 37,500 points
- First class awards between the US mainland or Europe and Japan cost 72,500-85,000 points one-way, while first class awards between Hawaii and Japan cost 57,500 points
I think all of those redemption opportunities potentially represent a great deal, especially with what a good product ANA offers.
Searching ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points
While you can’t search or book ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points through Virgin Atlantic’s website, the program should generally have access to the same award availability as all of ANA’s other partner airlines.
The one catch is that there have been reports lately that award availability between the US mainland and Japan isn’t bookable through Flying Club within 14 days of departure. This is just supposed to be temporary, so hopefully it’s fixed soon.
The bad news is that finding premium cabin award availability on ANA can be really tough. The airline often only releases one first class award seat per flight, and even that isn’t consistent, as many flights don’t have any first class award availability.
So, how should you go about searching availability? The website seats.aero is great for this, as it has an ANA first class award finder, which will show you all the dates with first class award availability. Just keep in mind this isn’t necessarily 100% real time, so you’ll also want to search availability through another website. I’d recommend aircanada.com or united.com, as both show all Star Alliance award availability online.
Seeing the award pricing through United MileagePlus will make you even happier about Virgin Atlantic Flying Club’s pricing. 😉
Booking ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points
While it’s annoying that you have to call to book these awards, the good news is that Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club agents are the most competent in the industry. They’re actually awesome. You can phone up Flying Club from the US by calling 800.365.9500.
After you’ve determined which flights are available, call up Virgin Atlantic and give the representative the exact flights and class of service you want. The agent will look up the space, which may take a few minutes.
Often they’ll get back to you after a few minutes and say that the space confirmed. However, often they won’t get an immediate response from ANA (though the space should match what other partners see).
In those instances you’ll be given a confirmation number and will be told to call back in a few hours to see if the space confirmed. If you did your research correctly, you should be good.
Then just call back a short while later and book.
Virgin Atlantic fuel surcharges on ANA
Virgin Atlantic passes on whatever carrier imposed surcharges ANA would have on revenue tickets. ANA publishes its fuel surcharges, and updates them periodically, as they’re based on Singapore’s jet fuel price index.
The easiest way to look these up the total cash you’ll have to pay is through ITA Matrix — just look up the itinerary there for the cabin you’re traveling in, look at the fare breakdown, and expect to pay everything except the base fare.
At the moment ANA’s fuel surcharges are quite high, though not as high as they were several months ago. For a one-way ticket from Tokyo to New York in business class, you can expect to pay around $315 at the moment, with $247.60 of that being fuel surcharges.
Virgin Atlantic award holds on ANA
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club can hold ANA awards for up to 48 hours. More accurately, they request the space, and once they do that, it’s 48 hours before the flights drop out of the record. So you do have up to 48 hours, which should be plenty of time to transfer points.
Generally points transfers from Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi, to Virgin Atlantic, are all instant.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award change & cancelation fees
If you want to change or cancel an ANA award ticket booked with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points there’s a $50 fee to do so, and you’ll need to make the change at least 24 hours before departure.
Is this really that good of a deal?
Assuming you can find award availability, redeeming Virgin Atlantic points on All Nippon Airways really is a very good deal. Being able to fly from the mainland United States to Japan while redeeming just 52,500-60,000 points for a one-way business class ticket, or 72,500-85,000 points for a one-way first class ticket, is very good. It only gets better when there’s a transfer bonus Amex or Citi.
As a point of comparison, here’s how much other programs charge one-way for the same award:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: 75,000 points in business class, 105,000 points in first class
- Avianca LifeMiles: 85,000-90,000 miles in business class, 110,000-120,000 miles in first class
- United MileagePlus: 110,000 miles in business class, 220,000 miles in first class
Admittedly the math changes a bit if you’re connecting beyond Japan, and you should also factor in the fuel surcharges, which these other programs don’t pass on.
Is ANA first class really that good?
All Nippon Airways has new first class and business class products, which are available on select long haul routes. I reviewed both of these products, and found them to be spectacular:
- My review of ANA’s new first class (“The Suite”), which I rank as the world’s sixth best first class product
- My review of ANA’s new business class (“The Room”), which I rank as the world’s second best business class seat
ANA’s new hard products are truly industry leading, and when you combine it with the exceptional soft product — great service, food, and drinks — ANA is phenomenal.
Even if you end up in ANA’s old first class, you’ll still have a great experience. While the hard product isn’t quite as good, you’ll get the same great food, drinks, and service.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has some solid niche redemptions, and while they’ve been devalued a bit over the years, they still represent a good value. Personally I love being able to redeem Flying Club points for travel in ANA first & business class. While the award redemption rates are attractive, the catch is that award availability can also be tough to come by, so it takes some effort to find availability.
Flying Club is transfer partners with all major transferable points currencies, so if you’re planning a trip to Japan, this is a redemption option that’s worth keeping in mind. ANA’s first and business class products are excellent, which is the icing on the cake.
Is anyone looking forward to redeeming Virgin Atlantic points for travel on ANA?
Not sure about the no award hold for ANA with VA. Saw F popped up again today, May 20, for a June 14th ticket. I double checked it on UA that it was available for 220K & on SIA which is the 1st time an Alliance Award ticket actually shows up on SIA. Aeroplan, no.
Early Jan 2025, ANA ticket is not bookable if it is less than 14 days.
I called (6.59pm Malaysia time)....
Not sure about the no award hold for ANA with VA. Saw F popped up again today, May 20, for a June 14th ticket. I double checked it on UA that it was available for 220K & on SIA which is the 1st time an Alliance Award ticket actually shows up on SIA. Aeroplan, no.
Early Jan 2025, ANA ticket is not bookable if it is less than 14 days.
I called (6.59pm Malaysia time). Followed the prompted choices & an agent was on the phone right away. Told her I wanted to book an ANA award ticket with VA points. She asked me for the date, departure & arrival airport info. I gave her the flight number & said I am hoping the F ticket is still available. She was able to confirm she saw the flight. She asked for my full name, DOB & VA # number. Once she confirmed that was the correct info, she was on the phone with me while she checked if it was available. It took like 3 seconds & she told me it is. She asked what number of points am I seeing this award which I told her I assume that 85K should be the req VA points & she confirmed it. Then comes the fees. The damn fee is USD 325 & asked if I wanted to proceed. Afte, I said yes she informed me that I do not have enough miles in my VA account now & she is putting the ticket on hold & I have 48 hours to transfer points into VA.
I didn't realize that there was no calling back needed or waiting for a reply from ANA. Unlike my previous experience (see below) for an ANA award ticket via VA.
I prefer to be a bit frugal on my points & $ and I am still hoping for Biz to experience The Room. With Chase 25% bonus transfer & 8k VA points free from Virgin Red last yr. I would only need to transfer 62k for the 85k F ticket. That fee though. Have to make up my mind if I should stick to my SQ ticket.
At the moment finding a biz award ticket from KUL - Tokyo to connect to the HND-JFK flight is very high & I have to get there one day ahead due to timing. E if it comes to it. Since I only have 22k AA left which I need 30K for a direct Biz flight. UA is a ridiculous 90k, Alaska is 45K with 1 connection.
I got lucky for SQ Biz SIN-KU-JFK via aeroplan for 87500 +USD 130. I have flown the a350 before & not particularly whelmed with the angle thing & dredging the 19 hrs direct flight. Aeroplan high cancellation fee, & not much cheaper on change fee. Finding a direct flight or not mixed cabin with aeroplan, is not an easy task. First world problem.
She was amazing & another easy & amazing rep experience on award ticketing. My other ones were all for biz ticket AA for CX EWR-HKG-KUL, Korean for Korean Biz EWR-ICN-SYD & SIA for SQ JFK-SIN-KUL. All amazing. SIA said no award hold, but followed by saying he already checked with a supervisor & allow me 5 days an SQ Biz. UA was the only one I called & absolutely no hold on award tickets.
So from what I learned, ANA award w/ VA points have to be for flights 14 days & later. The catch is you have to be constantly searching and hope to catch one far out enough & still available by time to figure out some of the logistic & call & talk to an agent. UA options which req a lot of flexibility because it is mostly for flights withoutn 9/10 days, with occasional ticket far out. I haven't had any luck finding the ticket 355 days ahead.
I tried to book ANA Biz Award with VA points ( 40% transfer bonus at the time back in Dec ending Dec 31st) for JFK-HND-KUL. I could not fly until after Jan 10. So I did not end up transfering. I still did attempt to book an ANA biz but & an agent told me that ANA did not approve/release the ticket. He did not mention the 14 days thing but rather said it's up to ANA .... I found out later that ANA no longer approved the award to VA for flight 14th and closer. A new thing.
However, I waited nervously & checked UA everyday to see how ANA biz shows up and how far ahead. The pattern was consistent, up 9/10 days ahead. 100K + + $14.90 for UA CC/mileage plus member otherwise its 110K + same fee. Yay. UA could be better lower on biz if the award fees on VA is very high. Also no cancellation fee, change fee or redeposit fee or close in fee.I haven't figured out F yet since it is my 1st time doing one.
Anyhow, I managed to miss the counter luggage check-in by a min! for my ANA in Dec. FYI, if the flight has not taken off, you can still award the ticket for a full refund! Whew, 100K UA miles saved, + award fee returned.
Luckily for my AA miles which are more valuable than you realize. I caught the last JL biz but req airport change from HND to NRT for an awesome 70k + $25.60. So, I ended in Biz on JL a350-1000 which was my initial hope before I found out about ANA The Room.
Just writing in May 2025 to share i called about a flight in five days that had 2 seats in J, 1 in F on United. They could only confirm the first ticket, neither business ticket showed up
I, too, was unable to book business class tickets on ANA via VA within the 14-day window (as of 11/1/2024)... That's really too bad since ANA award availability generally opens up approaching the departure date. The agent did offer economy award ticket...
Virgin Atlantic absolutely does not hold ANA award space
Thanks @Ben I am fairly new to Seats.Aero and was under the impression that because I was not seeing ANA Award Availability through VS/Virgin Atlantic Flying Club specifically that it was - a lost cause Your paragraph here clarifies "Searching ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points -
While you can’t search or book ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points through Virgin Atlantic’s website, *the program should generally have access to the same award availability...
Thanks @Ben I am fairly new to Seats.Aero and was under the impression that because I was not seeing ANA Award Availability through VS/Virgin Atlantic Flying Club specifically that it was - a lost cause Your paragraph here clarifies "Searching ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points -
While you can’t search or book ANA awards using Virgin Atlantic points through Virgin Atlantic’s website, *the program should generally have access to the same award availability as all of ANA’s other partner airlines.*"
They most often show availability from United and Virgin Velocity now, also on the F award finder you mentioned.
Any tips on finding J/Biz Availability? I think ANA Has a great product all the way around but its hard to find F and even J availability - AA / JAL Definitely has them beat in terms of value just for the simple fact of award availability.
ANA award does not show up on VA site. You have to do your search on UA usually for flights less than 10 days, and randoms ones anywhere. Maybe here bit on Aeroplan but AC seems to have alot of it set into mix cabin. You can also try SIA which I found and F under the alliance tab, & ANA itself. They have a award availability search now. It just end up being waitlist...
ANA award does not show up on VA site. You have to do your search on UA usually for flights less than 10 days, and randoms ones anywhere. Maybe here bit on Aeroplan but AC seems to have alot of it set into mix cabin. You can also try SIA which I found and F under the alliance tab, & ANA itself. They have a award availability search now. It just end up being waitlist thing. Seat.aero was when I saw the F pop up today. I have been on it alot every day, and checking each time to see how accurate the info would be.
I do not have Virgin Australia to check. I think if you see the info that is new enough, about 50-60% you can find it on UA. Then I found more ANA Biz on UA for SFO route that is not shown on Seat.aero. Chgo route is not as competitive & I am seeing one almost every day up to 7-9 days out. No Biz Tok-JFK but it could change. F is my 1st time trying and today it was about 70-80% only bez I check it almost immediately to an hour when it show up. I did not check the Tokyo-HNL F.
The flights they put together & their filter is so bad. I filter for only connection via Tokyo & all they other connections still comes out. When I choose non-stop for Tokyo to ORD, sometimes they will only show NRT-ORD biz but the HND-ORD disappeared. When I check 1 stop, the HND-ORD direct shows up again.
Just make sure to scroll and look at all of the listing since sorting biz 1st does not actually pull all of them to the top.
I run my check on UA & Aeroplan. Aeroplan very few. ANA is weird. I hope it would be easier when they don't req R/T but it might make it harder to book with ANA miles.
I have a family of 3. How many business class or 1st class seats per flight can you book through Virgin points?
Usually ANA doesn't offer more than 1 F and 2 J per flight.
Whatever is available. From what I read, 1 F per per flight & 1-2 Biz per day/flight.
I need to keep this in mind once I run out of Amex points to transfer my Chase points to VS and book ANA.
I've looked on United and they cost almost double the points, although they don't have any surcharges so does it come out to be a tradeoff between paying in miles or paying in cash for the difference?
Ben, how is award availability on the NRT-HNL route? If I'm not mistaken, you have flown on every other airlines' A380 except NH's... presumably J is similar to that on the 789 and F to the new 777 product, but if the product is accessible, it would still make for a fun/interesting review :)
I was just looking out of curiosity at fares, and surprisingly enough you can do NRT-HNL F rt for around 3500€ and 1900€ in J (something like USD 3900 and 2200 respectively I think). It seems to apply from late Sept to end of schedule on most days. Oddly enough when trying to price a mixed cabin itinerary at the NH website, I'm only able to select the respective full flex fares, which almost triples the price of the F round-trip... is there a workaround to this?
You can use seats.aero to quickly check availability. NRT-HNL seems to be available in F more often than other transpacific routes, though it's still fairly slim pickings.
A lot of this depends on the agent. I’ve had some really friendly that search and place me on hold while the points transfer. And then I’ve had some that are clearly over their jobs and doing partner searches tell me to look on United instead
You can't do holds on ANA awards anymore based on my experience w/ VS agents.
As of last week they couldn’t book any awards close in I assume under 14 days. They said it’s been like that for a few months. I called several times with different agents and no luck at all. I have booked using ana awards with virgin maybe 10 times in the past and understand what to do well and some agents have issues but it seems truly broken atm.
I know econ works and I've seen DPs saying F works, but J is totally broken and has been for 3 full months now, with no sign of change and no official word from ANA/VS
Correct. J is the issue and has been since May. It's pretty well known in the blog community and yet I never see it mentioned.
Whaaa...?? Oh, god. What could be the issue? No indication if it's something that can be fixed or a permanent policy change? Darn it.
Is it true you can't book ANA space with Virgin at T-14 anymore if it should open up?
Booked a HND-JFK F seat with VS in February. Was told they don't do award holds anymore, but I was able the confirm the seat, transfer the points from AMEX (instant), then booked the flight. All while on hold.