Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has just devalued awards on All Nippon Airways (ANA), as flagged by AwardWallet. This is the second time since 2023 that we’ve seen these award prices increase.
This is a no-notice devaluation (and for that matter, the change hasn’t even been announced). On the plus side, I think this devaluation could have been a lot worse. Furthermore, at least different awards are being devalued than last time, so we’re not seeing cost increases to the same awards.
Virgin Atlantic increases All Nippon Airways award costs
One of the best airline award ticket sweet spots is redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points for travel on All Nippon Airways (ANA). Not only does the Japanese Star Alliance airline have phenomenal new first class and business class products, but the redemption rates through Virgin Atlantic are among the best in the industry.
Unfortunately for redemptions as of May 23, 2024, Flying Club has increased select ANA award costs. Here’s the new Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award chart for travel on ANA (prices shown are roundtrip, but you can book a one-way for half the cost):
So, what has changed with this latest devaluation? Here are the increases we’ve seen:
- One-way business class awards between Japan and Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, have increased in cost from 32,500 points to 35,000 points
- One-way business class awards between Japan and Hawaii, India, and Indonesia, have increased in cost from 35,000 points to 37,500 points
- One-way business class awards between Japan and Western USA, Australia, and Canada, have increased in cost from 45,000 points to 52,500 points
- One-way business class awards between Japan and Central & Eastern USA, Europe, and Mexico, have increased in cost from 47,500 points to 60,000 points
As a point of comparison, here’s the previous Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award chart for travel on ANA, which applied between March 2023 and May 2024:
And just to be thorough, below is the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award chart for travel on ANA that applied prior to March 2023 (which was before the previous devaluation):
During the last devaluation, we saw first class awards devalued pretty considerably, while this time around we’ve seen some business class awards devalued. As you can see, business class awards between the United States and Japan are increasing in cost by either 2,500, 7,500, or 12,500 points.
This could have been much worse, in my opinion
A devaluation without any sort of advance notice is frustrating, so I wish we’d see Virgin Atlantic Flying Club communicate these changes. That being said, we’ve now seen Virgin Atlantic Flying Club devalue ANA awards twice, yet I’d still consider them to be a sweet spot.
I at least appreciate that these aren’t devaluations that completely gut the value of awards. The award rates are still competitive to begin with. There are two biggest advantages of booking ANA awards through Flying Club:
- Flying Club partners with major transferable points currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou
- Best of all, we often see transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further, especially for redemptions like this, and I do tend to make speculative transfers to the program
I’d say the biggest issue with redeeming Flying Club points on ANA isn’t the award pricing as such, but rather is finding award availability, which can be super tough to come by.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has increased award costs for All Nippon Airways business class redemptions without advance notice. We’re seeing price increases of 2,500 points to 12,500 points one-way. While not insignificant, it’s a far cry from some of the award pricing massacres we’ve seen at other programs.
Even with these changes, redeeming Flying Club points for travel in ANA premium cabins is a great value, assuming you can find availability. That’s especially the case if you can take advantage of a transfer bonus with Flying Club.
What do you make of these changes to ANA awards?
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