All Nippon Airways Mileage Club - ANA website to search Star Alliance availability?

Hey guys, I don't have much experience with ANA but I've been told that their website is the best to search for Star Alliance availability for all the partners. However, after signing up for an ANA mileage club account, I went to search for a flight but can only search award flights on ANA, not on all Star Alliance partners.

The message I receive is: "The Partner Flight Award search function is only available for passengers who have a certain level of mileage."

Since I have no ANA miles, is there any way around this? Or is it impossible for me to search for Star Alliance? And if so, what is the best way to search for Star Alliance partners (Expert Flyer doesn't seem to have many options for Star Alliance airlines).

Thanks.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2010/06/17/ana-website-no-longer-allows-members-without-any-miles-to-search-for-star-allaince-awards/

Just transfer 1000 Amex points to ANA.

This thread explains how to workaround this issue:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1273456-ana-award-tool-help.html

Hey guys, I don't have much experience with ANA but I've been told that their website is the best to search for Star Alliance availability for all the partners. However, after signing up for an ANA mileage club account, I went to search for a flight but can only search award flights on ANA, not on all Star Alliance partners.

The message I receive is: "The Partner Flight Award search function is only available for passengers who have a certain level of mileage."

Since I have no ANA miles, is there any way around this? Or is it impossible for me to search for Star Alliance? And if so, what is the best way to search for Star Alliance partners (Expert Flyer doesn't seem to have many options for Star Alliance airlines).

Thanks.
I have 100 miles in ANA account. I got it by answering to a survey they emailed me in August and I can start to use ANA tool since then. Very sweet. You may get the email too. Just wait.
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Is the workaround just as good as having miles in the account and using it the normal way? I'm contemplating throwing some miles in there (how many miles is required?). But, if the workaround gives the same results, then why bother, right?

Out of curiosity, I posted 25 miles to my account (from Rakuten) to see if it was enough to use the tool without the exploit.

Turns out it wasn't.

When my new card arrives I'll try loading a further 75 and see what happens.

workaround or 100 points, search engine worked the same. I used it with zero point for many months using the workaround. Later I got some free points deposited and it's the same search engine/interface.

workaround or 100 points, search engine worked the same. I used it with zero point for many months using the workaround. Later I got some free points deposited and it's the same search engine/interface.
thanks!

Just transfer 1000 Amex points to ANA.

So, for the record as of now, this isnt needed. Just search an ANA flight first and the Star button opens up on the search results page.