blitzen

i thought there were some routes directly into Osaka. Don’t they have First or are they just so rare that the chance is low? While I like to avoid Tokyo I am willing to do so (have Krisflyer miles but my ANA miles have a hard expiration )

CPH-Flyer

The routes to Osaka do not have first class.

blitzen

ok a domestic connection / Shinkansen it is
But how do I best add the PHX - LAX/SFO connection ?

john c wisconsin

I am excited that after booking and canceling two RTW trips during covid I have booked our next family adventure in June. Here is the booking, the challenge and some things I experienced.

Booking (RTW ticket flights in bold)
Day 1__ ORD-LAX (booked separate) Overnight in LA
Day 2__LAX-NRT Business on United
Day 3__NRT-CGK 1 Business and 2 Economy (waitlist Business?) on ANA
Day 4__CGK-DPS (booked separate on Batik Air)
Day 4-10__vacation Bali Indonesia
Day 11__DPS-DXB direct (booked separate on Emirates)
Day 11-13__vacation Dubai, UAE
Day 14__DXB-IST Business on Turkish and we get a few hours in the new Turkish IST Lounge
Day 14__IST-JFK Business on Turkish
Day 15__LGA-ORD economy on United

16,662 miles
105,000 per person in ANA miles
$734 per person in taxes and fuel sur charges ($591 was fuel sur charges although I can not confirm which airline(s) are charging it on this trip)
Not the best value on ANA RTW with the economy seats on one leg but still worth 10-15 times more than what I have in it for cash.

The Challenge
Booking this time around was different in several ways
- I was only booking three months out and still looking for three seats in business
- Flights in both directions in and out of Southeast Asia were almost nonexistent. Singapore airlines still has almost all their award space closed and other reliable airlines like Thai, Asiana, EVA, and Swiss were either sold out or non-existent to begin with.
- Japan covid restrictions. Getting to HND or NRT was somewhat available but local transit between airports is not really possible so that limited the connecting flights. Add to that alternate Japan airports like KIX and FUK were also not an option.
- East bound from America there was only a spattering of flights on Turkish and Egyptian
- I was so close to departure that as I narrowed down my options and called in availability would go “by by” and I would have to go to plan B, C, … This happen once while booking with an agent and once between booking on the phone and the ticketing by ANA that day. That time the agent I was working with on the west coast called me back a few hours later letting me know one leg was no longer available when the ticketing desk went to “ticket” it.
- The largest concession we had to make was traveling between Bali and Dubai. There were no realistic options eastbound. Westbound there was some economy on SIN but 23 hour layover and we were not interested a visit to Singapore on this trip. In the end I had to buy this leg separate. The flight is great. Emeritus leaving at midnight non-stop DPS-DXB. Price for this nine-hour flight in economy was $550 Business $4,000. So, some exit row seats on a redeye it was.
- I could not estimate tax and FSC on Star Alliance RTW site like usual because you can not have open jaws on their site between regions and this set was open between DPS and DXB

Things to keep in mind or that I learned for the first time.
- ANA Premium economy does not apply in any situation for a RTW ticket.
- This is the first time I booked some seats on waitlist with ANA. Turns out it really is not a waitlist on RTW tickets. Agent I worked with said I would not receive any email that it is opened up and held for me but that if I noticed it opened up I could re-ticket that leg from economy to Business
- If you are booking for two people they have to be on the same classes on every flight or you have to book the tickets separate
- ANA web site still “blacks out” for a daily backup or maintenance around 11am – 1pm central USA time.
- For the first time ever, a domestic united award was accurate on ANA website and available with the agent
- When you have two connecting flights sometimes you have to look it up and/or book it as Point A to Point C but Point A-B and B-C may not come up on website or for the agent as available
- Don’t forget even if some airlines like Garuda come up on ANA the RTW ticket has to be on a star alliance airline
- Great Circle Mapper mileage was very close to final ANA ticket mileage. Within a few miles on very long flights.
- This time booking with the agent she had me enter my credit card under a section of my ANA website account info so ticketing desk did not have to call me back. In the past I think I had to verbally give the CC number.

Taxes Detail:
USD283.00YQ/ USD308.00YR/ USD11.20AY/ USD19.70US/ USD19.70US/ USD3.96XA/ USD7.00XY/ USD6.11YC/ USD4.40OI/ USD8.70SW/ USD20.40AE/ USD9.50F6/ USD1.40TP/ USD1.40ZR/ USD5.50TR/

Plus $25 service charge from ANA

bizum

Nice work. Seriously, pulling it off for 3 is an accomplishment even if some legs have to be in Y

Apologies if this is a newbie question but to get a partner award on United like this, is calling the only option? I've never been offered United flights when searching for these routes.

john c wisconsin

Thanks, below is my chart of the date window I was searching (6/1/22 -6/29) and the United flights I did find. I use the ANA multi segment award to find and "verify" what will be there for RTW when I call in. There has always been some issue with domestic United but in the past I have found UA seats on different international flights, just few and far between. In this case I was mostly search American west coast to Japan and I don't remember seeing any united across the Atlantic. On my chart the 0,1,2,3 or X under the date is the number of seats showing. I seem to remember yanglida booking a SFO- AKL on United a few years back. I have noticed that if it shows up on ANA website it is on United as "Saver" award in business.

woodje12

Congrats John C Wisconsin on your upcoming trip. I have some family/professional changes that should finally enable me to do an ANA RTW trip but I have been lurking and thinking about this for a year or two!

ANA is now offering a status match for American citizens including Delta where I'm Platinum. I went ahead and signed up for the status match in case it's helpful on booking an RTW as an ANA/AMC Platinum. John, do you or anyone know if the Platinum benefit below from the ANA website (or other benefits for Platinum) might be useful specifically regarding booking my first ANA RTW in J? It's pretty vague and clearly it doesn't seem to help booking on partners but every bit helps especially booking my transpacific flight on ANA? I do know there is a Platinum phone line benefit even though I understand ANA reps are generally outstanding...

Priority Reservations for ANA International Flight Awards and Upgrade Awards

International Flight Award/ANA Upgrade Award reservations and waitlist reservations for flights operated by the ANA Group (ANA and Air Japan) will be given priority if the Premium member is using their own miles to board the flight. Reservations and waitlist reservations for accompanying passengers using the Premium member's miles and boarding under the same reservation number will also be given priority.

john c wisconsin

Woodje12,

That is great. I wish I could tell you I know much about status but I just don't fly enough to earn it and have no personal business that I can "spend" my way into a status. I suspect your status will come in handy in a few ways. First the priority res line is great. Even before covid it was at times a long wait to get to an agent. ANA treats their waitlist different for RTW tickets then for normal ANA award tickets but I would suspect you would get some more "respect" when trying to convert a waitlist leg to business if you have do. Finally if you ever had a leg that was economy your status should still get you some great lounge access in a country you are passing through. My final thought is that perhaps on an ANA leg that you had to book in economy even if they don't open the biz seats for award you would be eligible to get an upgrade from. I wonder if there is a case while on a RTW business class seat your status would get you upgraded into first class? Good luck and let me know when you start searching. I always like a good challenge to find some space.

woodje12

John C Wisconsin, Thanks so much for the quick response, info and most importantly offer to help. I'd love to take you up on that! My wife and I are thinking of a lot of overlap with your June trip -- certainly Tokyo and Istanbul and likely some other Star Alliance hubs in Asia or other popular routes to keep it manageable as hopefully this will only be our FIRST RTW experience. Enjoy your trip and thank you for your continued and valuable contributions to this thread, I will definitely be in touch!

revaharj

Trying to book RTW on ANA. Showing mixed availability but at the end I get a message This service is not available for the specified itinerary. Please amend the flight criteria and try again. What could I be doing wrong? Please help.

john c wisconsin

First it can not be booked online, only by calling in. If you are using the ANA multi-segment award section to find availability you need to put in a dummy last flight Leg as it will error out on the last one.

Good luck.

John

revaharj

Thank you John for a quick response.

Ted S

Finally getting back to rebooking a RTW trip delayed by, well, we all know but seeing very little availability for a number of flights any week the next 6-9 months (e.g. SFO / ORD / EWR to KEF) in Y. The UA site however has plenty of award seats day after day.

I know ANA use to be 355 advance but is that still the case across UA / LH or is booking 6-9 months out working against me for them accessing this space?

john c wisconsin

This chart is a few years old and could not be as accurate as it was. In addition to this list there are other influencers. I "suspect" ANA offers up award space differently on routes they are running flights on. When you mention United International flights showing as saver award on united I have seen that anything I find on ANA shows up on United as saver but not everything on United listed as saver will show up on the ANA site when researching. I searched a couple dates and found some Y in Sept from EWR to KEF. Hope something in this ramble may help your search. Not a lot of seats out there in general right now.

Ted S

Thanks a lot, that's helpful! I have been able to find a fair amount of coach availability but almost nothing biz or first, despite plenty such availability with direct *A awards elsewhere. Thought it may be about timing on when ANA opens seats, sounds like it's more about the ones they get and my timing trying to sneak in now rather than 6 months ago.