jasonNYC85

Got it, thanks! It is indeed back up for me - though one of the harder sites to use to find awards.

jasonNYC85

Trying to get from USA to ICN (and back) next spring and can route any way. Looks like Asiana has directs from SEA, LAX, SFO, and JFK. I want to be ready to do this in early April for the 355 day rule.

Any idea which of these flights I am most likely to snag 2x biz seats?

Runner123

I was lucky enough as a newbie to sucessfully book a ANA RTW ticket yesterday. I had to wait 70mnutes on hold and abort part of my trip, but I am booked JFK to Istanbul on Turkish, Istanbul to Singapore thru Kaula Lumpur, first on Turkish, next on Singapore-all in business. I then have a two week cruise Singapore to Hong Kong. Then I fly Hong Kong to Denpasar thru Singapore on Singapore. Then I fly Denpasar to Tokyo thru Singapore, first flight Singapore, 2nd flight ANA. Then I fly Tokyo to Houston on ANA - all these flights are business. I have book a flight from Houston to Bradley home. I realize I am looping back some-I forgot ANA opened up at 355 days and decided I would rather fly longer in business than shorter in economy.

My big question is I land in Narita at 2:45 and need to get to Kyoto that day. When can I safely schedule a bullet train at Tokyo Station? I have no idea how long it will take me to get through immigration and customs. I will have my paperwork in order and my codes already downloaded. I was thinking of an 8 pm train. I don't see how I can get a JR rail card as I won't be in Japan before and I want to have a reserved seat. Thanks for any any help!!

shonanroger

As long as you’re not travelling during golden week (first week of May) or around new years, just get your reserved ticket at the JR ticket counter at Narita Airport station after passing immigration and customs. No need to worry that reserved seats won’t be available. Take the Narita Express train either to Tokyo or Shinagawa and change there to the Shinkansen to Kyoto. I recommend changing trains in Shinagawa. Less walking as compared to Tokyo station.

martinlu

Booked a new RTW award trip after the original was canceled due to COVID in 2020 and because the 230k refunded ANA miles were set to expire in October. Three weeks in February/March 2024 with the following itinerary (2 seats in J with one exception):

IAD-LIS (TP)
LIS-RAK (TP)CMN-CAI (MS)LXR-CAI (MS)
CAI-IST (MS)
IST-KUL (TK, on 787)
KUL-SIN (SQ, on A350, lol)
SIN-HKT (SQ)HKT-SIN (SQ)SIN-HAN (SQ)HAN-TPE (BR, in Y)
TPE-ORD (BR)

12 segments, 5 stopovers, 2 ground segments, and 23,937 mi (GCmap). 145,000 ANA miles per person and ... (gulp) ~1,700 USD in taxes and fees (~2300 CAD) per person.

FSC were actually shocking on this one (esp. compared to what I was charged on the original pre-COVID) and enough to briefly consider rethinking the whole thing. Considered rerouting to IAD-IST outbound or something similar to cut $500+ in FSC by dropping TP, but that would have required more ANA points due to extra distance or using other points (plus FSC) to fill in the Morocco leg instead, which ultimately wouldn't save much. Maxing out the full 12 allowed segments adds up to some meaningful taxes and fees in any case, even with reasonable per-flight fees, but TAP really puts it over the top. Unfortunately, didn't get a more detailed receipt like the poster above, so can't be completely sure where taxes and fees came from. Any pointers on how I could have cut down on taxes/fees?

Estimates per person from ITA Matrix for taxes and fees (in Canadian $): 1,109.53 (TP) + 390.75 (MS) + 51.5 (MS) + 249.31 (MS) + 315.18 (TK) + 46.54 (SQ) + 86.43 (SQ) + 50.57 (SQ) + 84.02 (SQ) + 122.33 (BR) + 182.37 (BR) = 2,772 CAD (~2,013 USD). As you can see, TAP seems to be charging just obscene YQ and MS isn't much better. Unfortunate given their old "low FSC" reputation.

Interesting:

• SQ longhaul J IST-SIN showed up in Aeroplan search but not ANA so had to substitute for TK via KUL. Had no problems booking short and medium-haul regional flights (HKT, KUL, HAN) in SQ J, however!
• Initially had started the trip with YYZ-LIS-RAK. Agent had no problem putting itinerary together but later was told that origin and destination needed to be in the same country and that Canada and the US were not considered the same country for the purposes of the RTW booking. This was news to me but came from two different agents. I read aloud from the ANA Partner Award terms and conditions but the agent insisted the clause there about Canada/US being the same country didn't apply here. Didn't want to escalate and luckily found same day availability from IAD and at least get to use the Polaris Lounge for my troubles.
• Booking a whole year out is a new experience for me and hard to plan life around, but availability was generally good. Decided to do the trip eastbound so that I could snatch up TPE-ORD on BR as soon as the availability window opened, which worked nicely, but having to do it 12 mo ahead is still sort of absurd.

Thanks to all for the useful resource here! All in all, I think 145,000 points RTW in J (transfered from Amex in this case) is a great deal for this much flying (e.g., Aeroplan charges 140k roundtrip just to go to Europe...). Taxes and fees on this itinerary are definitely spoiling some of the fun and I'll think twice before using ANA again for this kind of thing.

john c wisconsin

Very nice. You have me googling Nile River Cruises. Way to max out the number of flights. Walking on Phuket beach is fine but you really want to get out to Phi Phi island for a relaxing beach day.

If the taxes have you down just look up full retail $ in business class for the entire 12 flights. It puts it a little more in perspective. Have a great trip.

Runner123

Thanks for the help. This was the part I was really worried about. I am thrilled I managed to book the ticket myself as the miles were put there over a year ago when I used an award booking service. When I went to use it this time, he told me it was $200 a city and it was going to be impossible to do myself. As I knew I had tons of flexibility about dates and places to go, I was sure I could do it myself. Flyer talk has been an invaluable resource to me!

sfflyer415

Is all ANA premium award space (F/J) always available to partners, or does ANA sometimes release award space just for ANA mileage members?

For example, sometimes you find Saver Space on Singapore Airlines Biz flights, but that space is not available on Star Alliance partners.

rossteixeira

If you purchase a JR Pass from the official website (https://www.japanrailpass-reservation.net/), you can reserve all your train tickets online in advance. You still have to pick up the JR Pass in-person, but at least you can make reservations early.

rossteixeira

P2 and I are planning a RTW from USA/Canada west coast starting mid-June. There's only economy availability on the first leg to Australia, so we're going to book it in economy and hope for 2 seats to open. Any advice on which airline would be our best bet for last minute availability to Australia (United, Air Canada, ANA, Air NZ)?