jaybett4

Hello,

I am in the process of booking a flight to Japan with my Amex points. It seems that the best option is transferring my MR points to ANA and redeeming with them. I have some flexibility and it seems that the best redemption for first class is SFO-NRT-IAD for 150k points + ~$345. With booking this, I am assuming that I will be flying in the Square First Class Seats.

I should have the necessary MR points in about a month and plan on booking it then. I understand that the transfer can take up to a couple of days and availability can change while I wait.

I have been saving MR points for a few years to be able to take a trip like this and would appreciate any general tips/advice, but my specific question is around the execution of the transfer -> booking of the ANA flight: Should I simply transfer, wait and then book on ANA's website? Should I call ANA first to ask specific questions? If so, what should I ask? Is there something else I need to be aware of?

I am just nervous about transferring this many points and then not being able to book this flight.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If I need to post additional info, please let me know.

Thank you.

john c wisconsin

I learned that when you go to transfer your AMEX points the agent has the ability to grab any "pending" points and move those as well. Of course if you are a little short you can buy some AMEX points for $.025 each. Before you buy any they will grab your pending points. So if you are just waiting for pending points to post or are a few points short Transfer (buy) now.

jaybett4

Thank you John. I will definitely do that.

hardworking21

I did a similar transfer for ANA J class earlier this year. Make sure to 1) first create an ANA Mileage Club account (their frequent flyer program) and 2) search on their award ticket platform to make sure there actually is a First class seat available!

From there, you can transfer AMEX to ANA ... it takes ~two days, though my points posted in 36 hours. Fingers crossed the seat is still there when the points transfer (as ANA can't hold the seat for you if you don't have the points in your account to purchase). Best of luck!

jaybett4

I opened the ANA account and have found a couple of award flight options that would work. I guess I just need to earn the last bit of the points needed and then pull the trigger.

Are there any other tips or things I should know?

Thank you for the feedback

roberto99

OP, you probably have enough MR points for your NH trip now if you have VS ticket it. VS requires less miles for their NH F awards. Use united.com to verify availability and then transfer MR to VS. A short phone call later to VS and you're done!

NH F is wonderful!

Dr. HFH

I just did one with an AMEX MR to Aeroplan transfer. On Aeroplan, however, it's 107,500 each way in F. Now I know for next time. Thanks!!

Beltway2A

One small note, it seems like your intended destination isn't Japan but actually somewhere in Asia 2. With Aeroplan, it's 105,000 each way in F to Asia 1, and 107,500 each way to Asia 2, and you get the benefit of up to two stopovers. The same itinerary on ANA would be 195,000 miles roundtrip for ANA metal or 240,000 roundtrip for all Star Alliance metal, with one stopover. With VS miles, it would be 135,000 to 160,000 miles roundtrip, with the option to add two stopovers in Japan.

jashsu

I don't think Virgin Atlantic can book Star Alliance type awards so OP would need to have both legs be on ANA. I don't know about his/her timings but I often have a hell of a time finding an award return flight to SFO on ANA. Usually I either return from Taiwan or on United. Otherwise i'd definitely be booking awards through VS instead of NH.

Edit: if in fact both legs are on ANA metal, then i'd definitely try booking from Virgin Atlantic, because they can hold a reservation for 48 hours. I have seen award space disappear as I wait for my MR to transfer, and it is not a fun thing.

jaybett4

This is exactly what I ended up doing. I transferred MR points to VS and they booked the exact same first class flights for far less.

jaybett4

Yup. In my case, they were only willing to hold the reservation for 24 hours. Amex says that the points transfer can take up to 48 hours, but when I spoke with them during the process, they noted that it is usually instantaneous. It was in fact instant, so I was able to book soon after I reserved it. They also have a $50 cancellation fee as long as you cancel more than 24 hours before the flight.

jaybett4

Thank you all for the assistance! Now, I move on to planning the hotels...

roberto99

We can help with that.

How many people?

How many people and in how many rooms?

How little would you like to pay?

How fancy does it need to be?

BTW, I usually stay in a business hotel on a very quiet street for about US$62 per night. Not plush but the family that runs the hotel treat me like family! However, it is not for everyone. But it shows that there are some decent yet very affordable hotels in Tokyo.

armagebedar

Moving to the Japan forum.

Regards,
armagebedar
ANA forum moderator

RichardInSF

There is a second way to get award tickets through AMEX points. It's to convert to Virgin Atlantic and do a partner airline award on ANA. Virgin doesn't get all the award availability shown on the ANA site but it gets most.

The reason I mention this is that until Sept 12, there is a 30% bonus on AMEX point transfers to Virgin, and I think the award levels are, if anything, a bit cheaper that way.