Let's test your Frequent Flyer Knowledge - Assorted Questions
 

Hi guys, I'm a relative newcomer to the miles world but I think I've gotten up to speed pretty quickly. I was hoping I could get some input on a couple questions I still haven't found answers to (Mods if this is the wrong forum for these questions please feel free to move but I wasn't sure since my questions span multiple topics):

1. I’m aware that one of the attractive features of AMEX Membership Rewards is the fact that they transfer almost instantaneously, but if I only have SPG points how long do these take on average to transfer? Does it vary by airline, for example is Aeroplan always X amount of days whereas AA is always Y amount of days?

2. I'm currently still able to access *A inventory through ANA but I assume they will eventually close this loophole and enforce their new policy. What is the easiest way to earn a minimal amount of ANA miles so that I can access their Star Alliance inventory? I checked out their mileage mall but it appears to be mostly Japanese products and companies.

3A. If I want to fly from WAS to BKK or from anywhere to anywhere for that matter, and I have SPG points do I have to literally go through all of SPG’s partner airlines 1 by 1 to find the cheapest option or is their a resource for this? To clarify I basically want to know which of SPG's airline partner charges the least amount of miles to get from X city to Y city, is there a tool for this?

3B. is there a resource which does the same thing for routing rules so that I can easily compare # of stopovers / open jaw etc. between different airline options?

Thanks for the help guys and hopefully these answers prove to be a helpful resource for other people wondering the same questions!

I also am interested in question #2.

There is a workaround for the ANA tool issue as given below. This was taken from:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...laince-awards/


1) Click on “ANA International Flight Awards”
2) Enter any (valid) city pairs and any (valid) dates
3) Click “Next”, NOT of Flight Search
4) Scroll all the way to the bottom
5) You should see “Use Star Alliance Member Airlines” button, click this to search *A availability.

I think OP's query indicated that (s)he was still able to access ANA inventory, which I assume means via this workaround. I, too, expect ANA to catch on to this and the access will be lost.

There's the ANA Visa card - 5,000 miles with the first purchase, though it appears that the $70 annual fee isn't waived for the first year, as is traditionally the case.

Marriott, SPG, Hilton, Hyatt and many others can accrue ANA miles, but it's in lieu of the hotel program's points, and I don't know how easy it is to bounce back and forth if you have balances in the programs.

All *A partners can accrue on ANA - just use your ANA # on the reservation. In fact, I may do this next time I fly USAirways, just for this reason. Thanks for the reminder.

All of this is on the ANA Mile Earning section of the web site. The Partner Airline section makes reference a few times to "international flights", but the example shows an SFO-JFK boarding pass for earning credit, so I assume any *A flight can earn - can anybody confirm?


The US/UA/*A forums have a lot of discussion on the ANA tool, and the SPG forum is probably the best place for the other answers. I've never transferred SPG points, but there have been plenty of threads and there are probably many members that can answer your questions.

And since you have SPG points, you can transfer them to ANA directly - SPG ANA Transfer
ANA apparently has put on a minimum, not just >0. Several folks transferred 1 mile, and used it for a while, then were locked out (except for the workaround). From what I've read so far, the limit is somewhere between 50 and 2500.

Ans1: Generally they take 1 week.
Ans2: Though not directly ans your question but
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan...earch-problem/

That's correct, I'm currently still able to access using the workaround. Anyone can confirm the minimum miles needed to access the ANA tool?

No way to be certain it won't change, but I can tell you that as of this morning 200 ANA miles (which had been transferred from SPG) was sufficient. ;) :D

Dave

ANA access
 

With regard to access to the ANA award flight tool, I recently vacationed in Egypt. While there, I flew on EgyptAir and had all the miles credited to my ANA account. My four flights did not exceed 3,000 miles, but it yielded me continuing access to the ANA tool (and my credited miles appeared + a bonus amount of miles).

Car rentals could also be credited to your ANA account.

1 mile will do it.

KVS tool or expertflyer.

Not according to this post in the BD forum. The answer seems to be between 51 and 99 miles.

I have 18 miles and cannot access it.

I started a thread in the *A forum to figure this one out - ANA minimum