murphyUA

Pretty sure this is a longshot, but if I'm flying LAX-IAH to position for NH F IAH-NRT, is there any chance NH would check my luggage on LAX-NRT?

Lewis42

murphyUA

I'm pretty sure this is not the "rule" outside the US (but obviously since the flight originates in the US, it would probably apply, which I completely overlooked).

Drew523

Took some effort, but I was finally able to get a awesome VS agent and she booked my first class flights on the original dates I had wanted.

newyorklondon

Awesome, congratulations!

hamburglar

Just booked SFO-NRT in first class roundtrip. Here are the taxes/fees per person:Base FareUSD0.00Carrier-imposed Surcharge (YQ)USD260.00United States - Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY)USD5.60United States - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Fee (APHIS User Fee - Passengers (XA)USD3.96United States - Immigration and Naturalization Fee(Immigration User Fee) (XY)USD7.00United States - Custom User Fee (YC)USD5.65Japan - Passenger Security Service Charge (OI)USD4.70Japan - Passenger Service Facilities Charge (SW)USD18.90United States - Transportation Tax (US)USD36.60Total AmountUSD342.41

Scoob72

Firstly, thank you for reading this -- I do greatly appreciate it.

Could anyone possibly advise me on the following as I'm new to the "mechanics" of trying to book the following flights:

• 2 x round-trip F ANA flights -- LHR-HND (outbound) and HND-LHR (inbound)

My question really is: if I manage to find and book 2 x F seats at +356 on the LHR-HND leg, how do I then go about booking the inbound HND-LHR leg, especially because it won't yet be available for release by ANA at that stage? (By way of comparison, if I were try to book the same F seats on an identical routing with British Airways and using a 2-4-1 voucher, I could book the outbound LHR-HND flight at +355, and then add the inbound LHR-HND flight when that similarly opens up at +355.)

My concern (ignorance?!) really is that, if I don't jump on any ANA F availability immediately at +356 but rather wait until my return/inbound leg date opens up, the outbound flight (LHR-HND) will already have been snapped up by anyone else able to book a one-way award via ANA / UA on the same day as my outbound flight.

Or perhaps that's the thing and it's just plain luck of the draw and no amount of planning will help? I just have to wait for the inbound flight to be available first before being able to book?

Any help or advice would be sorely appreciated!

Thanks again for reading this.

armagebedar

Moving to the VS forum as this question is best answered in light of the rules of that program.

Regards,
armagebedar
ANA forum moderator

VXforever

Book a roundtrip as soon as F availably opens up on one segment. Call VS Flying Club and book the roundtrip with the first segment in F and the second segment in J or Y. Then, when F availability on the second segment opens up, call VS Flying Club again to amend your booking and change the second segment.

This may incur a small ($50?) award change fee if you don't have status but I believe this is the best way to go about it.

Roona

VS can only see ANA 330 (331?) days out, whereas ANA's own program (and some other *A) can do 355. I'm not sure how tightly contested F seats are for LHR-HND, but you may have difficulty finding 2+ F on the same flight by T-330. I know I did for SFO-NRT.

The previous poster is right. Book at T-330 with some other segment and eat the $50 change fee.

Scoob72

VX N281VA Roona -- thanks so much, both, for the swift replies and excellent input! I genuinely appreciate it.

I was a little lost, admittedly, on how actually to book the inbound flight, and also a little unsure re the +355 and +330 discrepancy outlined above, but what you've both kindly written above is really helpful to that end, so thank you again.

As Roona says, too, my hope may be a forlorn one when it comes to actually finding F space at all on this route, but you've got to live in hope sometimes. Apart from the other CDG-HND-CDG route, I'm not sure that there are many other ANA routes to search for F space on in and around western Europe. (Whereas the various US airports that fly to/from HND with ANA seem to represent a good back-up plan if you can't find space on your preferred route, which is great, although I do appreciate that positioning flights have to be factored in.)

All the best

synergypi

For Europe & UK, ANA has F class metal only for FRA and LHR to HND flights. Also, only one seat is released initially, so tough to get 2 F awards. One F and one J would be feasible, with potential for a change J>F but not able to waitlist. Book the flight as HND-LHR outbound (any earlier date), LHR-HND inbound (on your preferred date) then change the HND-LHR leg to your desired HND LHR inbound date when this appears.

Scoob72

synergypi - thanks just so much for this great tip! I really do appreciate it. I will do just that.

All the best

hyperzulu

ANA tends to use TYO as a destination or origin, as opposed to NRT/HND in their award rule docs. So is it possible for me to book an LAX-HND...NRT-LAX trip with VS miles? I just think I might prefer the red eye going and the late afternoon flight on the return.

Roona

Yes. HUCA if you get push back. You can even double open jaw I believe. VS tends to be quite flexible on their definition of "roundtrip".