KathinJax

Yes, I am doing SFO-NRT/NRT-LAX. the agent did not think that it could be done, but after putting in the information, she was able to book it.

omg its dan

Hey guys! Just successfully booked a ticket in F from ORD-NRT and back for 93k Amex points (before the 30% bonus). This leads to a per-point value of over 20 cents. Unbelievable deal!

I’m flying in May. Found the availability via United’s website.

Nathandelabrum

Well I've booked the flights for the Mrs. and myself!

IAD-NRT in business, NRT-JFK in first for late September/early October of 2018.

Would have preferred first class both ways but it was more important to us to fly on exact days. Grand total of £63 each in taxes/surcharges! Absolutely unbelievable deal.

Another point to bear in mind, I mentioned on this forum the other day that if you're flying in multiple classes, you get charged for the higher cabin mileage for both legs. I had this confirmed to me by 2 VA agents in this last month or so. So I was fully expecting to have to part with 240,000 miles (2x120,000), even with our outbound flight being in business....turns out I only had to pay 215,000 miles. I had the agent check and double check all the details and sure enough, it came out at 215,000! So I've obviously been charged 120,000 for 2 first class seats and 95,000 for 2 business class seats. Which to me is truly the icing on the cake of this amazing offer

One more thing, I've been reading recently about a so called mini cabin of 8 business class seats on ANA which are directly behind first class. Apparently, these seats are separated from the rest of the business class cabin, so you get much more privacy than in the rest of the business cabin. The best seats in this cabin are (from what I've read) 5A and 6C, and as I've booked our flights almost a year in advance, I managed to bag the elusive 5A and 6C for the Mrs. and myself! So if you're unsure whether you want to fly in business or first, if you book business far enough in advance in order to get in the mini cabin, you can have what is not far off a first class experience for less miles.

HawaiiO

Is it possible to book ANA award flights for someone who is not a VS member or a family member using my points?

tks!

roberto99

I've flown NH Business in the mini cabin (5A) many times, and the large Business cabin a few times. Also NH First many times.

Seat 5A is very nice, but far from a NH First class experience.

When I sat in row 13, I had to wait a LONG time to get my main course plates collected. So I caved and laid down (under the table) and began my 7 hours of fabulous sleep! Sadly, I slept through dessert and order on demand snacks....

To sum it up, I regard NH Business class very highly. The comfort and service is great and IMO very adequate for a great trip. But NH First class is a significant step above their Business class.

synergypi

Booked SFO NRT in NH F class for Oct 2018; easily done after checking AC/UA for availability. Another great deal for 85K AMEX pts and $83.

wikipedia264

I'm currently booked in F JFK HND and return NRT IAH on NH. I saw on UA that availability for HND ORD opened up on my date so I called VS to change my return flight. The agent could see the availability, but said she wasn't able to complete the change since "VS cannot book that route." Anyone have a similar experience?

Nathandelabrum

Not sure why they can’t book that route. I know Virgin recently cancelled their summer service to Chicago, but I don’t think that would impact being able to make a reward booking with ANA.

wikipedia264

HUCA and it was no problem; just had to pay $50/ticket change fee

franniemeow07

Just booked J class ORD-HND and NRT-SFO for 92500 UR points and $169 in fees. Very difficult to get business class award tickets but managed to find inbound/outbound that worked for me (still needed one connection to Philly regardless). They split the difference between leaving from east coast (95k) and arriving back to west coast (90k), which I thought was really nice. Process was painless and exactly as described by everyone else on the forum. So excited!

Lavezzi

They need a minimum of 72 hours I just confirmed.

SlimpyJones

Just managed to redeem two J-class redemptions LHR-HND for October next year. 190k miles taken and £546.42 in taxes (£273.21 each).

Easy peasy!

54austin

Booked two JFK-NRT round-trip (ANA/F) and NRT-PEK/PVG-NRT (ANA/J). On separate tickets to reduce the surcharges. Since our dates were inflexible albeit far in advance, I booked the outbound as soon as I could also book a dummy return (2 days later). Called back when the actual return I needed opened up and paid the $50/ticket change fee for the exact days I needed. Given how popular this redemption now is (a great value made better by Amex's frequent transfer bonus), I was nervous about the space quickly being taken.

VS gets ANA space at noon (Eastern Time).

The Japan-China flight was pretty straightforward (one was done using ANA miles also transferred from Amex).

kmandrew

Is it posssible to book ORD-SYD using Virgin miles on ANA? We would like to travel March 2019 so trying to figure out how many miles I would need for 2 J seats by next April? I will have around 220k so maybe we would only be able to book one way then fly home on AA.

synergypi

Only round trip or open jaw awards on ANA are possible. For VA you have to book ORD/TYO and TYO/SYD as two separate awards which would be 185K VA miles for 1 J passenger. But only 105K miles on ANA if seats available.