benitz8

Hello All,

I am trying to get two (2) first class ANA redemptions using the VAFC miles I have accumulated. I am somewhat new to this and have some questions. Hope you experts here can help guide me on this.

Backgrounder first.

We are based in Asia but will be in USA on Nov 2020. The plan is to book the outbound flight for Nov 30, 2020 and the return to be used as a separate trip to Europe (LHR/FRA) sometime 2021. The process by which I plan to achieve this is detailed below. Please check if I got anything wrong:

Step 1: Get a IAD-HND outbound flight at hopefully T-330, and an open jaw "dummy" return.

- For my date of Nov 30, 2020, T-330 would be Jan 6, 2020. The earliest "dummy" return I can do would be Dec 1, 2020, meaning I can only do T-329 which is Jan 7, 2020. Is this the best case?

- What if I make "dummy" HND-IAD leg to be on an earlier date (example Nov 10, 2020) than Nov 30 2020, making the booking HND-IAD-HND. Would I then be allowed to rebook the Nov 10, 2020 leg to example Dec 15, 2020 which means the new route will now be IAD-HND-FRA, opposite of the originally route?

Step 2: Once it is T-330 for the actual TYO-LHR/FRA date, rebook the "dummy" return to the correct dates for $50/pax

- About the one (1) year validity for rebooking, does it start from ticket redemption/issuance, or from the date of the outbound leg? Meaning if I redeem T-330 (Jan 6, 2020) for Nov 30, 2020 flight, am I free to rebook the dummy return up to Jan 6, 2021 or up to Nov 30, 2021?

Thank you in advance for your help!

** On a side note, what is you opinion on the FRA, IAH, IAD, ORD, LAX and SFO getting the new seats "The Suite" and "The Room" by Nov 2020? Based on your experience, which routes do you think will have a bigger chance to get it?

Petdog

1) Finding F availability
You're #1 problem is going to be finding two F seats, let alone on an exact date. Especially for FRA or LHR, where all indications are that even one is very hard to come by. See the discussion in this thread (e.g., 402) and in the ANA forum.

2) Switching dummy order
This is discussed repeatedly in this thread, with mixed answers. E.g., 402 and 678. VS's conditions of carriage, 6.5 Taking your flight in the right sequence, is similarly clear as mud. "If you do not want to take your flights in the agreed sequence . . . please contact us . . . to discuss your options. Your options will depend on the Ticket type and the applicable Tariff. You may not be able to make any changes to your booking . . . ."

As I've suggested before, just put the ticket on hold with VS for 24 hours. I.e., on January 6 put on hold HND-IAD-HND, Call back on January 7 and switch it to IAD-HND-XXX.

I would also start looking a couple of days earlier and repeatedly check throughout the day. My math is Nov. 30 - 330 = January 5, but with the vagaries of multiple time zones and when the systems release tickets, I wouldn't assume it'll be a time certain on an exact day.

3) Rebooking
See VS's conditions of carriage, 6.4 Validity of ticket. "Unless provided otherwise on the Ticket, these Conditions of Carriage or any applicable Tariffs, a Ticket is valid for one year from the date of issue or one year from the date of first travel under the Ticket (where the first travel took place within one year from the date of issue)." Again, clear as mud. (ANA rules are that tickets are valid for one year from the itinerary start date, and that the start date must be within one year of ticket issuance.)

4) New Seats
FRA, because ANA has already announced that FRA will follow NYC.

For speculation, I suggest you read this thread: New 777-300ER (77W) F/C/PY/Y Seating (consolidated).

seigex

Just to update, I got the return flight changed to open jaw over text message to 97634 .. they gave me a link to put in credit card info for the $50 change fee and all went smooth without me having to even call in.. no problem doing an open jaw, the first lady I spoke to didn't know what she was talking about.

That said, I changed my return from NRT-LAX to NRT-HNL which gives me a chance to try out the ANA A380 F product (and saved me 10,000 miles)! After that I have an AA A321 flight from HNL-LAX to complete my trip (hopefully I'll get an F upgrade from status).

benitz8

1) Finding F availability

-> Yes, plan is to initially book at Economy or Business or combination, whatever I can get 2 seats of during my initial call. Then will just monitor later on and hope F seats open up.

2) Switching dummy order

-> Great suggestion. I will definitely do that

3) Rebooking

-> Anyone else have actual experience rebooking based on 1 year validity from DATA OF FIRST TRAVEL? .... ( as opposed to date of ticket issuance)

very_metal

Am I able to book a RT F on the way there and J on the way back?

Toonshorty

That is absolutely possible, I'm flying FRA-HND in F and HND-FRA in J on one booking.

The points cost is effectively half way between a J and F return booking (so 107,500 in my case).

very_metal

DP:

I just booked 2 seats F outbound and J inbound all via text. Incredible customer service all throughout.

sqy12

I would like to purchase a return flight from London to Tokyo with ANA using VS miles. But I found it really hard to do so since there are no seats available for all the dates that I've chosen.
It appears that I have to call the flying club, give them the dates and let them check one by one on the line. Is there any method for checking the available seats in advance before calling them?

ExpatSomchai

You may have better luck using a European destination such as FRA.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2019/0...ng-club-miles/

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/virg...ub-points.html

sqy12

That sounds like a great suggestion, but it would also be nice to know where I can find the availability before calling them. It was quite awkward last time...

sqy12

Thanks for the reply, I think that's a very good suggestion. But it would be great to know how I can check the availability before calling them as it was quite awkward on the phone last time.

Toonshorty

The best method I found was using the United Airlines website.

On the homepage they have a card for flight searches, at the bottom left of said card there is an option for 'Advanced search'. Click that and select yes to the question 'Do you want to book a MileagePlus® award ticket?', also make sure you select 'My dates are flexible' and also uncheck all the connection options with the exception of 'Nonstop'. As ExpatSomchai mentioned, FRA has much better availablility than LHR and should also get the new layout fairly soon as well. If you aren't fussed about the new layout then there are also flights from other EU airports (eg. Dusseldorf) that are worth checking. I also found that it's much easier to select a one way journey (e.g. FRA to HND), find your flight and then search for the return leg as a seperate one way trip, you would book them both as a single return journey though.

You will likely get a window asking you to sign in to your MileagePlus account to show the best availability everytime you search but you can just click the 'X' and close it.

This will then show two calenders, one for each month. A solid blue line indicates an economy reward while a dotted blue line indicates a premium (business or first) reward. If you click on the day you will then see a list available award flights for the day - make sure you confirm the flight you want says 'Operated By All Nippon Airways' because Lufthansa redemptions will appear as well.

Petdog

United award search, expertflyer.com, and all the suggestions in this extensive thread.

Petdog

And welcome to FlyerTalk, @sqy12!

Boringbarry

If I'm trying to book first class r/t, when making the dummy return booking, is it ok if it's economy/business with the departure being First Class? If so, I understand that the price will be the average of the 2, but I can upgrade the return trip to be First class once availabilities open up? And I would just pay the difference between First and the original class in points?

Thanks!