ANA (NH) Redemptions using VS Flying Club points - thread locked Sept 2022
May 7, 2021, 1:51 am
#1381
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 18
Well I mentioned April 6 there. There's probably some others, but yes you're at a disadvantage of about 25 days.
You can just use the Aeroplan site and check every day on your routes for those weeks, and then hope that the availability holds until the VS booking calendar opens.
If you're OK with separate flights about an hour apart, on the 3rd and the 4th there's two HND-LAX flights and on both dates there's one J and one F available.
Apr 6th and 8th both have two F seats on one of the LAX-HND flights. Very appealing if they stick around. If I were you, I would grab those if possible, and then if you want to push to later dates, just pay the change fee rather than possibly end up with nothing.
Apr 9 and 10 both have one F on each LAX flight. Apr 12 has two F on both flights. Apr 13 has two J on one flight. Apr 14 has two F and two J on one of the flights.
You can just use the Aeroplan site and check every day on your routes for those weeks, and then hope that the availability holds until the VS booking calendar opens.
If you're OK with separate flights about an hour apart, on the 3rd and the 4th there's two HND-LAX flights and on both dates there's one J and one F available.
Apr 6th and 8th both have two F seats on one of the LAX-HND flights. Very appealing if they stick around. If I were you, I would grab those if possible, and then if you want to push to later dates, just pay the change fee rather than possibly end up with nothing.
Apr 9 and 10 both have one F on each LAX flight. Apr 12 has two F on both flights. Apr 13 has two J on one flight. Apr 14 has two F and two J on one of the flights.
May 7, 2021, 3:34 am
#1382
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,467
I seem to recall that I would be calling in during the evening or night time in PDT to get the bookings though.
May 7, 2021, 9:51 am
#1383
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YYZ
Programs: Ex-Bonvoyed, Hyatt, Hilton, BR, AC, AA
Posts: 1,294
May 13, 2021, 6:40 am
#1384
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 14
Possibly useful DP: booked a couple ORD-TYO NH F tickets for spring 2022 over SMS, but unfortunately the agent misspelled a middle name on one ticket. After multiple calls to both VS and NH, nobody was willing or able to fix this simple mistake. High likelihood the ticket would have been ok to fly, but I didn't want any extra uncertainty. Dates were flexible, so I took the chance to have an agent cancel the misspelled ticket and try to rebook. Fortunately the seat went right back into inventory and it all worked out.
May 13, 2021, 6:44 am
#1385
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 14
Possibly useful DP: booked a couple ORD-TYO NH F tickets for spring 2022 over SMS, but unfortunately the agent misspelled a middle name on one ticket. After multiple calls to both VS and NH, nobody was willing or able to fix this simple mistake. High likelihood the ticket would have been ok to fly, but I didn't want any extra uncertainty. Dates were flexible, so I took the chance to have an agent cancel the misspelled ticket and try to rebook. Fortunately the seat went right back into inventory and it all worked out.
May 13, 2021, 6:52 am
#1386
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 14
Yeah I haven't seen any flights with 2 F seats available lately, except maybe a few out of LAX/SFO. We booked one each on HND and NRT routes for the same days. If lucky a second seat will open close in and we can switch. There are some flights with one or two J and one F if you want to go that route. You can book one ways now so that makes grabbing the outbound right at 330 days easier.
May 13, 2021, 7:06 am
#1387
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 52
Data-point:
Managed to get some 2x F on LHR-HND-LHR over the last few weeks (one return in Nov/Dec, one in Feb/March)
RE: middle names:
When I booked a few weeks ago the agent was very hot on checking they would match exactly, and explained they'd had a memo that week saying this would be enforced more strictly. They said that bookings pre-dating this memo would be fine if they didn't include middle names.
However, I've managed to make a booking since where the agent didn't prompt about this and it skipped my mind, so got ticketed without a middle name on. I'm not overly worried as the ANA manage-booking page allows me to submit APIS with a middle name without making fuss, though I'll phone to check before travelling (and make it VS's problem if it's not okay, given they didn't follow the new procedure).
Managed to get some 2x F on LHR-HND-LHR over the last few weeks (one return in Nov/Dec, one in Feb/March)
RE: middle names:
When I booked a few weeks ago the agent was very hot on checking they would match exactly, and explained they'd had a memo that week saying this would be enforced more strictly. They said that bookings pre-dating this memo would be fine if they didn't include middle names.
However, I've managed to make a booking since where the agent didn't prompt about this and it skipped my mind, so got ticketed without a middle name on. I'm not overly worried as the ANA manage-booking page allows me to submit APIS with a middle name without making fuss, though I'll phone to check before travelling (and make it VS's problem if it's not okay, given they didn't follow the new procedure).
May 13, 2021, 7:29 am
#1388
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 940
Pretty sure one of my bookings has this issue. When it comes to logging in with the ANA reference provided by virgin, it doesn’t recognise my first & last names, or with middle name. Or even with - First name & middle initial & surname (across the first and surname boxes for entry).
However, if I add my first name and middle initial (with no space between them!) in the first name box and enter surname below, it logs in fine with the booking reference.
I’ve added all the details like passport Num, etc that the pre-checkin requires... but perhaps worth a call to VS too.
However, if I add my first name and middle initial (with no space between them!) in the first name box and enter surname below, it logs in fine with the booking reference.
I’ve added all the details like passport Num, etc that the pre-checkin requires... but perhaps worth a call to VS too.
May 13, 2021, 7:36 am
#1389
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 14
This is how all my NH bookings have worked, first and middle name get combined with no space. No problem there, and I've also had middle initial only which was fine. In my case it was an actual misspelling of the middle name, only one letter, but to the point where it made it an entirely different name. Probably would have been fine, but I just didn't want to chance it.
May 13, 2021, 10:50 am
#1390
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 52
Yup normal for first and middle names to be combined without spaces.
ANA have quite a detailed page on the subject:
https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/be1/int/jpn/typing/
Not sure how this applies to flights ticketed by other airlines however.
ANA have quite a detailed page on the subject:
https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/be1/int/jpn/typing/
Not sure how this applies to flights ticketed by other airlines however.
May 13, 2021, 6:19 pm
#1391
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 12
I was just able to book 2 F from Narita to JFK late March 2022. I was on the phone to modify a reservation and they popped up. It was incredibly lucky. It's marked as the new ANA suites currently.
May 13, 2021, 7:46 pm
#1392
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 123
A datapoint that might be useful for the name discussion above: had a misspelled last name that I didn’t notice until day of flight, sweated it because it was impossible to rebook, but no one noticed until the return flight when the helpful NH F agent informed us there might be a problem returning (there was no issue). I suspect things will remain ok once on NH.
Last edited by Milwaukee; May 13, 2021 at 7:51 pm
May 13, 2021, 9:53 pm
#1393
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 21,160
Generally middle names are of less importance is they are flagged as such in the passport. They can typically even be omitted. For multiple first names, typically as long as one matches it is usually OK. Last name is the one you'd really want to avoid misspellings or variances.
May 15, 2021, 6:26 am
#1394
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 52
Annoyingly UK passports don't differentiate first and middle names, they just both show together as given name(s).
Stretching out the topic a bit further, as may be relevant to some people...
Stretching out the topic a bit further, as may be relevant to some people...
- MR transfer to VS FC require exact name matches, therefore years ago I opened my FC without it too and have never had issues with flying.
- VS agents pull your details from your FC account when making a telephone booking (think this must be an automated step), and tend not to reconfirm them.
- The first time VS started to check middle names for ANA bookings, they populated a booking with manually entered details then later added the FC number.
- The second time they insisted on updating my FC account to include my middle name, then generating the booking.
- After doing this, MR transfers began to fail due to name mismatch.
- Amex name change requires paper forms, 10 working day turnaround, certain moon phase, etc.
- VS immediately reversed the name change over the phone to allow MR transfer.
May 16, 2021, 1:02 pm
#1395
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,038
I have tried to search this thread, but I am not sure I got this all correct. Thanks for everyone's help 
- I transfer Amex MR to my existing VS account - that should not be a problem, name matches exactly
- Now, I want to buy a ticket for my father (to join me on a Japan trip). I-class is available FRA-HND-FRA. Will there be any problem booking that 'for him'?
- Now even more complicated. For my wife SFO-HND-ORD I can get the outbound in I and the return in O. That's possible, correct?
So that 95k Miles from the FRA trip and then 107.5k from the US one? Did I get that correct?
- I transfer Amex MR to my existing VS account - that should not be a problem, name matches exactly
- Now, I want to buy a ticket for my father (to join me on a Japan trip). I-class is available FRA-HND-FRA. Will there be any problem booking that 'for him'?
- Now even more complicated. For my wife SFO-HND-ORD I can get the outbound in I and the return in O. That's possible, correct?
So that 95k Miles from the FRA trip and then 107.5k from the US one? Did I get that correct?