ANA Award Flights: Mileage Club, The Room & How to Book (2026)

If you're going to fly to Japan in a lie-flat seat, ANA is the other path — and in some ways the cleaner one. The release schedule is formulaic. The flagship product ("The Room") is genuinely one of the best business class suites in the sky. And once you understand the dummy return trick, the roundtrip-only booking requirement stops being a problem.

This guide covers everything specific to booking ANA: the Mileage Club, the transfer partners worth knowing, when seats drop, and the mechanics that separate people who consistently land these redemptions from people who just hope for the best.

If you're also considering JAL, the booking dynamics are different enough that both guides are worth reading. Our JAL award flights guide covers JAL's Oneworld ecosystem, the 12-program booking matrix, and the phantom availability problem that burns people on AA transfers.

If you're still at the early planning stage, the Japan travel guide handles logistics, and best time to visit Japan will help you pick dates that balance weather, crowds, and award availability.

Key Facts Before You Book

ANA Award Flights: What You Need to Know

Sweet spot routes: US gateways to Tokyo (HND/NRT) from 75–90K miles roundtrip via ANA Mileage Club
Best transfer partners: Amex MR → ANA Mileage Club; Chase UR or Amex MR → Air Canada Aeroplan; Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for no-surcharge OW bookings
Booking window: ANA releases seats 355 days out at 9:00 AM JST. Seats are typically gone within hours on peak dates.
The Room: ANA's enclosed business class suite with closing door — on 777-300ERs flying LAX, SFO, and JFK routes. Worth specifically targeting.
Dummy return trick: Book outbound immediately with a throwaway return date. Change the return for free when your real date opens. Without this, roundtrip booking is nearly impossible.

Last verified: April 2026

ANA vs. JAL: Quick Comparison

Factor	ANA	JAL
US gateways	LAX, SFO, SEA, ORD, IAD, IAH, JFK, YVR, MEX	BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, SAN, SEA, DFW, JFK, YVR, KIX
Release window	355 days (9 AM JST)	360 days (10 AM JST)
Flagship product	The Room (777-300ER)	A350-1000 First Class + Sky Suite
Transfer partners	Amex MR (direct), Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic	Capital One, Bilt (direct), Avios programs
Booking structure	Roundtrip required (own program)	One-way allowed (most programs)
Close-in releases	Yes, within T-14	Yes, T-14 and T-7

ANA is Star Alliance; JAL is Oneworld. Different partner ecosystems, different credit card strategies.

ANA Mileage Club: Earning and Partner Miles

ANA Mileage Club (AMC) is ANA's own frequent flyer program. You earn miles by flying ANA and Star Alliance partners, but the more relevant path for most US-based travelers is transferring credit card points.

Direct transfer partner: Amex Membership Rewards (1:1)

Amex MR is the primary pipeline into ANA Mileage Club from the US. The transfer ratio is 1:1 and transfers typically clear in 3–4 days (not instant). That lag matters — never transfer points speculatively before you've confirmed live availability on ANA's website.

Key AMC account settings:

Set your AMC account's country to Japan and language to English. This unlocks one extra day of calendar visibility compared to a US-registered account — a meaningful advantage when seats sell out within hours of release.

Earning via Star Alliance partners:

AMC miles also stack from United, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and other Star Alliance carriers. If you fly United regularly, you're building AMC miles passively. Singapore Airlines in particular is a premium partner — SQ-operated flights earn at full rates and AMC miles can be used to book Singapore Suites (though that's a separate guide).

Mile expiration: AMC miles expire 36 months after earning. Activity resets the clock, but don't park large balances without a plan.

The Room: What It Is and Why It Matters

"The Room" is ANA's next-generation business class suite, introduced on the 777-300ER. It's a fully enclosed private suite with a closing door — not a sliding privacy screen, an actual door. The seat converts to a fully flat 6'1" bed. There's a separate ottoman for a companion to sit, a 43" personal display, and side storage that makes the space genuinely livable on a 12-hour flight.

Why the points community obsesses over it: The Room represents a meaningful step above what most airlines call business class. On most carriers, "lie-flat" means a slightly reclined seat angled toward the aisle. On The Room, you're in a private cabin. At 75–90K miles roundtrip via ANA direct -- versus $10,000–15,000 in cash -- it's one of the strongest points redemptions available.

Which routes have The Room:

JFK–HND (New York to Tokyo Haneda)
LAX–HND (Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda)
SFO–HND (San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda, select flights)
ORD–HND (Chicago to Tokyo Haneda, select flights)

Routes not yet converted (running ANA's older staggered "ANA Business" seat on 787s): SEA, IAD, IAH. Still lie-flat and still a good product -- just not The Room.

How to confirm which product you're getting: On ANA's booking site, look for the aircraft type. 777-300ER routes have The Room. 787 routes have the older staggered product. If The Room matters to you, filter by aircraft or search specifically on JFK/LAX/SFO routes.

The community consensus: take whatever you can get. Being too picky about The Room means you probably don't fly ANA business class at all. But if both products have availability and you have a choice, take the 777.

The Dummy Return Trick

This is the most important tactical piece of ANA booking knowledge. Understand it before you touch ANA's site.

The problem: ANA Mileage Club requires roundtrip bookings. But ANA releases dates one at a time, 355 days before departure. Your outbound date opens 355 days before your departure. Your ideal return date -- six, ten, fourteen days later -- opens 355 days before that date. The calendar gap means your outbound and return won't be bookable at the same time for weeks or months.

If you wait until both dates are open, your outbound is long gone.

The solution:

When your outbound date becomes available (355 days out), book it immediately with a dummy return -- pick the earliest available return date, even if it's the next day or the day after your outbound
You now have a confirmed roundtrip. Points are on hold.
Monitor the calendar every day at 9 AM JST as new return dates open
When your actual return date appears, change the dummy return to your real date -- ANA allows free, unlimited changes on direct bookings
HND and NRT count as the same airport for change purposes, so you can book NRT outbound and change to an HND return without issue

The waitlist shortcut: You can use a waitlisted flight as your dummy return. No points are deducted until you switch to a confirmed seat. This preserves more flexibility while still locking in your outbound.

Why this works: ANA's change policy on direct bookings is unusually generous. There's no fee to modify the return date, and you can do it as many times as needed. The trick is entirely within program rules -- it's just a workflow most people don't know about.

Without the dummy return trick, booking roundtrip on ANA is nearly impossible for any trip longer than a couple of days.

Transfer Partners: Virgin Atlantic and Aeroplan

ANA direct (via Amex MR) is the power-user option, but two US-accessible programs offer legitimate alternatives -- each with distinct tradeoffs.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Best Value, Worst Availability

Transfer partners: Amex MR (1:1), Chase UR (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Bilt (1:1) Booking window: 330 days Award type: One-way bookings allowed Fuel surcharges: None -- Virgin Atlantic does not pass through ANA fuel surcharges

The math: Virgin Atlantic charges ~57,500–60,000 miles for ANA business class one-way from the US to Japan. With no fuel surcharges and reasonable taxes, this can represent strong value per point -- especially compared to ANA direct's ~$750 roundtrip surcharge.

The reality: At 330 days, virtually all ANA premium cabin seats are booked. ANA releases 1–2 J seats per flight at 355 days, and they're typically gone within hours. Virgin Atlantic's 25-day disadvantage means you're almost always searching in an empty pool.

When Virgin Atlantic works:

Close-in availability (within T-14): ANA sometimes releases additional seats near departure, and VAtlantic can occasionally catch these
Cancelled bookings returning to inventory -- random but real
Off-peak routes with lighter demand (some shoulder-season ORD or IAD flights)

Virgin Atlantic is the transfer destination to load up on if you have flexibility -- as a standby strategy, not a primary plan for locked dates.

Air Canada Aeroplan: The Reliable Alternative

Transfer partners: Amex MR (1:1), Chase UR (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Bilt (1:1) Booking window: 355 days -- same as ANA direct Award type: One-way bookings allowed Fuel surcharges: Generally lower than ANA direct

The math: Aeroplan prices ANA business class at roughly 85,000–100,000 miles one-way, compared to ANA direct's 75,000–90,000 miles roundtrip. The points cost is roughly double for a one-way, which is the real tradeoff.

The advantages:

Same 355-day window as ANA direct -- you're competing at the same moment
One-way bookings mean you can mix carriers (fly ANA out, JAL back, or different routing each direction)
Broad transfer partner base -- if you have Chase UR, Amex MR, Capital One, or Bilt, you're covered
Aeroplan's "Flexible Points" can be valuable for positioning flights and connections

When Aeroplan beats ANA direct:

When oil prices are high and ANA's ~$750 surcharge makes the total cost worse than Aeroplan's lower fees even at higher points
When you want one-ways and don't want to manage the dummy return trick
When you have Chase UR but not Amex MR (Aeroplan is on Chase; ANA direct isn't)

The table:

Program	Points (OW)	Window	Surcharges	One-Way?	Best For
ANA Mileage Club	37,500–45K (half RT)	355 days	~$375 per direction	No (RT only)	Most inventory, lowest cost
Aeroplan	85–100K	355 days	Low	Yes	Chase UR users, one-way routing
Virgin Atlantic	57,500–60K	330 days	None	Yes	Close-in finds, flexibility
United MileagePlus	Dynamic	337 days	Low	Yes	Last-minute close-in

ANA direct miles shown as half of roundtrip for comparison purposes.

Award Availability: When to Search, How Far Out

The primary release: ANA releases 1–2 business class seats and typically 1 first class seat per flight, 355 days before departure at 9:00 AM JST (that's 8:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Central the day before).

On high-demand routes (JFK, LAX, SFO to Tokyo), both J seats sell within 2–4 hours. Sometimes within 30 minutes. Setting a calendar alert for 8:45 PM Eastern and having your payment method and AMC account open is not optional -- it's the entry requirement.

Close-in availability (T-14 and closer): Post-pandemic, ANA has shown a pattern of releasing additional premium cabin seats within 14 days of departure. This isn't guaranteed but it's frequent enough to be a legitimate strategy. Cancelled bookings also return to inventory and can appear any time.

Mid-schedule releases: Rare. Random seats appearing between 355 days and T-14 are almost always cancelled bookings, not new releases. Don't expect them; do catch them if you're monitoring.

How to use ANA's own site:

ANA's booking engine shows live availability, which makes it the gold standard for confirming what actually exists before transferring any points. Never transfer points to a partner program without first confirming the seat exists on ana.com.

Search "Roundtrip" from your US gateway to TYO (searches both HND and NRT)
In the results, look for the aircraft type in the flight details to identify The Room flights
If you're using Aeroplan or Virgin Atlantic, verify the seat exists on ANA first, then book through the partner

Search tools:

Seats.aero -- free alert tier for within 60 days; paid tier updates every ~3 hours. Good for close-in monitoring.
AwardFares -- paid, checks at least twice daily and piggybacks on user searches
United's website -- searches ANA partner space and can surface availability that other tools miss. Worth a manual check even if you're not booking via United.

Every nonstop US–Tokyo route has alerts set by experienced travelers. Tools give you a fighting chance; they don't give you an exclusive edge. Manual monitoring at release time (9 PM Eastern) is still the most reliable approach for peak dates.

Pro Tips: Positioning and Routing

Position to a gateway city. If you're not near LAX, JFK, or SFO, flying a short domestic positioning flight and buying a separate ANA award ticket is almost always worth it. The difference in award availability between gateway and non-gateway cities is dramatic. Book your domestic positioning on a separate ticket -- don't try to connect it to the award.

Target off-peak windows. Cherry blossom season (late March to early April) and Golden Week (late April to early May) are the hardest periods for ANA availability. Late May, June, September, and early October have meaningfully better success rates at schedule opening.

HND vs. NRT -- take what you can get. Haneda is closer to central Tokyo. Narita is about 75 minutes and ~$15 by express train. Neither is a dealbreaker. Never pass on an available seat because of the airport.

Free stopover at Tokyo. On international itineraries, ANA allows one stopover exceeding 24 hours at no extra cost. The example that makes this concrete: SFO → Tokyo (2-night stopover) → Okinawa → SFO prices the same as a simple SFO–Okinawa roundtrip. Two destinations, one award. The domestic ANA leg typically runs 5,000–10,000 yen in taxes.

Don't be too picky about the product. ANA's older staggered business class on the 787 is fully flat, private enough, and genuinely comfortable. If you can't get The Room on your dates, the 787 product is not a consolation prize -- it's a good business class seat. Holding out for The Room when 787 seats are available is how people end up in economy.

For families and groups: ANA releases 1–2 J seats per flight. Getting two adjacent business class seats on the same flight is hard. Two separate flights on the same day, or splitting the group across days, is the pragmatic approach. Aeroplan occasionally surfaces 2-seat availability that ANA direct doesn't -- worth checking both.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does ANA release award seats?

ANA releases award inventory 355 days before departure at 9:00 AM JST (8:00 PM Eastern the evening before, 7:00 PM Central). Each flight typically gets 1–2 business class seats and 1 first class seat at release. For high-demand routes, these sell within hours. Set your alarm for 8:45 PM Eastern and have your AMC account and payment method open.

How many miles for ANA business class?

Via ANA Mileage Club direct: 75,000–90,000 miles roundtrip (season-dependent). Via Aeroplan one-way: 85,000–100,000 miles. Via Virgin Atlantic one-way: approximately 57,500–60,000 miles (no fuel surcharges, but availability is scarce at 330-day window). Taxes and fuel surcharges via ANA direct run approximately $750 roundtrip.

What credit card points transfer to ANA Mileage Club?

Only Amex Membership Rewards transfers directly to ANA Mileage Club at 1:1. Transfers take 3–4 days to clear (not instant). If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards or Capital One, transfer to Aeroplan instead -- same 355-day booking window, broader partner flexibility.

What is the dummy return trick?

ANA requires roundtrip bookings but releases one date at a time. Book your outbound flight with a placeholder return date (any available date), then change it to your real return date for free when that date becomes bookable -- typically days or weeks later. ANA allows unlimited free date changes on direct bookings, making this strategy entirely within program rules.

Does ANA have fuel surcharges?

Yes. ANA passes through fuel surcharges based on the Singapore kerosene benchmark -- roughly $750 roundtrip as of 2026. Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic typically have lower surcharges on ANA metal. When oil prices are high, the surcharge gap narrows the points cost advantage of booking direct.

Can I book ANA first class with points?

Yes. ANA "The Suite" first class is bookable via ANA Mileage Club and Aeroplan. The cost is higher -- typically 110,000–180,000 miles depending on program and direction. First class seats are rarer at release (typically 1 per flight) and sell even faster than business. Same 355-day window applies.

Planning the Rest of Your Trip

Booking the seat is the hardest part. Once you've secured it, our Japan travel guide covers where to go, how long to stay, and how to move between cities. For timing cherry blossoms or fall foliage, best time to visit Japan breaks it down month by month. If you're also considering JAL (same routes, different booking ecosystem), the JAL award flights guide is the companion piece. And for the credit cards that earn Amex MR, Chase UR, and Aeroplan points, our travel credit cards guide covers the full landscape.

Got your ANA seats? Let Voyaiger handle the rest.

Tell Voyaiger your dates, arrival airport, and interests -- it'll build a day-by-day Japan itinerary optimized for your season, pace, and budget. Including domestic routing if you're using the Tokyo stopover.

Plan Your Japan Trip

Already locked in your dates? Start with when to visit Japan and build from there.