ANA Mileage Club: A Guide for Indian Travellers
What is ANA Mileage Club?
ANA (All Nippon Airways) Mileage Club is the frequent flyer program of Japan’s largest airline. As a member of the Star Alliance, you can earn and redeem ANA miles not just on ANA flights, but also on partners like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, United, Air India, and many more.
Why Should Indians Care?
Despite the challenge in earning miles, AMC offers some of the best redemption rates in the world, especially for premium cabin (Business and First Class) travel on Star Alliance partners. If you can accumulate the miles, the value you get can be phenomenal.
How Can Indians Earn ANA Miles?
This is the biggest hurdle. Unlike many other programs, ANA Mileage Club has very few direct transfer partners in India.
- Flying: The most straightforward way is to fly ANA or Star Alliance partners (like Air India, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, etc.) and credit the miles earned to your ANA Mileage Club account instead of their native programs. This is generally slow unless you fly frequently in paid Business or First Class.
- Marriott Bonvoy Transfers (The Primary Method): This is the most viable and practical way for most Indians to accumulate ANA miles.
- Ratio: Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to ANA Mileage Club at a 3:1 ratio (3 Marriott points = 1 ANA mile).
- Bonus: For every 60,000 Marriott points transferred, you receive an additional 5,000 bonus miles.
- Effective Rate: Transferring 60,000 Marriott points yields 20,000 miles + 5,000 bonus miles = 25,000 ANA miles. This makes the effective ratio 2.4:1 when transferring in batches of 60,000 points.
- How: You can earn Marriott points through hotel stays or potentially co-branded credit cards if available/relevant in India (though direct bank transfers to Marriott from cards like Amex,Axis,Hsbc,Hdfc might be more common).
- Other Hotel Points: While some other hotel programs might transfer, Marriott Bonvoy generally offers the best ratio, especially with the bonus.
- No Major Indian Bank Transfers: Currently, major Indian banks (HDFC, Axis, Amex India, ICICI, SBI) do not list ANA Mileage Club as a direct airline transfer partner.
Understanding ANA Award Charts
ANA uses two main types of award charts:
- Zone-Based Chart (for ANA Flights): Flights operated by ANA itself are priced based on zones (departure and arrival regions) and seasonality (Low, Regular, High). This chart often offers fantastic value, especially for flights to/from Japan.
- Distance-Based Chart (for Partner Flights): Flights operated by Star Alliance partners (like Singapore Airlines, Turkish, etc.) are priced based on the total distance flown for the entire round trip/one-way. This distance-based chart is where many sweet spots lie.
Key Sweet Spots for Indian Travellers
Here’s where ANA Mileage Club still truly shines, offering potentially massive value if you can get the miles (primarily via Marriott):
- Intra-Asia Business Class on Partners:
- ANA’s distance-based chart is very generous for medium-haul flights within Asia on partners like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana, etc.
- Example: Chennai (MAA) to Singapore (SIN), Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, round trip. On the ANA partner chart, distances between 2,001-4,000 miles often cost around 55000 ANA miles round-trip in Business Class. This is significantly cheaper than what many other Star Alliance programs charge. Please refer to the current chart for the exact pricing.
- Why it’s great: Fly top-tier airlines like Singapore Airlines in Business for relatively few miles than in their own program.
- ANA Business (“The Room”) & First (“The Suite”) to North America/Europe:
- Flying ANA’s own award-winning premium cabins via Tokyo is often cheaper using ANA’s zone-based chart than booking the same flights via partner programs.
- Example: India falls into ANA’s “Asia 1” zone. A round trip from Delhi/Mumbai to North America (via Tokyo) in Business Class can cost as little as 100,000 – 130,000 ANA miles + taxes/fees depending on seasonality. First Class might be around 195,000 miles. This is an exceptional value for arguably the best business and first-class products in the sky. Please refer to the current chart for the exact pricing.
- Why it’s great: Experience ANA’s top-tier products for fewer miles than partners charge. Requires positioning to/from Tokyo.
- Select Europe Routes (Low Surcharges):
- Warning: ANA passes on high fuel surcharges for many European partners like Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Thai Airways. Avoid these unless necessary.
- Potential Value: Partners like LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines (sometimes), and United (on transatlantic) may have lower surcharges. Check specific routes. A round trip to Europe in Business Class might fall into distance bands costing 90,000-105,000 miles.
Important Considerations for Indians:
- Point Expiry: ANA miles expire 36 months after they are earned/transferred. This is a hard expiry – activity does not extend it. Only transfer Marriott points when you have a specific redemption in mind.
- Fuel Surcharges: ANA passes on carrier-imposed surcharges, which can be hefty, especially on European carriers. Factor these into your redemption cost. ANA’s own flights and partners like United, Air Canada (within America), Avianca, and Singapore Airlines generally have lower surcharges.
- Award Availability: Finding award seats, especially in premium cabins on popular routes, requires flexibility with dates and sometimes booking far in advance.
- Booking Process: Can generally be done online via the ANA website, which has a good search tool (including for partners).
- Family Account: ANA allows family members (up to 8 people, within two degrees of kinship) residing outside Japan to pool miles, which can help accumulate enough for an award.
Is ANA Mileage Club Worth It for Indians?
- YES, IF: You generate a significant amount of Marriott Bonvoy points (through stays or other means) AND you are specifically targeting high-value redemptions like ANA’s own premium cabins or specific intra-Asia Business Class routes where ANA offers exceptional value.
- PROBABLY NOT, IF: You primarily earn miles via Indian credit card points (due to lack of direct transfers) or if your travel goals are mainly short-haul economy flights where cash prices might be competitive.
In conclusion, ANA Mileage Club is a niche but potentially extremely rewarding program for Indian travelers who can overcome the earning hurdle, primarily via Marriott Bonvoy transfers. Its sweet spots offer some of the best premium cabin travel value available anywhere.
