March 5th, 2013
ANA Not Charging Fuel Surcharges For Award Travel On United Or USAirways!
Update, 03/05: Several commenters below have mentioned that they were told by ANA reps that I was wrong about the lack of fuel surcharges for travel on United and USAirways.
Others wanted to know about one-way workarounds.
Well, the proof is in the pudding. These screenshots were taken from ANA’s website today.
Find other great uses for ANA miles (and consequently for American Express Membership Rewards points or Starwood Starpoints)? Hit the comments!
A coach United flight between Newark and Tel Aviv is 60K miles plus $44 in government taxes with no fuel surcharges.
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A coach United flight between Newark and Paris is 43K miles plus $88 in government taxes with no fuel surcharges.
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A BusinessFirst United flight between Newark and Tel Aviv is 90K miles plus $44 in government taxes with no fuel surcharges.
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A coach USAirways flight between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv is 60K miles plus $44 in government taxes with no fuel surcharges.
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A one-way “workaround” to Tel Aviv.
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A one-way “workaround” to London.
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Originally posted on 01/23/13:
Related: Which Miles To Use To Fly To Israel?
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ANA, or All Nippon Airways, is a Japanese airline that is a Star Alliance member. They also have an awesome partner award chart that you can use for travel on their dozens of partners.
You can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio to ANA. You can also transfer Starpoints to ANA at a 20K:25K ratio.
A few years ago they used to not collect fuel surcharges on United and USAirways, then they started collecting on both. Last year they stopped collecting it on USAirways and just recently they have stopped collecting it on United once again!
This means there are now 2 partner airlines you can fly from the US to Israel using ANA miles without paying fuel surcharges. Plus you can save lots of miles in the process! Nonstop flights to Israel with this method will start at just 53K Starpoints or 60K Membership Rewards in coach or 75K Starpoints or 90K Membership Rewards in business.
101K Starpoints or 126K Membership Rewards is enough for 2 passengers to fly to London round-trip in business class.
Here is the distance based award chart:
You can use the Great Circle Mapper to determine a trip’s cost.
For example:
-A trip on United from Newark to London and back is a distance of 6,930 miles and thus will cost 38,000 ANA miles in coach and 63,000 ANA miles in business.
United would charge 60,000 miles in coach and 100,000 miles in business.
ANA saves you 22,000 miles in coach and 37,000 miles in business for the same flight.
-A trip on United from Newark to Paris and back is a distance of 7,298 miles and thus will cost 43,000 ANA miles in coach and 68,000 ANA miles in business.
United would charge 60,000 miles in coach and 100,000 miles in business.
ANA saves you 17,000 miles in coach and 32,000 miles in business for the same flight.
-A trip on United from Newark to Tel Aviv and back is a distance of 11,384 miles and thus will cost 60,000 ANA miles in coach and 90,000 ANA miles in business.
United would charge 80,000 miles in coach and 120,000 miles in business.
ANA saves you 20,000 miles in coach and 30,000 miles in business for the same flight.
-A trip on United from Los Angeles to Sydney and back is a distance of 14,976 miles and thus will cost 65,000 ANA miles in coach and 105,000 ANA miles in business.
United would charge 80,000 miles in coach and 135,000 miles in business.
ANA saves you 15,000 miles in coach and 30,000 miles in business for the same flight.
I don’t have enough miles in my ANA account so based on a tip from a commenter yesterday I called them (800-235-9262) to verify the taxes due. For all 4 of those flights the taxes were right in line with United.com award pricing which also has no fuel surcharges. Taxes to Tel Aviv were about $40, Paris about $80, Sydney about $130, and London about $170. These are government mandated taxes however, not fuel surcharges.
Best of all you can have up to 4 stopovers on an ANA award booking, so you can check out multiple cities on a single award.
I did check for flights on Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic and those flights still have whopping “fuel surcharges” of over $1,000.
Things to bear in mind:
-Only Saver awards can be booked. To find availability from Newark to Tel Aviv on United or Philadelphia to Tel Aviv on USAirways just search on United.com for award travel and check the box for nonstop flights only. Remember than ANA can only book dates with saver award availability.
-Transfers to ANA are not instant. From Membership Rewards they can take 2 days and from Starwood they can take from 2-10 days. There is no way to hold an award ticket with ANA without miles already in your account.
-Miles expire after 36 months regardless of activity.
-Collections of fuel surcharges can change at any time.
-Date changes are free.
-Cancellations will cost 3,000 miles.
-There are no expedite/close-in fees.
-One-way awards are not allowed but there are “workarounds” for that that people have used and discussed on DDF.
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Want to start collecting ANA miles? Here are some credit cards with points that will transfer to ANA:
Consumer cards:
-American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card
-The Platinum Card® from American Express
-Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Business cards:
The Gold card has a 75K signup bonus for this week only.
-The Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN
-Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN
-Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN
1
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:37 pm
why check of nonstop? does ANA only work with nonstop United and us airways flights
2
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:39 pm
@Davidd:
Other airlines will incur a fuel surcharge.
Though if you fly United across the pond, say to Frankfurt, and then Lufthansa just from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv the fuel surcharge will likely be pretty small.
3
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:40 pm
there’s a difference in the amount of points charged if you you book on united.com or if you book by phone?
4
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Does ANA charge YQ on all other *A partners besides US & UA?
5
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Can you send the link to DDF that talks about the workaround for 1 way awards ?
6
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Dan but what about United or US airways flights to Israel with a stopover but there United or US airways flights on all legs of the trip? Is there no such flights?
7
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:54 pm
@chanie:
No.
@HoKo:
As far as I know, though I did not take the time to check them all.
If you do let us know
@Joseph:
Not gonna make it that easy, sorry. Feel free to search there!
@Davidd:
There aren’t for Israel, but see comment #2.
8
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:55 pm
can you transfer from sapphire preferred?
9
January 23rd, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Hi Dan, can I book domestic with ana? if yes, will it be only 20000 miles nyc/lax roundtrip? and can I stop over in las vegas?
Thank you, I’m a big fan of your site, can’t tell you how many deals I bought,I just never redeemed miles yet.
10
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:01 pm
@Danfan:
No.
@Sara:
You can book domestic and you can stopover, but your math is way off.
JFK-LAX-JFK is 4,950 miles and thus would cost a whopping 38,000 miles in coach. No deal!
11
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:03 pm
How would this work if I would want to book on ana and fly in united from toronto via Newark to tel aviv?
12
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:04 pm
@Danfan:
Nope.
@Sara:
No, JFK-LAX-JFK will be 38,000 RT.
13
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:05 pm
@TO flyer:
You can definitely do that!
Toronto-Newark-Tel Aviv-Newark-Toronto is 12,079 miles and would thus cost the same rate as Newark-Tel Aviv-Newark.
14
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Sorry for simple question – if any flight to israel is available on united does that mean i can book with ANA? if not which flights would work- thanks
15
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Is this is a mistake and will end shortly, or is it here to stay for the time being? Any chance there’s no YQ on other *A members?
16
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:07 pm
@AJK:
Too slow
@mike:
” -Only Saver awards can be booked. To find availability from Newark to Tel Aviv on United or Philadelphia to Tel Aviv on USAirways just search on United.com for award travel and check the box for nonstop flights only. Remember than ANA can only book dates with saver award availability.”
@AsherO:
Good question.
It doesn’t seem like a mistake. The rep even called the rates desk to verify the tax charge and they confirmed the system autoprice with no fuel surcharges.
But ultimately it’s impossible to know what will happen in the future.
It’s definitely possible that this applies to other Star Alliance airlines, I just don’t have the time/patience to manually call about a flight for each one.
17
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:13 pm
@Dan: Indeed
I’d hate to xfer to ANA only for the YQ to be reinstituted.
I’m gonna wait a couple of weeks to see how this plays out. But for someone who needs to make a booking right now, it seems like a great play, especially for an EU trip with 4 (!) stopovers.
Also: Another thing to bear in mind — no changes whatsoever after departure.
18
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:15 pm
If I am getting these comments right a flight from MIA to Newark is 1088 miles so to fly MIA-EWR-TLV-EWR would be 13,560 and still cost only 60k?
19
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:17 pm
@AJK:
What about changes before departure?
20
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:23 pm
@AJK:
Make sense.
Source for no changes after departure?
@mike:
MIA-EWR-TLV-EWR-MIA is 13,555 and would indeed cost just 60K.
@AsherO:
Date changes are free.
21
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:24 pm
@mike:
Correct.
You could even do MIA-EWR-TLV-EWR-MIA for the same price.
@AsherO:
You can make changes before. See OP.
22
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Is it possible to hold ticket with ANA?
23
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:37 pm
@Joeb1:
Read the OP: “There is no way to hold an award ticket with ANA without miles already in your account.”
24
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:10 pm
What does ANA chrage for an infant?
25
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:20 pm
So to confirm I can transfer AMEX 60k points to ANA fly via UNITED – NYC to TLV for 60k and not 80k with the same availability as UNITED.com?
26
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:23 pm
@LB:
I think 10% of the regular fare, but if you call post the results.
@Mark:
Correct.
Same goes for USAir’s flight from Philly.
27
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:24 pm
WOW! so Amex valued up!!!
28
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Does a stopover make it cost more miles or does the amount go based on the origin to destination. For example would EWR to LHR with a stopover in IAD cost more?
29
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:17 pm
1 – Can I transfer Delta Skymiles to ANA? If yes, at what ratio?
2 – How likely that I can book 2 award tickets on ANA for July on the same exact flight (for a couple)?
30
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:21 pm
so after you transfer the MR points to ANA, and the super saver flight disappears you lose everything?
31
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:26 pm
@Fan of Dan:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=ewr-iad-lhr-iad-ewr
That’s 7,778 miles which will cost 43K in coach.
@Chaim with a capitol C:
No.
Search on United.com for saver award flights.
@yosele:
Lose everything?
You’ll have 3 years to find another flight.
32
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:31 pm
It seems that in July there are no Saver tickets available.
United wants 150,000 miles round-trip to TLV instead of 80,000.
33
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:32 pm
USAirways has 3 levels of award tickets. ANA will only work with the lowest?
34
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:38 pm
@Chaim with a capitol C:
Typically award tickets don’t open up until a couple months before the flight, especially for peak season.
@Chaim with a capitol C:
Search for USAirways flight on United.com as I write in the post.
35
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:43 pm
@Dan: i\
(just kidding)
I’m just curious- was it my comment yesterday (in the post about cheap Newark/San Fran flights) that tipped you off to this? I didn’t see an honorable mention of that in your post
We should meet sometime, I am a fellow Ctown guy. Where do you daven (if you don’t mind my asking?)
36
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:50 pm
So if I am considering using this (live near EWR) at some point, do you think it makes sense to transfer a tiny amount of MR points to have the hold option in the future? How long can you hold a reservation with some points in the account?
37
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:56 pm
@ANA Surcharges:
Indeed, I only mentioned you in passing because you didn’t leave a name or DDF handle
I daven at Chabad of Beachwood, feel free to stop by on a shabbos and introduce yourself as the ANA guy
@Tubulus:
You need to have enough points to make the booking to hold the booking.
Pointless, I know!
Though having 100 points in your account is enough to use their very good Star Alliance award search engine.
38
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Does ANA have any close in booking fees and what is their change policy
39
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:08 pm
@dave:
From the above post:
-Date changes are free.
-Cancellations will cost 3,000 miles.
-There are no expedite/close-in fees.
I hope this answers your question.
40
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:08 pm
@Tubulus:
You can only make a hold if you have the FULL amount of the miles in your account- all 60k unfortunately. It’s a little annoying because it takes 2-3 days for the points to transfer from AMEX.
41
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Sorry. I didn’t realize that by checking “non-stop flights only” it will be searching USAirways too. It’s not clear from United.com that that’s what is happening.
42
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:42 pm
@dave: Yup their fees are astronomical, however if you want for $100 I can get them to waive it for you. Send me an email at IDon’tReadThePosts@bonehead.com
43
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:50 pm
@Dan:
My DDF handle is CtownBin. And of course, I’m glad I was able to help in finding out about the deal- I was checking out a United flight return from Zurich (stop-off after leaving Israel) only because there was no USAirways flight on that day, hoping that maybe the fuel surcharge wouldn’t be too bad if it was only one-way on United and the other on USAirways. I was stunned when the agent said no fuel surcharge, though she thought it might be a temporary glitch…
Hope to catch you at Chabad!
44
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Any idea on if it is risky to transfer Amex points from my account and my wife’s account to my ANA account?
Any guidance on whether such a transfer (from spouse’s MR to my ANA account) would be permissible?
Would hate for such a transfer to be declined and have 75k odd MR points orphaned in ANA….
Also the threat of bait and switch with YQ while waiting is scary
45
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:25 pm
@asfasdfa:
No problem and no risk with MR points.
Even if they do bring back YQ on United at some point I don’t think they will bring back YQ on USAir flights.
46
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:27 pm
For the starwood business card, if i put in my starwood number, will i get the signup bonus? I know sometimes if you already have an account with some cards, they dont give you the bonus.
47
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:46 pm
Hi Dan, ANA is charging based on distance between departure and arrival cities, rather than BA’s segment by segment?
48
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:48 pm
@Danfan:
If you had the business card before use a new number. If you haven’t then there’s no need.
@Andy F.:
Correct.
49
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Help I just tried my first 2bm ever and on one of them it went through and on one it says systems not responding. Will this mean I will get two credit pulls if I keep trying for the second one? How much time do i have?
50
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:03 pm
Just tried another browser and it isnt working. Any suggestions? Should I call? The one thats not working is the gold card.
51
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:12 pm
You said something about them allowing up to 4 stopovers, but then said that if its not direct, then there will be a fuel surcharge. Would it still be worth it to use them with the stopovers?
52
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:34 pm
@Danfan:
Wrong post.
Post in the right post or on DDF please.
@mmmizme:
The main fuel surcharge are for the flights over the Atlantic or Pacific. On shorter flights it’s usually small.
53
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:52 pm
So the longer segments should be on united?
54
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:53 pm
@mmmizme:
Or USAirways.
55
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:22 pm
One part I don’t understand – why do I need to select “non-stop”? As long as the stop won’t make the trip more than 14,000 miles it’ll still be only 60,000 miles bec segments don’t matter, correct?
56
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:28 pm
can you actually book the flight from ewr to tlv (through united) on the ana website or only by phone?
57
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:31 pm
@hunch:
The reason to select non-stop is so that only United (or USAirways if searching from Philly) flights will show up in the search results. If you want to stop-off, you can- the surcharge should still be pretty small as long as the trans-ocean flights are United or USAirways. But if your search includes stops you will need to wade through many other search results which will NOT have United/USAirways trans-ocean flights to find the ones that do.
58
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:34 pm
If i am an authorized user on this card can i use the miles or only the primary cardholder?
59
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:36 pm
@Bruce:
You can always try the website first- apparently ANA is known for having the most available options show up on their search. And if it shows up, you should be able to book online. However, in my experience, there are many flights which actually do NOT show up as available on ANA’s website, even if they do on united or aeroplan. For those, you will need to call up to book- but the agents are accommodating and if you have exact flights ready it shouldn’t take long.
60
January 23rd, 2013 at 8:31 pm
I have 180k ANA points that are expiring soon. anywhere it can be transferred to?
61
January 23rd, 2013 at 9:07 pm
where can i find their fare rules for ward tickets?
62
January 23rd, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Hi, I am new to this website, it’s great! I am very ignorant when it comes to the concept of opening credit cards, getting miles… I’d like to fly to Florida from Newark for few days around Presidents’ Day and was wondering the cheapest way to do this? Do I open a certain credit card that will get me miles then use miles? How do I know which Credit card is best? Any ideas Mr. Dan?
63
January 23rd, 2013 at 10:38 pm
When you say “infant fare is 10% of a regular fare” what is a regular fare? How can I figure that fare out?
Thanks
64
January 24th, 2013 at 2:31 am
@Samuel:
This means 10% of a full paid fare, and it is payable in cash and not in miles- even if the adults are flying on an award ticket. Depending on destination and time of year, these can get quite steep- you’re probably better off using Aeroplan miles (for only one of the adults to accompany the infant)as they only charge a flat rate of a paltry $50 in coach for an infant.
65
January 24th, 2013 at 8:53 am
@Malkab:You will never get the miles fast enough for a trip so soon. You have to apply for the card,get the card, use the card, get a statement, have the award credited to your account before you could use the miles. I would start pricing out the flights sooner than later for a popular flying time and buy it now.The price will go up as the date approaches.
66
January 24th, 2013 at 11:03 am
I’ve started with ANA a few years ago already, and I have 2 more things to keep in mind, 1) no one ways (though you can do multi city if returning to your departure city), 2) no bookings, changes or cancelations allowed within 7 days of departure.
One good thing they have, if you fly with children on a star alliance member e.g. United, instead of crediting the flown miles to seperate United accounts (which are sometimes worthless), you can pool them together in a household account (although you dont always get 100% miles).
67
January 24th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
@ANA Surcharges:
Thanx for the explanation
68
January 24th, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Watch out on redemptions involving the UK (LHR). They have a luxury tax on airfares so it adds $200-$300 in tax for C & F.One needs to open jaw the return from say AMS.
69
January 24th, 2013 at 2:20 pm
am i stupid? i cant find anyway to book a flight to Israel on ana’s website, they dont have it as one of their locations
70
January 24th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
to hawaii is this cheaper
71
January 24th, 2013 at 4:20 pm
when i click on the link to sign up for starwoods amex card
it only offers 10k miles how can I get 25k?
72
January 24th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
@Sam:
You need miles in your account to search partners.
@yo:
Probably not.
@sam f:
It’s 10K for spending $1 and another 15K for spending $5K in 6 months.
If you don’t see that then see here:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/27977/comment-page-1#comment-219444
73
January 24th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
the starwood links do not work.
74
January 24th, 2013 at 8:07 pm
@Eli:
“Having problems seeing card offers? Getting a “card not available” or other error message? Read this!
1. Try using another browser (IE, Firefox, or Chrome) to see the offer.
2. You can try deleting your browser’s cache and cookies to see the offers. To do so just hold down the Ctrl, Shift, and Delete buttons on your keyboard and then delete your cache and cookies.
3. You can also try browsing “incognito” or “in-private” to see the offers. In IE and Firefox you can access this mode by holding down Ctrl, Shift, and P buttons on your keyboard. In Chrome you can access this mode by holding down Ctrl, Shift, and N. Then just return to DansDeals.com and click on the card offer you want.
-Just fill out the standard application. Don’t click for the shorter existing cardmember application or you may not get the best offer.”
75
January 24th, 2013 at 8:19 pm
thanx
i was just told i will not be getting the delta 30k because i had a delta card open within the last 12 months. how do you keep on doing this without this problem?
76
January 24th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Dan, what about ANA not allowing you to book within 4 days?
77
January 26th, 2013 at 10:27 am
This is bogus. I called two different ANA reps and both still showed heavy fuel surcharges for united flights.
Has anyone actually confirmed this to be working?
78
January 29th, 2013 at 8:51 am
Dan one thing I am still not clear about; if my goal is to book a flight from Newark to Israel using Amex points is it better to transfer AMEX points to ANA and use those miles to book a United flight or to transfer the Amex miles to Air Canada and then try and book a United flight. Since in both scenarios they are united flights so no fuel surcharges right?, so which is the better option? any advantages of one over the other? or is there a better option i am missing
79
January 29th, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Dan, Can you convert Air Canada miles to United miles? if so what is the ratio?
80
February 7th, 2013 at 11:23 am
I am sort of new to Dan’s Deals. Great service, and thanks but I am trying to use ANA miles and wondered is anyone having trouble booking tickets through ana. I have tried up to 6 months in advance to get to Israel. I hope this wasn;t a rip off.
81
February 7th, 2013 at 11:57 am
@yessir:
Not bogus, still works.
What route did you try?
@Davidd:
ANA is less miles.
@Davidd:
No.
@chaya:
Check United.com for saver availability and then call ANA.
82
February 13th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Hi Dan, I’m interested in flying with my family to Israel to do a Bar Mitzvah trip in August. I’m on a very tight budget. (6 people. and if the extended family decide to come it could be 15-20 people) I know the price is now $1100-1500 pp. I saw a deal a few weeks ago for $692 pp traveling Aug 19-28 through Orbitz (with a stopover in Amsterdam). My dates were 1 day off because his actual Bar Mitzvah day would be Aug20 and we would’ve been on an airplane for that. We chose to hold-off. I feel terrible that I missed that deal.
Do you foresee another $400-800 pp deal in August again, or prices staying the same, or going up? (I would like to book before May.)
83
February 13th, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Dan, Also, what you advise is the cheapest way to fly there, then? ANA miles? Flying Blue? just wait?
84
February 18th, 2013 at 1:55 pm
if i want to fly nyc-lhr rt and onlt thing open is too fly back through IAD, does that add to my distance?
85
March 4th, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Dan just called ANA rep who said they are charging fuel surcharges on United flights and that the policy changes day to day based on what United tells them. I think we need a new post to provide some clarification as lot of people might transfer AMEX points to ANA hoping to fly United only to be slammed with fuel surcharges.
86
March 4th, 2013 at 4:28 pm
@Davidd:
What route and how much were they?
87
March 4th, 2013 at 5:23 pm
newark to tel aviv rep said somewhere around $300 dollars but said it could change on a day to day basis. could this be so changeable. it might not be worth for people to take such a risk?
88
March 5th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Dan would you consider a new post on transferring AMEX points to ANA as the fuel surcharge issue on United is a big issue for us flying from new york area to tel aviv. Any clarity or confirmation of these day to day changes. Maybe a transfer to Air Canada is a safer bet(no fuel surcharges) to book United from newark to tel aviv Thanks
89
March 5th, 2013 at 6:37 pm
@Davidd:
You were misinformed.
The current surcharge on United for EWR-TLV is $44 round-trip.
90
March 5th, 2013 at 10:08 pm
Are these flight operated by ANA? If so, just be warned that the seats are not built for Americans. I had to sit with my knees up against the seat in front of me the entire way to Tokyo on an ANA airplane. It’s about as painful as you can imagine.
91
March 5th, 2013 at 10:14 pm
@Shayt:
No.
ANA flights have fuel surcharges.
United and USAirways flights (pictured) do not.
92
March 5th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
I dont have amex points or card. can Chase UR points work?
where is best to use chase UR for NY-TLV-NY? Which airline w lowest cost of miles/tax?
Thank you
93
March 5th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
dan how long does it take to transfer UR MR and starwood to ana??
94
March 5th, 2013 at 10:53 pm
@Moshe:
For UR the options are BA Avios for travel on Air Berlin or United for travel across the Star Alliance with no fuel surcharges.
@mo:
MR to ANA is a couple days.
SPG to ANA is anywhere from 2-12 days.
95
March 5th, 2013 at 10:56 pm
I booked a domestic ticket today via ANA on UA metal and they charged $72 per ticket. The rep seemed confused as well but there was nothing she can do she tried talking to ticketing but for some reason they kept pricing it at $72.
96
March 5th, 2013 at 10:58 pm
Hi Dan
What’s the direct link to make a mileage booking on Ana.com I’m having trouble finding
In other words just need the link to book an united flight via Ana milage
97
March 5th, 2013 at 11:00 pm
@Mikeoracle:
Strange. Did you try booking online?
What route?
@Nathan:
https://aswbe-i.ana.co.jp/p_per/sky_ip_per_en/preAwdSearchLogin.do
Login required. You need sufficient miles to view taxes.
98
March 5th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
@Dan: It was for ord-avp-ord. Booking was done online but it couldnt calculate taxes so I got a booking# and had to call to complete. (They actually called my house and left a message to call within 3 days to complete the booking).
When on the phone the agent said the fees varied but was herself confused at the high amount. They even offered to transfer the points back to Amex (including 36k from 3 years ago but then they realized those were from SPG not MR).
99
March 5th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
@Mikeoracle:
You didn’t have 20K United to use for that? I can’t understand why Newark to London, Paris, Tel Aviv, and Sydney have no fuel surcharge but Chicago-Wilkes Barre does. Weird!
They couldn’t transfer it back to SPG? Just if it was MR?
100
March 5th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
@Dan: The ANA were expiring in a month so I wanted to get rid of them first.
She said SPG transfers are one way, but MR they wouldve been able to reverse.
101
March 6th, 2013 at 1:07 am
if ANA is star alliance, any reason UR cant be transferred to ANA?
checked united awards schedule, very little available for June – Sept. If calling united to create something hard to do on line (stop over, long), would fee be waived since cant get it online?
102
March 6th, 2013 at 10:53 am
Dan I don’t understand what a one-way workaround is do you care to explain or send me a link to DDF where this is discussed?
Thanks
103
March 6th, 2013 at 11:54 am
only amex transfers to ana?
104
March 6th, 2013 at 12:27 pm
@Dan:
THANKS DO U NEED TO HAVE MILES IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO JUST BE ABLE TO C PARTNER BOOKING SINCE IM TRYING BUT ALL THE LET ME BOOK IS ONLY ANA FLIGHS X PARTNER(UNITED) ETC
ANY ADVICE
105
March 6th, 2013 at 1:26 pm
HI DAN
WHERE WOULD I FIND MORE INFO ON “WORKAROUND”(A one-way “workaround” to Tel Aviv) IN THE FORUMS OR ON THE WEBSITE.I DONT KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS AND I SEE IT BRINGS THE MILEAGE COST MUCH CHEAPER
THANKS FOR ALL.
106
March 6th, 2013 at 3:57 pm
@ danfan573 & bubble347
A one way workaround is for people that need a one way ticket only. ANA only lets you book a return flight. But you can for instance return from Montreal. That’s much less miles than a regular return flight…..
107
March 6th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
@Dan – even weirder – if you calculate a domestic ticket online roundtrip in economy, it can’t calculate the taxes and when you call in, they tell you there are fees (not YQ – just various significant taxes).
If you price out a roundtrip domestic ticket one way in economy and one way in business, it calculates online as $5.00 total in fees and is bookable online without any problems.
When I pointed this out to an agent, she couldn’t explain it but also was not able to waive any fees as they are taxes and are needed to ticket the award.
108
March 6th, 2013 at 6:01 pm
can i transfer star alliance (air canada) to ANA points to book a ticket from philadelphia usair to tel aviv? how many points will transfer?
109
March 6th, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Dan please help! I am trying to follow all of your guidance, but I’m not sure how best to book a flight from Newark to LA. I have some United miles and some SPG points. The flight I prefer is on Virgin. Should I transfer SPG points to the Virgin Elevate program? Or something else with this ANA thing? Should I save the points because they are better spent on longer flights (I need a ticket to Tel Aviv in the summer). Please advise! Thanks!
110
March 6th, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Will call AA to match it and will fly to thailand.
just tell ANA has this deal to AA and they should match
111
March 6th, 2013 at 8:15 pm
dan – I’m not sure which post to ask this question, I have a ba miles ticket booked on aa from lga-dtt Mar 7 440p, was supposed to fly out tomorrow, but was pushed to friday mar8, due to weather, as its erev shabbos and I would have to leave with my family 5am friday to airport (im in lakewood, rush hour traffic), is there any way I can change the ticket for PHL-DTT on United? It seems from Orbitz they still have avail. Then I can do thurs night, I called BA but theyre closed.
I dont know why, but aa told me it a United tktm I called United and they can’t find it on their systems.
112
March 7th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
Is there someone that can personally help find the best way to use your miles/amx points to help plan a trip? I know that I would be glad to pay someone to help me. Thanks.
113
March 8th, 2013 at 12:22 am
Dan, would you please check for me what the fuel surcharge would be if I use ANA miles on Air China for domestic flights between Shanghai and Beijing? I do not have enough ANA miles to check. Thank you in advance!
114
March 8th, 2013 at 11:04 am
Can anyone give example of 4 stopovers plz?
115
March 8th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
If anyone has access to ANA partner award booking site, can anyone provide a rough estimate of fees/surcharges on a roundtrip Air New Zealand flight from SYD-AKL?
116
March 8th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
@Jonathan.
It says 22,000 miles, and xxx on taxes. Either it doesn’t calculate the taxes, or it is free. I’m not sure.
I was able to press next, but I didn’t want to give my cc info.
117
March 8th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
@LI
It is 20,000 miles and $61 USD.
118
March 8th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
@Hesh
Thanks!
119
March 17th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Hi Dan, thanks for all the info – great resource, but am still confused how to book stopover on ANA.
I am trying to do EWR-HKG-PVG-EWR, with HKG as the stopover, but ANA only has search options for roundtrip or segments. Nothing shows up when I try to book segments even though on Air Canada I see an itinerary for 75K. Any advise on how I can define stop-over?
120
March 19th, 2013 at 5:20 pm
Could anyone provide source for “No changes after departure”? Any experience? Thanks.
121
April 9th, 2013 at 3:57 pm
so areoplan points transfer to ana? how do i transfer them. thanx!
122
April 16th, 2013 at 4:00 am
Dan,
I’ve got 108,000 SPG points and 135,000 points now stuck in Miles & More. I’m trying to book our honeymoon flight from Texas > Paris and then from Spain > SFO… The problem I have is that I’m stuck with limited availability and Lufthansa charging $$$ in fuel charges. Any advice? I thought about transferring the rest of my remaining SPG miles to ANA and looking for United flights to hopefully avoid the surcharge… If only I could get my miles back from Miles & More.
123
May 7th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
Dan,
Looking at points guy research using ANA points on Air Canada the surcharges and taxes from Montreal to geneva RT were under $100. I called ANA to price a ticket ATL-YYZ-TLV and return TLV-YYZ-ATL. The miles required were 60K however the taxes and charges were $700. I asked her if the taxes were fuel surcharges and she said they were security charges which did not make any sense. I cannot price this ticket on ANA website as i don’t have 6Ok miles deposited. Like you said it prices differently. Can you price out the taxes for this flight? I thought the taxes should have come in under $100 or so.