Flying to Tokyo in ANA’s business class is a dream redemption for all of us, made even sweeter by using points. We found that you can book a round-trip ANA business class flight to Tokyo for 105,000 points (plus minimal fees) by using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Here’s How it Works
Virgin Atlantic has a partnership with ANA, and according to its award chart, All Nippon Airways business class seats from the U.S. West Coast to Japan cost just 52,500 points each way.
So a round-trip is 105k points – an incredible deal given the distance and product quality. That same round-trip in ANA’s business class could easily cost over $5,000 in cash. We’re getting roughly 4.8 cents per point in value by using points instead of money.
ANA The Room Business Class to Tokyo
On routes to Tokyo, especially from major gateways, you might get ANA’s newest business class seat called “The Room” (available on select Boeing 777-300ER aircraft). ANA The Room business class suites are among the best in the world – they’re incredibly wide (you could literally sit two people side by side) and each has a door, giving you a private mini-cabin in the sky.
Even if you end up on ANA’s slightly older business class seats, you’ll still enjoy a lie-flat seat in a 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access for every passenger.
The ANA business experience embodies Japanese hospitality: expect courteous, meticulous service from the flight attendants, delicious multi-course meals (you can usually choose Japanese-style cuisine or Western options), and high-quality amenities.
ANA provides amenity kits with items like eye masks, earplugs, dental kits and skincare products, and on long-haul flights they even offer business class pajamas (available on request) to make your overnight journey more comfortable. From the comfortable ANA 777 business class cabin lighting to little touches like warm oshibori towels and tasty sake or champagne, flying ANA to Tokyo in business class is a joy from start to finish.
How to Book ANA Business Class Tokyo Flights Using Virgin Atlantic Points
Now, the booking process for ANA business class via Virgin Atlantic does have a few twists, but we’ll guide you through.
ANA tends to release award seats close-in, often just a few days to a couple of weeks before departure. If you plan a Tokyo trip far in advance, you might not see seats immediately; patience and checking regularly are important.
We search for award space (the ANA Mileage Club site or tools like United’s search can show ANA availability). When we spot a business class seat on ANA that fits our schedule, we call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book it. Yes, this one’s old school – Virgin Atlantic requires a phone call to redeem points on ANA, since you can’t book ANA awards on Virgin’s website.
The call is usually quick and the agents are familiar with the process: we tell them the ANA flights we found, and they deduct 105,000 Virgin points for the round-trip (or 52,500 for one-way, but ANA awards via Virgin must be round-trip for the best deal). We also pay the taxes and surcharges, which are generally quite reasonable (much lower than fuel surcharges on some other carriers).
Before you know it, our points are spent and we have a confirmed ANA business flight Tokyo reservation in hand.
