FirstClassFlyer

Miles: If you can’t collect ‘em, buy ‘em — with a little-used strategy anyone can leverage. You can save up to $8,464 / 84% in Business Class too.

All Nippon’s First Class suite has become much more accessible lately thanks to a stunning buy-miles deal through its Virgin Atlantic partnership — plus new rules that allow you to book one-way awards.

While the most recent window of opportunity has partly closed, rest assured it’ll open again if you didn’t leverage FCF’s Sweet Redeems, letting in some refreshing low-priced breeze. So be ready to pounce. The strategy outlined here will put you ahead of the curve so you’ll be ready when the opportunity strikes.

***If you’re an Amex, Chase, or Citi points collector, you can take advantage of the special First Class opportunity now.

Sky-High Fare Equals Great Mileage Opportunity

For the Washington, DC-Tokyo route, published First Class fares are normally $17,400 to $20,400 round-trip, making this a prime route for using miles — whether you have any or not. The mileage cost starts at 150,000 miles during low and shoulder season, and reaches up to 165,000 miles in high season through All Nippon.

Also note that All Nippon has never offered one-way awards in the past, but now they’re allowing partners to do so. At a very low price, in this case, it’s Virgin.

[table_opt id="6290" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="narrow" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

All Nippon Connections to/from Asia with Their First Class Suite

Flights using miles are available to/from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to/from Tokyo.

If flying beyond Tokyo, All Nippon’s destinations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East can be added for more miles.

All Nippon Airways Route Map on FlightConnections.com

[table_opt id="6291" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="narrow" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

No All Nippon Miles? No Problem.

Up until April 30, there was a buy-miles bonus deal offered by Virgin Atlantic of up to 50%. That got you as many as 223,500 Virgin miles for as little as $4,048 (including a $25 fee). A 50% bonus yields a cost-per-mile of 1.8¢. An amazing value.

If you didn’t keep this strategy in your front pocket for your next trip to Asia, you can buy miles — anytime — through Amex Membership Rewards for 2.5 cents each and transfer them to Virgin Atlantic. Check out How to Buy American Express Membership Rewards Points, and When to Buy Miles Instead of Purchasing a Normal Published Fare.

The Virgin buy-miles purchase limit is 100,000, so if you need more miles, follow our guide to getting around the purchase limits here. Before you can buy miles with Virgin, you must have made at least one Flying Club transaction.

The good news is that if you have Amex, Chase, or Citi points, you can transfer them to Virgin Atlantic miles to get these deals as well. FYI, transfer time from Amex to ANA is often instantaneous.

Bargains Galore to Tokyo for Buying Miles, Sale or Not

[table_opt id="6292" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

[table_opt id="6293" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

Take a long look at San Francisco-Tokyo in the chart above. The First Class award cost is 110,000 miles. If you buy them when on sale with partner Virgin, the cost is $1,980. Compare that to the regular published fare: a staggering $22,500. That’s a 91% difference.

I’ll take that any day. Or you can buy through Amex to get equally Mount Fuji-esque savings of between 85% and 88%.

All Nippon’s First Class Seat Offered from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco

The First Square features eight semi-enclosed suites (no privacy doors) on B777-300ERs, arranged in a 1x2x1 layout. Each has its own closet, a 77-inch-long lie-flat seat, and a 23-inch-wide LCD monitor. Experience the suite details in all their glory here. At the moment, the special availability of First Class seats at this low price is not available from New York.

[table_opt id="6294" style="gray-header" header_rows="2" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

The Business Class Opportunity

The First Class opportunity is a much better value, but might not be available for dates you will be happy with. In this case, know that Business Class flights are available to/from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, to/from Tokyo with this approach.

Published Business Class Fares are normally between $10,600 and $11,600 to Tokyo from Washington, DC, round-trip, making this once again a prime opportunity for massive savings.

The cost starts at 75,000 during low season, 85,000 miles in shoulder season, and 90,000 miles in high season with All Nippon and 90,000 to 95,000 using Virgin Atlantic miles.

[table_opt id="6295" style="gray-header" header_rows="2" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

Need-To-Knows When Using Virgin Atlantic Miles

For more information about credit card partnerships, transfer bonuses available throughout the year, and mileage award taxes, go here.

For more information about Virgin Atlantic partners, go here.

Note that All Nippon flights can’t be booked online with Virgin, so you’ll need to call 1-800-862-8621. Use FCF's treasure maps above to zero-in on the available clusters before calling.

Further reading about booking in advance, and All Nippon:

Pro Tips and Tricks on Booking Mileage Tickets Way in Advance and How to Strike While the Iron

The Secret First Class Workaround to United’s Poor Award Availability to Asia

[["To\/From Tokyo","ANA Miles Cost","Virgin Miles Cost","United Miles Cost","Air Canada Miles Cost"],["Chicago","One-Ways Not Available","60,000","121,000","110,000"],["Houston","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Los Angeles","#rowspan#","55,000","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["San Francisco","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"]]

[["To\/From Tokyo","ANA Miles Cost","Virgin Miles Cost","United Miles Cost","Air Canada Miles Cost"],["Chicago","Not Available","47,500","88,000","70,000"],["Houston","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Los Angeles","#rowspan#","45,000","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["San Francisco","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Washington, DC","#rowspan#","47,500","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"]]

[["To\/From Tokyo","Buy Miles Partner","First Class Award Cost","Cost Per Mile When On Sale","Total Cost for First Class R\/T","Regular Published Fare R\/T","Difference","#colspan#"],["Chicago","Virgin","120,000","1.8 Cents","$2,160","$21,311","$19,151","90%"],["Houston","#rowspan#","120,000","#rowspan#","$2,160","$22,781","$20,621","91%"],["Los Angeles","#rowspan#","110,000","#rowspan#","$1,980","$20,400","$18,240","89%"],["San Francisco","#rowspan#","110,000","#rowspan#","$1,980","$22,500","$20,520","91%"]]

[["Tokyo To\/From","Buy Points Partner","First Class Award Cost","Cost Per Point (Anytime)","Total Cost for First Class R\/T","Regular Published Fare R\/T","Difference","#colspan#"],["Chicago","Amex","120,000","2.5 Cents","$3,000","$21,311","$18,311","86%"],["Houston","#rowspan#","120,000","#rowspan#","$3,000","$22,781","$19,781","87%"],["Los Angeles","#rowspan#","110,000","#rowspan#","$2,750","$20,400","$17,400","85%"],["San Francisco","#rowspan#","110,000","#rowspan#","$2,750","$22,500","$19,750","88%"]]

[["First Class","Tokyo To\/From","Depart","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["All Nippon","Chicago","","Nov.","July to Oct., Dec. to March","Oct., Nov.","June","July to Sept., Dec. to March"],["#rowspan#","Houston","Oct.","Sept.","July, Aug.","Sept.","Oct.","July, Aug."],["#rowspan#","Los Angeles","June","Sept., Nov., March","July, Aug., Dec. to Feb.","Sept., Nov., Jan., March<\/span>","June, Aug., Feb.<\/span>","July, Dec. to March"],["#rowspan#","San Francisco","July,<\/span> Sept., Oct.","July, Aug., Dec.","Nov., Jan., Feb.","Aug., Sept., Feb., March<\/span>","July",""]]

*Months in black at least one seat available; in blue at least two seats.

[["Business Class","Tokyo To\/From","Depart","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["All Nippon","Chicago","Aug.,<\/span> Oct. to Dec., March<\/span>","July, Sept., Jan.<\/span>","Aug., Jan., Feb.,<\/span> March","Aug., Sept., Oct., <\/span>Nov., Dec.<\/span>","July, Sept., Oct., Dec., Jan., March<\/span>","Jan., Feb.,<\/span> March"],["#rowspan#","Houston","Aug.,<\/span> Sept., Nov.,<\/span> Dec.","July, Oct., Nov., Jan.<\/span>","Aug., Jan., Feb., March<\/span>","July, Aug., Sept.,<\/span> Dec., Jan.<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>","Aug. to Nov., Jan., Feb., March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Los Angeles","Nov., Dec., Jan., Feb.<\/span>","","Jan. to March","June","Dec., Jan. to March<\/span>","Jan. to March"],["#rowspan#","San Francisco","July, March","Feb.<\/span>","Aug., Jan., Feb.","July, Nov. to Jan.","Feb., March<\/span>","Feb., March"],["#rowspan#","Washington, DC","July, Aug.,<\/span> Sept., Feb.<\/span>","","Aug., Jan.","July, Feb., March<\/span>","Oct., Nov., Jan. to March","Aug., Sept., Dec."]]