Hi there, I've managed to get a First class seat with All Nippon Airways using Virgin Atlantic flying club miles. I'm just wondering if anyone has ever flown with them and what there experience was? Many thanks!
Hi Flyer787 - welcome to InsideFlyer! Unfortunately I haven't had chance to try it yet (though have considered the same redemption many times!). Everything I've read about it though, suggests that you're in for a truly spectacular flight, particularly in terms of the food and service. You're probably already aware that it isn't one of the most aesthetically beautiful First Class products out there (at least to my tastes), but in terms of comfort and privacy I doubt you'll have any complaints!
That's a great insight. Thank you for getting back to me. I'll document my journey and post a thread on my return. I'm still learning the site but it would be great if I could upload some pictures. Thanks!
No worries! Very much looking forward to the review - actually, given it's one of the last truly great 'sweetspot' redemptions (and therefore of interest to lots of readers who might miss it on the forum), would you be interested in having it published on the main front page as a full blog post?
Yes, I would love to post a review as I'm always taking photos of everything for my scrap book. I should be able to post it next month after my trip.
Timely... I'm trying to decide whether to scrounge together enough miles to fly J one way and F back. Or to just buy some miles and fly F both ways, even though it's a bit unnecessary for the overnight flight to Japan...
I've decided to fly from Frankfurt. It's a day time flight . All the London flights are evening flights. They're still both 11 hour flights oddly enough. Would have thought the Frankfurt flight would have been an hour shorter but I'm not complaining.
I didn't know you were able to do a split class redemption for ANA (assuming you're using Virgin Atlantic points), as I assumed that you had to do a return booking in the same class.
I couldn't do a split booking. I don't think you can do it with ANA. However, you can get the outbound or inbound with a partner airline i.e. Lufthansa / Air China if going directly with ANA. Out with ANA and back with Lufthansa would have been cool.
We're talking about VS miles here. You're definitely not getting a Lufthansa reward with VS miles. And ANA Mileage Club rules don't apply when using VS miles either.
Sorry, I meant if you were using ANA miles you could do First with Air China or Lufthansa on the outbound or inbound. It's actually easier to find First class tickets this way than it is to get a First Class return with ANA ironically.
I do love the ANA miles programme, but it's just so difficult to accumulate ANA miles... with the hard expiry policy to worry about on top.
Is there anyway you can collect them indirectly? E.g. collect them in one scheme and transfer them across. I haven't looked to much into it but out First with ANA and back First with Lufthansa would definitely be a great experience.
Once you've got miles with one airline, it's usually impossible to move them to a different airline. You simply have to do your award chart research in advance to know where to credit flights, etc. to earn specific miles. Marriott points are good for some flexibility, since you can convert them into dozens of different airline miles.
The comfort blew me away and the service was outstanding. The most comfortable journey ever! When the seat turns into a bed they put some kind of memory foam mattress down and it's just incredible. The huge space of the pod adds to the overall comfort. The Service was fantastic. Pretty much 4 air hostesses looking after you. When I'm in a cabin made for 8 and there's only me and another person it felt like I travelled alone and landed in Tokyo like a God. I was worried about the lack of windows to look out of. However, it wasn't that bad. If you lean forward a little you can see out of the two windows infront of you. But it's only good for take off and landing. Everytime I travel to Asia the whole route is pretty much clouded over anyway. So not much to see. To top it off I came back on a Star Wars themed ANA jet!
i had good experience with ANA even with economy! They are one of my favourite airlines. Clean Japanese toilet, i couldnt that they have temperature control toilet seats on air!
