Author Topic: ANA redemption on United (Read 86867 times)

SuperFlyer · « **Reply #20 on:** December 16, 2009, 05:17:39 PM »

I was asking about this part: PS: this rule that only family members are eligible for award tix, do they give a headache when booking?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #21 on:** December 16, 2009, 06:39:19 PM »

I believe you can only book for family members that are added to your profile and when I added my wife it went pretty easy even though we dont share the same last name, also they are pretty loose with the family relations you can add (in-laws both sides, up and down generations etc...) I cant tell you from experience but I would suggest to try adding random people to your profile as relatives and see if it works, once they are on I assume booking shouldnt be a problem.

Again, the above is not fact just my opinion FWIW.

hocker · « **Reply #22 on:** January 10, 2010, 08:58:35 PM »

i have 70k onepass what's the cheapest way to get to tlv? (besides 75k direct with co)

Dan · « **Reply #23 on:** January 10, 2010, 09:35:23 PM »

Quote from: hocker on January 10, 2010, 08:58:35 PM

i have 70k onepass what's the cheapest way to get to tlv? (besides 75k direct with co)

If it's already in CO Onepass the rate is 75K regardless of which airline you fly on.

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #24 on:** January 15, 2010, 08:42:41 AM »

So i called ANA inquiring about flights from ORD to TLV yesterday and the one that was available on the dates we wanted (Swiss Air to Zurich and Zurich to TLV) Round trip came out to $519.00 in taxes per person! Yeah, i hope some other availability opens up as we get closer to the dates we want to fly (April).

Also, i know that when you book using the ANA mileage reservation tool and there is a stopover, both legs need to be in the same class (i.e. both on economy or both on business...). It seems that the same would be true for both the outbound trip and the return trip should be in the same class. If i fly ORD to TLV with a stop in Zurich it would be 60,000 ANA miles in economy or 90,000 in Business.
Because ANA determines the cost of the award ticket by calculating the distance from your departing city to you destination city and then back...it would seem that i cant fly to TLV in economy and then fly back on business. If i do that ill be using 90,000 ANA miles and only getting business class going in one direction...Does that make sense? Is there any way around that?
Sorry if this is a little confusing.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #25 on:** January 15, 2010, 11:10:14 AM »

It seems according to their T&C's the whole itinerary goes according to the highest class even if some legs are in lower classes. I was going to suggest trying to book each way as its own itinerary (i.e. one way trips in different classes) but after adding up the mileage totals and the ANA award levels it would actually come out more than 90K for ORD-TLV RT booked each way seperately one way in E and one in B. Is there availability in B going there so you can at least get RT in B for 75K starpoints, possibly on a US carrier that has much lower fees?

Sorry, i would check myself, i just dont have my ANA login info with me now....

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #26 on:** January 15, 2010, 11:31:35 AM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on January 15, 2010, 11:10:14 AM

It seems according to their T&C's the whole itinerary goes according to the highest class even if some legs are in lower classes. I was going to suggest trying to book each way as its own itinerary (i.e. one way trips in different classes) but after adding up the mileage totals and the ANA award levels it would actually come out more than 90K for ORD-TLV RT booked each way seperately one way in E and one in B. Is there availability in B going there so you can at least get RT in B for 75K starpoints, possibly on a US carrier that has much lower fees?

Sorry, i would check myself, i just dont have my ANA login info with me now....

As of now there is very little availability. I was also told that the taxes and fees are more for a business class ticket than for an economy class ticket. Can anyone confirm that?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #27 on:** January 15, 2010, 11:46:57 AM »

I saw some people reporting that the taxes and fees on Award tickets can be estimated by checking a paid booking breakdown of fees and looking at the taxes and fuel charges portion.
The ITA Matrix website is a good place to start as you can go into the booking details and see the breakdown of any flight they show.

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #28 on:** January 16, 2010, 08:38:26 PM »

Question:
I am trying to see availability using *A from ORD to TLV on April 7 and returning April 18th. I would rather fly on a domestic airline to save the taxes and all. When i use the ANA award tool and search by a single airline (such as continental), it keeps saying "*We are sorry to inform you that there are no applicable direct or connecting flights. (W_B43)" I assume that is because continental would not be operating all four legs of the trip (there is always a stopover from ORD to TLV). It seems that no matter how i go, ill end up on an international airline. It seems strange to me because there are so many flights daily from ORD to EWR or JFK on *A airlines and there are *A airlines that are domestic airlines that fly from NYC to TLV (at least i think there are).

I havent transferred my *wood points to ANA yet...is there any other way to go (transfer my points somewhere else) that i would have so many airlines to choose availability from and would have a better chance of getting a domestic airline and not have to pay as much taxes?

Dan · « **Reply #29 on:** January 16, 2010, 09:35:39 PM »

Quote from: DAVID on January 16, 2010, 08:38:26 PM

Question:
I am trying to see availability using *A from ORD to TLV on April 7 and returning April 18th. I would rather fly on a domestic airline to save the taxes and all. When i use the ANA award tool and search by a single airline (such as continental), it keeps saying "*We are sorry to inform you that there are no applicable direct or connecting flights. (W_B43)" I assume that is because continental would not be operating all four legs of the trip (there is always a stopover from ORD to TLV). It seems that no matter how i go, ill end up on an international airline. It seems strange to me because there are so many flights daily from ORD to EWR or JFK on *A airlines and there are *A airlines that are domestic airlines that fly from NYC to TLV (at least i think there are).

I havent transferred my *wood points to ANA yet...is there any other way to go (transfer my points somewhere else) that i would have so many airlines to choose availability from and would have a better chance of getting a domestic airline and not have to pay as much taxes?

Continental has a very good Star Alliance search engine as well, have you tried theirs?
When searching for awards I always search for each leg separately.

There are at least 5 possible categories of airlines when it comes to fuel surcharges:

Category 1: Airlines that don't charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them generally do not collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel even if they DO charge a surcharge.
Example: AA, CO, UA, US, and LAN.

Category 2: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them, do collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does collect a fuel surcharge, but don't collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does not collect a fuel surcharge.
Example: ANA

Category 3: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them, but never collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel.
Example: Air Canada

Category 4: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them and DO collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does not collect a fuel surcharge.
Example: Air France.

Category 5: Airlines that don't charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them from specific countries:
Example: Delta (from Europe)

So you can transfer Starpoints to US and not pay any fuel surcharge even on Swiss, etc.

Air Canada only collects a fuel surcharge when flying on their own metal, but when booking Star Alliance awards I believe they do not collect the fuel surcharge. However Air Canada has a separate Star Alliance chart that makes tickets to Israel only a good rate when flying Air Canada.

My guess if that there are other Star carriers that have a similar policy to Air Canada though...
I know SAS just recently dropped the fuel surcharge on all their flights, no idea which category they fall under.

What we really need to do is categorize other foreign carriers into each of these categories. Anyone want to volunteer?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #30 on:** January 16, 2010, 11:25:44 PM »

Its weird that they dont come up with Co flights from ORD-TLV as there are definitely CO flights for all 4 legs on those dates. When I tried MKE-TLV on the ANA tool they did come up with some flights although no award availability currently....

Dan,
That is great info and we should definitely try to compile a list. Maybe you can start a wiki on the forum for members to add to?

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #31 on:** January 17, 2010, 10:35:44 AM »

Quote from: Dan on January 16, 2010, 09:35:39 PM

Continental has a very good Star Alliance search engine as well, have you tried theirs?
When searching for awards I always search for each leg separately.

There are at least 5 possible categories of airlines when it comes to fuel surcharges:

Category 1: Airlines that don't charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them generally do not collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel even if they DO charge a surcharge.
Example: AA, CO, UA, US, and LAN.

Category 2: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them, do collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does collect a fuel surcharge, but don't collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does not collect a fuel surcharge.
Example: ANA

Category 3: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them, but never collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel.
Example: Air Canada

Category 4: Airlines that DO charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them and DO collect the surcharge on alliance airline travel when the alliance carrier does not collect a fuel surcharge.
Example: Air France.

Category 5: Airlines that don't charge a fuel surcharge when you fly on them from specific countries:
Example: Delta (from Europe)

So you can transfer Starpoints to US and not pay any fuel surcharge even on Swiss, etc.

Air Canada only collects a fuel surcharge when flying on their own metal, but when booking Star Alliance awards I believe they do not collect the fuel surcharge. However Air Canada has a separate Star Alliance chart that makes tickets to Israel only a good rate when flying Air Canada.

My guess if that there are other Star carriers that have a similar policy to Air Canada though...
I know SAS just recently dropped the fuel surcharge on all their flights, no idea which category they fall under.

What we really need to do is categorize other foreign carriers into each of these categories. Anyone want to volunteer?

Dan, so which airline would you recommend me transfer the points to? If i transfer to CO, UA, US or AA, ill have to use way more points. If i transfer to LAN, would i have the same award availability on any *A as on ANA only less taxes and fees? If so, why would anyone NOT do that?

Also, why does it help to search for each leg separately? When booking an award ticket such as ORD to TLV, there is always a stopover...would they put me on any *A flight from ORD to the connecting city in order to meet up with the flight to TLV?

Dan · « **Reply #32 on:** January 17, 2010, 11:22:49 AM »

Quote from: DAVID on January 17, 2010, 10:35:44 AM

Dan, so which airline would you recommend me transfer the points to? If i transfer to CO, UA, US or AA, ill have to use way more points. If i transfer to LAN, would i have the same award availability on any *A as on ANA only less taxes and fees? If so, why would anyone NOT do that?

Also, why does it help to search for each leg separately? When booking an award ticket such as ORD to TLV, there is always a stopover...would they put me on any *A flight from ORD to the connecting city in order to meet up with the flight to TLV?

LAN is Oneworld, not *A.
SAS is *A, you may want to look into their rates and fuel surcharge policies.
US may be your best bet for a SPG-*A transfer if you're looking to fly to TLV on a carrier that charges a fuel surcharge.

If I'm searching for CLE-TLV I'll check JFK-TLV, EWR-TLV, etc. because I can piece together the CLE-EWR with a stopover if need be. No point in the CLE-EWR flight to hinder a trip to TLV.

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #33 on:** January 17, 2010, 11:33:50 AM »

Quote from: Dan on January 17, 2010, 11:22:49 AM

LAN is Oneworld, not *A.
SAS is *A, you may want to look into their rates and fuel surcharge policies.
US may be your best bet for a SPG-*A transfer if you're looking to fly to TLV on a carrier that charges a fuel surcharge.

If I'm searching for CLE-TLV I'll check JFK-TLV, EWR-TLV, etc. because I can piece together the CLE-EWR with a stopover if need be. No point in the CLE-EWR flight to hinder a trip to TLV.

Dan, When you say "US may be your best bet for a SPG-*A transfer", you mean US airways? or A US airline? Sorry if thats a dumb question.

And when you say can piece together the CLE-EWR with a stopover if need be, you mean you would just redeem miles for a domestic ticket to get you to EWR? Or would you add that into the itinerary and it would still be the same amount of miles to redeem?

Dan · « **Reply #34 on:** January 17, 2010, 11:58:59 AM »

Quote from: DAVID on January 17, 2010, 11:33:50 AM

Dan, When you say "US may be your best bet for a SPG-*A transfer", you mean US airways? or A US airline? Sorry if thats a dumb question.

And when you say can piece together the CLE-EWR with a stopover if need be, you mean you would just redeem miles for a domestic ticket to get you to EWR? Or would you add that into the itinerary and it would still be the same amount of miles to redeem?

US Airways.

Let's say on 02/01 there's availability on CO for EWR-TLV, but if there's no availability for CLE-EWR that day then it won't show availability for CLE-TLV. But if there's availability for CLE-EWR on 01/31 you can redeem CLE-EWR/stop-TLV-EWR-CLE all on the same ticket for the 75K rate.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #35 on:** January 17, 2010, 01:08:57 PM »

Quote from: DAVID on January 17, 2010, 11:33:50 AM

Or would you add that into the itinerary and it would still be the same amount of miles to redeem?

David,
just another tip about the ANA tool, that once you choose to search partner awards (either single airlines or all star alliance members) on the next screen instead of entering the origin and dest and clicking next, there is a button on the bottom of the screen "flight search"- that will give you the option to search by each leg i.e. you would put in ORD-EWR w/dates, EWR-TLV, TLV-EWR and EWR-ORD. this will give you the results for each leg and keep them all on the same itinerary...

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #36 on:** January 17, 2010, 01:25:35 PM »

Quote from: Dan on January 16, 2010, 09:35:39 PM

What we really need to do is categorize other foreign carriers into each of these categories. Anyone want to volunteer?

There is a thread on flyertalk with some info on this subject;
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/716958-master-thread-airlines-charge-fuel-surcharges-award-redemptions.html

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #37 on:** January 17, 2010, 02:50:47 PM »

Quote from: Dan on January 17, 2010, 11:58:59 AM

US Airways.

Let's say on 02/01 there's availability on CO for EWR-TLV, but if there's no availability for CLE-EWR that day then it won't show availability for CLE-TLV. But if there's availability for CLE-EWR on 01/31 you can redeem CLE-EWR/stop-TLV-EWR-CLE all on the same ticket for the 75K rate.

Dan and mikeoracle,

Thanks for all the clarification!

Dan · « **Reply #38 on:** January 17, 2010, 03:17:31 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on January 17, 2010, 01:25:35 PM

There is a thread on flyertalk with some info on this subject;
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/716958-master-thread-airlines-charge-fuel-surcharges-award-redemptions.html

Seems like most of the responses are neither the most useful or accurate.

Yordai Dooma · « **Reply #39 on:** January 17, 2010, 06:29:57 PM »

Dan,

if im understanding you correctly, by tranferring my *points to US, i can use them to fly on any *A airline and avoid paying high taxes and fees.
Am i correct that:
Flying to TLV on any *A airline using US miles will cost me 75K in coach (60K starpoints) or 115K in business (95K starpoints) but much less fees.
Flying to TLV on any *A airline using ANA miles will cost me 60k in coach (50k starpoints) or 90k in business (75k starpoints) but alot more in fees.

So in summary, you are recommending US as a transfer from starpoints if i want the better availability of flight to israel which *A has and dont want to pay alot of fees?

If all of the above is correct, why would anyone transfer points to another airline and get stuck with all sorts of fees?
If you use less points (ANA) but pay $500 in fees and even if we value starpoints at 2.2 cents a piece, thats the equivalent of almost 23,000 starpoints! Making the total ~73K in points.
Instead use 10,000 more points (US), pay $100 in fees which is the equivalent of around 4500 starpoints and your total will be ~64K.

Sorry if i seem repetitive and confusing. Trying to book these tix to israel at a good rate is getting me quite confused. The above may be a totally different story if flying from NYC. I am researching booking from ORD...