Just got off the phone with ANA. Taxes on economy LH flight from JFK to TLV via FRA are 371.00!!!!! There was no non-stop availability for my dates so I am not sure what that would come up at.
An ANA manager told me that they only chrge a fuel surcharge if the operating carrier charges a fuel surcharge.
Lufthansa charges a huge fuel surcharge which is why a flight on them through FRA would cost so much.
Keep on checking nonstop availability on Continental or USAirways which don't charge a fuel surcharge. You may want to confirm that ANA does not charge a fuel surcharge for CO or US before transferring.
Availability can change daily on these airlines, and often will open up just weeks before your flying days.
how long does it take for the points to transfer to miles with ANA?
What is the chance that the reward ticket will still be available when the points transfer to miles?
Do they have as much as available as they would on SPGflights?
The deal is great with ANA but if takes too long to tranfer and they will not have the date avaiable I will be in trouble.
It probably will take a week or 2. Many airlines will hold an award res. for you, I'm not sure about ANA.
You can always hold it from CO or US and then cancel it. It should go right back into award availability again, but no guarantees.
What dates are you looking for? Are there really no nonstops on CO or US?
If it's really just 50,000 for a nonstop via SPG flights maybe you should save your Starpoints, as that means a ticket can be purchased for just $675 (extremely rare, so I'm doubting this). See more about the dubious value of SPG flights here:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/4133A nice thing about award tickets (which does not include SPG flights) is that most airlines don't charge for date changes. I know Continental does not charge, but I'm not sure if ANA charges. Of course the tradeoff is that you don't get miles on an award ticket...