Where to fly and how to book for free, thanks to ITA Airways flights, The Suite the ANA first class cabin
Since I published the review of my trip aboard ANA's first class I have been inundated with [...]
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Star Alliance
LHR
Since I published the review of my trip aboard ANA's first class I was inundated with all kinds of questions pertaining to the cabin, booking and routes. So I decided to do a little in-depth study. to help other serial accumulators of points and miles also redeem this dream trip.
How to book a ticket
In this article:
If you made 6 in Superenalotto go cash and accumulate points, but if you want to use points you need to know that All Nippon Airlines loyalty program is not partnered with American Express in Italy and therefore you cannot transfer your Membership Rewards points Toward this card.
Actually, there would be an option to book using Krisflyer points, i.e., Singapore Airlines currency, but for a one-way ticket on the same route (LHR/HND) as mine, 345k points are needed, with the same points you get almost 2 a/r in first with Singapore from Frankfurt to New York.
As I explained in the video, and in a couple of articles, I used Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club points. Although they have recently become more expensive they are by far the cheapest way to redeem this seat. It takes 85k FC points each way, plus taxes to fly from Japan to England or vice versa.
Where this cabin flies
As I explained in the video the few 777/300s that have this cabin offer both Ths Suite (the first class) and The Room (the business class). At the moment ANA does not fly to Italy, and even if it flew into our country, it would fly 787s outfitted with the old business and economy cabins, not the top of the line that was unveiled just before the pandemic in 2019 and is outfitted on only a small number of "triple 7s."
Before the pandemic, this cabin also flew to Frankfurt, but for the entire winter schedule, that is, until the end of March 2024, London will be the only European airport to host this cabin, the planned routes are:
- Tokyo Haneda to London (all flights)
- Tokyo Haneda to New York JFK) (all flights)
- Tokyo Haneda to San Francisco until Dec. 31, 2023
Then there is a 777 that has a special livery dedicated to Pokemon and this plane will occasionally fly from the two Tokyo airports to some destinations such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and a few other destinations. Especially in these cases, one should always keep in mind that the company might change machines and fly one of the unreconfigured 777s.
What you need to know about The Room and The Suite
Of course there are more revolutionary products, for example, the competing JAL is about to launch an amazing new first-class cabin, but what matters is the unbeatable ensemble of the ANA recipe. According to Skytrax this is the third best first class cabin in the world, I personally place it at the foot of the podium behind in order: Singapore Airline suites aboard the A380, Air France La Premiere e Emirates The Gamechanger aboard the few 777/300s.
Different story for The Room, which is the business class seat that is, arguably, the best behind Qatar Airways' QSuite.
To date there are only 9 aircraft with these cabins installed, and unfortunately ANA has never talked about renovating the interiors of the remaining 6 Boeing 777/300s in the fleet. The best way to tell if the flight will, or will not, be operated on a reconfigured 777 is to look at the seat map. Just look at the map and see if there are 64 seats of The Suite on board; if not, you will be on a "normal" 777.
How to book this cabin by flying ITA Airways
Not only that Virgin Atlantic is a Skyteam member, but it is one of the few companies that has closed a reciprocity agreement with ITA Airways, this means that you can book an award ticket aboard the Italian company's aircraft using Flying Club points, but at the same time. you can credit flights made aboard ITA on the VS program card Thus accumulating qualifying segments and FC points.
By taking advantage of this strategy, it will then be possible to accumulate points in Virgin's loyalty program and then book one of the two cabins, or both, simply by using the points accumulated from domestic flights and on the rest of the Italian airline's network. Obviously as long as ITA remains in Skyteam.
