csakamoto

ANAs newly redone website includes a tool for searching Star Alliance awards. In my opinion it is much better than the Air Canada or United ones.

An ANA number is required to sign in.

Click Here

SAT Lawyer

I wonder if this website will be beneficial to non-ANA frequent fliers looking to redeem Star Alliance awards. I assume it shows ANA-specific redemption opportunities. But I believe that other carriers -- UA for example -- don't always have access to the same award inventory as their Star Alliance siblings (and vice versa).

Mama

The web page is confusing. When you check the *A flight availability. The screen shows all the possible *A routes, a "o" means seat available, a "x" means not available, a solid orage block means "applicable", a grey block or pink block means "not applicable". What is "applicable" or "not applicable"?
I think a "o" in a pink block means seat available but not applicable, but if the seat is not applicable, how can it be available?

Can any ANA mileage club explain?

jarino

ANA's rules are confusing!
They make a difference between star awards (more than one star airline) or Partner awards (only with one partner airline, and all star airlines are partner airlines, of course)

example: if you book FRA-VIE-FRA on Lufthansa all the way, it is not a "Star award" but a "Partner award" with completely different rules.
if you book FRA-VIE on LH and VIE-FRA on OS, it's a "Star award" with a 10 day min. stay!

On UA, US, NZ, OZ, a "Partner award" allows only 2 segments per ticket, for any connection flights, special rules apply.

May be these are reasons why a seat can be available and applicable, but only for a certain combination of flights.

Dan Dare

Many thanks for the advice csakamoto. I have found the tool very helpful. I don't have my miles with ANA but BMI for miles plus cash. I have played around and used it to find flights with available seats with the o referrred to above. I have duly noted these then rang DC with flights, dates etc.

Currenttly looking at a LHR-NRT-AKL-SIN-FRA-LHR using NH (F) to NRT, NH (J) to AKL, SQ (J) to SIN, LH (F) to FRA and LH (J) to LHR.

I was given options other than NH via NRT to AKL but I prefer NH to TG so will try this route.

ual744777sta

The tool is flawed but it is a blessing!

It is better than AC's site because it is unbias. On AC's site, it will only list all possible AC flights then give *A flights second priority. However, on this site it shows the most logical *A flights. However, it is unable to book award flights in different classes. For example, on UA domestic flights it books it domestic F flights with international F while with UA domestic F is the same as international C. Also you can not book international C flights with domestic flights becuase they are in different booking classes. Oh yeah, some how *A now serves MFM (Macau, Macau SAR, China), but I can't find any flights to MFM.

I also have no miles with NH and actually have 100K+ miles with UA, but this website is really neat!

CApreppie

Great tool. Far better than anything my airline of choice, UA, has on its crappy embarassing Website.

It was confusing about available and not applicable.

I am wondering if available award seats in the not applicable are bookable using UA miles.

TOMSURFER

I agree this site is great. I think you can check and book in different classes. Using the "flight search" button you can search on 4 separate segments all using different classes.

I have just booked lhr -sin sin - chc wlg-akl and akl-lhr with united mp after checking availability on ANA (which was spot on). These bookings were in Business/Business/Economy/Business.

The akl-lhr segment was the new air NZ route via HKG which has availability for awards in business unlike akl- lhr via lax which never seems to have availability in any classes.

SteveDCA

I thought I had read on one of the other *A boards that when you had an airline that showed free or UG inventory on other *A carriers that it meant inventory that could only be redeemed if using the mileage of that particular carrier--so if you saw free of UG seats on the NH or AC web site they could not be booked by calling UA and using MP miles, but only booked using mileage you had accumulated in the NH or AC programs respectfully. Am I correct? I had heard frm someone at UA that eventually all *A carriers would intergrate but for now many problems remain and inventory shown is only applicable if using mileage in the program that owns the particular website.

TOMSURFER

I too have read elsewhere that reward inventory you can see on ANA and AC may not be available to other *A carriers (particularly UA).

Some people say these sites are not accurate, but my personal experience is that the award availability I have seen on ANA and AC has proven accurate whem I have rung UA to make my *A Reward bookings.

I have now completed two bookings both using SQ and NZ and the availability shown on AC and ANA was accurate for these.

Looking at these sites first just gives you the ability to plan various options for your trip ahead of ringing UA. I am based in the UK and have noticed that the process of booking with UA seems a lot slower now the call centre for the UK has moved from Ireland to India, so it is a good idea to ring up with all your flight times and details pre-checked via ANA/AC so you can speed the process up.

MapleLeaf

From what I gather the sites are about 95% accurate. Every airline does hold back some availability for their own members but if you are using ANA to check NZ availability between LAX and AKL, it should be fairly accurate in the other programs.

I use them as a guide and only once could an awards desk not see what I saw (an SQ flight).

flysurfer

By comparing hundreds of samples during the past years, I have found that ANA, LH and NZ (LH during the periods they accidently gave away full award buckets in Sabre and NZ during the years when it was possible to manually check for "-I@NZ" in Sabre queries) and Worldspan gave/give reliable and identical information you could/can exchange between these airlines and FF programs in order to book award seats.

However, for US DM members, there was and has been more limited availability for *A flights after US entered Chapter 11 for the second time.

UA MP availability of *A flights used to be good, but has severely deteriorated in recent months. It's now at a level where you can't book several airlines/routes at all for months, even though there is a decent amount of seats available on *A partner flights such as LH, NZ or TG. However, to book them, you need to use the miles of other *A FF programs.

nor4

So I'll have to join ANA's FF plan to use the award finder feature? I suppose I could join but most of my miles are on UA so the award listing may not be of much use given UAs stinginess with awards of late.

TOMSURFER

Yes you just join instantly on line.

I think the ANA *alliance reward finder is excellent to use, and as I have posted before I have found it 100% accurate for business class on SQ and NZ.

(The actual booking being by telephone using UA Mileage Plus)

TravelinWilly

Keep in mind that there are other ways to get miles on carriers you don't fly. One of the things I do is move miles from American Express to their partners (Virgin Atlantic, for example). All Nippon is also an Amex. partner, and one can transfer miles from Amex. to All Nippon 1 for 1.

Will