How To Book Flights to Japan Using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

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Has it been your dream to go to Japan?
Do you want to go there in style and not use most of your points?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, well keep on reading!


Redeeming points with Virgin Atlantic is one of the best ways to go to Japan in the points and miles world!

Why do I say that? I booked 5 First Class flights when ANA did a rare thing and released some award space in January of 2023. When I saw them do that, I IMMEDIATELY booked those flights!

So you’re wondering, what does a FIRST CLASS SEAT with ANA looks like? Well here you go:

Did finally I convince you to book this? : )

First things first, you’ll need to know how much points you’ll need to redeem this:


Virgin Atlantic Redemption Rates on ANA

A little bad news - Virgin Atlantic quietly updated its award chart for redeeming points on ANA in March of 2023, raising award rates to fly ANA first class by as much as 41%. At least for now, award rates to book business remains the same.


Business class awards between the US mainland or Europe and Japan cost 45,000-47,500 points one-way

First class awards between the US mainland or Europe and Japan cost 72,500-85,000 points one-way

ANA’s First class costs a whopping $15,341!

CRAZY!!

ANA’s Business class isn’t bad either:

ANA’s Business class seat costs $6,138

ANA’S Business Class “THE ROOM”

ANA First Class “The Suite”

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to book a flight using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

1. Go to United.com and create an account

2. Search for an award availability on United.com. Ignore how much miles it will cost because the purpose of going to United.com is to find “availability”.

Here’s a video guide on how to navigate United Airlines (click)

3. Once you find an availability, make sure to take note of all the information (dates + times), then call Virgin Atlantic at 1-800-365-9500. They will tell you if the flight is still available and if they do find an availability, you’ll need to pay the taxes and fees.

Once that’s done, you will receive an email confirmation saying the your flight is booked!

Here’s another example. On August 17, it says that ANA has still “4 tickets left” in First Class

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award change & cancellation fees

If you want to change or cancel an ANA award ticket booked with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points there’s a $50 fee to do so, and you’ll need to make the change at least 24 hours before departure.

Virgin Atlantic fuel surcharges on ANA

Virgin Atlantic passes on whatever carrier imposed surcharges ANA would have on revenue tickets. A one-way First Class flight from San Francisco to Narita, Japan will cost you around $400 per ticket.

Here are the U.S. cities that have (or will soon have) nonstop ANA-operated flights to and from major airports in Japan:

  • San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

  • Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)

  • Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)

  • George Bush Intercontinental-Houston (IAH)

  • Los Angeles International (LAX)

  • San Jose's Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

  • New York-John F. Kennedy International (JFK)

  • Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) 

  • Washington Dulles International (IAD)

  • Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

How To Earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points

Transfer partners: Flying Club points are incredibly easy to earn. It's a transfer partner with all the major transferable currencies, including:

  • American Express Membership Rewards (points transfer at a 1:1 ratio).

  • Bilt Rewards (1:1).

  • Capital One miles (1:1).

  • Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1).

  • Citi ThankYou (1:1).

  • Marriott Bonvoy (3:1) - When you transfer Marriott points to Flying Club in increments of 60,000, you receive a bonus 5,000 airline miles. In other words, 60,000 Marriott points equal 25,000 Virgin points

MARRIOTT BONVOY CARDS

When you transfer Marriott points to Flying Club in increments of 60,000, you receive a bonus 5,000 airline miles. In other words, 60,000 Marriott points equal 25,000 Virgin points

Marriott Bonvoy Cards
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card

CITI CARDS

Citi Personal Cards
Citi Premier® Card
Citi Rewards+® Card

BILT CARDS

Bilt Personal Card
Bilt Card

Conclusion

Even though Virgin Atlantic recently raised their award rates to book a first class flight with ANA, this still remains as one of the “sweet spots” to book a flight to go to Japan!

It's also worth noting that programs like Chase, American Express, and Citi will sometimes do a promotion where they offer a 30% bonus for transfer bonuses from programs such as to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. When this happens, you can take advantage of it so you can take a little bit of a discount and spend fewer points.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this and can’t wait to hear to make your trip to Japan a reality!

Arashiyama Bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan