ANA Business to Japan: 52,500 Virgin Points + 30% Bonus

Japan is having a moment, and award seats to Tokyo are some of the hardest to grab in the whole points world. Yet one of the cheapest ways to fly there in a fully-enclosed suite has almost nothing to do with a Japanese airline's own programme. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club still publishes a fixed, zone-based chart for All Nippon Airways (ANA) flights, and it undercuts United, Aeroplan and Avianca by tens of thousands of points. A one-way in ANA's excellent "The Room" business class starts at 52,500 Virgin points. Right now a 30% Amex transfer bonus (through 31 July 2026) can drop the real cost even lower.

Why ANA through Virgin is still a sweet spot

Most premium programmes have moved to dynamic pricing, where the points cost floats with the cash fare and a good deal one week is gone the next. Virgin Atlantic is one of the last holdouts to keep a genuine fixed award chart for a partner, and ANA is the partner worth caring about. ANA's newest Boeing 777-300ER cabins — "The Room" in business and "The Suite" in first — are regularly ranked among the best seats flying, and Virgin prices them by geographic zone rather than by demand.

The result is that a seat ANA's own partners charge 90,000 to 110,000 miles for one-way in business can be yours for 52,500 to 60,000 Virgin points. Virgin devalued this chart in 2024, so it is not as cheap as it once was, but the gap against every Star Alliance alternative is still enormous. The pricing is quoted one-way, so you can mix and match: fly out in business, home in first, or pair a Japan leg with a separate award beyond Tokyo.

The exact numbers you'll pay

Virgin splits ANA travel into zones based on where you're flying to or from Japan (Tokyo Haneda or Narita). These are the current one-way rates, confirmed against Virgin's published partner chart:

Hawaii (Honolulu): 22,500 economy / 37,500 business / 57,500 first.

Western US and Canada (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver): 30,000 economy / 52,500 business / 72,500 first.

Central and Eastern US (Chicago, Houston, Washington Dulles, New York): 32,500 economy / 60,000 business / 85,000 first.

Europe, including London: business lands in the same 52,500–60,000 band, with London Heathrow to Tokyo pricing at 60,000 points one-way (120,000 return). First class runs 72,500–85,000 one-way.

To see why this matters, compare a one-way business seat between the US mainland and Japan. Virgin wants 52,500–60,000 points. Air Canada Aeroplan charges 75,000. Avianca LifeMiles asks 85,000–90,000. United MileagePlus can hit 110,000 for the very same ANA metal. In first class the spread is even wider: Virgin's 72,500–85,000 versus United's 220,000. When two programmes sell an identical seat and one is less than half the price, that is the definition of a sweet spot.

How the 30% Amex bonus supercharges the maths

Virgin Points are easy to accumulate because Flying Club partners with nearly every flexible currency. In the US, Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou and Bilt all transfer at 1:1, and Capital One feeds in via Virgin Red. In the UK, Amex Membership Rewards moves to Flying Club at 1:1 as well.

The timely part is the bonus stack for US cardholders. Amex is running a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through 31 July 2026, so every 1,000 Membership Rewards points become 1,300 Virgin points. Chase is running its own 30% bonus, but only through 14 July 2026. Applied to the ANA chart, the effect is striking:

• A 52,500-point Western US business seat needs roughly 40,400 Amex points with the bonus.
• A 60,000-point Eastern US or London business seat needs about 46,200 Amex points.
• A 37,500-point Hawaii business seat drops to around 28,900 Amex points.
• An 85,000-point first-class suite from New York or Chicago comes down to roughly 65,400 Amex points.

Think about that last one. Around 65,000 flexible points, which many people earn from a single card welcome bonus, for a one-way flight in one of the best first-class products in the sky. ANA business seats routinely sell for $3,000–$5,000, so even after fees you're often looking at 5–7p of value per point — several times what the same points return as cash back.

Because the chart prices each direction independently, you can also build a clever round trip. Say you fly New York to Tokyo in The Suite (85,000 points) and return Tokyo to New York in The Room (60,000 points): that's 145,000 Virgin points for a first-and-business round trip that would cost well over 300,000 miles through United. Run both legs through the 30% Amex bonus and you're at roughly 111,600 Membership Rewards points for the pair. Splitting cabins like this is often the smartest play when first-class space only appears in one direction, which — given ANA's stingy release — is usually the situation you'll face.

One important caveat for UK readers: the 30% bonus is a US Amex promotion. UK Membership Rewards still transfers 1:1 with no current bonus, so British collectors pay the full chart rate. The chart itself is the value here, and it's worth watching for a UK-specific Virgin promotion or a "buy points" bonus, which Virgin runs several times a year. Bought points have dipped as low as 1.47p each, which works out to roughly £600–£700 of points for a one-way business seat before fees.

How to actually book it

This is where ANA-via-Virgin earns its reputation for being fiddly, and it's the reason a lot of people never touch it. You cannot search or book ANA award space on Virgin Atlantic's website. The workflow is a two-step process.

First, find the space elsewhere. ANA releases the same partner award seats to all Star Alliance programmes, so search on united.com or aircanada.com, or use a tool like seats.aero, which even has a dedicated ANA first-class finder. You're looking for a nonstop flown on ANA metal with a saver award seat in your cabin. It's worth confirming the exact flight on United or Air Canada before you pick up the phone, because those sites show real-time Star Alliance availability.

Second, call Virgin Atlantic to book — in the US that's 1-800-365-9500. Give the agent the precise flights and cabin, and they'll request the space from ANA. Crucially, you don't need to move your points until the agent confirms availability, and transfers from Amex, Chase, Citi and Capital One are usually instant. That means you can hold the conversation, confirm the seat, and transfer on the spot. Before you commit, it's smart to sanity-check current fares and the value you're getting with a tool like Pointsbot's flight insights so you know the redemption genuinely beats paying cash.

The fine print that trips people up

Go in with clear eyes. A few limitations have caught out even experienced bookers, and they're worth planning around rather than discovering on the phone.

The 14-day rule bites. For well over a year, Virgin has been unable to ticket ANA flights departing the US within 14 days of travel, even when the seat shows as available to other programmes. That's frustrating because ANA often dumps last-minute premium space, so plan to book further out.

Availability is genuinely scarce. ANA tends to release just one first-class seat and one or two business seats per flight, and business space in particular has been thin. A family of four expecting to sit together in The Room will usually be disappointed. Flexibility on dates and routing is your best friend.

Target the right routes, too. The newest Room and Suite cabins fly most reliably on ANA's 777-300ER services to London, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, so if the seat itself is the point of the trip, prioritise those flights and confirm the aircraft shows "The Room" or "The Suite" when you check the cash booking page. Older routes may still put you in ANA's previous business seat, which is comfortable but a clear step down from the headline product.

Surcharges apply, and Virgin passes on ANA's fuel-linked charges, which it raised in 2025. Expect roughly $180 to $350 one-way depending on route, cabin and the current fuel index — a Chicago–Tokyo itinerary recently ran about $183, while a Tokyo–New York business leg came to around $315. Use ITA Matrix to estimate before you book. Changes and cancellations carry a $50 fee, and Virgin's booking calendar only extends about 335 days out, slightly shorter than Air Canada's 360, so don't chase a seat you can't yet ticket.

Pro tip: Don't transfer points speculatively. Set a seats.aero alert for ANA "The Room" on your target route, keep your Membership Rewards or Ultimate Rewards balance liquid, and only move points once a Virgin agent has the seat on hold or confirmed. Because transfers are instant, you lose nothing by waiting — and you avoid stranding points in Flying Club if the space evaporates.

The bottom line

ANA business and first class through Virgin Atlantic remains one of the highest-value redemptions still standing, precisely because Virgin kept a fixed chart while everyone else went dynamic. From 52,500 points one-way to Japan in The Room — or 85,000 for The Suite — you're paying a fraction of what United, Aeroplan or Avianca demand for the identical seat. US collectors have a narrow window to make it cheaper still: Amex's 30% bonus runs to 31 July and Chase's to 14 July. The booking process takes patience and a phone call, but for a Tokyo trip in a seat this good, an hour of effort is a bargain. Find your space, keep your points liquid, and call to lock it in.