The ANA Mileage Club Round-the-World Award

Many frequent flyer programs offer travellers opportunities to redeem points for aspirational round-the-world itineraries. Whether you’re planning a trip with Aeroplan, British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, or any other program, you can leverage sweet spots to craft the trip of a lifetime.

Perhaps the most lucrative program for planning a round-the-world redemption is ANA Mileage Club, the loyalty program for Japan’s All Nippon Airways. With ANA Mileage Club, you can plan an eight-stop round-the-world itinerary at a fraction of the cost you’d pay with other programs, while flying with some of the best airlines in the world.

Let’s take a look at this incredible sweet spot, including some examples of how to maximize the program to the fullest.

How to Earn Miles with ANA Mileage Club

There are two primary ways for North Americans to rack up balances within ANA Mileage Club: transferring from Marriott Bonvoy or American Express US Membership Rewards.

If you’re sitting on some extra Bonvoy points, you can transfer them to ANA Mileage Club at an optimal ratio of 60,000 Bonvoy points = 25,000 ANA miles. 

Bonvoy points are frequently earned through welcome bonuses on Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit cards, such as the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card. Alternatively, you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points at a 1:1.2 ratio.

If you opt to transfer, the overall picture looks like 50,000 MR points = 60,000 Bonvoy points = 25,000 ANA miles. As you can see, earning ANA Mileage Club miles this way isn’t the most effective option, as you’re getting a very sub-optimal transfer ratio for valuable Amex MR points.

A much more effective way to earn ANA miles is via US credit cards. ANA Mileage Club is one of the many frequent flyer programs that partner with Amex US but not Amex Canada, offering Amex US cardholders the ability to transfer their MR points to ANA at a 1:1 ratio.

You can sign up for US-issued MR cards, such as the Amex US Gold Card, the Amex US EveryDay Card, and the Amex US Business Platinum Card in order to rack up Amex US MR points, which then transfer to ANA Mileage Club at par.

Furthermore, remember that once you’ve set up a single MR-earning Amex card in the US, you can transfer your Canadian MR points to the US at the prevailing exchange rate once every 12 months as…