ANA opens booking for three new European routes – finally Virgin Points reward availability?

If you are considering travelling to Japan the obvious options – especially if you want to earn Avios and British Airways tier points, or spend Avios – are British Airways and Japan Airlines.

(Japan Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance, alongside BA, so you can earn Avios and Executive Club tier points, and spend Avios, on its flights.)

Qatar Airways is also an option, albeit indirect. If you are travelling for cash, the plane change in Doha means that you earn two lots of BA tier points in each direction – so 560 tier points (almost Silver) for a Business Class return flight.

If you are travelling on Avios, Qatar Airways needs far fewer Avios (160,000 Avios return in Business) than British Airways (200,000 – 220,000 Avios return in Business) for a London to Tokyo trip. Qatar Airways also offers Osaka.

There is another option ….

There is a third airline flying directly from Heathrow to Tokyo – ANA.  ANA runs a daily service, departing at 7pm from Heathrow Terminal 2, to Tokyo Haneda, the nearest airport to the city.

ANA is a member of Star Alliance.  This means that you can credit ANA flights to Lufthansa Miles & More, United MileagePlus, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, ANA’s own Mileage Club or whichever other Star Alliance airline you prefer.

You can obviously redeem miles from any of the Star Alliance airlines for reward tickets on ANA.

You may not know, however, that ANA is also a Virgin Atlantic partner.  You can redeem your Virgin Points for tickets on ANA. 

You can also earn Virgin Points when booking cash tickets on ANA, if you want to steer your next business trip their way.

ANA also flies from other European cities

If you can’t find availability on the ANA flights from London, it also flies from the following European cities. Frankfurt, Munich and Paris are now daily.

• Frankfurt – Boeing 787-9
• Munich – Boeing 787-9
• Paris CDG – Boeing 787-9
• Brussels – Boeing 787-9
• Vienna – Boeing 787-9 (resumes August 2024)

Three new routes go on sale today

Historically, it has to be said, finding availability on ANA from Europe to Tokyo has been very difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.

Today (22nd July), tickets go on sale for three brand new routes between Europe and Tokyo. I have no idea if a chunk of reward seats will appear on Day 1 or not, but if they are there, this may be your best opportunity to get an ANA redemption.

Here are the new routes:

Milan Malpensa

Flights launch 3rd December using a Boeing 787-9. There will be three departures per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Stockholm Arlanda

Flights launch 31st January 2025 using a Boeing 787-8 (TBC). There will be three departures per week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

Istanbul

Flights launch 12th February 2025 using a Boeing 787-8 (TBC). There will be three departures per week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

How many Virgin Points do you need to fly ANA?

You can see the Virgin Flying Club earning and spending chart for ANA on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

Assuming you are based in the UK, these are the key numbers you need to know:

• Economy return flight (Europe to Tokyo) – 65,000 Virgin Points

• Business return flight (Europe to Tokyo) – 120,000 Virgin Points

• First return flight (only available on London to Tokyo) – 170,000 Virgin Points

One way redemptions are possible for half of the above cost.

Taxes and charges from London are £700-£800 in Business Class. They should be around £200 cheaper from Europe to reflect the lack of Air Passenger Duty.

You cannot book ANA redemptions online. You need to call Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Flying Club appears to have access to the same availability as Star Alliance partners. The Aeroplan (Air Canada) and United Airlines websites are both decent places to search for seats before calling Virgin Flying Club to book.

Conclusion

If you have been keen to try ANA, or have been sitting on Virgin Points hoping for a good way to get to Asia, the launch of ANA flights from Milan, Stockholm and Istanbul should be good news.

It’s not guaranteed that a chunk of reward availability will appear today alongside cash tickets, but it is worth a look. Note that it is highly unlikely that you will find more than two Business Class seats per flight, and that the 787-8/9 fleet does not have the acclaimed The ROOM suite.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.