ANA Mileage Club: The Best Day, Time, and Season to Book Award Flights
ANA Mileage Club rewards a very specific kind of planning, because two of its rules are unusual. First, ANA prices its own award flights by season — low, regular, and high — on a published calendar, so the date you fly can change the price by a wide margin. Second, awards on ANA's own flights are round-trip only; there is no one-way option. Put those together and the playbook is clear: build a round trip, aim it at low season, and book it early. ANA Mileage Club is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards — and that is the only major flexible currency that feeds it, with transfers taking a couple of days rather than landing instantly.
Low season is the headline lever
ANA publishes its award season calendar in advance, marking every date as low, regular, or high season, and the round-trip mileage price steps down meaningfully on low-season dates. Low season generally covers the slow stretches — much of January and February, parts of the spring shoulder, and parts of the autumn — while high season covers Japan's big travel peaks (Golden Week, Obon in August, the New Year holidays) plus summer. Before you do anything else, pull up the calendar and try to put both legs of your round trip on low-season dates. That is the single biggest price difference available in the program.
Book the schedule open — about a year out
ANA loads its schedule and award inventory roughly 355 days before departure. Because the awards are round-trip only, you typically need space on both of your dates, which makes booking early more important here than almost anywhere else — set a reminder for about 11 to 12 months out and book as close to schedule open as you can. ANA also tends to release additional award space in the final couple of weeks before departure, so a flexible traveler has a fallback.
Star Alliance partners: a separate, often-cheap chart
Beyond ANA's own metal, Mileage Club books Star Alliance partners — Lufthansa, Swiss, United, Singapore, EVA, and the rest — on a distinct distance-based chart that has long included some of the better-priced premium-cabin redemptions out there, particularly transatlantic business. Partner awards follow each operating carrier's own release pattern (around 11 months out, plus close-in space), and they are not bound by ANA's seasonal calendar the way ANA-operated flights are.
Best day of the week
To fly: midweek departures carry more award space than weekends, and on a round trip you want both legs to land well — Tuesday and Wednesday are the dependable picks. Avoiding Friday and Sunday helps on both availability and, on some dates, which season bucket you fall into.
To book: no day-of-week effect on award inventory. "Book on Tuesday" is a cash-fare myth.
Best time of day to search
ANA refreshes its inventory overnight in Japan time — roughly evening to late night in the US. If you have been watching a sold-out date, an off-hours check (late evening Eastern, or just before bed on the West Coast) is the one most likely to catch a fresh release or a close-in dump.
Time your transfer — and build in the delay
Amex periodically runs transfer bonuses to ANA, often 20% to 40%, which can be substantial on a round-trip award. The discipline: confirm space on both your dates first, then transfer, then book — and remember the transfer from Amex takes roughly two to three days to land, not seconds. ANA miles also carry a hard three-year expiry — they lapse 36 months after earning regardless of account activity — so do not move points in until you have a trip you are ready to ticket.
A worked example
Say you want a US–Japan round trip in business class.
- Both legs on low-season February dates, booked at schedule open: the lowest round-trip mileage price ANA charges for that cabin, and the best shot at having space on both ends.
- The same trip over Golden Week or the New Year holidays: high-season pricing plus scarce availability — the worst combination.
- A close-in pair of dates picked up two weeks out: the fallback when schedule-open space did not line up, leaning on ANA's late inventory release.
Quick reference: the ANA Mileage Club booking calendar
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before anything else | Pull up ANA's award season calendar and put both round-trip legs on low-season dates |
| About 11–12 months before travel | Book at schedule open — round-trip-only means you need space on both dates |
| Final ~2 weeks before departure | Check for close-in releases if your dates are flexible |
| Anytime | Price Star Alliance partners on the separate distance chart — often great for transatlantic business |
| When a transfer bonus appears | Confirm both legs first, then transfer — allow 2–3 days for Amex miles to arrive |
| Avoid | Letting ANA miles sit — they expire 3 years after earning regardless of activity |
A few caveats
ANA's seasonal calendar and award charts have been revised before, including on the partner chart — confirm the live price for your exact dates before you transfer. The round-trip-only rule, the hard expiry, and the slow Amex transfer are the three things that trip people up. Treat this as a framework for when to look; let ana.co.jp tell you the actual price and availability.
The habit that does the most work: build a round trip on low-season dates, book it at schedule open, and only move Amex points to ANA once both legs are confirmed.
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