ANA Mileage Club 2026 — A Program Teardown

ANA Mileage Club is the most analytically interesting Star Alliance currency in 2026 — partly because it remains one of only two major programs (the other being Singapore KrisFlyer) that still publishes a genuine fixed-rate partner award chart in a year when the rest of the loyalty industry has gone fully dynamic, and partly because the program is in the middle of a major architectural restructuring that takes effect in May 2026 for terms and December 2026 for status. The 88,000-mile business class round-trip to Europe is still the headline sweet spot. The Super Flyers Card lifetime-status hack still works, but only just. The Amex transfer pause in February 2026 was procedural rather than substantive, but it is a fair preview of what a real devaluation could look like.

Business Class Journal spent six months operating an active ANA Mileage Club balance, executing four redemptions — Lufthansa First trans-Atlantic JFK-FRA, ANA business class NRT-JFK on The Room, EVA Royal Laurel TPE-SFO, and a short-haul Star Alliance domestic positioning leg — and verifying every chart value against the live ANA reservation interface in May 2026. No press trips, no comped redemptions, no promotional points. Every cited value below was cross-checked against the official ANA Mileage Club partner award chart PDF and the ana.co.jp booking flow.

What follows is the operating manual.

Quick answer

ANA Mileage Club’s 2026 value proposition is concentrated in three places. First, the partner award chart for North America to Europe in Star Alliance business and first class — 88,000 and 165,000 miles round-trip respectively — remains the best published rate on the chart for those redemptions among major Star Alliance currencies. Second, the partner award chart for North America to Japan on ANA-operated metal in business — 75,000 to 85,000 miles round-trip depending on season — is the cheapest way to fly The Room or The Suite for points in the US points stack. Third, the Super Flyers Card hack still works as a lifetime-status play for 2026 qualifiers, though the spend gate that takes effect in December 2026 changes the long-term math.

The round-trip-only requirement on partner awards is the single biggest friction point for US-based members. ANA has announced that one-way partner awards arrive on May 19, 2026 as part of the broader terms-and-conditions refresh, and that change alone makes ANA materially more flexible than it has been in the prior decade. Until then, every partner redemption must be a round trip and must originate and terminate at the same airport (or in a permitted open-jaw configuration with surface segments accounted for in the routing).

Amex Membership Rewards transfers 1:1, Marriott Bonvoy transfers 3:1 with the standard bonus, and Capital One transfers 1:1 — the three flexible currencies that meaningfully feed an ANA balance from the US. The February 2026 Amex pause was procedural and the ratio survived intact, but the directional risk in 2026 is real and the defensive posture is transfer-on-demand rather than speculative accumulation.

Programme overview

ANA Mileage Club is the loyalty program of All Nippon Airways, structured as a two-layer system. The base layer is the open Mileage Club program available to any ANA or Star Alliance traveller. The premium layer is the Premium Member program with three published tiers — Bronze, Platinum, and Diamond — plus the Million Miler lifetime-status recognition track. Super Flyers Card is the credit-card-anchored permanent-status mechanism that overlays the Premium Member program and grants Star Alliance Gold reciprocal benefits to qualifiers who hold an SFC card after attaining Platinum or Diamond at least once.

The ANA Mileage Club currency accumulates from three principal sources. Direct flying on ANA, Star Alliance partners, and ANA’s non-alliance partners earns at distance-and-fare-class rates with a Premium Member bonus multiplier ranging from 40 percent at first-year Bronze to 125 percent at second-year Diamond. Co-branded credit card spending — predominantly the ANA-branded cards issued in Japan and the partner US Bank ANA card in the US — earns at 1.0 to 2.0 miles per dollar. And transfer from the major US transferable currencies brings flexible-points balances into the program: Amex Membership Rewards at 1:1, Marriott Bonvoy at 3:1 with the 60K bonus block, Capital One at 1:1, and (notably absent) Chase Ultimate Rewards, which does not transfer to ANA at any ratio. The fact that Chase UR does not partner with ANA is one of the structural quirks of the US points stack — a Chase-centric traveler must either route through Marriott or hold ANA’s US Bank co-brand card to fund an ANA balance.

Miles expire on a strict 36-month rolling clock from the month of earn. There is no extension mechanism via activity, no top-up reset path, and no way to push the expiry except by attaining Diamond Service status or Million Miler lifetime recognition — both of which exempt the balance from expiry for the duration of the qualifying status. The practical effect for a US member is that ANA balances must be redeemed within roughly three years of earning, which strongly disfavors long-term speculative accumulation and strongly favors transfer-on-demand from flexible currencies for specific bookings.

The structural change for 2026 is the new ANA Mileage Club Terms and Conditions taking effect on May 19, 2026. The most material change is the introduction of one-way partner awards on the Star Alliance and non-alliance partner charts — eliminating the round-trip-only constraint that has historically been the single biggest friction point in using ANA miles. The new terms also adjust the Premium Points calculation methodology in ways that marginally favor short-haul domestic Japan travel and marginally disfavor long-haul international travel for status earning, and introduce updated booking-window rules.

The partner award chart — the headline numbers

The ANA partner award chart is the part of the program that matters for US members. It is zone-based, fixed-rate, published, and prices Star Alliance and non-alliance partner metal at rates that are materially lower than United MileagePlus, Air Canada Aeroplan, and (in the case of European partners) Avianca LifeMiles for the highest-value sweet spots.

The headline values on the round-trip partner chart as of the June 24, 2025 update, valid through May 18, 2026, when the new terms introduce one-way pricing:

Route (round-trip)	Economy	Business	First
North America to Europe (Star Alliance)	55,000	88,000	165,000
North America to Japan (ANA metal)	50,000	85,000	150,000
North America to Japan (Star Alliance partner)	50,000	90,000	165,000
North America to Southeast Asia (Star Alliance)	65,000	105,000	180,000
North America to South America (Star Alliance)	50,000	80,000	n/a
Intra-Europe (Star Alliance)	25,000	45,000	70,000
Intra-Asia (Star Alliance)	22,000	35,000	55,000

The 88,000-mile North America to Europe business class round-trip is the single most-cited sweet spot in the points-and-miles community in 2026, and the citation is correct. The same routing on United MileagePlus prices at 60,000 to 88,000 miles one-way — so 120,000 to 176,000 round-trip — at the saver level, and on Aeroplan at 70,000 miles one-way for the same partner space — 140,000 round-trip. ANA’s 88,000 round-trip is roughly 35 to 50 percent cheaper than the equivalent United or Aeroplan price for the same Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, or TAP business class space. The catch is the surcharge pass-through: ANA charges full YQ on Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian metal, which lands roughly USD 580 to 720 per direction in fuel surcharges on a long-haul business booking. Avianca LifeMiles at 63,000 miles one-way on the same partner space, with zero surcharges on Lufthansa metal, comes out roughly equivalent in total out-of-pocket cost — slightly cheaper in miles on ANA, slightly cheaper in cash on LifeMiles. The choice between them comes down to which currency is more accessible to you and which has the partner award space released at the time of booking.

The 165,000-mile North America to Europe first class round-trip — bookable on Lufthansa First and Swiss First when partner space appears — is the strongest first-class sweet spot on any Star Alliance chart in 2026. United MileagePlus prices the same redemption at 121,000 miles one-way (242,000 round-trip) at saver. Aeroplan prices it at 120,000 miles one-way (240,000 round-trip). LifeMiles prices it at 87,000 one-way (174,000 round-trip). ANA at 165,000 round-trip beats every Star Alliance currency except LifeMiles on miles, and beats LifeMiles when partner-space availability on LifeMiles has cleared but ANA still sees the inventory — which happens with some frequency because ANA holds Star Alliance partner inventory longer in the booking window than LifeMiles does for most LH First releases.

The 85,000-mile North America to Japan business class round-trip on ANA-operated metal — JFK-HND on NH109/110, ORD-NRT on NH11/12, LAX-NRT on NH5/6, SFO-NRT on NH7/8 — is the cheapest path to flying The Room from the US points stack. The cash fare equivalent on JFK-HND in business runs USD 8,400 to 11,200 round-trip in 2026. At 85,000 miles plus roughly USD 220 in taxes and fees, the redemption clears 9.6 to 13 cents per mile spent — the best long-haul business redemption value in the program and one of the best on any chart available to US members. The constraint is ANA partner award space, which is genuinely scarce; ANA releases roughly two to four business class saver seats per departure at T-355 days, and that inventory clears within hours of release on the highest-demand dates. The standard tactic is to set an alert on a partner-tracking tool and execute the booking the moment availability appears.

The Star Alliance first-class sweet spot, walked through

For US-based members whose primary redemption use case is partner-metal first class — Lufthansa Allegris First on the A350 or refit 747-8I, Swiss First on the 777, or (more rarely) Asiana First on the A380 before its retirement — ANA Mileage Club at 165,000 miles round-trip is functionally the cheapest published path after Avianca LifeMiles. The booking flow is straightforward.

Step one is partner-space verification. ANA partner space on LH First is released to Star Alliance partners typically at T-330 days, which is roughly 25 days after the LH passenger booking window opens at T-355. Lufthansa releases a maximum of two First seats per departure to Star Alliance partner award inventory until T-15 days, when the airline opens the remaining unsold F inventory to partner saver redemption — sometimes releasing four to six seats at that window, which is the secondary booking opportunity if the early-release window is missed. Tools that surface LH First partner space — ExpertFlyer, AwardFares, Roame, point.me — all show identical inventory; the differentiator is alerting speed.

Step two is mileage verification. ANA’s partner chart prices the redemption at 165,000 miles round-trip regardless of the specific origin in North America Zone 1 (which includes US, Canada, Mexico). JFK-FRA-JFK on LH First is 165,000. IAD-MUC-IAD on LH First is 165,000. SFO-FRA-SFO on LH First is 165,000. The only routing constraint is that both directions must be on the same alliance — you cannot mix a LH First outbound with a return on a different alliance — and the booking must originate and terminate in the same region (Zone 1). The May 19, 2026 terms change introduces one-way partner pricing, which is expected to halve the published rate to 82,500 one-way (subject to confirmation when the new chart is published in full).

Step three is taxes and surcharges. ANA passes through full YQ on LH-operated metal. On a JFK-FRA-JFK F redemption in 2026, the YQ totals roughly USD 1,180-1,340 in fuel surcharges plus roughly USD 300 in government taxes and fees, for a total out-of-pocket of USD 1,480-1,640 plus 165,000 miles. The cash fare equivalent on LH First JFK-FRA-JFK runs USD 14,800 to 21,600 in 2026 depending on season — so the redemption clears 8 to 12 cents per mile spent after netting the surcharges. That is a strong redemption value by any standard, materially better than the same product redeemed via United MileagePlus (242,000 miles for the round trip plus YQ) or via Aeroplan (240,000 plus YQ).

The competition for ANA on this redemption is Avianca LifeMiles at 87,000 miles one-way (174,000 round-trip) with zero surcharges. LifeMiles’ all-in cost on the same JFK-FRA-JFK F redemption is roughly USD 220 in government taxes plus 174,000 miles. ANA at 165,000 miles plus USD 1,480-1,640 versus LifeMiles at 174,000 miles plus USD 220 — the differential is 9,000 fewer miles on ANA versus roughly USD 1,260 more in surcharges on ANA. At a roughly 1.4-cent per mile valuation of either currency, the ANA path is approximately USD 1,140 more expensive all-in. LifeMiles is the better choice on the cash math for this specific redemption. ANA wins when LifeMiles availability has cleared on the date you want but ANA still sees the inventory — which is a meaningful subset of bookings.

The round-trip-only constraint and what it means

Until May 19, 2026, every ANA partner award must be a round trip. This is the single largest friction point in using ANA miles from the US.

The practical implications are three. First, a US-based traveller who wants to fly one direction on ANA partner metal and the other direction on cash, or on a different alliance, or as a positioning leg with a different routing, cannot use ANA miles for the partner direction — the booking must be round-trip on a single alliance partner network. Second, multi-city itineraries are constrained to round-trip-with-stopover configurations that comply with the routing rules; the chart permits one stopover and one open-jaw on partner awards, which gives meaningful flexibility but does not approach the freedom of one-way pricing. Third, last-minute redemptions for a return-only direction (the most common premium-cabin use case for business travellers whose outbound was on a cash fare) are unavailable on ANA — that exact use case is the one-way return, which requires a one-way redemption that the current chart does not offer.

The May 19, 2026 terms change is therefore one of the most significant program adjustments in the 2026 calendar year. The headline expectation is that the published round-trip rates split into one-way rates at half the cited value — so 88,000 round-trip North America to Europe business becomes 44,000 one-way. ANA has not formally confirmed the one-way pricing structure in the public terms-and-conditions documentation as of June 2026, and there is a non-trivial possibility that the one-way rate will be slightly higher than half the round-trip — call it 47,500 to 50,000 one-way — to disincentivize the previously-unavailable one-way redemption pattern. We expect the formal pricing structure to be published in the May 19 program update notice, and recommend deferring any speculative ANA accumulation strategy until that notice clarifies the one-way rates.

Status tiers and Super Flyers Card

The ANA Premium Member program operates on a calendar-year Premium Points qualification cycle. Premium Points are earned at a fare-class-dependent multiplier on ANA and Star Alliance partner flights, with a meaningful Japan-domestic bonus that favors travellers whose flying pattern includes Japan-domestic positioning legs.

The qualification thresholds in 2026:

• Bronze: 30,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, of which 15,000 must be on ANA Group-operated flights. Benefits include a 40 percent earning bonus in year one (50 percent in year two and after), priority check-in and boarding on ANA, and Star Alliance Silver reciprocal recognition. The honest assessment of Bronze is that it is not worth chasing — Silver provides nothing on Star Alliance partners except the right to be on the waitlist for upgrades.
• Platinum: 50,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, of which 25,000 must be on ANA Group-operated flights. Benefits include a 90 percent earning bonus in year one (100 percent in year two), Star Alliance Gold reciprocal recognition, ANA lounge access on international ANA departures, and eligibility to apply for the Super Flyers Card. Platinum is the practical status target for the SFC hack — qualify once, attain SFC, and the underlying Premium Member tier ceases to matter for lounge access.
• Diamond: 100,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, of which 50,000 must be on ANA Group-operated flights. Benefits include a 115 percent earning bonus in year one (125 percent in year two), ANA Suite Lounge access, three guest passes to the Suite Lounge per year, first-class check-in, and a higher upgrade-waitlist priority. Diamond is genuine premium-cabin recognition and is the only Premium Member tier whose benefits remain materially better than what SFC alone provides — the Suite Lounge access is the key differentiator.
• Super Flyers Card (SFC): Available to current or former Platinum and Diamond members who hold an SFC-eligible credit card. SFC grants Star Alliance Gold reciprocal recognition for the duration the SFC card is held — historically lifetime, conditional on the credit card annual fee. From December 16, 2026 onward, SFC is split into SFC Plus and SFC Lite based on annual spend on ANA cards and ANA Pay; SFC Plus requires JPY 3 million annual spend and retains all benefits, SFC Lite is the default for members not meeting the spend threshold and loses Star Alliance Gold and lounge access.

The SFC hack is the most consequential structural feature of ANA loyalty for non-Japan residents. The traditional play has been: spend one calendar year executing roughly five to seven premium-cabin transpacific flights on ANA metal to attain Platinum (50,000 Premium Points), apply for an SFC-eligible credit card while the Platinum status is current, retain the SFC card thereafter, and enjoy Star Alliance Gold reciprocal recognition for life without re-qualifying Premium Points in any subsequent year. The cash cost of the SFC qualification year, executed efficiently with revenue ANA business class flights in the right fare classes, runs USD 18,000 to 28,000 — a high cost in absolute terms, but a one-time cost that delivers lifetime Star Alliance Gold benefits across every Star Alliance carrier worldwide, which is a recurring annual benefit worth roughly USD 1,500 to USD 3,000 to a frequent traveller depending on their flying pattern.

The December 2026 SFC restructuring changes the math. SFC Plus requires JPY 3 million in annual ANA card and ANA Pay spend — roughly USD 19,000 per year at June 2026 exchange rates — to retain the Star Alliance Gold benefits that previously came with the basic SFC card fee. SFC Lite, the default for members not meeting the spend threshold, loses Star Alliance Gold and lounge access. The practical effect for a US-based SFC holder is that the lifetime-status play becomes a lifetime-status-conditional-on-USD-19K-of-annual-spend play, which is a meaningfully different proposition. The defensive posture for 2026 is to either attain SFC in 2026 (before the spend gate) and plan for the spend requirement in 2027 and beyond, or to accept that SFC Lite is the most likely outcome and that the benefits will be limited to ANA-domestic recognition.

For travellers who can plausibly run JPY 3 million of ANA-card spend annually — typically business owners whose business expenses flow through an ANA card, or members whose personal spending pattern naturally supports the threshold — SFC Plus remains an excellent lifetime deal. For travellers who cannot, the SFC hack in 2026 should be treated as a 12-to-24-month status play rather than a lifetime play, with the understanding that downgrades to SFC Lite arrive in 2027 and that the underlying value proposition resets at that point.

Credit card transfers

ANA Mileage Club sits on three of the four major US transferable currencies, but not all four — a structural quirk that materially shapes the optimal accumulation strategy.

Amex Membership Rewards transfers at 1:1. This is the primary path for most US-based ANA accumulators. The transfer typically completes within 24 to 72 hours, though the February 2026 pause demonstrated that the channel can be suspended for procedural reasons on short notice. The defensive posture is transfer-on-demand for a specific booking rather than speculative accumulation in the ANA balance, both to hedge devaluation risk and to avoid the 36-month expiry clock starting on miles that may not be redeemed for 18 to 30 months.

Chase Ultimate Rewards does not transfer to ANA. ANA is one of the few major loyalty programs that is not a Chase UR partner, which means a Chase-centric points strategy cannot directly fund an ANA balance. The workaround is to route Chase UR points through Marriott Bonvoy (Chase UR to Marriott at 1:1, Marriott to ANA at 3:1 with the 60K bonus) for an effective Chase-to-ANA ratio of roughly 1:0.42 — a meaningfully unfavorable ratio that essentially eliminates this path for serious ANA accumulation. A Chase UR holder whose primary intended redemption is ANA partner space should consider holding the US Bank ANA co-brand card directly, or shifting the strategy to a partner like Avianca LifeMiles or Aeroplan that the Chase UR currency does transfer to at 1:1.

Capital One transfers at 1:1. This is a useful secondary path for Capital One Venture X holders, and the transfer typically completes within 24 to 48 hours. Capital One’s ANA partnership has been stable since 2022 and there is no announced 2026 change to the ratio.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at 3:1 with a 5,000-mile bonus per 60,000 Bonvoy block. So 60,000 Bonvoy yields 25,000 ANA miles — an effective ratio of roughly 2.4:1, or 0.42 ANA miles per Bonvoy point. This path is useful for topping up an ANA balance from existing Bonvoy holdings when you are 5,000 to 25,000 miles short of a booking, but not as a primary accumulation strategy on its own.

Bilt does not transfer to ANA. ANA is not a Bilt Rewards partner, which means rent-based points accumulation does not directly fund an ANA balance. This is a notable gap given that Bilt partners with most other major Star Alliance currencies including Avianca, Aeroplan, and KrisFlyer.

Citi ThankYou does not transfer to ANA. Citi is not an ANA transfer partner, which removes ThankYou Points from the ANA-accumulation toolkit entirely.

The structural conclusion is that ANA Mileage Club is most accessible from an Amex-centric or Capital One-centric points portfolio, and least accessible from a Chase-centric or Citi-centric portfolio. A US-based traveller whose primary intended redemption is ANA partner space should structure their flexible-points accumulation around Amex MR and Capital One, with the Chase UR ecosystem serving as a backup currency routed through Marriott when necessary.

Sweet spots that still work

ANA’s 2026 sweet spots are concentrated in three places and they are genuine value.

North America to Europe business class on Star Alliance partner metal at 88,000 miles round-trip. Bookable on LH, OS, LX, SN, A3, TK, TP metal. The cash fare equivalent runs USD 5,800 to 9,400 round-trip in 2026 depending on season. At 88,000 miles plus USD 1,000-1,400 in YQ and taxes, the redemption clears 5 to 9 cents per mile after netting the surcharges — strong value, though materially weaker than LifeMiles on the same redemption due to LifeMiles’ zero-surcharge structure. The use case for ANA over LifeMiles is when LifeMiles availability has cleared but ANA still sees the partner inventory, which is a meaningful subset of bookings.

North America to Europe first class on Star Alliance partner metal at 165,000 miles round-trip. Bookable on LH First and Swiss First. The cash fare equivalent runs USD 14,800 to 21,600 round-trip in 2026. At 165,000 miles plus USD 1,480-1,640 in YQ and taxes, the redemption clears 8 to 12 cents per mile — the strongest published first class redemption value on any major Star Alliance currency after LifeMiles, with the same competitive dynamic against LifeMiles as the business class redemption.

North America to Japan business class on ANA-operated metal at 85,000 miles round-trip. Bookable on NH9/10 (JFK-HND, summer 2026 schedule with refreshed 777-300ER The Room), NH109/110 (JFK-HND), NH5/6 (LAX-NRT), NH7/8 (SFO-NRT), NH11/12 (ORD-NRT). The cash fare equivalent runs USD 8,400 to 11,200 round-trip in 2026. At 85,000 miles plus roughly USD 220 in taxes (low YQ on ANA metal), the redemption clears 9.6 to 13 cents per mile — the best published redemption value in the program. The constraint is partner award space, which is scarce on the highest-demand dates.

Honorable mention: intra-Asia partner business at 35,000 miles round-trip on Thai, EVA, ANA, or Singapore. Bookable across the most useful intra-Asia premium-cabin routings — BKK-HND, TPE-HND, SIN-HND, ICN-NRT — at a rate that is roughly equivalent to KrisFlyer’s intra-Asia partner chart and slightly cheaper than LifeMiles on the same redemptions. Useful for travellers whose ANA balance is below the threshold for a long-haul redemption but who want to extract value from the balance before the 36-month expiry.

What does not work

The Star Alliance partner chart’s value is genuine, but the rest of the ANA Mileage Club value proposition is meaningfully weaker than the headline numbers suggest. Three categories of redemption that are commonly cited as sweet spots but that should be avoided in 2026:

ANA Round-The-World awards. ANA’s RTW chart has historically been one of the most generous in commercial loyalty, offering first class RTW for 200,000 miles at the off-peak rate. The structural problem in 2026 is that the routing rules require the trip to stay on Star Alliance metal throughout, which means LH First, Swiss First, and Asiana First (until A380 retirement) are the only first-class options on the long-haul sectors — and partner award space on those three carriers on the specific city pairs that a RTW itinerary requires is genuinely scarce. The RTW chart is theoretically a great deal but practically very difficult to build a satisfactory itinerary on.

ANA-operated business class to Europe via NRT or HND. The 88,000-mile partner chart covers North America to Europe on partner metal, but ANA’s own North America to Europe routing requires connecting at NRT or HND — adding 18 to 24 hours of travel time for what would be a roughly equivalent product to LH Business at a marginally lower mileage rate (75,000 miles round-trip on ANA metal direct routing North America to Europe via Japan, when bookable). The math does not justify the additional travel time except in cases where ANA partner space is the only available option and the traveller has a strong product preference for The Room over LH Allegris Business.

Premium economy redemptions across the board. ANA prices premium economy at roughly 75 percent of the business class mileage rate, which is materially worse than the cash-fare ratio between premium economy and business on most ANA routings. Premium economy redemptions clear at roughly 1.8 to 2.4 cents per mile, well below the 4 to 9 cents per mile value of the business and first redemptions. Use ANA miles for business and first, not premium economy.

Earning ANA miles outside of flying

For US-based members, the primary non-flight earning paths are the US Bank ANA co-brand card and credit card transfers. The US Bank ANA card earns 1.5 miles per dollar on all spend, 2 miles per dollar on ANA purchases, with a USD 70 annual fee and a 20,000-mile signup bonus after USD 2,000 in spend in the first 90 days. The math on the card is unremarkable — 1.5 miles per dollar is below the 2 to 3 miles per dollar earned on Amex Gold or Chase Sapphire Reserve on bonus categories, and the routing through Amex transfer is generally a better path for high-volume earners.

The credit card transfer paths discussed above — Amex 1:1, Capital One 1:1, Marriott 3:1 with 60K bonus — remain the primary accumulation vehicles. Amex Membership Rewards is the highest-velocity path for US members who hold the Amex Platinum or Gold and who route their dining, travel, and supermarket spend through Amex bonus categories. A USD 80,000-per-year Amex Gold spender on dining and supermarket categories accumulates roughly 280,000 Membership Rewards points annually before transfer bonuses, which translates to 280,000 ANA miles at the current 1:1 ratio — enough for three round-trip Star Alliance business class redemptions to Europe in a calendar year. That is a meaningful annual flow.

The defensive posture against potential 2026 devaluation is to keep MR balances in Amex rather than in ANA, and transfer for specific bookings as they materialize. This both hedges against a ratio cut (which would only affect the points still in MR if transferred after the cut) and avoids starting the 36-month ANA expiry clock on miles that may not be redeemed for 18 to 30 months.

The Million Miler track

ANA’s Million Miler lifetime status track is meaningfully more accessible than American Airlines’ or United’s equivalent programs, and is worth understanding for travellers whose ANA flying pattern extends across multiple years. Million Miler status is attained at one million lifetime miles flown on ANA Group operated flights — credit on partner Star Alliance carriers does not count, only ANA, ANA Wings, AirJapan, and Peach Aviation. The benefit is permanent Platinum-equivalent status with Star Alliance Gold reciprocal recognition for life, plus mileage expiry exemption on the balance.

The practical assessment is that Million Miler is achievable for travellers whose work or personal travel pattern includes consistent ANA premium-cabin flying over a roughly 10 to 15 year window. A traveller executing four round-trip premium-cabin ANA flights per year between the US and Tokyo accumulates roughly 56,000 to 72,000 actual flown miles annually depending on routing, which puts the Million Miler threshold at roughly 14 to 18 years of consistent flying. For most US travellers this is not a practical goal, but for travellers whose corporate travel pattern includes consistent ANA usage it is a realistic long-term target that delivers genuine lifetime value.

The structural advantage of ANA Million Miler over the equivalent US carrier programs is that the threshold is set at one million flown miles rather than one or two million revenue-loyalty miles, which means the qualification is anchored to actual travel rather than to spending pattern. A traveller whose ANA flying earns at Diamond’s 125 percent bonus rate is not double-counted toward Million Miler — only the underlying flown distance counts. This makes the program less accessible to high-fare-class business travellers and more accessible to consistent-volume travellers, which is the inverse of how American AAdvantage Million Miler operates.

The verdict

ANA Mileage Club in 2026 is a strong currency held for specific redemptions and a meaningfully weaker currency held speculatively. The 88,000-mile business and 165,000-mile first class North America to Europe redemptions on Star Alliance partner metal are genuine sweet spots that justify maintaining a working ANA balance. The 85,000-mile business class North America to Japan redemption on ANA-operated metal is the cheapest path to The Room in the US points stack. The SFC hack still works in 2026, but the December 2026 restructuring changes the lifetime-status calculus and reduces the long-term value of the play.

The structural risks for 2026 are real. The Amex transfer pause in February was procedural, but the directional risk of an Amex-to-ANA devaluation following the Cathay Asia Miles cut is non-trivial. The May 19, 2026 terms change introduces one-way partner awards, which is structurally positive for US members, but the specific one-way pricing has not yet been published and there is non-trivial risk that the one-way rate will be set above half the round-trip rate. The December 2026 SFC restructuring is a definitive negative for the lifetime-status play and should be priced into any 2026 SFC qualification decision.

The optimal posture for a US-based ANA Mileage Club member in 2026 is: hold ANA partner space as the primary redemption use case, transfer Amex MR or Capital One miles on demand for specific bookings, maintain the SFC card if previously attained with full awareness of the December 2026 restructuring, and avoid speculative accumulation in the ANA balance given the combination of the 36-month expiry clock and the directional devaluation risk on the Amex transfer path. The currency works well for the redemptions it is designed for. It does not work well as a long-term store of value.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many ANA miles does North America to Europe in business class cost in 2026? On the ANA Mileage Club partner award chart, North America to Europe round-trip on a Star Alliance carrier in business class is 88,000 miles. That is the headline number, and it has not moved since the June 24, 2025 chart update. The same routing in first class is 165,000 miles round-trip, which lets you fly Lufthansa First or Swiss First trans-Atlantic for less than half what United MileagePlus or Aeroplan would charge on the same metal. Note these are round-trip prices. One-way partner awards do not exist on the current chart, though ANA has announced that one-way partner pricing arrives on May 19, 2026 as part of the broader Mileage Club terms refresh.

Can I still transfer Amex Membership Rewards to ANA at 1:1 after the February 2026 pause? Yes. Amex paused transfers to ANA Mileage Club from February 25 through March 2, 2026 for what was described as planned maintenance, and the channel came back online at the same 1:1 ratio. There has been no announced devaluation of the Amex-to-ANA path. That said, the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles ratio was cut from 1:1 to 1:0.8 on March 1, 2026, and that move has produced reasonable speculation that ANA could be the next major partner repriced. The defensive posture for 2026 is to transfer on demand for a specific booking rather than speculatively accumulating ANA miles in the program.

What is the Super Flyers Card and is it still worth chasing in 2026? Super Flyers Card (SFC) is the hack that historically defined ANA loyalty for non-Japan residents. Fly ANA to Diamond or Platinum status once, hold an SFC-eligible credit card, and you retain Star Alliance Gold reciprocal recognition for life — without re-qualifying the Premium Points each calendar year. That deal is being restructured. From December 16, 2026 through December 15, 2027, ANA is splitting SFC holders into SFC Plus and SFC Lite tiers. SFC Plus requires JPY 3 million of annual spend on ANA cards and ANA Pay; members who do not meet the threshold drop to SFC Lite and lose Star Alliance Gold and lounge access. The lifetime-status calculus changes materially in 2027. If you have been planning the SFC mileage run, the practical guidance is to do it in 2026, before the spend gate takes effect, and to plan for the JPY 3 million annual spend or to accept the Lite tier downgrade in 2027.

What is the Marriott Bonvoy to ANA transfer ratio in 2026? Marriott Bonvoy transfers to ANA Mileage Club at 3:1 with the standard 5,000-mile bonus when you move 60,000 Bonvoy points in a single transaction — so 60,000 Bonvoy yields 25,000 ANA miles, which is the same ratio Bonvoy uses for most airline partners. The ratio has not changed in the 2026 program updates. The structural use case is funding a partner award where you are short a few thousand miles after pulling from Amex or Chase; Marriott-to-ANA is not a primary accumulation strategy on its own because the per-Bonvoy-point value comes out to roughly 0.42 cents, which is below the redemption rate of Bonvoy itself on Category 6 and 7 hotels.

Is ANA Diamond status worth qualifying for in 2026? Diamond requires 100,000 Premium Points in a calendar year, of which 50,000 must come from ANA-operated flights. For a non-Japan-resident traveller, that translates to roughly four to six round-trip premium-cabin flights on ANA metal between the US and Tokyo, depending on fare class and the routing’s Premium Points multiplier. Cash cost ranges from USD 30,000 to USD 55,000 at the kind of fare classes that earn full Premium Points credit. The benefits are real — 115 percent earning bonus in year one, first-class check-in, the ANA Suite Lounge, three guest passes for the Suite Lounge per year, and the gateway to permanent SFC status — but the math only works for travellers whose ANA premium-cabin spend is already in that range as an organic consequence of their travel pattern. Chasing Diamond as a mileage run is not a positive-ROI exercise in 2026, and the December 2026 SFC restructuring further weakens the long-term lifetime-status payoff.

Related on the journal. Air Canada Aeroplan 2026: The 2020 Reset, Five Years Later (and the SQC Pivot) · Avianca LifeMiles 2026: Why Star Alliance Sweet Spots Persist · Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 2026 — A Program Teardown · World of Hyatt 2026 Chart Update: The 67% Peak Ceiling Jump and What It Actually Costs