Amex Points Players Score Like No Others With the World’s Best Round-the-World Deal; Cheaper than Most Airlines Charge for Everyday Round-Trips.
A few years ago, one of our researchers spotted a deal so unfathomably great that I still shake my head in disbelief. We called it the “Ultimate Mileage Award” because I couldn’t imagine it being surpassed.
But it has been.
In short, the original deal still exists, but now some select routes have even better seats. We’ll walk you through why and how to redeem this award with your Amex Points and give you a peak at those new cushy seats.
A Recap of the Ultimate Mileage Award
This amazing Round-the-World (RTW) deal is based on a flight distance redemption with All Nippon Airways—an Amex points-transfer partner—with tickets starting in Business Class for just 105,000 miles, or 160,000 in First Class, for flying any Star Alliance airline(s) for up to 18,000 flight miles for the entire itinerary.
You Only Live Once
There are a few reasons people hesitate to even consider a Round-the-World ticket, though. For one, most people assume the price is out of their reach without even doing any research. We know that’s not true—and now you do too. Consider that Delta charges 160,000 miles (34% more) for a simple Business Class round-trip ticket between the U.S. and Europe, and 170,000 miles (38% more) from the U.S. to Asia.
Also, people often don’t think of Round-the-World itineraries because they seem too long or too much of a commitment. But in fact, the distance covered on a RTW itinerary is often comparable to a long-haul round-trip. Furthermore, you don’t have to see the whole world on one of these trips. You’re free to skip over destinations and stop where you want. But if you have a bucket list that needs checking, there is no better deal that I know of.
For example, you could fly:
New York > Tokyo > Seoul > Frankfurt > New York
On All Nippon all for up to 65,000 fewer miles than the cost of any one of those round-trips on American, Delta, or United.
Taking the Ultimate to the Next Level With New and Improved Cabins
As if this deal couldn’t get any better, All Nippon is beginning to introduce new Business Class (The Room) and First Class (The Suite)
on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the New York (JFK) to Tokyo (Haneda) route.
The new First Class seat on the B777-300ER now offers each seat its own door and provides passengers with privacy and a 43-inch 4K monitor, and the new Business Class offers wider seats, which all come with a door, have direct aisle access, and a 24-inch 4K monitor.
At present, the new cabins are available on the London-Tokyo and New York-Tokyo routes. The third route is Tokyo/Haneda-Frankfurt set for February. We’re told more routes are expected to be rolled out soon.
The easiest way to check whether an upcoming ANA flight has these new products is to go to ana.co.jp and under the “Award Booking” tab, search for your exact flight and cabin class. If it states “The Suite” or “The Room” for your flight (see sample screenshot below), then it has the new seat. However, keep in mind there can be last-minute equipment swaps that might mean you get the older cabin.
Round-the-World TICKET Fine Print
- Up to eight stops allowed
- Flights must be used to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans once
- The flight direction of the itinerary must be east to west or west to east (I highly recommend east to west to avoid red-eye flights and more jet lag)
- Backtracking is not permitted
- The minimum stay is at least 10 days over the course of the trip
- Travel valid on Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, All Nippon, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, United and more.
For Comparison:
RTW Mileage Award TICKETS Using Chase Points
Chase, on the other hand, does not have All Nippon as a transfer partner. The best you could do for an RTW ticket with Chase is on Singapore Airlines at 240,000 miles in Business Class (56% more) and 360,000 miles in First Class (55% more). So, in essence, with Amex Rewards, transferred to All Nippon miles, you can get better than two tickets for the price of one on Singapore Airlines using Chase Points, and even save some miles to boot.
Side Note: More Reasons Why Amex Beats Chase: In case you needed more convincing, Amex has more transfer partners, 19 versus 10; it runs frequent transfer bonus deals–often up to 40%; and you can buy up to 500,000 American Express Membership Rewards points (here’s a guide to how) at 2.5¢ each, while with Chase you can only earn them through spending. Plus, Amex Membership Rewards also offers more and better mileage programs such as Air Canada, Alitalia, All Nippon, Avianca (LifeMiles), Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, and Qantas. We wrote about it in detail here. More on credit cards next month.