United Miles Can Again Book ANA, Thai and TAP Portugal Awards, although not Singapore Business Class awards. Previously, I'd written that the lack of ANA, Singapore, Thai and TAP Portugal premium class award space bookable with United miles constituted a de facto devaluation of United MileagePlus, and by extension, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, since 1:1 transfers to United is one of the key benefits of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
ANA First Class, which I recommend only second to JAL First Class for travel to Japan, is again available, as is ANA Business Class. Keep in mind though that if you only need one award seat and are flying roundtrip from the U.S. to Japan, the least expensive option if you can find award space is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which charges 120,000 miles for ANA First Class roundtrip from the East Coast to Japan, vs. 110,000 miles each way with United or 180,000 ANA miles for a roundtrip.
THAI doesn't fly nonstop to the U.S., but there is THAI First Class award space for some other flights, such as Bangkok to Europe:
TAP Portugal Business Class awards are also again bookable:
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In the section referencing using Flying Club miles to book ANA, what did you mean by the comment “Keep in mind though that if you only need one award seat…”? Why did you reference one? Are those awards never available as pairs?
Yes, it’s much harder to find two ANA First Class award seats for both flights, than just one. And as with ANA’s own frequent flyer program, Virgin Atlantic miles must be used to book a round trip; there’s no option of a one way award for half the mileage.