How to Book ANA's Round-the-World Ticket in First Class

There's a redemption so absurdly good that seasoned points travelers whisper about it like it's a secret menu item: ANA Mileage Club's Round-the-World award. First class. Star Alliance carriers. Up to 8 cities. 120,000 miles. That's it. That's the price for what could easily be $30,000-$50,000 worth of first-class flights strung together into the trip of a lifetime. It's the single most aspirational booking in the points world, and in 2026, it's still available if you know how to work the system.

The routing rules are specific, so let's get them straight. Your itinerary must travel in one continuous direction — either eastbound or westbound around the globe. You must cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The total distance of all flights combined cannot exceed 29,000 miles (that's routing miles, not award miles). You're allowed up to 8 stopovers (stays of 24+ hours) and up to 4 transit points (under 24 hours). You must start and end in the same country — not the same city, just the same country. And the entire itinerary has to be on Star Alliance member airlines. Break any of these rules and ANA's booking system will reject the ticket.

Here's an example itinerary we've actually booked: New York JFK to London Heathrow on Lufthansa first class. London to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines business class (Turkish doesn't have first on most European routes). Istanbul to Singapore on Singapore Airlines first class. Singapore to Tokyo Narita on ANA first class. Tokyo to Los Angeles on ANA first class. Los Angeles back to New York on United domestic. Six flights, five cities, three continents, four first-class cabins, total routing distance around 27,400 miles. Cost: 120,000 ANA miles plus about $500-$700 in taxes and fuel surcharges. Cash value of those flights? North of $35,000.

Another popular routing goes westbound: San Francisco to Tokyo on ANA first class, Tokyo to Bangkok on Thai Airways first class, Bangkok to Zurich on SWISS first class, Zurich to Lisbon on TAP Air Portugal business class, Lisbon to New York on United business class. The key is mixing premium cabins strategically — first class where it's spectacular (ANA, Singapore, SWISS, Lufthansa) and business class where first isn't available or isn't worth the routing detour. You can also work in stopovers in places like Istanbul, Bangkok, or Singapore that are worth several days of exploring.

Searching for availability is the hardest part, and there's no way around it — you have to search segment by segment. Go to the ANA website, search each individual flight leg as a one-way award, and check for first-class or business-class availability on your desired dates. ANA shows Star Alliance partner availability, but the display can be glitchy, so we also recommend cross-referencing with United.com (which shows Star Alliance award space) and Aeroplan (which sometimes shows availability that ANA's site misses). Write down every available segment with flight numbers and dates. Then call ANA to string them all together into a single RTW ticket.

Timing is everything. ANA releases partner award space starting about 355 days before departure, but each airline controls its own inventory. Lufthansa first class opens roughly 360 days out and gets snatched quickly. Singapore first class is notoriously stingy but sometimes releases last-minute seats 2-3 weeks before departure. ANA's own first class opens 355 days out to ANA members, and availability is decent if you're searching on weekdays. Our strategy: build your itinerary around the hardest-to-find segments first (usually Lufthansa or Singapore first class), then fill in the easier legs afterward.

Common mistakes that sink RTW bookings: Trying to fit too many cities in and blowing past the 29,000-mile distance limit — use Great Circle Mapper to calculate routing distances before you call. Forgetting that the itinerary must be directional (you can't zigzag east and west). Not having ANA miles in your account before calling — you need the full 120,000 miles deposited before ANA will ticket the reservation. And the biggest mistake of all: waiting too long to start searching. First-class award space is finite, and the best segments on the best airlines go fast. Start searching 355 days before your first flight leg.

How do you get 120,000 ANA miles? Amex Membership Rewards transfers 1:1 to ANA Mileage Club. That's 120,000 Amex MR points. If you hold the Amex Gold and the Amex Platinum, or the Gold and the Blue Business Plus, you can accumulate that in 6-12 months of regular spending plus sign-up bonuses. The Amex Gold sign-up bonus alone (currently 60,000 MR) gets you halfway there. One important note: ANA miles expire 36 months after earning, so don't transfer until you're ready to book. Build your itinerary, confirm every segment has availability, then transfer and call ANA the same day. This is not a redemption you wing. Plan it like a military operation, and you'll have the trip of a lifetime for the price of a domestic economy ticket.