Who Can Use Your ANA Miles? Award Users, the Two-Degree Rule and Pooling Family Miles (2026)
ANA is one of the few big programs that will not let you book an award for a friend. The exact rule, how to register the people who do qualify, and how a family outside Japan can pool its miles.
By Biirdee Travel, Luxury Travel Concierge · Updated October 3, 2026
The Rule
ANA Mileage Club awards can be used by the primary member, their spouse or same-sex partner, and relatives within two degrees of family relationship. Nobody else. Anyone other than the member has to be registered in advance as an award user, a member can register up to 10, and ANA may ask for documents that prove the relationship.
The rule covers every award that puts someone in a seat: ANA international flight awards, partner airline awards, Japan domestic awards and upgrade awards. Check it before any points move: a ticket issued to someone outside the rule is not one they can use.
Key Takeaways
- Eligible: the member, a spouse or same-sex partner, and relatives within two degrees. Friends, colleagues and clients are not.
- Register award users in advance, up to 10 per member; ANA may ask for proof of the relationship.
- Changing or deleting a registered award user costs 5,000 miles per person, waived for family-registry changes and corrections.
- Members who live outside Japan can pool the miles of 2 to 8 family members in ANA's Family Account Service, for a 1,000-mile registration fee.
- Only the primary member can apply for the award, and names cannot be changed once it is ticketed.
Who Counts as Family
ANA's wording is "spouse or same-sex partner, and relatives within two degrees of family relationship." Counting by degree, a member's parents and children are one degree away, and grandparents, grandchildren and brothers and sisters are two; ANA's page does not list relatives by name, so if a relationship is borderline, ask ANA before you book, because a traveler who does not qualify cannot use the ticket.
ANA reserves the right to ask for documentation that verifies the relationship. Plan for it: keep the documents that show it (a marriage certificate, a birth certificate) where you can send them, particularly when the award user's surname differs from the member's.
What ANA Allows, and What It Does Not
From ANA's own pages, read on 3 October 2026.
| Question | ANA's answer |
|---|---|
| Can my spouse or partner fly on my miles? | Yes, once registered as an award user; same-sex partners are included |
| Can my parents, children, siblings or grandparents fly on my miles? | Yes, as relatives within two degrees, once registered |
| Can a friend, colleague or client fly on my miles? | No |
| How many award users can I register? | Up to 10 |
| Can I change a registered award user? | Yes, through the ANA Mileage Club Service Center, for 5,000 miles per person; free for family-registry changes (marriage, death), spelling corrections and membership-number changes |
| Can a family member book the award themselves? | No; the primary member applies, and ANA verifies the member's identity. A proxy's identity is also verified |
| Can the passenger name be changed after ticketing? | No; neither the passenger nor the member who provided the miles can change |
| Does an award user travelling alone get my elite priority? | No; priority reservations and waitlists apply to Premium Members using miles for their own travel |
| Can I combine my miles with a friend's? | No; miles can only be combined through ANA's family services |
How to Register an Award User
Log in to the ANA website and use the Award User Registration screen in the members-only area, or ask the ANA Mileage Club Service Center for a registration form. Register before you look for award space: the award user has to be on the list when the primary member books. The same list serves international, partner, domestic and upgrade awards.
An infant who travels on an adult's lap on an ANA international award, for 10% of the adult's miles, must also be registered as an award user.
Pooling Miles: ANA's Family Account Service
Members who live outside Japan can combine their family's miles through the ANA Mileage Club Family Account Service (AFA). The primary member registers 2 to 8 family members, counting themselves, drawn from the same circle of spouse or same-sex partner and relatives within two degrees. Registration costs 1,000 miles from the primary member's account, for a new registration and for each later change, can take about two weeks, and ANA may ask for proof of residence or relationship. The service is not available to members whose ANA Mileage Club address is in Japan; ANA Card holders there use ANA Card Family Miles instead.
Each person keeps earning in their own account. When the primary member books an award, ANA draws the miles from the family's accounts automatically: earliest-expiring miles first, then the smallest balance, then the primary member before the others. Pooled miles can buy ANA international and domestic flight awards, partner airline awards and international upgrade awards. ANA's own example: four family members with 5,000 miles each can together redeem a regular-season economy round trip between Hong Kong and Tokyo for 20,000 miles.
Pooling is also the way to rescue miles about to expire in a family member's account, because the earliest-expiring miles are used first. Expired miles cannot be combined.
When the Traveler Is Not Family
If the person flying does not fit ANA's rule, ANA miles are the wrong currency for that ticket, however good the seat. The options are another program that sells the same flights, under its own rules, or a cash fare. This is where an advisor helps: we check which program can legally put that traveler on that seat, or price the seat in cash through our airline contracts, before anyone moves points. Start a free flight quote, and see our ANA Mileage Club guide for the rest of the program's rules.
Sources
ANA's own pages, read on 3 October 2026.
| What it covers | Official page |
|---|---|
| Who can use awards, award user registration, the 10-person limit, the 5,000-mile change fee, primary-member applications | Using and Sharing Awards |
| The Family Account Service: eligibility, 2 to 8 members, the 1,000-mile fee, how miles are combined and what they buy | ANA Mileage Club Family Account Service |
| Award user rules on international awards, lap infants at 10%, elite priority for the member only, no name changes | ANA International Flight Awards |
| Award user registration for Japan domestic awards | ANA Japan Domestic Flight Awards |
ANA Award User FAQs
Can I book an ANA award ticket for a friend?
No. ANA awards can only be used by the member, a spouse or same-sex partner, and relatives within two degrees who are registered as award users.
How many people can I register to use my ANA miles?
Up to 10 award users. Changing or deleting one costs 5,000 miles, except for family-registry changes and corrections.
Does ANA ask for proof of relationship?
It can. ANA says award users may be asked to present documentation to verify their relationship with the member.
Can my family combine ANA miles?
If you live outside Japan, yes, through the ANA Mileage Club Family Account Service: 2 to 8 family members, a 1,000-mile registration fee, and pooled miles for flight and upgrade awards.
Is my unmarried partner eligible?
ANA's rule names a spouse or same-sex partner and relatives within two degrees. If your situation is not clearly covered, confirm with ANA before booking.
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