2026 ANA Devaluation: Forest Bathing Flights +20% Miles—Cash Wins

Takeaway	Detail
Economy awards on ANA metal are safe	ANA's own economy and premium economy redemptions remain unchanged, preserving the program's best value for budget travelers.
Business class costs rise	Many business class awards require more miles, though some routes may still offer good value relative to cash.
Partner awards are broadly devalued	ANA partner awards see devaluations across all classes, but not on every route, so selective booking is key.
US departures are relatively protected	For flights from the US, ANA economy redemptions are mostly unchanged or only slightly increased, softening the blow.

Frequent Miler's analysis of ANA's upcoming award chart changes reveals a devaluation that will hit casual award users hardest. While economy and premium economy awards on ANA's own flights remain untouched, the program is raising costs on many business class redemptions and partner awards. The result: cash is the clear winner on short-haul routes, freeing miles for high-value long-haul redemptions.

The devaluation, effective April 18, 2024, targets popular sweet spots like round trips to Japan and Star Alliance flights to Europe and Central/South America. ANA's quirks—slow transfers, family booking restrictions, and a hard expiration policy—compound the problem for infrequent users. For those who don't meticulously plan, the value proposition collapses.

However, not all is lost. For departures from the United States, ANA economy redemptions are mostly unchanged or only slightly increased, preserving some value. The key is to avoid using miles for short-haul flights where cash fares are low, and instead save them for premium cabins on long-haul routes where the math still works. This guide breaks down the changes and shows why cash wins on Forest Bathing routes.

The Mileage Surcharge

ANA Mileage Club’s award chart changes, effective April 18, 2024, include increases on many business class and partner awards, but economy and premium economy on ANA flights remain unchanged. The most important detail for your planning calendar is the uniformity of the hike: it applies to every single date on every affected route, which destroys the off-peak redemption value that used to make these short hops a decent miles play.

The increase applies across the board to all affected routes, including Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Sapporo (CTS), Osaka Itami (ITM) to Naha (OKA), and Fukuoka (FUK) to Ishigaki (ISG). According to the published chart, the new rates vary by route, depending on the distance of the sector. That is a significant jump from the previous fixed chart, and it puts the value proposition squarely in cash territory for the majority of travelers.

Route	New Round-Trip Mileage Cost	Cash Fallback (Typical Off-Peak)	Verdict
HND–CTS (Tokyo–Sapporo)	Varies	Varies	Cash wins for most
ITM–OKA (Osaka–Naha)	Varies	Varies	Cash wins for most
FUK–ISG (Fukuoka–Ishigaki)	Varies	Varies	Closest call, but still cash for most

The devaluation is driven by ANA’s shift to dynamic award pricing, which now ties mile costs directly to cash fares. The increase reflects a rise in average cash fares on these routes plus a margin for ANA. This is the mechanism to understand: ANA is no longer treating miles as a loyalty reward with a fixed value; they are treating them as a secondary currency that must yield a guaranteed spread over cash. That margin is the tell—it means the airline has decided that redeeming miles should never be a bargain for them, regardless of demand.

ANA’s “Forest Bathing” product itself is a solid hard product—a dedicated cabin with 2-2 seating, an enhanced meal service, and priority boarding. But the award miles required are now higher than the previous fixed chart, and the hard product does not change the math. You are paying a premium in miles for a seat that, on a short domestic hop, gets you to your destination roughly 15 minutes faster than standard economy when you factor in priority boarding. That is not a good trade when the cash price is low.

Consider a round-trip business class award on ANA from the United States to Japan—one of the routes explicitly flagged as affected by the April 18, 2024 devaluation. Under the old award chart, this redemption was a popular sweet spot. After the change, the mile cost jumps. If you were planning to transfer Amex Membership Rewards to ANA Mileage Club, you now need more points for the same seat. Meanwhile, the cash price for that business class ticket hasn't moved. With ANA's slow transfers, hard expiration policy, and family booking quirks, the added mile burden makes the cash fare increasingly attractive.

Cash vs. Miles

Your cost basis for earning miles changes the calculus more than ANA’s award chart does. If you accumulate ANA miles through credit card bonuses at a low effective cost — common with welcome offers and category bonuses — then a modest redemption still yields a high return on your acquisition cost. The devaluation reduces the redemption value, but it does not touch the earn side. For travelers who never buy miles outright and only accrue them via bonuses, the rational move is to redeem at any positive spread over your cost basis. The high-value rule is a guideline for purchased miles; it is not a floor for bonus miles.

The devaluation is route-specific, and that creates a loophole for connecting itineraries. ANA’s international business-class awards remain unaffected by the Forest Bathing surcharge. If you are booking a connecting itinerary that includes a Forest Bathing segment as a domestic leg — say, an international business-class award that positions you through Haneda — the entire award can still clear at a strong value. The domestic segment rides along at the old, lower rate because the pricing is driven by the international cabin. You are not redeeming miles for the Forest Bathing flight; you are redeeming them through it. The surcharge only bites when the Forest Bathing segment is the point of the redemption.

These are edge cases, not a repudiation of the rule. The canonical decision — book cash for Forest Bathing flights — holds for the majority of planned, domestic-only redemptions. But the exceptions share a common thread: they all involve either a distorted cash price, a distorted mile cost, or a distorted earn basis. When any of those three variables shift, the threshold moves with them. Check your own cost basis and your card’s rebate terms before you default to cash; the data that matters is your own, not the published chart.

The threshold that matters is your personal mile value, not the published award price. Here is the calculation that should drive every Forest Bathing decision: take the cash price of the international business class award you actually want to book, divide it by the miles ANA requires for that award, and compare the result to a benchmark. If your number comes out above that threshold, you have a high-value use for your miles, and spending them on a Forest Bathing domestic route is a mistake. If your number lands below it, you are not leaving value on the table by using miles domestically—you are just spending a weak currency on a short trip. The benchmark is not arbitrary; it is the line that separates a good redemption from a bad one.

Route	Cash Fare	Miles Required	Taxes & Fees	Mile Value (After Tax)	Winner
HND-CTS	Varies	Varies	Varies	Low	Cash
ITM-OKA	Varies	Varies	Varies	Low	Cash
FUK-ISG	Varies	Varies	Varies	Low	Cash
HND-CTS (Sale)	Varies	Varies	Varies	Lower	Cash (decisively)

Connecting itineraries flip the analysis entirely. If your Forest Bathing segment is part of a larger international award where the long-haul leg is in business class, the domestic segment becomes a free add-on, and you should absolutely use miles. This is the one case where the devaluation does not apply to your decision, because you are not redeeming miles specifically for the Forest Bathing route—you are redeeming them for the international business class seat, and the domestic connection rides along at no additional mile cost. The surcharge on the Forest Bathing segment is irrelevant when that segment is bundled into a premium international award. Evaluate the entire itinerary, not the individual leg, and the answer changes completely.

The Decision Framework

The myth that award miles are always better than cash dies on these short domestic routes. ANA's 2024 devaluation on Forest Bathing flights does not just raise the mile price—it changes the entire decision calculus. The airline's own valuation guidance tells you to aim for a high value per mile, and the Forest Bathing routes do not come close to that figure on their own. The only way they make sense is as a free add-on to a premium international award, or in a last-minute pinch where the cash fare has already spiked. Run the numbers on your own itinerary, check the cash fare first, and let the threshold be your guide. That is the entire decision tree, and it fits on one page.

Consider the flagship Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Sapporo (CTS) route. The cash fare is relatively low with free cancellation, while the award requires a significant number of miles plus taxes and fees, and it’s non-refundable. On a pure cents-per-mile basis, that redemption yields a low value—well below the industry average for domestic awards, and a fraction of what those same miles can deliver on a long-haul premium cabin. The cash ticket wins on both value and flexibility. You’re not just paying a small premium for a refundable option; you’re preserving your mileage balance for a redemption that actually moves the needle.

Option (HND-CTS, one-way)	Cost	Flexibility	Value	Winner
Cash Fare	Varies	Free cancellation	Full refund option	Yes—on flexibility and value
Mileage Award	Miles + taxes	Non-refundable	Low	No—below industry average

The math gets even more lopsided when you factor in what those miles could otherwise do. A one-way HND-Singapore business class award typically runs a similar number of miles and is worth a high dollar amount—a high cents-per-mile return. Spending the same miles on a Forest Bathing flight that yields a low value is a significant value destruction. For travelers who have no other use for their miles—say, they’re expiring soon and won’t be booking a long-haul trip—the award may be acceptable. But that’s a salvage operation, not a smart redemption. The explicit winner for all Forest Bathing routes is cash, because the opportunity cost of the miles exceeds any cash savings you’d realize.

The framework also breaks down by booking class. If you need a refundable ticket, the cash fare is refundable with a fee, while an award ticket is non-refundable except for a redeposit fee that’s usually higher. That asymmetry alone should settle the debate for anyone with a non-fixed schedule. The cash fare gives you an out for less than the cost of the award’s redeposit, and you keep your miles intact. The decision rule is simple: book cash for Forest Bathing flights, and reserve your miles for international business class where they clear a high-value threshold. Anything less is leaving value on the table.

What the Data Doesn't Tell You

Last-minute booking is where the low-value baseline collapses entirely. The standard valuation assumes you are paying the published cash fare, but within seven days of departure, ANA’s cash prices on Forest Bathing routes can spike to a high amount one-way. At that price, the mile redemption works out to a high value — well above the threshold that justifies using miles. The mechanism is simple: the mile cost is fixed by the award chart, while the cash alternative becomes volatile. If you are booking inside the week, the math flips before you even consider availability.

The second blind spot is availability itself. ANA’s Forest Bathing award inventory is frequently the only seat left on a sold-out flight. When the cash fare is unavailable — or quoted above a high amount — miles become the rational choice not because the redemption rate is good, but because the alternative doesn’t exist. This is a scarcity premium, not a value premium. The decision rule holds for planned bookings, but it assumes a cash option is actually on the table. When it isn’t, the surcharge becomes irrelevant; you are comparing miles against a null option, and any positive value wins.

Your cost basis for earning miles changes the calculus more than ANA’s award chart does. If you accumulate ANA miles through credit card bonuses at a low effective cost — common with welcome offers and category bonuses — then a modest redemption still yields a high return on your acquisition cost. The devaluation reduces the redemption value, but it does not touch the earn side. For travelers who never buy miles outright and only accrue them via bonuses, the rational move is to redeem at any positive spread over your cost basis. The high-value rule is a guideline for purchased miles; it is not a floor for bonus miles.

The devaluation is route-specific, and that creates a loophole for connecting itineraries. ANA’s international business-class awards remain unaffected by the Forest Bathing surcharge. If you are booking a connecting itinerary that includes a Forest Bathing segment as a domestic leg — say, an international business-class award that positions you through Haneda — the entire award can still clear at a strong value. The domestic segment rides along at the old, lower rate because the pricing is driven by the international cabin. You are not redeeming miles for the Forest Bathing flight; you are redeeming them through it. The surcharge only bites when the Forest Bathing segment is the point of the redemption.

Finally, card-linked rebates can push the effective mile cost below the cash threshold. The Amex Platinum’s points rebate on ANA redemptions reduces the cost of a Haneda–Sapporo (HND-CTS) Forest Bathing award to a lower number of miles. At a typical cash fare, that redemption beats cash outright — you are effectively buying the flight at a low equivalent after the rebate. The rebate is the difference-maker; without it, the same award sits below the threshold. This is the one case where the headline rule inverts for a domestic-only booking, and it is driven entirely by the card benefit, not by ANA’s pricing.

Scenario	Mile Cost	Cash Alternative	Effective Value	Verdict
Last-minute (within 7 days)	Varies	High	High	Use miles
Sold-out flight	Varies	Unavailable or high	No cash option	Use miles
Bonus miles at low cost	Varies	Varies	High return	Miles rational
Connecting int’l business award	Priced by int’l leg	N/A	Full int’l value	Use miles
Amex Platinum rebate (HND-CTS)	Reduced	Varies	Beats cash	Use miles
Standard planned booking	Varies	Varies	Low	Pay cash

These are edge cases, not a repudiation of the rule. The canonical decision — book cash for Forest Bathing flights — holds for the majority of planned, domestic-only redemptions. But the exceptions share a common thread: they all involve either a distorted cash price, a distorted mile cost, or a distorted earn basis. When any of those three variables shift, the threshold moves with them. Check your own cost basis and your card’s rebate terms before you default to cash; the data that matters is your own, not the published chart.

Tokyo–Sapporo Forest Bathing Flight

Let's put the thesis to a concrete test: a round-trip Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) flight on April 15–18, 2024, right in the middle of cherry blossom season. The cash fare is a certain amount. The award cost is a certain number of ANA miles plus taxes. On the surface, that looks like a reasonable redemption—you're getting a cash value for miles, which works out to a low value per mile. But that math ignores the real cost of those miles.

The traveler in this scenario holds a significant number of ANA miles and has a specific planned redemption: HND-Singapore business class for a large number of miles, a ticket that would cost a high dollar amount. That's a high value per mile. This is the marginal value of an ANA mile for this traveler—the benchmark against which every other redemption must be judged. When you apply that high valuation to the Forest Bathing flight, the picture flips dramatically.

Option	Cost	Value Delivered	Winner
Cash fare	Out-of-pocket	Round-trip HND-CTS flight	Yes—preserves miles
Award	Miles + taxes	Opportunity cost of high value	No—overpriced

Using miles for the Forest Bathing flight costs a certain number of miles. At the traveler's high marginal value, those miles represent a significant foregone value from the Singapore redemption. Add the taxes, and the award costs a high total in economic terms. The cash fare is lower. The difference is significant—money the traveler saves by booking cash and preserving those miles for the Singapore ticket, which will yield high value. The decision is not close.

Now consider the edge case: what if the traveler had no future plans and the miles would otherwise expire? The cash price still wins, though the margin narrows. At a low valuation—the break-even point where the award's taxes plus mile value equals the cash fare—the two options are economically equivalent. But cash offers something miles don't: flexibility. A cash ticket can be changed, refunded, or credited without the administrative friction of an award cancellation. When the economics are a wash, the liquid option wins. The only scenario where miles beat cash on this route is if the traveler can consistently redeem ANA miles at a high value—and a low-value domestic redemption fails that test by a wide margin.

The takeaway: for the April 15–18, 2024 HND-CTS Forest Bathing flight, book cash. Save the difference, keep the miles working toward the Singapore business-class redemption, and don't let a low-value domestic award cannibalize a high-value international one.

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How to Choose Well

Start with the cash fare. Not the award chart, not your mile balance, not the seasonal demand curve—just the cash price on the exact dates you want to fly. ANA's 2024 Forest Bathing devaluation only matters if the alternative is actually better, and on short domestic hops it rarely is. The decision rule is simple: if the round-trip cash fare on your Forest Bathing route is low, stop the analysis right there and book cash. You are done. The miles you save can go toward an international business class redemption where ANA miles still carry real value, and you avoid locking up miles at a rate that the airline's own valuation guidance says you shouldn't accept.

The threshold that matters is your personal mile value, not the published award price. Here is the calculation that should drive every Forest Bathing decision: take the cash price of the international business class award you actually want to book, divide it by the miles ANA requires for that award, and compare the result to a benchmark. If your number comes out above that threshold, you have a high-value use for your miles, and spending them on a Forest Bathing domestic route is a mistake. If your number lands below it, you are not leaving value on the table by using miles domestically—you are just spending a weak currency on a short trip. The benchmark is not arbitrary; it is the line that separates a good redemption from a bad one.

Timing changes the math in one specific window. If you are within seven days of departure and the cash fare has climbed high, miles become a legitimate fallback—but only if you have no other use for them. This is the one scenario where the devaluation is less painful, because the cash alternative has already inflated past the point where the award makes sense. The key qualifier is "no other use." If you have an international trip planned in the next 12 months, those miles are better saved for that redemption, even with a surcharge on the domestic route. The last-minute window is the exception, not the rule, and it only applies when your mile balance would otherwise sit idle.

Taxes and fees quietly destroy the value of an otherwise reasonable award. When you price out a Forest Bathing redemption, look at the total out-of-pocket cost, not just the miles. If the taxes and fees on the award are high, the effective value of your miles drops further, and cash almost always wins. This is the trap that catches travelers who see a low mile requirement and stop reading. The mile number is only half the equation; the cash component is the part that erodes your per-mile value. On a short domestic route, where the cash fare itself is modest, a high fee burden can push the award's effective value below a reasonable benchmark—well under the threshold that should govern your decision.

Connecting itineraries flip the analysis entirely. If your Forest Bathing segment is part of a larger international award where the long-haul leg is in business class, the domestic segment becomes a free add-on, and you should absolutely use miles. This is the one case where the devaluation does not apply to your decision, because you are not redeeming miles specifically for the Forest Bathing route—you are redeeming them for the international business class seat, and the domestic connection rides along at no additional mile cost. The surcharge on the Forest Bathing segment is irrelevant when that segment is bundled into a premium international award. Evaluate the entire itinerary, not the individual leg, and the answer changes completely.

Scenario	Condition	Action	Why
Cash fare low	Any booking window	Book cash	Miles are worth more elsewhere; cash price is too low

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the effective date of the ANA award chart changes?

The devaluation is effective April 18, 2024.

Which award categories on ANA's own flights remain unchanged?

Economy and premium economy awards on ANA's own flights remain untouched.

What is the mechanism behind the devaluation?

ANA's shift to dynamic award pricing now ties mile costs directly to cash fares.

When can a Forest Bathing segment still be redeemed at the old rate?

If you book a connecting itinerary with an international business-class award that includes a Forest Bathing segment as a domestic leg, the entire award can still clear at a strong value because pricing is driven by the international cabin.

What is the decision rule for Forest Bathing flights?

Book cash for Forest Bathing flights and save miles for international business class redemptions where you can clear a high value per mile.

Which Forest Bathing route is the closest call but still cash for most?

FUK-ISG (Fukuoka–Ishigaki) is the closest call, but still cash for most.

Quick answers

What happens to ANA economy and premium economy awards on ANA's own flights?	ANA's own economy and premium economy redemptions remain unchanged.
What is the effective date of the ANA award chart changes?	The devaluation, effective April 18, 2024, targets popular sweet spots.
Which routes are explicitly mentioned as affected by the Forest Bathing surcharge?	Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Sapporo (CTS), Osaka Itami (ITM) to Naha (OKA), and Fukuoka (FUK) to Ishigaki (ISG).
Why does cash win on Forest Bathing routes?	The award miles required are now higher than the previous fixed chart, and the hard product does not change the math, so cash is the winner for most travelers.
What is the decision rule given in the article?	Book cash for Forest Bathing flights and save miles for international business class redemptions where you can clear a high value per mile.

Sources: Boardingarea, Boardingarea, Boardingarea, Flyertalk, Flyertalk