ANA Mileage Club does two jobs from one app: it tracks miles and digital card status, and it runs ANA Pay for daily QR and touch payments that earn miles alongside grocery, convenience-store, and online spend. The trade-off is that every mile earned lives inside one program. Travelers who fly ANA once or twice a year rarely hit Bronze, let alone Platinum, and ANA Pay's earn rate lags PayPay's cashback on the same convenience-store visit. The rating on Android has sat around 3.8, with users citing app crashes on the ANA Pay side and confusion about which balance funds which purchase. These ANA Mileage Club alternatives target the same jobs, whether the goal is a competing loyalty program, a program-agnostic mile tracker, or a mobile payment with a wider daily-spend footprint.
We compared seven Android apps that overlap with ANA Mileage Club. The mix covers the rival Japanese carrier's loyalty app (JAL), the two dedicated multi-program mile trackers (AwardWallet, TripIt), the two largest Star Alliance loyalty apps that let ANA miles transfer or partner-redeem (United MileagePlus, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer), and the two dominant Japan mobile payments (PayPay, Rakuten Pay).
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Airlines | JMB loyalty rival | Yes | JAL Mileage Bank tracking and Life Status Points |
| AwardWallet | Multi-program tracker | Yes | Auto-sync across 700+ loyalty programs |
| TripIt | Trip organizer with mileage view | Yes | Auto-parses booking emails into one itinerary |
| United MileagePlus | Star Alliance partner redemptions | Yes | Widest Star Alliance award chart access |
| Singapore Airlines | KrisFlyer premium cabin redemptions | Yes | Direct KrisFlyer to Star Alliance award booking |
| PayPay | Japan daily mobile payment | Yes | Largest QR merchant network in Japan |
| Rakuten Pay | Points across Rakuten ecosystem | Yes | Rakuten Points compound across shopping, mobile, and travel |
Why people leave ANA Mileage Club
Four themes recur in Android reviews and Reddit threads. Single-program lock-in. Miles earned only count toward ANA award seats, and the flexible awards that Star Alliance partners publish sit behind extra research steps the app does not surface. ANA Pay stability. Users on r/JapanTravel and Reddit's r/awardtravel report app crashes when reloading the ANA Pay balance and confusion about which of the multiple balances (mile-funded vs. topped up) applies at checkout. Cashback lags competitors. A convenience-store purchase on PayPay or au PAY often returns a higher effective rate than ANA Pay's 0.5% mile earn once cashback campaigns stack. Status is hard to reach. The tier system, now reshaped around Life Status Points that carry across years, still favors travelers with heavy paid international bookings and offers little for domestic-heavy flyers.
A fifth pattern shows up in the reviews from expatriates in Japan: the app's English coverage is partial, with parts of the ANA Pay flow and campaign details still Japanese-only, which pushes non-Japanese-reading users toward PayPay or Rakuten Pay for daily spend and toward a program-agnostic tracker like AwardWallet for the miles side.
Which ANA Mileage Club alternative should you pick
- Japan Airlines for the direct JMB rival if the plan is to move loyalty to the other Japanese flag carrier.
- AwardWallet for tracking miles across ANA, JAL, Star Alliance, and beyond in one view.
- TripIt for pulling booking emails into a single itinerary that also surfaces frequent-flyer balances.
- United MileagePlus for Star Alliance partner redemptions when ANA availability is thin.
- Singapore Airlines for KrisFlyer premium-cabin redemptions on Star Alliance metal.
- PayPay for daily QR spend across Japan's widest merchant network.
- Rakuten Pay for Rakuten Points that compound across shopping, travel, and mobile.
Japan Airlines (JAL) — Best for JMB loyalty rival
JAL's rebuilt app covers the same span as ANA Mileage Club on the loyalty side: JAL Mileage Bank balance tracking, Life Status Points progress toward higher tiers, digital boarding, gate-change notifications, and lounge coupons. JMB miles book Oneworld award seats (British Airways, Qantas, Cathay, American), which is the counterpart to what ANA miles do on Star Alliance. The card layer is different too, with JAL Global Club status pathways available through partner Japanese credit cards.
The daily-spend side is thinner. JAL doesn't operate a payment app on the ANA Pay scale; miles come from bookings and partner card spend rather than QR checkout. Travelers who value the ANA Pay convenience will feel the gap.
Pricing:
- Free: Full loyalty tracking, boarding, and mileage view.
- Paid: Higher tier status requires paid flight activity or partner card spend.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Comparable feature set on the loyalty side, thinner on daily payments.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No direct mile transfer between ANA and JAL. Travelers usually run both programs in parallel and pick the carrier per route. Setting up JMB takes minutes; a partner credit card unlocks additional earn but requires a separate application.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers ready to move loyalty to Oneworld, or to run JMB in parallel with AMC.
AwardWallet — Best for multi-program tracking
AwardWallet syncs balances across more than 700 loyalty programs, including ANA, JAL, and every major Star Alliance carrier. The Android app pulls balance changes on a schedule, tracks expiration dates, and flags accounts where miles are about to lapse. Trip Companion, the paid tier, adds real-time alerts, unlimited history, and family-account grouping. Travelers running miles across ANA, JAL, Marriott Bonvoy, and a couple of credit-card rewards portfolios use it as the single source of truth.
What it doesn't do: earn miles or move them. AwardWallet is a tracker, not a booking or payment tool. It also doesn't touch ANA Pay's daily-spend function.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic balance tracking across supported programs, with a delay between syncs.
- Paid: Trip Companion adds real-time sync, unlimited history, and account grouping for a modest annual fee.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Complements rather than replaces, since ANA Pay lives outside its scope.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No migration involved. Add ANA credentials once, and the AMC balance appears alongside every other program. Setup takes a few minutes per account.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers who juggle more than one loyalty program and want one balance view.
TripIt — Best for trip organizing with rewards summary
TripIt parses booking confirmation emails from ANA, JAL, hotels, and rail operators into a single itinerary. The Pro tier adds flight status alerts, gate change notifications, seat tracker for better assignments as they open up, and a Points Tracker view that surfaces balances across airline and hotel programs alongside the trips they fund. For travelers who book across ANA, JAL, and OTAs, TripIt is the daily-driver itinerary layer that ANA Mileage Club can't provide for non-ANA bookings.
What TripIt doesn't do: earn miles, run payments, or handle boarding. It sits alongside carrier apps rather than replacing them.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic itinerary aggregation from booking emails.
- Paid: Pro adds alerts, seat tracker, Points Tracker, and refund/fare-drop scans for an annual subscription.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Different job, complementary tool for anyone booking across multiple carriers.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: Forward ANA confirmation emails to [email protected] or connect a Gmail account for automatic pull. Existing ANA bookings appear in the itinerary within minutes.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers who want one itinerary across carriers and a rewards summary alongside.
United MileagePlus — Best for Star Alliance partner redemptions
United's app manages MileagePlus balances, books award seats across Star Alliance partners (which includes ANA), and handles the boarding-day loop for United paid tickets. For travelers holding both ANA and MileagePlus miles, the app opens partner award availability that ANA's own booking flow hides behind separate calls or website searches. MileagePlus also has no close-in fees on award changes for Premier members, which travelers use to open speculative award holds and refine dates later.
The trade-off is where the miles come from. Earning MileagePlus miles from Japan means paid United flights or transferring from Chase Ultimate Rewards, neither of which is easy for Japan-resident travelers whose spend flows through JCB and domestic cards.
Pricing:
- Free: Full loyalty tracking, boarding, and award search.
- Paid: Premier status requires paid United flight activity.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Complementary if held together, since Star Alliance award access differs between the two.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No mile transfer between ANA and MileagePlus. Travelers run both accounts and route earning based on which award chart favors the target route.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers who want a second Star Alliance award chart to complement ANA availability.
Singapore Airlines — Best for KrisFlyer premium-cabin redemptions
The SingaporeAir app pairs booking, mobile boarding, and inflight KrisWorld selection with KrisFlyer balance tracking. KrisFlyer is a favorite for Star Alliance premium-cabin awards, especially long-haul business and first-class inventory that partners release later. For travelers weighing whether to concentrate future miles into ANA or diversify, the KrisFlyer chart on ANA metal covers routes ANA members book with their own miles at similar cost, giving a fallback when ANA's own availability is thin.
The gaps: KrisFlyer earning requires either paid Singapore Airlines segments or Amex Membership Rewards transfers, both hard to access from Japan-based bank stacks. The daily-spend layer is nonexistent, since Singapore Airlines does not run a mobile payment product.
Pricing:
- Free: Full booking, boarding, and KrisFlyer tracking.
- Paid: KrisFlyer status tiers require paid Singapore Airlines flight activity.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Complementary loyalty program, no daily-spend layer.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No mile transfer between ANA and KrisFlyer. Travelers open a KrisFlyer account for redemption access rather than direct migration.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers who want KrisFlyer's premium-cabin chart as a second Star Alliance option.
PayPay — Best for daily QR spend in Japan
PayPay is the widest-accepted QR payment in Japan, with a merchant network that covers most convenience stores, drugstores, taxis, and small independents that ANA Pay does not reach. The app handles topup from bank accounts, credit cards, and 7-Eleven ATMs, sends money peer-to-peer, and stacks time-limited cashback campaigns that regularly beat ANA Pay's 0.5% mile earn rate. Points earned convert 1-to-1 for use in-app.
What PayPay doesn't give: miles. Points stay inside PayPay's ecosystem or convert to PayPay Money for withdrawal. Travelers who value ANA Pay specifically because points become airline miles won't find a like-for-like path here.
Pricing:
- Free: Full QR payment, peer-to-peer transfer, and points program.
- Paid: No subscription tier.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Cheaper effective rate on most Japan retail spend, but no mile earn.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No migration involved. PayPay lives alongside AMC, replacing the daily-spend function while AMC keeps the mile-tracking function.
Bottom line: the right pick for travelers whose main issue is ANA Pay's coverage gaps and cashback lag.
Rakuten Pay — Best for Rakuten ecosystem points
Rakuten Pay handles QR payment at a wide network of Japanese retailers and doubles as the Rakuten Point Card, so points earned at convenience stores compound with Rakuten Ichiba shopping, Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Card, and Rakuten Travel bookings. For a household already inside the Rakuten ecosystem, one point earned across all those surfaces is more valuable than one ANA mile locked inside AMC.
What Rakuten Pay doesn't do: earn ANA miles. It also has weaker acceptance than PayPay at small independent merchants, though the gap has narrowed with each expansion.
Pricing:
- Free: Full QR payment, Rakuten Point Card, and point-earning tools.
- Paid: No subscription tier; Rakuten Card membership optional but adds earn rate.
- vs ANA Mileage Club: Cheaper for households already inside Rakuten, no mile earn.
Migrating from ANA Mileage Club: No migration involved. Rakuten Pay replaces the ANA Pay function while AMC keeps mile tracking, or a household consolidates spend into the Rakuten stack.
Bottom line: the right pick for Rakuten ecosystem households where daily spend feeds shopping, travel, and mobile.
How to choose
Pick Japan Airlines if the plan is to shift airline loyalty toward Oneworld, or to run JMB alongside AMC and pick the carrier per route.
Pick AwardWallet if the balance count is more than one program and the goal is a single view of everything that expires.
Pick TripIt if the itinerary problem, not the miles problem, is what pulled attention to the app in the first place.
Pick United MileagePlus if Star Alliance award redemptions matter more than earning, and Japan-issued travel cards can transfer through a partner program.
Pick Singapore Airlines if premium-cabin awards on Star Alliance metal are the target and KrisFlyer earning through Amex or partner segments is available.
Pick PayPay if the daily-spend gap is the issue and mile earn is secondary to actual acceptance at the corner store.
Pick Rakuten Pay if the household already sits inside the Rakuten ecosystem across shopping, mobile, and travel.
Stay on ANA Mileage Club if ANA is the primary carrier for at least a few paid segments per year and ANA Pay's mile earn on daily spend actually adds up to a redeemable balance by year end.
FAQ
Is Japan Airlines better than ANA for miles?
Neither is strictly better. JAL Mileage Bank works with Oneworld partners, so award seats on British Airways, Cathay, American, and Qantas are the natural redemption pool. ANA Mileage Club works with Star Alliance, so award seats on United, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and others are the natural pool. The right pick depends on which alliance covers the routes and cabins the traveler flies most.
Can I transfer ANA miles to another airline?
Direct mile transfers between airline programs are rare and usually not offered. Star Alliance partners can redeem partner award seats using their own miles, which is a different flow than transferring balances. Credit card rewards, on the other hand, often let travelers move points to multiple airline partners including ANA.
What is the cheapest ANA Mileage Club alternative for daily payments?
PayPay and Rakuten Pay both charge nothing to use and cover most Japan retail. PayPay has the wider merchant network at small independents, and Rakuten Pay has stronger earn for households already spending across the Rakuten ecosystem.
Is AwardWallet worth the paid plan?
The free tier syncs balances across supported programs with a delay. The paid tier adds real-time sync, unlimited history, and family-account grouping. Travelers holding more than three loyalty programs, or with miles that expire on rolling deadlines, tend to find the annual fee pays back in miles saved from expiration.
Do TripIt and ANA Mileage Club work together?
Yes. Forward ANA booking confirmations to [email protected] or connect a Gmail account, and the ANA reservations appear in TripIt's itinerary view. Boarding passes still come from AMC; TripIt covers the trip organization layer.
What do people use instead of ANA Mileage Club?
Users on Reddit's r/awardtravel and r/JapanTravel cite three common swaps: JAL for a rival carrier, PayPay for daily QR spend, and AwardWallet as a program-agnostic tracker that includes ANA balances alongside JAL, Marriott, and credit-card rewards.
