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The story
On September 29, ANA Holdings announced a partial revision to its “tightening” policy for the “ANA Super Flyers Card” (SFC), a credit card for elite members, which had restricted airport lounge access to members spending 3 million yen or more per year on the card. Under the April announcement, members who fell short of the 3 million yen threshold were to be barred from lounges entirely, sparking criticism on social media that the change amounted to a “downgrade.” In this revision, the 3 million yen line itself remains unchanged, but members below that threshold will now be able to use domestic lounges during off-peak hours, as well as international lounges at Haneda, Narita, and Honolulu, with a reservation system planned for the future. On 5ch, opinions were divided over whether the 3 million yen threshold is a fair measure of a “valuable customer,” and whether those who hit it can really be called elite spenders.
Regarding the “ANA Super Flyers Card (SFC),” a credit card for elite members of All Nippon Airways, parent company ANA Holdings (HD) announced on the 29th a set of revisions to the new system set to launch in April 2028. On the “tightening” of airport lounge access — previously limited to members spending 3 million yen or more per year — members below that threshold, who had been barred outright, will now be allowed partial access under certain conditions.
In April, ANA HD announced that for the SFC, aimed at frequent flyers, benefits would be split into two tiers based on whether annual card spending crossed the 3 million yen line. Under the change, members whose annual card spending fell short of 3 million yen would lose airport lounge access entirely. Since members had previously been able to keep using lounges simply by paying the annual fee, the change drew a wave of criticism, with some on social media calling it a “downgrade.”
According to the revision announced on the 29th, the 3 million yen annual spending threshold remains in place. However, whereas members below that line had previously been barred from lounges entirely, they will now be able to use domestic lounges during non-congested periods. A “reservation system” is also planned for the future to expand access further. For international flights, access will be granted at the Haneda, Narita, and Honolulu airport lounges. Members who spend 3 million yen or more annually will continue to have full lounge access as before.
Source: asahi.com / Original article here
What people said
>They announced that benefits would be split into two tiers based on whether annual card spending crosses 3 million yen.
So only people who spend 3 million yen a year on the card get lounge access.
Are they stupid or what lol
I switched jobs and don't fly anymore, but I still get the urge to fly sometimes.
Complaints come from lounge users who don't like the company they're keeping in there.
It's practically standard practice to drop the name of someone who qualifies and say "I'm meeting them here" just to get in.
That's how much influence the qualified members have.
So when ANA tries to tighten the requirements, they basically get told, "You sure you want to say that to us?"
Or so the story goes.
There are plenty of other places to sit.
Exactly this.
The whole value of the space comes from NOT having customers desperately trying to get their money's worth.
It was obvious this was going to turn bureaucratic eventually.
People with decent salaries who go out of their way for ANA,
and wealthier people who hit it naturally —
both are exactly the customers ANA wants.
Fine if you're self-employed, but if you're a salaried employee at any decent company you'd be issued a corporate card for that.
That's the part they're glossing over — domestic priority boarding/check-in barely matters anyway to begin with.
The domestic lounge crowding problem was never really the issue; it costs ANA nothing either way, and they don't actually care about customer comfort or satisfaction.
What actually hurt was Star Alliance Gold status and the lounge fees ANA has to cover for it overseas.
I'm thrilled the expense-account salarymen are gone.
Still, breaking a promise isn't okay though.
There's no point paying for the pricey ANA Diners card anymore.
I'll just grab a coffee and a sandwich at Starbucks.
I always show up at the airport at the last minute anyway, so I never use the lounge.
✗ "well-off" (裕福層)
✓ "wealthy/affluent" (富裕層 — the more standard term)
✗ LLC
✓ LCC (you meant low-cost carrier, not limited liability company)
LLC means "limited liability company," lol
Is that about what someone earning 8 million a year would hit if they put all their spending on the card?
I'm barely scraping by on about 1 million a year just eating, sleeping, and existing…
If that's net taxable income, sure, it's doable — but if it's gross annual salary, you'd basically have to be living for the lounge to pull it off.
You normally can't put your car or rent on a card, and it'd mean putting literally nothing toward savings or investments — tough conditions.
Seems crazy to funnel every single payment through this one card just for airport lounge access.
so you can build up usage through SBI's card-based investment fund purchases.
In my case, there's a Shinkansen station nearby, so going all the way to the airport actually takes longer and is a hassle.
I feel like flying is really only for trips to Hokkaido or Okinawa?
I go abroad a few times a year, and do domestic business trips more than 10 times a year.
I barely even use my ANA card though.
There's a limit to how much you can actually buy and consume.
If you mainly pay by card for everything, you'd hit that easily.
The real question is whether you want to funnel it all through ANA specifically.
Bring them unopened to one of those Chinese resale shops and you'll pocket about 100,000 yen in spending money.
Go for the Pro or Pro Max, the smaller storage ones.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
The SFC (Super Flyers Card) has long been known as a “lifetime” perk: once you hit a certain flight-boarding threshold, you could keep using airport lounges indefinitely just by paying the annual fee. In April this year, ANA HD abruptly introduced a new standard — 3 million yen in annual card spending — under which members who fell short would lose lounge access entirely. That sparked backlash as a “downgrade,” and the September 29 announcement partially walks that back. However, the 3 million yen line itself remains in place; what’s changed is only a loosening of the rules to allow conditional access for members below that threshold. It hasn’t reverted to how things were before. The debate on the thread centered on whether 3 million yen is really a fair yardstick for a “valuable customer.” Since the difficulty of hitting that threshold varies hugely by income and occupation, opinions split between those who see qualifying members as genuinely wealthy and those who see them as simply having funneled their spending through ANA. It’s also worth noting that “the outright ban was eased” is easily mistaken for “things went back to normal” — the two are not the same.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Business News+) thread “[Aviation] ANA Partially Reverses “Tightening” of Airport Lounge Access for Elite Member Card.”
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