Hello from Tokyo Haneda! We just flew from Hanoi to Tokyo in ANA’s longhaul 787 business class product. While ANA has 787s configured for short-haul flying, we lucked out by getting a gorgeous longhaul 787-9 for this short 4hr20min flight.
I’m trying to sample as many new business class products as possible, and hadn’t yet tried ANA’s new longhaul business class seat, so I was excited to try it out. I’ve flown ANA’s first class, JAL’s business class, and JAL’s first class, so was curious to see where ANA’s business class product ranked.
ANA’s 787-9 aircraft have a massive business class cabin, consisting of 48 seats spread across two cabins in a staggered configuration. Seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration.
While this configuration is somewhat unique, it’s ultimately similar to what you’ll find in business class on airlines like airberlin, Etihad, etc. Perhaps most importantly, unlike other staggered configurations there’s plenty of room for your feet when the seat is fully reclined, so it’s a comfortable surface for sleeping, even if it’s a bit on the tight side.
It’s a comfortable product for a longhaul flight, and I’d recommend it in a heartbeat. However, in terms of longhaul products I still prefer the Apex Suites that JAL offers, assuming you can snag a window seat.
Another great thing about ANA’s 787s is that they have Wi-Fi, and you can purchase a pass for the whole flight for ~$22 without any data caps. This is a much better system than what’s available on their 777s, as Wi-Fi on those planes is charged based on usage, meaning the cost can add up quickly.
The entertainment selection was limited if you’re looking for Western options, though that’s not something I particularly care about when I have functioning Wi-Fi.
As you’d expect on a Japanese airline, service was top notch. The crew was so charming, friendly, attentive, and, well, Japanese. I was curious to compare ANA service to what I’m used to on JAL, though I’d say they’re roughly equal based on this flight.
The one aspect of the service that surprised me a little bit was the meal service. This flight had a lunch service, though everything was served on one tray, despite the fact that this was a 4hr20min flight.
I realize the airlines can’t really win when it comes to the pace of a meal. I don’t like when meal services are too drawn out in business class, and at the same time I thought this was far too rushed. Serving the starter, main course, and dessert all on one tray seems unnecessary. Perhaps they could put the starter and main course on one tray if they wanted to expedite things, and then serve the dessert with coffee and tea afterwards. Just my two cents.
On the plus side, the food quality was excellent, in particular my main course consisting of seabass with an olive tapenade (I plan on having the Japanese option on the connecting flight out of Japan).
I’ll have a more detailed report soon, and will also have a detailed review of our connecting flight, which is in ANA first class.
Bottom line
ANA’s 787 business class hard product is solid, thanks to the staggered configuration and privacy it affords. I still think JAL’s business class hard product is better, though.
The service was typical Japanese perfection, as I’ve come to expect from both ANA and JAL.
The meal service surprised me somewhat, however. The quality of the food was good, though the fact that everything was served at once seemed unnecessary. The fact that the meal was served with the foil on top almost made it feel like an economy meal service. Furthermore, it was over 30 minutes from when I finished my meal until the tray was actually cleared.
Overall I’d certainly recommend ANA business class, though, and would fly them again in a heartbeat.
If you’ve flown ANA business class lately, what was your experience like?
Alo Ben,
Did you end up posting this trip report? I really want to read it, and see how your experiences flying ANA’s business and first class cabins differed from what you had encountered in the past.
I did ANA from Chicago to Haneda in 1st and then Haneda to Sydney, using Aeroplan air miles. While 1st was excellent in the B777-300 I was quite disappointed with Business and fell far short of Business on Cathay Pacific from Sydney to Hong Kong (and the Hong Kong to New York) two weeks beforehand.
The main letdown was the ANA meal service. On each flight, including in 1st, there was no second meal service...
I did ANA from Chicago to Haneda in 1st and then Haneda to Sydney, using Aeroplan air miles. While 1st was excellent in the B777-300 I was quite disappointed with Business and fell far short of Business on Cathay Pacific from Sydney to Hong Kong (and the Hong Kong to New York) two weeks beforehand.
The main letdown was the ANA meal service. On each flight, including in 1st, there was no second meal service (unlike Cathay Pacific) and it was only when it became apparent that this was to be the case that I thought to request food to keep me going from the 'anytime' light refreshment menu. The Haneda to Sydney flight delayed the dinner service until nearly two and a half hours into the flight, i.e. well after midnight Tokyo time. By this time quiet a few passengers had given up on the idea of forcing themselves to stay awake and had chosen to forgo the meal and try to sleep.
This led to the second letdown on the B787 flight: The sterile colour scheme and overly bright lights mitigated against a relaxing visual experience and it was hard to think sleep in such an environment even with an eye mask on. I forced myself to stay awake after I'd ordered the Japanese menu but once I finished the meal and a nice sake I just had to attempt to get some sleep, being a tad short with the flight attendant who asked me if I wanted tea or coffee, by this stage nearly three hours into the eight and a half hour flight, leaving precious little time for some decent sleep before the self ordered breakfast service. My wife was in Economy (I'd booked my air miles seat first and scored a Business seat whereas when we worked out how to do hers by buying some air miles there was none to be had). She was quite happy with her seat even at 3-3-3 across, especially compared with Air Canada's B777 3-4-3 across, both 'High Density' but tolerable on the 3-3-3 B787. She made the same remark when we landed in Sydney, i.e. the wait for the meal service was too long, especially late in the night / into the next morning, and folks were choosing sleep over being kept waiting.
The other disappointment in Business was how narrow the seat was. I had a tape measure with me and measured the squab at 20" (seatguru reporting 21" ). The Qantas A380 economy seat squab is 20" (I'd measured that too a few months ago) so ANA Business was no wider. What that transpired into was that lying back and attempting to sleep one of my arms kept falling down the side of the seat, so I slipped it under the seat belt to prevent that. Being Business the inside arm rest to inside arm rest measure was still 20", whereas the Qantas A380 economy equivalent was 18.3". No such problem on the Cathay Pacific reverse herringbone on the B777.
If I'd paid for the seat out of my own after tax money I would have been very disappointed with the Business experience.
Which is better according to you guys? ANA business class vs Swiss vs United Polaris?
Seemingly not, abeer.
@Lucky: Did you ever post this review? I tried looking for it but couldn't find it? I guess you must have a massive backlog now :-)
"Japanese (myself included) prefer to fly JL while Westerners fly ANA"
Any statistics to back this up?
Some interesting comments. Being married to an NH CA (international Purser), we always get a kick reading your reviews. Ask me how many times we've flown her airlines in her 20 year career? 5. Why? Cause the service is very hit or miss. We actually fly JL alot more with purchased tickets in business. Japanese (myself included) prefer to fly JL while Westerners fly ANA. I think someone wrote the opposite above. The big shift...
Some interesting comments. Being married to an NH CA (international Purser), we always get a kick reading your reviews. Ask me how many times we've flown her airlines in her 20 year career? 5. Why? Cause the service is very hit or miss. We actually fly JL alot more with purchased tickets in business. Japanese (myself included) prefer to fly JL while Westerners fly ANA. I think someone wrote the opposite above. The big shift happened with the shift in govt when the LDP started using NH for official business travel after using JL for 40+ years. Hence the unequal parity of landing slots at HND betwen NH and JL. But politics aside, we always say and tend to agree on this. NH is a Japanese airlines that tries to be western. JL is a Japanese airline that is proud to be Japanese. And oops, forgot to mention I serve in Senior mgmt for a US based carrier. (star alliance) but we both love to fly JL.
@Rand
Are people now not even allowed to critique Lucky's writing style? eponymous coward was correct in what they said.
I will be flying from SYD to HND in the 787 business class seat in July. Was only 40,000 United Mileage Award points for 10 hours of flight time. Looking forward to your full review!
Good (pre-)report! Two thoughts:
- A Japanese friend who flies internationally a lot recently told me that in Japan, conventional wisdom is that Japanese prefer ANA and Westerners prefer JAL. I don't know how widespread this notion is, but I thought it was interesting.
- Maybe the all-at-once meal was related to the Japanese "box lunch" concept? I.e. maybe there's a cultural norm that that's how lunch is served? I love Japanese cuisine though I'm...
Good (pre-)report! Two thoughts:
- A Japanese friend who flies internationally a lot recently told me that in Japan, conventional wisdom is that Japanese prefer ANA and Westerners prefer JAL. I don't know how widespread this notion is, but I thought it was interesting.
- Maybe the all-at-once meal was related to the Japanese "box lunch" concept? I.e. maybe there's a cultural norm that that's how lunch is served? I love Japanese cuisine though I'm not an expert on this at all – just crossed my mind. Especially since ANA is SOOOO attentive to detail. :)
I fly ANA biz class 787 between SEA - NRT several times a year. I enjoy the on-board flight service but I am a large size and I find the small foot space very difficult. Although the seat reclines, it is very difficult for me to get my feet into the small foot hole. I was recently on QR and found the foot space to be very comfortable. Therefore my assumption is ANA order seating...
I fly ANA biz class 787 between SEA - NRT several times a year. I enjoy the on-board flight service but I am a large size and I find the small foot space very difficult. Although the seat reclines, it is very difficult for me to get my feet into the small foot hole. I was recently on QR and found the foot space to be very comfortable. Therefore my assumption is ANA order seating with a smaller foot space than other carriers operating the 787. I am interested if others have found the foot space to be small on ANA 787 flights.
Did HND-TSA in J on their 788 (unfortunately not the long haul config) earlier this summer. Service was basically as you described, although my meal was cleared a bit quicker than you experienced. No real complaints and would definitely fly them again.
"Furthermore, it was over 30 minutes from when I finished my meal until the tray was actually cleared."
Flew ANA from NRT to SFO a couple months ago in economy - while I thought the food/service/seat comfort were quite good (for economy), it took them FOREVER to serve the food. Granted I was sitting in the third-to-last row, but it took nearly two hours for them to reach me, much longer than on other transpacific flights.
Layout on ANA longhaul in J 787 is
1-2-1
1-1-1
Guess which seat i go for.
While I like the privacy, I find these seats a bit hard to the point that I actually use the mattress pad while sitting. Their final dessert course is usually ice cream provided after the tray (or any other time).
@eponymous coward
he's definitely not a first-class writer (pun intended ;) ) and although I would advise him to possibly take some writing lessons or read more, his reports attract many viewers to his sites mostly due to the photo content. But, I do believe more people would be interested in his reports if they were written better. Enjoyed the report.
@eponymous coward=yawn good report Ben
"somewhat unique"
No. Just no. "Somewhat unique" is like being "somewhat pregnant". One is or is not pregnant. Something is or is not unique (one of a kind). This is a horrible verbal tic, modifying "unique" to mean "well, actually, not unique".
http://supercopyeditors.com/write-better/absolute-adjective-examples/
@Lucky:
Are you aware of any change as to how to book ANA one-way awards? The old trick of a "round trip" that's simply two one ways with initial origin and final destination in the same country/airport doesn't seem to be working for me anymore.
Just flew out of Hanoi the other day on OZ and was watching the NH plane taxi. Flying NH F HND - LAX in 3 weeks and look forward to your review!
Did you and ford have more fudge brownies?
how was wifi speed?
I don't have any personal experience with NH, but flew JL a few years ago NRT - PVG in J class on an old 767 and service was quite similar. With food that was less appetizing. A little bit shocking after connecting in F from JFK to NRT, where the food and service were spectacular.
I just don't like the color scheme that they use in it. Looks rather "laboratorial", don't you think?
KLM with their new blue cabin makes it really appealing on the other hand.
Delta cabin also looks better than ANA's.
Simply the product is excellent, you could not expect anything less from the Nipponese.
I thought both airlines stunk. Didn't like the food , cabin temp or service
Don't know why, but it seems ANA's longhaul 787-8 have a different layout. There is one less seat per row. Are the seats narrower on 787-9?
That's ANA J shorthaul catering, fwiw.
I disagree a bit. I have had experience on both JAL and ANA recently on the same route (NRT-JFK) both classes first and business (Lucky me). My choice goes to ANA if you rather have a "real" Japanese experience. I felt the treatment on JAL suited to Westernese travelers where the way crew spoke and presented things are way different than ANA. I am more inclined to traditional culture than modernized one :)