ANA's Unique Domestic 737 Premium Class

Ben, you should consider reviewing JAL domestic three-cabin first class. It's a remarkably unique (and really very nice) experience.

That just about looks like the best meal on a 45-minute flight I've ever seen.

I agree with Justin, Amazing Meal for a 45 minute flight.

My only experience flying domestic in Japan was several years ago, an economy leg CTS-KIX on a 737-800. I was seriously let down. Wasn’t expecting much in cattle class, but the ground experience at CTS was horrible. There was no order to the lines at check-in, ANA ground staff shouting orders with nobody clearly following. I felt like I was in Terminal B at LGA. Once through security, our flight was slightly delayed, and then it took over 45 minutes to board the plane. I was shocked, especially since even LCCs in the region seem to board A321’s and 738s in 20 minutes or less for intra-asian flights. The service was fine on board, what you would expect. Very bumpy ride, and a very rough landing at KIX, although I wouldn’t fault the airline for that obviously. Since its my only taste of domestic Japanese flying, I don’t want it to tarnish my view, but the ground experience at CTS led me to believe thats just how it is, and wasn’t a one-off thing. Maybe the boarding time was not the norm. Im not sure if the check-in problems fall on ANA or the airport itself. But man, after growing accustomed to how efficient travel in general is in the Korea and Japan region, it was not what I expected at all.

Yikes you were 10 minutes from landing when the flight attendants served coffee! They should have discontinued service in order to be checking seatbelts and tray tables. For final approach flight attendants are supposed to be trained to discontinue cabin service and focus on safety responsibilities.

@Sam - on a recent Air Seoul flight, the FAs were coming around to collect trash and check seatbelts pretty much right until we turned to short final. They kept the seatbelt sign off until about ~12 minutes out too. I thought it was pretty extreme.

@GuruJanitor

That definitely sounds like a one-off experience (or at least, a rare one).

@Gurujanitor: That sounds highly unusual. From my experience, Japanese airline boarding is strikingly coordinated and organized, with multiple staff members holding informational cards. It always baffles me that they still employ this many human people to coordinate the boarding of an aircraft when airlines in the U.S. and Europe have cut back so much more. I would also suggest that Japanese service staff "yelling" can be quite different from American service staff "yelling", with the latter generally having a hostile quality to it while the former (if you understand the language) still using really polite phrasing.

I think the seat ANA uses is pretty much the same as the First Class seat on JAL domestic 767. Someone correct me if I‘m wrong...

ANA is a pretty innovative company that puts a lot of thought into their products and doesn't install off the peg stuff. They have a completely unique Business Class cabin on their 767s, with 5 across, with single seats running down the middle of the plane.

@Lucky ANA used to fly 737-700er on much longer routes (2500+ mi), e.g. NRT-RGN. Not sure these are the same planes or they have these for longer international rotation as well.

I flew this same ANA 738 configuration coming from Osaka Itami to Narita a few weeks ago. Was surprised by the seats and the great service on such a short flight.

Agreed on the paperwork for the airport experience. Plus the boarding and security passes are quite small with very small fonts to match. Interesting to see their heavy use of QR codes on all these passes.

Best meal for 45 minute flight.

Also to add, it was a stark contrast to the very subpar flight I had the previous week on JAL’s 738 with 5 seats across in business class from Tokyo Haneda to Hiroshima. Service was disappointing as well.

How does this compare to the much longer LAX-SFO?

@Aaron and @Justin, thats what I assumed. Its always impressive to see how quickly and efficiently carriers like ANA and OZ can board long haul widebody aircraft. Was on an OZ A380, packed the brim a few weeks ago and we were boarded in under a half hour. Even LCC's over there, I have experience with both Jeju Air and Air Seoul, get things done quickly. That's why I was shocked. The ground experience at CTS was an utter horror show landside, even by our standards. The terminal felt old and cramped landside in domestic departures, which is why I was unsure if it was more the airport or the personnel to blame

@Trey - ANA's Business Jet aka 737-700 had much less dense configuration consisting of all business or combination of biz and econ. Their economy still had 2-2 configuration, perhaps the only airline to do so. It used to fly all the way to Mumbai, which was so long it needed a stop in Nagasaki on outbound from NRT.

@gstork - What you flew is Class J, not a business class. The service is almost identical to economy, except the seat. That's why they only charge 1,000 yen or USD 9 per upgrade. There is first class though, but it's only available on select destinations and that is another league on its own.

I'm on ANA 35 NRT-ITM in a few months. Looks like it's a 777-200. I believe I'm booked in economy. Is there an easy process to do a paid upgrade in advance?

You have to fly to Sapporo on the 777 with 500 people. Yes boarding takes just 30 minutes

JAL domestic first class serves real Champagne ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lucky, a half Japanese person speaking here, formalities and mannerisms are very important in Japanese culture. Everything has to be done properly, especially towards the customer. They do not skim on paper, plastic, or any other materials to ensure the proper presentation. Same as if you purchased anything in a department store, intricate wrapping and packaging are the norm. Boxes of food items often include individual wrapping. To an outsider or an environmentalist, this seems wasteful, but deeply routed in Japanese culture.

If only flights in America served meals like that in domestic 45 min flights...... one can dream lol

@Ben, by saying "everyone got the same excellent Japanese meal", do you also mean Y passengers as well? If so, that's incredible!

I got an op up the first time I was leaving Japan and they were seemingly apologetic about that too, I think it's the deviation from what you were expecting, even when it's for the better. I was very happy to get the upgrade for a 12 hour flight anyway!

The food looks delicious. Seat is also pretty damn good for such a short flight, puts European short haul business class to shame.

@Trey Those are specially built 737-700ER for ANA, which bases on BBJ1 and has 737-700 body but uses -800 landing gear etc.
Both already scrapped.

@Jojo 30 minutes to board a 777? That seems like the protracted version of Japanese boarding. I just flew a 777-200 with well over 300 seats, boarding started 15 minutes before scheduled departure, and the doors closed in time.

On international flights, JAL and ANA typically starts boarding a 777-300ER 25 minutes or less before departure, and get them away on time.

Main difference inefficiency? The absence of the ridiculous amounts and sizes of carry ons seen in the US.

So will we see the full review in a year? That seems to be the pace these days. Lol

With that kind of I flight meal, I will fly their Domestic route.