Questions and Answers

Have an opportunity to fly ANA back from Japan next year. Both First and Business seats available. My question is this: is ANA First worth the extra 35K United miles?

Hi [USER=184]@MidSouth Skier[/USER] in my opinion no. While first was great I felt the food in business was almost the same (in fact better on my flight), the staggered business class seat is very private and comfortable, and the amenities similar.

First
[URL]http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/9/6/ana-b777-300-first-class[/URL]

Business
[URL]http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/3/30/ana-777-300-business-class[/URL]

I guess it depends how many miles you have / have allocated for other things? First is almost certainly going to be better, but whether or not it’s “worth” it always depends…

Thanks [USER=2121]@MarkS[/USER] those reviews are helpful.

[USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER], I totally understand what you’re saying. And “worth it” will vary from person to person as well.

I’ll mull it over for a bit. I’m just excited I’m going to be able to get home with a 1-stop flight instead of the 2-stop flight I expected.

I was glad to see this asked as I had the same question myself. I had read mark s’ reviews and I was leaning towards business only. I’ve flown it before from Chicago to Tokyo return and it was great. Ironically it was a revenue ticket and $1 more expensive than united!!

What about united first v Ana business? I might have a choice to australia same miles and one leg is on United first vs Ana business. Second leg to Sydney Ana business

[USER=2190]@Mick[/USER] I like UA global first. It’s not going to be around for long and with Polaris starting in a couple days you’ll get pjs and hopefully better food. Plus 747 which is going away too. Careful on your route tho, the ANA Sydney plane departs from HND I believe while UA flies to NRT. That’s not an easy transfer. The late ANA flight out of ORD goes to HND now.

Ah yes you are right. I hadn’t seen that. Thanks for the advice

Since I’m going to have to transfer URs to get this ticket anyway it looks like I’d be better off to transfer to Singapore Air if I want to fly in first as they charge 100K (vs. 110K UA miles). I know SQ passes along some fees. Would it be anything more than the taxes/fees/surcharges I see on ITA Matrix? That’s less than $100 so not a big deal.

If it’s out of Japan you should be good. Other Asia cities through Japan are more expensive. You can call and ask as well as have them hold it for a couple days to transfer the points. However I’m not sure if their hold guarantees the availability.

Nope, fees would be reasonable, and change fees lower than UA as well should it come to that!

Since I only fly internationally once a year I decided to pull the trigger on the F seat.

A couple of data points
– Transferring URs to SQ only took about 3 hours. Transfer initiated around 5 PM CT and got an email shortly after 8 PM indicating SQ had received my miles
– Am on a 777 with 8 seats in F. One was blocked for crew use but the SQ rep told me there were 6 (!!) F award seats available. Thought that was terrific.

Question about seat selection:
1A blocked for crew. 2 bathrooms on the A side, galley on the K side.
I picked 2A because I thought it would be quieter and easier to reach the facilities. Anybody agree or disagree?

I’d agree.

Finally got to fly this route last Friday and it was the best flight ever, topping my Qantas F DFW-SYD flight, even though the suite wasn’t as large.

There were 8 seats in the F cabin but only 3 passengers. I was in 2A, the other two were in 1K & 2K so I was the only person on my aisle. All three of us had our assigned seats for relaxing & dining while the suites across the aisle were made up as our beds. That also meant I got my own personal flight attendant who was super nice. Bathrooms were refreshed after each use and there was no line! Another time I’d have loved to have tried their Japanese menu ex-Tokyo but after 3 weeks of Asian food I wanted something else and the steak with raisin sauce was quite good.

Plus I got to enjoy the ANA Suites Lounge in Narita, which was quite nice and very quiet. I was actually surprised at how quiet the whole airport was in general but maybe that was just in the particular area where my flight left.

Would love to be able to fly ANA again in the future.

Thanks for following up!!! Very nice to hear how it went and that you really enjoyed yourself.

ANA F sound awesome