Note: This flight was taken in February 2022. Certain travel restrictions and service protocols described in this review may not be reflective of the current state of travel.
In the previous instalment of this trip, I reviewed my ANA Business class flight on the 787-9 from Singapore to Tokyo. This is the second leg of my journey from Singapore to San Francisco on ANA Business and First, booked through Avianca Lifemiles. This flight was also the real purpose for this trip. It was a long-awaited ANA First class flight, and as a lucky bonus I managed to score their ‘The Suite‘ product, introduced fairly recently in 2019. I had been chasing ANA First for three years, having had to cancel a couple of booked trips due to Covid and family reasons. For more background on this round-the-world journey, do read the background and full itinerary in this post: Introduction: The Three Year Chase.
I’ll come straight to the point: this was one of, if not the best flight I’ve ever had. I’ve flown Singapore Airlines Suites, both old and new, SIA First, Thai 747 First, Lufthansa A380 First, but this ANA flight might have topped them all. It’s not that the hard product was the best – it isn’t, Suites is better but this is still excellent.
If I have one criticism of ANA First, it’s the weak ground experience in the form of the Suite lounge. Covid was partly to blame, but for a First lounge it was disappointing. The onboard experience more than made up for it however. The service was exceptional, the food was wonderful, and all that combined with the great suite, made this a memorable flight. I truly felt sad to disembark and really wished the flight was longer.
Read on to see why I rate this as probably the best flight I’ve ever had!
Continuing with the journey to San Francisco…
After arriving in Narita from Singapore, I made my way through the transit process, which was fairly quick. At the time I did this trip, Japan was still closed and still in full-on pandemic mode. To avoid crowding at immigration, disembarkation was strictly controlled. On that day, terminating passengers were allowed off first from my inbound flight from SIN, in small groups. Transit passengers were eventually let off around 10-15min. After more than 2 years of not being able to travel to Japan, my first stop was of course duty-free for some Japanese snacks. I may or may not have bought more than a rollaboard’s worth of snacks.
Once done with my shopping spree, it was off to the ANA Suite Lounge at the No.5 satellite.
ANA Suite Lounge No.5 Satellite
The ANA Suite Lounge No.5 satellite is located one level up from the 50-something gate area. First Class passengers on ANA and other Star Alliance carriers, ANA Mileage Club Diamond members, and ANA Million Miler Program “Lounge Access Card” holders get access to this lounge. They are also entitled to bring in one guest departing on the same flight. I believe Singapore Airlines Solitaire PPS Club members are also granted access when travelling on Singapore Airlines, as part of special agreement between SIA and ANA.
The ANA Suite Lounge and ANA Lounge (for business class, Star Gold etc.) share a common entrance and reception. The Suite Lounge is to the right from the entrance, while the ANA Lounge is to the left.
Upon entering the lounge, my First class boarding pass was scanned, and I headed into the Suite Lounge. Inside the lounge, a couple of waiting staff members approached me to escort me to a seating area of my choice. We eventually ended up somewhere near the deepest part of the lounge, where I had a good view of the approximate area of gates where my SFO flight was leaving from. The staff members also informed me of the precautions in place at the buffet, and offered to bring me a drink. In my experience of the Haneda Suite Lounge from a few years prior, I knew the lounge staff would escort me to a seat and bring one drink, and then pretty much disappear unless needed.
The ANA Suite lounge has a few seating options, though most are just the armchairs with a side table. Facing the window, there were some chairs for lounging with a small table in front of the chairs, allowing for good views of the tarmac. These were nice, but did get quite a bit of afternoon sun and could feel too warm.
The side table had power ports, but only Type-B sockets. Some tables also had signage advising passengers to keep their various carry-on items under the tables, not on the tables.
This lounge still hasn’t followed the modern trend of having productivity pods, perhaps not really a Japanese thing. However, there was a quiet business centre of sorts which had some workstations for use. There was a multifunction printer/copier in this area as well.
The F&B offerings were a mix of buffet and ala carte. The buffet mostly consisted of cold items such as salad, fruits, desserts and packaged snacks. Hot food was available by ordering at the kitchen. The menu was a little bigger than what I was used to at the business class ANA lounge. Beverages were self-serve at the buffet area, though wines could be requested from the staff. Of course, there were the famous beer dispensers found in airline lounges in Japan.
The more substantial food was self-service, certainly no staff offered to take my order or deliver my food. I ordered my usual ANA lounge order of kitsune udon, and a “bowl of rice topped with sashimi”. The former was salty and satisfying as always, but the latter was an utter disappointment. In my opinion, it was disgraceful for a First class lounge, and an embarrassment to Japanese food. The rice was not vinegared, while the sashimi was low quality. The so-called wasabi was lousy too.
It was a disappointing first meal in over two years on Japanese soil. With the anticipation of being well-fed on the flight later, I quickly put this behind me.
The lounge doesn’t have proper nap rooms, though there were a handful of semi-enclosed spaces with recliners tucked away in a corner, for passengers who want to lean back and get some rest. It’s hardly an adequate substitute for a nap room, and definitely another weak point of the lounge.
There were shower rooms, but I didn’t visit them for some reason. Perhaps they were closed for Covid reasons, or I just didn’t bother. Which would have been an odd decision considering I had a few hours to kill.
Overall, there’s no doubt the ANA Suite lounge is by far the weakest aspect of the ANA First experience. It’s also not a significant upgrade on the business class ANA lounge. In fact, it’s basically a business class with a wider food menu, and maybe better alcohol. It’s a far cry from some of the best First class lounges around, such as Singapore Airline’s The Private Room or Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal. Heck, I’d argue it pales compared to some top business class lounges such as United Polaris lounges or Qatar’s Doha lounge, which offer sit-down ala carte dining. This is not a First class lounge worth spending too much time at.
Onboard
At the time I travelled, it had been a toss up whether I would get one of the 77Ws with the new products. These 77Ws were not consistently operating the NH8/7 rotation. At the lounge, I had been ecstatic to see JA794A, one of ANA’s newer 77Ws and fitted with the new products, pull up to my departing gate. This was an added bonus that made this experience even sweeter.
Wanting to maximise my ANA First class experience, I boarded around 30mins before the 5pm departure of NH8. I never heard First class boarding announced. Instead, it seemed to go straight to Business and elites. When I approached the gate to board, a staff member approached me to check if I was eligible for priority boarding. Upon seeing the big “F” printed on the boarding pass (as ANA does), she quickly guided me through the boarding pass scanners.
Once onbaord, I quickly realised why they had never bothered calling for First: I was the only passenger in First that day. In fact, after I boarded, door 1 was closed and the aerobridge retracted.
The crew enthusiastically welcomed me onboard and showed me to my seat, 1A. Not that it was a far walk from door 1. I honestly find First class sometimes to be a little overwhelming after boarding, as the crew bombard you repeatedly with various amenities and greetings. On this ANA flight, everything went serenely. The amenity kit, headphones, pyjamas and slippers were already preset at my seat, as was a US customs declaration form.
If that wasn’t enough, the crew then came around with the basket of amenities, a ritual that should be familiar to anyone who has flown ANA in First or Business.
The crew also passed me an access card for free full flight inflight WiFi. ANA offers free inflight WiFi for First class passengers.
Of course, a pre-departure beverage was offered. I opted for champagne, however I believe on the ground ANA offers a cheaper drop rather than the premium stuff that gets brought out once airborne.
Along the way, the purser also stopped by to introduce herself and welcome me onboard. The crew members who would be serving me also introduced themselves by name. They were lovely, warm and personable. I’ll talk a bit more about the service and crew later on.
With all the pre-departure formalities out of the way, it was time to explore the seat.
The Seat
ANA’s ‘The Suite’ is very much a modern, large First class seat. It’s got all the bells and whistles expected of a First class product nowadays.
To start, obviously it’s got a sliding door to form a fully enclosed suite. The walls aren’t that high though, so don’t expect total privacy.
If you’re seated in one of the middle pair with a strange beside you, there’s a full height (by that I mean full height of the suite) that can be raised.
Tucked between the door and the seat is a closet. It’s not that big though, and I’m not sure it could take a thick winter coat. But it’s definitely fine for a suit or shirt.
Then there’s the IFE monitor, which is an absolutely massive 43-inch 4K unit. The screen stretches wall-to-wall across the suite for full cinematic effect.
The tray table is another huge item in this suite. It slides out from near the IFE monitor. Once it’s in position, a fellow traveller can comfortably sit on the ottoman for buddy dining. The tray table is a bifold piece, very thick and stable.
The suite/seat is also full of various little features, and most importantly storage. Beside the seat on the aisle-side, there’s the literature pocket and mirror. There’s reading lights at head-level, on both sides of the seat. In terms of storage, there’s a space for a carry-on under the ottoman, an enclosed compartment between the ottoman and suite wall, and several pockets of storage by the window, underneath the narrow shelf that runs the full length of the suite. One of these pockets contained all the outlets and ports: headphone jack, HDMI port (not functional), USB-A port and universal power outlet.
The IFE controller was a standard Panasonic touchscreen unit. The seat controls were soft physical buttons. There were presets for takeoff/landing, lounging and full flat, plus manual adjustments for various parts of the seat. The buttons for all the lights were here too. There was a wheel that could be used instead of the buttons, if desired.
ANA opted for electronically-controlled window shades, instead of passengers having to manually pull them. Business class is fitted with these as well.
This being an overnight flight, I tried to get some sleep later on during the flight. I requested the crew make up the bed in one of the middle seats, which they happily obliged. It was laid out with a Nishikawa Sangyo mattress pad, duvet and two pillows, a sleeping pillow and the throw pillow. The crew also left some water and a towel.
Many reports I’ve read from people who’ve flown on this product, and the business class as well, complain that the seat is too hard. I won’t deny it’s on the hard side, but personally prefer it that way. So I found the seat extremely comfortable to sleep on.
Overall, I really loved this seat. It’s big, comfortable, very private and that IFE monitor is just ridiculous in a good way. I rate this superior to Singapore Airlines’ 777 First or even Lufthansa’s A380 First, albeit both are older products It’s admittedly not revolutionary for a First product, unlike the business class, but it’s still very, very good. Other seats may be flashier and packed with some extra features, but this had everything I need in a First class suite.
Food & beverage
Service on this flight was outstanding. Every single member of the crew I interacted with was great. They didn’t let “Covid protocols” get in the way of delivering superb service. I won’t deny that being the only passenger in First made the service better. But as a comparison, I flew solo in Singapore Airlines First for my first post-pandemic trip to Germany, and while they were excellent too, this ANA crew were on a different level.
One of the differences that sets First and Business apart is the level of personalisation. An excellent First class crew at a top airline should be flexible and sensible to pick up on the needs and wants of each passenger. Again, this flight was easy for them to that in a sense, but not every crew is capable of such sensibilities. This crew were able to moderate the interactions based on what they sense of my mood and needs at that point during the flight. They tailored every aspect of service to satisfy me, and provided appropriate suggestions in terms of offering and service flow. I’ll describe some examples I run through the meal and service on this flight.
As mentioned, a pre-departure drink was offered. Menus were also provided. These were nice solid paper menus, placed in a leather cover. There were separate food and beverage menus. Even though we’re past the pandemic now, I still find it ludicrous that ANA was still happily offering paper menus while SIA made all sorts of excuses not to, until mid-2022.
Before I go on, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit somehow I failed to take pictures of the menu, and I also don’t have a PDF of it. So I’m going to have to go off memory for this section.
I had requested for more champagne after takeoff. I don’t remember what was on offer, but there were 3 options: a Krug, Bollinger ‘James Bond 007’ Millesime 2012 and another champagne I can’t recall. I’ve tried Krug before, so I thought I’d give the Bollinger a go.
To accompany the champagne, a selection of amuse-bouche were served. I know there was the ANA Signature Stick, and a lobster item.
There were element of both the Japanese and Western meals that strongly appealed to me. I mentioned this to the crew, and they suggested picking and choosing the elements which appealed to me. This is not unusual for ANA crews to offer, and in this case all the food had been catered for just one passenger – me – anyway.
I started with the Western appetiser, which was caviar on some some sort savoury gateau, in a bowl of consommé. This was delicious, though I do prefer caviar on its own actually. A porcelain spoon was wisely provided for this dish, which affects the caviar less than a metal spoon.
This was followed by the Japanese starter, plus a separate dish of uni, tuna with avocado and some sort of mousse. The raw stuff, and the wasabi, were way better than what I had in the lounge.
For the main course, it was back to the Western menu. This was a wagyu beef steak with pizzaiola sauce and roasted vegetables. I wasn’t a fan of the sauce – I prefer steak on its own or in jus – but the steak was amazing. It was cooked a perfect medium, beautifully tender and marbled. It was hands down the best beef I’ve ever had a plane.
While I was tackling the steak, one of the crew members came over to enquire if I wanted some rice. This is an odd side dish for steak, and I was getting full, so I hesitated. However the crew member was rather persuasive, mentioning it was freshly cooked on board. On that basis, I requested for a small serving with miso soup, partly to balance out the richness of the steak. The rice turned out to be an inspired suggestion, lovely fragrant Japanese rice and helped balanced the steak. I ended up finishing the whole bowl despite being quite stuffed. It was the best rice I’ve ever had on a plane.
At this point, I was absolutely stuffed and could not eat another bite. The crew wisely offered to keep dessert aside for later, after hearing me mention how full I was. I was actually going to ask if they could do that, but they proactively offered before I could ask. That showed great initiative, flexibility and a good understanding of the passenger. I simply requested a cup of green tea to wash down the meal.
After a few hours watching the Winter Olympics and resting, I was just about ready to eat. I requested an iced coffee first to perk me up and hopefully keep me fueled for day in San Francisco. It didn’t work though, I ended up crashing in the hotel after arriving.
For the second meal, ANA offers a much less elaborate meal, typically just a one course thing. Neither the Japanese nor Western option appealed, so I instead ordered off the light dishes. I ordered the Ippudo ramen and a beef bowl. The ramen is my favourite snack on ANA, so I just had to have one. Both dishes were nice, but understandably failed to reach the heights of dinner.
The crew then brought out the dessert from dinner that had been set aside. I don’t remember what it was, but it was beautifully presented, wonderfully light. A perfect way to cap off a great flight. I had more green tea to accompany dessert.
If this wasn’t the best inflight I’ve ever had, it was pretty close to it. Every element was fantastic. The flavours and cooking were spot on as well. Beef can be a tricky protein for inflight meals, but between the caterer and the crew, they absolutely nailed it. Exceptional food that I’d be happy to have in a restaurant on the ground.
Service
I’ve mentioned already how great the crew was. If I can circle back to when I boarded, the crew were all thanking me for flying with them on that day. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, or maybe it’s because of the hard times during Covid as an airline, but they seemed genuinely appreciative that I had chosen to fly ANA. They were warm, and enthusiastic that there was a passenger to serve. It really set the tone for a great flight.
They seemed to be able to anticipate my requests, such as with the mixing of meals (ok maybe that one is quite common on ANA First), or offering to keep dessert aside.
I say a good First class crew should be able to read their passengers and adjust the way they conduct service accordingly. I think at some point during the flight when chatting to the crew I mentioned how I had waited 3 years and through 2 cancellations to experience. They knew and could clearly see I was excited to be there, and wanted to enjoy myself. In turn, they could conduct service in more friendly, chilled out manner, different from serving say, a preoccupied business traveller. I was watching the Winter Olympics on live TV after meal service. At one point, I noticed a crew member standing in the aisle watching as well. Some passengers may take offence, and I think the crew member was slightly embarrassed that I noticed. But I think they also knew I wouldn’t mind, and we ended chatting a little about the Winter Olympics.
Prior to landing, the purser came round again to thank me once again for flying with them. We then had a good chat about Covid protocols in the industry (an area I worked on before leaving my previous employer), Japan’s border controls, and restrictions on crew movements during layovers in various countries. Unlike some pursers/inflight managers who do this more perfunctorily, it was a genuine and warm conversation and exchange of views.
When I was packing away my used pyjamas after changing for landing, the crew actually offered to bring me a fresh, unopened set. I’ve never received such an offer on any airline that provides pyjamas. Their offer was of course gratefully accepted.
It was the tremendous proactiveness of the crew that won me over. Not just proactive, but proactive at the right time, and with the right offering. That ability to anticipate correctly, plus genuine warmth and friendliness, is what makes an outstanding set of crew. And this set of crew were absolutely brilliant.
Inflight Entertainment & WiFi
As mentioned, free full flight inflight WiFi is provided to First class passengers. This worked well throughout the flight, and I was able to keep in contact with those on the ground, as well as posting to social media.
IFE as mentioned, is screened on that huge 43-inch 4K monitor. Live TV was available, so I mostly watched the Winter Olympics. The entertainment selection was ok, similar to the previous sector. The most entertaining programme on the IFE is the onboard camera. I enjoyed watching it as we made our approach into SFO.
Amenities
In long haul First, it’s always amenities galore. There was amenity kit, with a hard shell case from Globe-Trotter. This had products from The Ginza, a high-end Japanese skincare brand that’s part of the Shiseido Group. There were pyjamas as I mentioned earlier. This were quite thick and plush, perhaps a little too thick for my liking.
The headphones were noise-cancelling, from Sony. I’m not exactly sure which model these were, but they might be an iteration of the WH-1000XM range. Those are some of the best noise cancelling headphones on the market, so that’s a high quality offering.
The lavatory was one of the nicest 777 lavatories. Being a Japanese airline, of course the toilet had a bidet function. ANA also installed a foldable dressing platform, for passengers to step on when changing clothes. It simply won’t do for their first class passengers to have to step on the lavatory floor when changing.
Conclusion
One year on, I still look back at this flight with fond memories. It was one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had. Every aspect, lounge excepted, was exceptional. I could not have asked for better service or food. The hard product, while not necessarily the best First class product around, is still amongst the best. But it was really the outstanding, exceptional, brilliant crew that made this flight special. They knew I’d waited long to experience this and wanted to enjoy myself, and they did everything they could to ensure I did.
I waited three years to experience this, and it was worth the wait (and the pain of dealing with Lifemiles when I had to do the earlier cancellations!). It’ll probably be even longer before I get to experience this again, but for now I still have these wonderful memories to cling onto.
Bonus: ‘The Room’ Business class
As a bonus, I’m going to include some photos from my experience of the ‘The Room’ back in Jan 2020. I’m not going to go into much detail, but as I’ve mentioned it a few times in both this review and the 787-9 staggered review of the previous leg, I thought I’ll put some photos here so it’s easier to see what I’m talking about, for anyone not familiar.
While ‘The Suite’ may not be revolutionary for First class, ‘The Room’ is definitely class-leading for business class. Better than Qatar Airway’s Qsuite in my opinion, just because of how big ‘The Room’ is. The base seat is the Safran Fusio, with custom finishes for ANA. The configuration is forward-backward, with the seats closer to the window facing backwards. It was my first time experiencing a backward-facing seat, and honestly I didn’t feel that much difference.
This is the best business class seat flying right now, in my humble opinion. I won’t describe the seat much and just let the photos do the talking.
Other posts in this series:
- Introduction: The Three Year Chase
- Review: ANA 787-9 Business Class (SIN-NRT)
- Review: Jetblue A321neo Mint Suite (LAX-JFK)