Later another postcard from the F/A – Just have to give them credits, not many F/As will go out of their ways to give me a special postcard, except Singapore Airlines (I still remember the special menu on the last 747 operated SQ 12 flight).


Entering the California Coast


Descent soon began at 8:52am California time, and it is a beautiful day out in the Silicon Valley!
A few shots prior to landing!




We finally landed on R/W30L at 9:25am, and of course, there was the celebratory water canon shot!


Thanks SJC airport authority and fire department!




Here is the new home for ANA 787 for future SJC services – A15!


Goodbye to 9A (as I will be in the first cabin on the return)!



Due to security, there is no welcoming band or anything, but the folks outside the window wave their hands.
Some more shots of JA813A from the inside window – what a beautiful plane!







There were concerns about the small immigration facility in SJC, and I am happy to report that there are ten counters here at SJC. The officials were observing the whole process on the first arrival flight and I was sure improvements would be made. For my flight, three counters were opened for visitors and four counters were opened for US Citizen/Permanent Resident! There was no global entry, which SJC should install soon especially if this flight works out. I also think they need to separate the US citizens from Permanent residents. The lines are long because the fingerprint and photo take lots of time to complete. There are more Japanese citizens on this flight, so the visitor line is quite long. Since the Volaris flight arrived later in the morning, I don’t anticipate crazy 60 minutes wait like SFO except if the ANA flight was severely delayed. For business class passengers, you should have little if not wait, as you will be the first to hit the line, but since I spent time taking pictures, I did not get to the immigration counter till a line had been formed. But after saying that, bags were already coming out from the claim at 9:50am when I exited the immigration hall, and I always like SJC and their baggage service is so much better! So the immigration experience should really be better for everyone, compared to SFO. For Global entry users, SJC needs to work harder and if San Juan can afford Global entry kiosks, SJC should have no issues.

International Arrival Hall