skywalkerbeth

Hello

I leave IAD on Saturday morning for Bangkok via Narita. My first time to Asia and my longest flight (although Sao Paulo was pretty darn long too).

I am flying economy. I had hoped to pay for an upgrade to E+ but I could not do so - ANA told me there were no E+ seats? When I called ANA they suggested when I check in to try to get a better seat than what I have which appears to be 27E.

Any tips - both for getting a better seat as well as long haul flights in general, in economy? How is their food? The entertainment system?

My layover is 3 hours in NRT.

I land close to midnight the next day. Long trip...

Thank you.

armagebedar

Assuming you are flying on NH, there is no "Economy Plus". Only Premium Economy is offered, which is a superior product (and is priced as such). See this discussion for details.

Your other questions can be answered by checking ANA's rather comprehensive website (accessible via the Master Thread at the top of the forum) or doing a search; this trip report might be of interest.

Regarding seat reservation, this link may be informative: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/all-n...ick-seats.html

ORDnHKG

Not every airline has the equivalent of UA E+, for NH, it is premium economy, and you can't pay for an upgrade to NH's premium economy, the only way is upfare, which be prepare to pay $1000+. Just do a dummy booking on NH you will find out exactly how much does it cost for premium economy on your route.

There is no way to get a better seat except try to check in online 24 hours to departure to move to an aisle seat.

For food you can take a look here.
IAD-NRT Page 3 for November
http://www.ana.co.jp/int/inflight/gu...y_201409_m.pdf
NRT-BKK Page 3 for November
http://www.ana.co.jp/int/inflight/gu...y_201409_m.pdf

Entertainment
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_co...t/guide/movie/

skywalkerbeth

Thank you to all who replied.

Sounds like I may want to bring some snacks with me...

How does one reserve better meals? By phone call?

JVPhoto

Do you mean better as in quality or are you trying to reserve a special (dietary requirement) meal?

You'll have to buy something at the airport if you want a "better" meal. Not sure what the IAD dining options are.

ORDnHKG

I didn't see OP's profile listed he is *G or not, but if it is me I would eat enough in the LH lounge at IAD, then take 1 or 2 instant cup noodles onboard. (Those cup noodles are only available in the morning for NH pax in the LH lounge)

samplat

I flew NH SEA-NRT-BKK roundtrip earlier this year and found their food, on board entertainment and seating to be reasonably good. My comparison point is UA 777 service on the same route (now cancelled) that I've flown numerous times before. The NH SEA-NRT leg was on 787 so maybe that made it better.

NH regular seating offers less legroom than UA E+ but their entertainment offering is better. And personally I thought the food quality was better for NH as well compared to the typical pasta or chicken offering on UA.

JVPhoto

Maybe it depends on tastes for IFE? As a Westerner flying NH JFK-NRT-ORD (with about a combined 12 hours of sleeping) I was just about maxed out on things I found to watch on the flight.

ORDnHKG

Unless you are a Japanese, I just can't see NH's entertainment is better than UA at all.

You can complain basically anything about UA except the entertainment.

grahampros

Given the questions, the OP is obviously not *G. If you've traveled enough to get the status you'd know these very basic things they are asking.

aresef

Ticket: Yes, sure, it can be done. The thing is, when you go to check in, make sure you go to ANA's counter, not UA's. Also, UA does not fly NRT-BKK, but SA partner Thai does. You might get routed through them. Not sure what kind of codeshare is in place there.

Premium Economy: As has been indicated, that product would be a separate booking, not like upgrading on UA.

Food: One lunch/dinner, one breakfast and a snack. They used to do free ice cream after the first meal, but they don't anymore. Look on ANA's site for what the food options will be for NH1 the month you're going. If you require a special meal (vegetarian, for example), you should probably figure out who to contact (marketing carrier or otherwise) to make sure that's on the record.

If you do feel like grabbing a bite pre-flight at IAD, the Chipotle stopped serving a breakfast-specific menu a couple years ago, meaning you can get a burrito and maybe a coffee but no breakfast burrito, sadly. As far as I know though, the Five Guys down the way a bit *does* still do breakfast. Basically, imagine a Five Guys burger only with an egg patty instead. Or heck, add a burger too.

Tchiowa

If you're worried about seats, wait until you get on the NRT/BKK flight. It's about the only thing that can make you miss UA E-.

lcpteck

I'm guessing OP is flying UA803? It's a 3-3-3 in Economy on a B772ER.

NH flies this route on NH1 via a B773ER with a 2-4-3 or 3-3-3 in Economy. My mom likes NH food and service better.