stargold

Introduction

Most savvy FTers who are familiar with Star Alliance will have no doubt heard about BMI’s amazing Miles & Cash redemption, where you can get a roundtrip in First Class from Zone 2 Europe to North Asia for a mere 50,000 miles plus £340 cash. Quite frankly, it’s simply the best offer possible, and after accumulating 20,000 miles and buying the rest, I was able to take advantage of it. I specifically wanted to use it at least once before the big bad Lufthansa gets its hands on Diamond Club and abolish the only good thing going for it!

So, day after day of poring through the ANA tool ensued for about 3 weeks, and eventually I settled on going to Japan for 6 days then going back home to Korea for 3 weeks. In order to start the journey in Zone 2, it was necessary to position myself there in the first place, and I redeemed a separate, very cheap M&C booking to get me to ARN. I contemplated staying for a few days in ARN, but actually decided to just do a same-day turnaround in the end, since I didn’t fancy travelling around alone that time.


Pre-flight

Like most of my trips back home, it invariably began with staying up all night. I should have concentrated more on packing and tidying up the night before, but instead I chose to spend almost the entire evening watching TV and talking to my housemate, which meant that it was 1am by the time I actually lifted a finger.

So, I spent the night tidying up and packing for the trip. But then I had a major scare regarding my plans – my rather insane plan, of LHR-ARN, ARN-LHR and then LHR-NRT all in the same day, basically relied on both European segments being more or less on time. Being used to the intercontinental flights that are almost invariably on time, it never occurred to me that European flights might be any different… that is, until I checked the Flightstats website. There, I found some very disconcerting information such as the average delay for that flight (45mins – which sounds not too bad, until you realise my connection in ARN was only 1h15m) and also the flight back, which wasn’t any better. Then it dawned upon me that if the worst case scenario should happen, I could potentially end up missing my LHR-NRT flight, which would be just too disastrous for words.

After all this, my previously relaxed and anticipating outlook for the day changed to one of anxiety with regards to the connection problems. I headed on time to Heathrow on the bus, which took only slightly longer than usual considering that I was travelling on a Monday during peak hours. Having not slept a single hour during the night, I zonked out for the first hour of the 1h40m journey then spent the next 40 minutes still worrying about the connections – it started feeling less and less like a good idea every time I thought about the worst case scenario. And I had no travel insurance. Bummer.


SK526 LHR ARN STD 1035 STA 1405
MD-80, Seat 21A

It was roughly 8:30am when I reached the SAS check-in desks, after depositing my bag at the left luggage for the day to collect when I came back to LHR to check-in for my NRT flight. Then I headed to the SAS check-in desks where, as I only had hand luggage, I just keyed in my PNR into the self check-in machine spat out a boarding pass for my pre-assigned seat, 21A. The boarding pass was strange as it had no perforation for the gate agent to rip the larger part – instead, it was just one large piece of cardboard and had a barcode, which I presumed will be scanned to register the passenger at the gate.

Once I cleared the security, I tried to go to the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris lounge based on my later LHR-NRT flight in First Class, but the agent was quite adamant that I needed a boarding pass, not just a PNR printout with the e-ticket numbers. Off I went to the ANA transfer desks, where apparently they will only open around 4:30pm – useless. So obviously the Silver Kris lounge was going to be out of bounds, but what about the SAS London Lounge? After spending 10 minutes trying to explain just what I’m doing today (she really looked confused… as would I, if anyone else was trying to explain such a crazy routing) she eventually gave up trying to make sense of it, and just let me in anyway. Thank goodness, because I was beginning to get really sweaty and was quite frankly desperate for a shower. The shower was decent enough, and the hot water was reliable, and I emerged 30 minutes later in a considerably better state than before. The rest of the time in the lounge was spent just using the internet and having a glass of orange juice – standard stuff really.

Fairly soon, it was time to board the SAS flight to Stockholm. I went to the gate, which was quite close to the London Lounge, where they hadn’t started boarding the flight, and the holding pen was pretty full up. Within 10 minutes they started boarding the flight, with no reference to priority boarding so everyone just stood up at once to board and I was one of the first to find my way down the corridor towards the MD-80 aircraft. I’ve flown it before (also on SAS) but overall I was quite surprised at the age of the aircraft, which was visibly quite old. Not quite “held together by duct-tape” old, but you just feel that it has been around for a while.

I chose 21A based on the description on the SAS internet check-in website as being “emergency exit – extra legroom” and I was not disappointed. It must have been a good 36-37” of legroom and I was glad to be able to stretch out and essentially fall asleep for the entire flight until 20 minute before landing, when I was awake enough to realise that – being in Economy Class – I was expected to buy orange juice or coffee, and instead quietly observed the landing into Stockholm.


The legroom in Row 21 - not bad!


“Nobody understands me!”

We landed uneventfully into Stockholm and I made my way into the terminal – the terminal had a very old and depressing feel to it (not at all helped by the fact that it was close to being a ghost-town), and just felt much less “Scandinavian” than, say, CPH airport.

I walked towards the transfer counters where there was no-one available, so I naturally think to myself, “I have a ticket that leaves here, I need a boarding pass, so I should just go to the landside check-in counters and come back in”. What a bad choice this turned out to be.

The passport control officer was completely baffled by my itinerary (LHR-ARN, a 1-hour stop, then ARN-LHR, then LHR-NRT the same day) and seemed worryingly close to refusing me entry to Sweden. I did my best to explain, but he just couldn’t seem to understand even after 15 minutes, during which time I was yet again lamenting my own ambitious plan of taking three flights in a day. He finally called his supervisor, who came around and pulled me to one side. The supervisor was far more switched on, and after I explained to him the craziness of ARN-LHR-NRT being cheaper than LHR-NRT, he finally said “Well, there doesn’t seem to be any reason why we shouldn’t let you in!” and told the original officer to stamp my passport. This was by far the most grief I have ever gotten at a passport control before (what exactly did they expect me to be doing anyway? Illegally enter a country that I don’t need a visa for??). I was actually pretty scared during the delay as to what could happen. Anyway, phew.

After that particular drama, I went to the landside check-in desks which was quite hectic, used a self check-in machine which spat out my boarding pass back to LHR, and I made my way through the Fast Track security into the airside section. I then made another mistake of going through passport control back into the International pier too soon, since there was no lounge in that pier and I had over an hour to kill. The ARN experience was fast beginning to be pretty lousy (and I wasn’t going through the passport controls yet again just to use a lounge!) so I did a bit of typing in a cafe and waited for my flight to board. 20 minutes before STD, the boarding was called (there was priority boarding this time) and I boarded the same aircraft that I arrived into ARN (I’ve never done this before!) although the crew were different.

stargold

SK527 ARN LHR STD 1520 STA 1700
MD-80, Seat 1F

Once onboard, it was a fairly uneventful flight again. I was in Business Class this time, and I chose seat 1F on the online check-in earlier that morning as it said “extra legroom” although it wasn’t quite true for 1F - 1D did indeed have good legroom since the galley partition finished before the seat. At least I had the window to keep me entertained.

The flight left on time again (I must have been really lucky, two European flights both on time!) and it was very strange to feel the take-off acceleration without the accompanying noise as the engines are at the back of the aircraft. Although I was still a little tired from lack of sleep on the previous night, I was awake this time so I decided to partake in the meal service.

The meal was a beef steak (no menu, and no choices) which was edible, but not much more. The whole experience, in fact, was very similar to the food – acceptable, but not much more. I suppose the nature of intra-European travel really is a flying bus these days, so even Business Class passengers should lower their expectations I guess. Thank god I had a more exciting flight experience to look forward to!



Service on SAS seemed pretty lacklustre – they were by no means bad, but it was apparent that it really was nothing more than a job for them, with not much of a service mindedness to speak of either. They seemed to do what the procedure manual told them to do, and nothing more. Perhaps I’m being more critical in hindsight after experiencing NH F?

After doing one round of the holding pattern, the aircraft landed into Heathrow on time yet again. Now I could almost relax, knowing that I would be able to make it to the next flight on time. It felt as though I had been worrying about nothing, but I’m sure the more experienced European travellers will tell me that I had a very lucky escape – I do realise it could have gone all so, so horribly wrong…


A little pink slip saves my life

After getting off the SK527 at one of the farthest gates possible (30-something, I think), I briskly walked to the arrivals hall. Yes, the SK flight back to LHR arrived miraculously on time, but I also had to go through immigration, retrieve my luggage from the Left Luggage, then go to the NH check-in to check in my bag and get my boarding pass. A lot to do in just over 2 hours.

So imagine my dismay and relief (it was a very odd feeling) when I reach the passport control hall, and discover the place absolutely packed to the brim full of people – it was as though 4 widebodies, containing only non-EU citizens, had arrived all at the same time. It was obvious that I would miss my NH flight if I actually stayed in the queue for that entire period. However, I was lucky yet again because I had kept a spare SQ Fast Track pink slip in my passport holder, which was duly accepted by the entrance dragon and I was on my way to Fast Track, not mass-asylum-extravaganza of the main queues. There was literally 1 other person in Fast Track so I was done with the passport control in 3 minutes, not 2 hours. I don’t know what I would have done if I was forced to wait in that main queue and ended up missing the flight – but jumping off a bridge would an accurate description of my sentiment! On BMI, no-show reward tickets are forfeited and cannot be changed once the journey begins. I shuddered just thinking about what could have happened.

I proceeded to the ANA check-in counters, where I was checked in efficiently but somewhat lacking in warmth. No matter – at least she didn’t give me any unnecessary hassle. Once I had my very plain looking boarding pass in hand (I think Star Alliance must be striving towards an entirely blank white BP stock with a very small logo of each airline in a corner. I much prefer the individual branding because it looks so much better! Boarding pass in hand, it was then a matter of security (which was pretty easy) and lounge.

stargold

NH202 LHR NRT STD 1935 STA 1440+1
B777-300ER, Seat 1A

Originally, I had booked a C-class seat on this flight – firstly, because there was no availability in F, but secondly, it seemed that food and service levels etc should really be equivalent to many other airlines in F. Although I had the miles and was willing to pay the cash portion for a F ticket, I had settled on using a C-class seat on this flight.

Then, 4 days before the flight, I suddenly found 1 seat available in F! I felt like I had struck jackpot. I very narrowly missed out on an equipment change to an A380 in SQ Suites for my return trip, but in fact I was more excited about getting NH in F than I would really have been if I managed to get the Suites. Both products are of course amazing products, but from previous experience and other reports I knew that ANA was really at the top of their game.

After what I termed “best £65 I have ever spent” on upgrading the flights to First Class through BMI, I found that 3 out of the 4 available window seats on this flight were already occupied, and I knew that the only remaining window seat – 1A – was blocked for VIP/CIP and only released at departure. As much as I was elated to get a seat on NH F, I also really wanted a window seat. So, I had already pestered the ANA reservations centre several times to ask them to send messages to the airport to give me 1A on the day of departure, then called up in the morning of the departure for good measure. I think they must have had a long comments trail on my PNR, since the agent that I spoke to last commented “I will tell our staff at Heathrow that you really, really want a window seat”

It turned out in the end that I got what I wanted – the very plain looking BP showed 1A. As for ANA’s particularly bad choice of lounges at LHR (being UA’s lounges before, and now they’re sending even F-class passengers to the AA Admiral’s Club!), it was easily rectified by ignoring the lounge invitation and instead, off I went to the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris lounge.


Singapore Airlines Silver Kris lounge - boring...

I was unceremoniously guided to use the First Class section. I had only used the Business Class section quite a long time ago, so I had forgotten what it was like – well, it turns out there was a good reason why I couldn’t remember. Even in the First Class section it was just a very ordinary collection of chairs, some food in the fridge and on the self-serve counters and a menu where you could order for hot food, but nothing really appealed. Perhaps I knew I should save space for the immense amounts of food that will no doubt be consumed on this flight. I checked emails and so on until roughly 7:10pm, when I made my way to Gate 17.


Boarding, first impressions, and some thoughts about the seat and cabin

The aircraft seemed to have more or less finished boarding by the time I had boarded, save for the usual dribble of latecomers (I wasn’t late, mind you!) and the holding pen was clear when I made my way down the bridge to the 1L door. When I entered the cabin – oh, that wonderful feeling of knowing you’re going to have a fantastic flight – I was pleasantly surprised by the relatively airy and spacious feeling of the colour scheme and design of the suites, especially compared to Singapore Airlines B777-300ER. The grey plastic and blue seats do look much more modern and light compared to the leather and wood-clad SQ version, although neither can exactly called shabby. The ANA First Class suite design was much curvier and “organic”-feeling compared to SQ.

Three more notable advantages of the ANA F suite over the SQ 77W seat: Firstly, they sensibly installed overhead lockers so you were able to preserve your legroom by putting the carry-on up in the lockers. Secondly, although the seat eventually turned into a very wide bed, the armrests were big and raised during non-bed positions so that it felt less like a vast expanse of space and more comfortable for general relaxing. Finally, the seat didn’t flip forward to be turned into a bed – rather, it was the more conventional recliner that reclined into bed. So you could have a much more reclined position than the SQ seat which stopped reclining quite early. On both seats, however, the footrest did not extend far enough so I couldn’t use it at all – you really need to be less than 5’9” to actually use the footrest, it seems.

The screen was 15 inches and of course not as strikingly large as the SQ’s 23-inch monster. However, the size was in proportion to the viewing distance and it didn’t feel too small. As many have commented, the AVOD selection was passable at best, especially after one has seen the way forward that is SQ’s Panasonic eX2 on their A380 and the B777-300ER. I didn’t actually watch any movies or TV programming (save for the beginning of The Bucket List which I will continue watching at home) and instead entertained myself mostly with eating. Therefore, the Sky Map was the programming of choice for most of the flight.

Once I had settled into my seat, I had a look around the cabin to see which seats were going to be filled. As predicted, all 4 window seats were filled, and also two more passengers boarded after me to sit in 1D and 1F. Having taken advice from FTers, I would have chosen row 2 if I had to sit in the middle (well, row 2 in general but 1A was the only window available) so it was interesting to see that 2D and 2F remained empty. So this was not quite a full flight but pretty busy. Everyone else had changed into the hotly-debated-on-FT pyjamas, but I decided to wait until later – it resembled Korean prison-wear a little too much so I wasn’t quite so sure on the looks, although obviously the key point is comfort and no doubt it was very comfortable.


Some seat and cabin photos


Seat in Relax preset - very comfy!



Seat in bed-mode. Couldn't take a better picture since the cabin was completely dark...



Power connector and headphone socket. The little leather pocket on the right is for the laptop AC adapter... How thoughtful!



IFE control panel (full controller under the flap) and seat controls. Pretty extensive, including particularly comprehensive lumbar adjustments.



The spacious and sturdy table (which apparently takes into account the angle of normal flight)



The IFE screen and the foot well



View of Seat 2D



There was lots of space between the seat and the window, which made it tricky to take outside photographs from my seat...



Something wrong with the "5-minute Chinese Lesson"!



Me, in my hard-fought window seat!



Flying over Sweden for the third time today...

stargold

So the flight starts...

The Chief Purser, Ms Akai came to introduce herself and to thank me for choosing to fly ANA. I was tempted to comment along the lines of “Actually, ANA chose to fly me by releasing the reward space” but I thought it might kill the moment. Then the other cabin attendant also came to introduce herself and asked whether I wanted any reading materials which I passed for the time being.

After finishing boarding before schedule, we seemingly waited around not doing a lot for roughly 15 minutes while the ground crew presumably were doing other things. Eventually, we pushed back and made our way to the runway, waiting for several European aircraft to take off first (a BA 757, BMI A321, Swiss A320 and TAP A320) then taking off in that wonderful way that the 77W powers through the runway with a wonderful gentle roar of the engine (note: I have only ever sat in First Class on 77W so I have no idea how loud it is in whY!)

VIDEO: Take-off from LHR on NH202

It took roughly 10-15 minutes before the seatbelt sign was turned off. Then, menus were handed out in the very smart looking menu boxes. I would have normally fainted at the sight of such an extensive menu but I had already checked on the ANA website for the current menu so I already spoilt the surprise for myself. Here is the menu for this flight:

Dinner

Kaiseki course

Zensai
Smoked salmon roulade, braised duck breast and fried shiitake mushroom patty
Vegetable omelette, sweet vinegared daikon radish and cured persimmon mosaic

Nimonowan
Simmered scallops and seasonal vegetables in hot seafood stock

Oshinogi
Our selection of sushi

Kobachi
Chilled white wheat udon noodles with batter-fried shrimp tempura

Shusai
Sea bream and seasonable vegetables simmered in special soy sauce

Sunomono
Grilled freshwater eel and cucumber salad tossed with Tosa vinegar

Steamed rice, miso soup and assorted pickles

Dessert - your choice of one of the following

Premium vanilla and strawberry ice cream duo
Pear praline roulade with a hint of passionfruit
Warm mandarin brioche pudding with raspberry Anglaise

Selection of fresh seasonal fruit

Wagashi
Toraya “Shin midori” yokan (white azuki bean and green tea jelly)



A la carte

Caviar with traditional garnish
Earl Grey smoked-chicken breast with truffled saffron mayonnaise
Pan-fried prawn and scallop filled in crispy phyllo with creamy leek

Fresh garden salad with Japanese dressing
Seafood salad Nicoise

Pan-fried beef tenderloin with eggplant purée and Italian anchovy sauce
Pan-roasted sea bass with clam jus lié
Veal costoletta Milanese with blue cheese-flavored tomato sauce
Creamy vegetables filled in Savoy cabbage with Périgueux sauce

Selection of breads with a choice of
Lescure de Charente butter or extra-virgin olive oil

Premium vanilla and strawberry ice cream duo
Pear praline roulade with a hint of passionfruit
Warm mandarin brioche pudding with raspberry Anglaise



Petite Japanese Course

Grilled eggplant and dried shrimp simmered in light soy sauce
Salt-grilled sea bass with herb vinegar
Steamed rice or creamy rice porridge
Natto (fermented soybeans) and dried seaweed
Miso soup and assorted pickles


Petit International Course

Herb-grilled chicken breast and baked tomato with mustard vinaigrette
Bread roll
Fresh seasonal fruit
Yoghurt



Delights Selection Course

Sake Accompaniment -
Marvelous salt-cured sea urchin eggs
Salt-cured calamari with ink
Prawn and sea urchin eggs in tender-simmered gourd melon with rich seafood broth
Oden (hot pot with fishcakes and vegetables)
Assorted Japanese pickles

With Wine -
Somerset Camembert
Stilton
Butler's Secret

Light Dishes -
Bowl of hot Japanese udon noodles with fried tofu
Cantonese-style noodles in shark's fin soup
Grilled freshwater eel with special soy marinade, served over rice
Japanese tea poured over rice, garnished with sansho-peppered baby fish
Cantonese-style congee
Chef's special free-range chicken and mushroom curry with steamed rice
Stir-fried shrimp and squid Cantonese with black bean sauce
Super cheeseburger
Rice burger with Japanese barbecued beef
Creamy corn potage

Sweet Treats
Premium cookies and ice cream

Post-nap comfort
Fresh garden salad
Cornflakes with milk
Selection of fresh seasonal fruit



Drinks Selection

Champagne
Krug Grande Cuvée

White
Chateau Mercian Niitsuru Chardonnay 2006 (Niitsuru, Fukushima)
Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu 2006 J. Moreau & Fils (Chablis, Bourgogne)
Meursault Clos de Mazeray 2005 Domaine Jacques Prieur (Cote de Beaune, Bourgogne)
Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Auslese 2003 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany)

Red
Chateau Rauzan Gassies 2002 (Margaux, Bordeaux)
Chateau Dassault 2004 (Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux)
Nuits-Saints-Georges Premier Cru Aux Perdrix 2004 (Cote de Nuits, Bourgogne)
Pyrenees Ridge Reserve Shiraz 2005 (Victoria, Australia)

Other beverages omitted, except a brief mention to
Hennessy Paradis Extra!

RTW4

What an excellent report... I also agree that ANA F class is a treat,, too bad they removed the wagyu beef with coddled egg over rice for a snack... I thought it was great...

stargold

A bona-fide orgy of food 37,000ft in the air...


The menu box (a nice break from the usual leather folders) with the contents


First, the Signature amuse were handed out along with my first drink choice, Krug. It consisted of some cheese bread sticks (which tasted amazing, no doubt because more than half its weight consists of butter!), a marinated mini pepper with mozzarella-pesto, and a bruschetta with parma ham. It tasted decent but the mozzarella did not have enough time to warm up so it tasted more like a mozzarella sorbet, but other than that it was all good.


Signature Amuse with a glass of Krug


I pondered over the menu while munching on the amuse guele and sipped on the Krug. I debated going for the western menu, but decided against it because it seemed relatively boring in comparison to the Japanese menu which should be stunning. So, in a show of truly gluttonous nature, I decided to have the caviar service, the prawn and scallop filo pastry starter, then the full Japanese menu. I did feel a little piggish while telling Ms Akai my choices, but such feelings of guilt were short-lived as I looked forward to the caviar.

I had finished the Krug with the amuse guele so I decided to try the Meursault with the caviar and appetizer. When Ms Akai brought the Meursault for me to try, I tasted it and it was a little different to what I expected – it tasted slightly watered down somehow. Although I didn’t frown on purpose, I guess my face must have shown some sign because Ms Akai suddenly looked very concerned and asked whether I wanted to try a different wine, but I decided to stick with it for the time being, waiting to see how it went with the food.

After the table was set with the very neat looking deep blue table cloth, I was absolutely dismayed to see that the cutlery was plastic. It was a very good and sturdy plastic, but still plastic nevertheless. I could only imagine that it is some strange regulation of Japan or something, but either way I amused myself with the thought that it was yet another reason to go for the Japanese course. Of course, the only thing that made some sense in plastic was the caviar spoon which was either going to be plastic or mother of pearl, so it wasn’t too unexpected in that regard.

The plate of caviar garnishes was placed on the table, then the jar of Oscietra caviar was placed next to the plate. The caviar garnishes consisted of chopped red onions, chopped egg yolk and chopped chives alongside quite a thick cream, presented together with two pieces of brioche and two pieces of bread. As for taste, nothing more needs to be said – it was the perfect combination of textures and tastes. I was still not sure about the Meursault, however.


The caviar service setting. Plastic cutlery - arghh!!!!



Oscietra caviar


Once the plate was completely clean, the caviar plate was cleared away, and the seafood filo pastry was brought soon afterwards. The scallops could have been a little bigger – I am being really picky – but the dish worked very well overall, and the sauce both inside the pastry and outside were extremely flavourful. This appetizer was not the one that was available in Business Class. For both the caviar and seafood pastry, I was so hungry and anxious to eat that I forgot to take the picture until having taken a bite out of it.


The seafood filo pastry


The Meursault wasn’t really doing it for me, so when Ms Akai came round to ask me whether I wanted something different to drink, I asked her which sake she would recommend. She said she recommends the … but then brought around both bottles for me to try – she was right on the money. The other one was far too sweet, verging on sickly, whereas the … was perfectly balanced. So, I would have that one with my meal.

A tray was placed on the table, on which the Japanese food items will be placed. The zensai course, which had the various appetizer-ish items, were very good overall. The cured persimmon mosaic was a little odd and quite heavy due to being half Philadelphia which I thought was a most odd ingredient for Japanese food, but the rest – the fried shiitake mushroom patty in particular – were very good indeed. It was all gobbled down very quickly, as my gluttony hadn’t started taking its toll yet.


Zensai course (Assorted small items of appetizers)


Then the nimonowan, the soup course, was brought. It was a clear soup with seafood inside and tasted excellent – not at all “instant soup”-like in any way and tasted like it was made properly from actual ingredients, although who knows really? I enjoyed it very much regardless.


Nimonowan course (Soup)


The food orgy continued with three pieces of sushi for the oshinogi course. Now, sushi onboard an aircraft normally sounds like a disaster except in very limited circumstances, such as the fugu sashimi I enjoyed on my flight on ANA F NRT-LHR back in 2001. If any airline was going to do sushi decently in the air, it was going to be ANA, and in that regard I wasn’t disappointed. Although the three pieces of sushi look relatively modest, the taste was much better than anyone could hope for 37,000ft in the air. Everything was very fresh, and overall I liked it – almost wishing they had a few more interesting fishes on offer. But there was still yet more food to come, so I shouldn’t be too greedy!


Oshinogi course (Sushi)


I then decided to have the kobachi (soba noodles with soy sauce and prawn tempura pieces) and the sunomono (eel and cucumber salad) together, which was brought to me with some more sake. The soba noodles were probably my least favourite item, firstly because the noodles tasted very doughy and also because the tempura pieces were absolutely tiny as can be seen in the photos. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not really in keeping with the sheer delight of the meal overall. The eel and cucumber salad, on the other hand, was really excellent and the eel tasted really good.


Kobachi and Sunomono courses (Soba noodles, eel and cucumber salad)


I could tell that Ms Akai was a little confused at the sheer amount of food that I was consuming, but I ploughed on nevertheless – if only she knew how much I used to eat when I was a bit younger. They would not have any food left in F after I finished all the food items! She brought the next course, shusai, which was sea bream and seasonable vegetables simmered in soy sauce, served with steamed rice. This was the highlight of the meal, with the fish just the right texture and taste, the sauce which had the perfect strength and taste, and the rice which must have been freshly cooked. Very impressive stuff. The quality of this course really rivalled good Japanese restaurants I am used to going to in London.


Shusai course (Simmered sea bream and rice)


After the shusai and rice, I really felt too stuffed to continue – and who can blame me when the food is so good? – so I told Ms Akai that I feel like I need to walk to Narita to work off the food but instead I will be taking a short break and taking a walk around. I made my way to the Business Class cabin, with the slope flat seats – I sat on one and was very impressed with the relax position (in fact, it seemed more comfortable than the F seat for the relax position since it seemed to wrap around my body better) but the slope made it weird for the sleeping position, as it invariably seems to be the case for seats of this type. But overall, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad flight in one of these chairs!

Having taken a short walk, I was ready to tackle the next course, but I decided that any more solid food might be just too much so I asked for the ice cream. They had cleared my table by then and I had a new table cloth and napkin. Unfortunately, when the ice cream arrived with my Blue Mountain coffee, it was still absolutely rock solid so I had to wait for a good 20 minutes or so before it was soft enough to eat. The quality was great although I didn’t recognise the flavour as being one of the well-known brands such as Haagen-Dazs. As always, Jamaican Blue Mountain was good.


The ice-cream dessert and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

Moomba

Hey that is my TR trademark - get your own.

Excellent report stargold. I am glad you made your connections successfully.

ANA F looks fabulous.

stargold

It's such a hard life - exhausted after the huge meal

Having been through something of a food orgy, it was roughly 3 hours into the flight by the time I had finished everything. I tried to write some of the trip report but realised that my eyes were beginning to shut themselves so I asked the CA to make my bed while I brushed my teeth. When I came back, I was greeted by the sight of a very generously proportioned, flat bed with a small towel-type sheet and a thin feather duvet - certainly somewhere that you can sleep for as long as you need with great comfort.

Armed with a small bottle of Evian that the CA brought me and after asking her to wake me up at midday Japan time, I went to sleep. Initially I tried to sleep on my front, but the headrest was raised and got in the way, so I slept soundly on my back for a good 4 1/2 hours until the CA woke me up at 12:15 Japan time, 2 hours and 30 minutes of flight time remaining. Immediately I was offered a drink so I got a glass of orange juice to wake me up a little.


Time for yet more food (but not too much this time!)

It took me about 15 minutes to come up to speed, then the CA came round with the menu to ask whether I wanted to eat anything, since they were expecting turbulence towards the end of the flight. I wasn’t actually hungry at all, but felt compelled to try something from the great snack menu so I asked for a bowl of Una-don (Eel on rice) with a cup of coffee. Although it was a different CA serving, she remembered I take coffee with cream and no sugar – something I found quite impressive. They must have a big chart with the eating and drinking preferences somewhere – mine probably read “Eats like a pig”!

The quality of the Una-don was amazing. It was fairly substantial but still the right size for a snack. Topped with two large pieces of flavoursome eel, the rice tasted really good with the soy sauce marinade. I’ve had far lower quality on the ground in London at restaurants that weren’t particularly cheap, which really speaks volumes about the quality of food onboard.


The very impressive Una-don


I debated asking for some more items – I still hadn’t tried the Super Cheeseburger yet – but when the CA came back to offer me dessert, I just decided that I should finish with the dessert rather than having to be rolled out of the aircraft. I took the Warm Mandarin Brioche from the main menu which came with some cream and a raspberry coulis. Once again, it was very good indeed.


Mandarin Brioche


After all that eating, I wrote some more of the trip report, then tried to watch a film but gave up after about 30 minutes, realising that I would not have enough time to finish it. The rest of the flight was spent just lounging, as more and more fellow passengers woke up and the cabin becoming increasingly brightly lit. By 1 hour prior to landing, everyone had woken up, people were changing back into their clothes and getting ready for the landing. But the predicted turbulence didn’t turn up so people were also eating after waking up – I saw 1D having some breakfast items, 2A having a fresh fruit plate, and so on.

Soon enough, it was time to prepare for landing and the cabin attendants busily prepared the cabin for landing. Quite frankly, I would have gladly stayed on the plane for another 10 hours, but like all good things it was time to resign myself to the fact that I had to get off the plane in 30 minutes.

VIDEO: Landing into NRT

Landing was uneventful and smooth, we taxied quite quickly to our gate in the South Wing of Terminal 1, and once the door was open, the curtain was drawn to allow F-class passengers to disembark first. It was quite a long walk to the immigrations which was a complete zoo thanks to a whole slew of widebodies arriving from FRA, IAD, and so on – I spent a good 20 minutes queuing while lamenting the lack of a priority lane for F passengers. LHR, in that regard (and in that regard only) is better by offering a Fast Track lane.

Because the immigrations took a while, my bag was already on the belt and I passed through customs easily enough. I then proceeded to the ANA Arrivals Lounge hoping to have a relaxing shower, but apparently 40 people were waiting for the 3 available shower cubicles and instead of potentially waiting for more than 2 hours for a shower, I checked Hyperdia for the journey to my friend’s house and left pretty quickly.


So, what did I think of the flight?

1. Food

I am confident that ANA offers one of the best in-flight cuisines at the moment, particularly in the age of cutbacks everywhere on other airlines. The caviar service was very well done, with decent caviar and the full accompaniments. The seafood starter was also very good. I knew that the Japanese food probably wasn’t going to be as impressive ex-LHR as it would be ex-NRT, but the quality was still really great (save for one or two small misses but it was really not a big deal). As others have commented, the snacks menu is simply unbeatable and you could easily have entire meals made out of the “snack” items. Although I only had the Una-Ju from the snack menu this time, I have previously tried items such as Oden and curry, and the sheer quality and variety of these substantial dishes are what puts ANA heads and shoulders above just about any other airline. Other airlines might be able to match ANA for the main meal, but no other airline I know of has such an elaborate snack menu.

As for champagne – Krug is onboard, which is more or less end of discussion (unless you’re trying to argue the finer points of whether Dom Perignon or Krug is better, which is something I wish I had to worry about more often!). The Meursault was oddly not quite to my liking but the sake was great. They had some pretty high-end spirits as well (Hennesy Paradis Extra) which I didn’t drink – people talk about the Paradis being served on TG F all the time, but NH serves it too as well as actually having a good F product.

2. Service

In short, it was absolutely flawless all around. It was something I experienced back in 2001, and was very much hoping it hasn’t changed. For sure, they are not as engaging and relaxed as SQ flight attendants, but that is purely a matter of different style of service, and the quality of the service overall could not have been better. I really couldn’t think of any better way to improve it. Everything was done so gracefully and they seemingly had eyes on the back of their heads or something, since there was always someone whenever I looked around trying to ask for something. At the beginning of the flight I wondered whether the service might be a little rigid and wooden due to the language issues, but Ms Akai in particular became just as engaging and warm as the best SQ flight attendants, but in the Japanese way that is different from the SQ style.

3. Seat and IFE

The seat was very good. It had the advantage of a sensible design for relaxing and lounging (by virtue of being a reclining design) while at the same time having a very good bed mode. The armrests, which were huge and comfortable during the reclined position, come down to be level with the rest of the seat to form a larger width of the bed, which was big enough that you did not feel at all restricted for space. There were very good little touches everywhere, such as good storage all around (including a space for laptop power adapters underneath the cocktail table!), and the table was large, very sturdy and looked nice as well.

The IFE was a little less impressive, but these days I’m not really an IFE person as I prefer to use my own laptop. I haven’t been to the cinema much lately so there were at least two or three films that I wanted to watch, but it was apparent that the SkyMaster is no match for the SQ Wisemen 3000, let alone their new Panasonic eX2 system on the A380 and 77W.

4. Overall

The flight completely met my lofty expectations, and possibly exceeded them. Having tried NH F before on NRT-LHR and CDG-NRT on the old style seats back in 2001, I had a reasonably accurate expectation of the soft product, and the new seat was only going to make the flight even more enjoyable. Having said that, most airlines have cut back their service a lot during that period (2001 to 2008) that it was also possible that the flight would be a complete disappointment, and I was very glad that ANA have kept their quality very high.

Conclusion: Do whatever you can to get on one of these flights - it's worth it!


View outside the window fairly early in the flight - very nice, just like the flight

modjo

Fantastic trip report Stargold, the pictures are amazing.^^

camsean

Thanks for a great trip report Stargold. My heart was racing during the parts at immigration at LHR and ARN.

pogonation

Wow C looks absolutely amazing! If the chance ever arose for me to book an NH F award I would be there in a second Absolutely smashing report as well.. loooads of detail

jacob_m

Thanks for a very nice report! ^ Great to hear ANA treated you well. I also think ANA F is one of the finest experiences around and wouldn't hesitate a second to fly with them again.

Otherwise I must make a few comments regarding your intra-Europe hops since you transited at my current home airport (which isn't mentioned here too often) and flew the airline where I have status.

*SAS pretty much always offer priority boarding at LHR (one of the few stations in Europe where they do this), very strange you didn't experience it. On the other hand they never offer it at ARN, I haven't experienced it a single time after tons of completed flights ex-ARN, you must have been very lucky!! I hope this is something they're introducing permanently...

*The MD80's are indeed a bit old by now but otherwise very comfortable to fly and usually very reliable, I actually prefer them over the newer B737s. Most SAS regulars try to get a seat as far forward as possible, since the engines are at the very back it's usually very quiet at the front.

*Sounds like you arrived at the newest pier at ARN, the F-pier of terminal 5, which is usually only used for non-Schengen flights. The pier is still not used to its full extent which is why the transfer desk is often not open and also why there isn't a lounge there, however I am pretty sure I have seen self-service machines. Since the vast majority of the passengers at ARN are EU-citizens or flying/connecting to/from Schengen destinations this really isn't a big problem.

*Too bad your ARN experience was rather lousy, transfers are usually hassle-free at ARN and they keep an MCT of only 30 mins.
I really have never heard anybody having problems at immigration there before, and too bad you missed the lounge (which is very close to the security check), especially as it's one of the nicer *A lounges around.
Otherwise terminal 5 has been greatly refurbished during the past years, I think it's quite pleasant nowadays and doesn't feel old at all (except the F-pier which indeed feels deserted).

*The inflight service on SAS intra-Europe flights is definitely not what it used to be. The food has actually improved a bit in C but the experience is still quite unremarkable most of the time.

*I have managed to use the fast track immigration at LHR showing only a C-class boarding pass from SAS.

Kevincm

stargold - excellent work on getting the seat and great report ^. A great experience all round. Not that I'm jealous or anything .

But I would had expected better of the ARN turnaround. SAS seems to be ... umm... yeah well. . Wasn't IRIS working at LHR T3 that day?

ANA C/F is the singular reason why I'm racking up those BMI points one by one... (well and an A380 trip meybe )

hoyateach

I enjoyed your report thoroughly. Well-written. And well done.^

sobore

Great Report! Thanks for the excellent pics too! ^