jacob_m

Time to leave Seattle and head to Dallas and Texas.
I’m not going to spend too much time on these UA flights, seriously how much is there to say about UA domestic Red Carpet Clubs and the inflight service in economy?
But the flights were part of the trip, and since I try to cover this trip properly I’ll briefly mention these flights as well, but then it’s back to the real stuff!

My flight from Seattle was leaving quite early (well 8.48 am, early enough), and since I absolutely hate catching early morning flights I decided to stay the last night in Seattle at the Radisson hotel at the airport. Quite a nice hotel, renovated last year with a nice looking lobby, pool, gym, and a comfortable bed that they call “sleep number bed”.
There was a free hotel shuttle from the hotel to the airport, but I found it was just as quick (if not quicker) to walk from the hotel to the terminal, basically just across the street and 3-4 minutes walk before entering the arrivals level of the terminal building. This is also what I did in the morning.

The UA check-in area was at the complete opposite end of the terminal, so a bit of a walk.
The sign at the elite check-in mentioned all the various UA status levels plus first class, but there was no mention of star golds, I assumed it was still OK for me to check-in there though, so I joined the line.
The line moved surprisingly slowly, several passengers had problems that needed to be sorted out and one young couple could not be checked in as the agent could not find their reservation.
It took at least 10 mins before it was my turn to check-in. I was travelling on an e-ticket booked on one of my credit cards, so that’s the card I presented, but just like in Los Angeles they just asked for my destination and departure time and found my reservation by entering my last name and flight number.
Again no problem to keep my E+ seat assignments and my baggage was tagged all the way to Dallas.

Pics
The modern departure hall at Seattle airport
UA premium check-in, no mention of Star Alliance Gold though

United Airlines Red Carpet Club, Seattle

The line for security was very long and seemed very slow, but fortunately there was a fast track which star golds were entitled to use, saved me a good amount of time.
I took the underground train from the central terminal building to the north satellite which United uses.
I knew there was a Red Carpet Club in the satellite, but finding it was tricky. I walked around the entire satellite with no success before I decided to ask a UA gate agent.
It turned out the RCC was in the basement, in a corner, almost right opposite the exit from the train. I only had to walk a few steps from the train to get to the lounge reception. Oh well…
As the lounge was in the basement it was quite dark and completely windowless.
They had some light breakfast available though with bagles, pastries, coffee, orange juice and fresh fruit. Nice, as I did not have any breakfast in the hotel.

Pics
The entrance to the UA Red Carpet Club in the basement of the north satellite
Inside the Seattle Red Carpet Club

Seattle-Denver, flight UA 504 operated by United Airlines
Departure: 08:48
Arrival: 12:26
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Class: Economy Plus
Seat: 08A

Priority boarding was offered as always in the US. It’s nice to be among the first passengers onboard, find space for the hand luggage, and have a seat before the masses come onboard.
The flight ended up being completely full, and a few passengers seemed happy to have been upgraded to economy plus.
They managed to get everybody onboard quite quickly though and we actually pushed back before departure time and took off shortly afterwards to the north providing good views of downtown Seattle.
Standard drink service onboard with soft drinks, coffee and tea, but they were very slow on collecting the trash, I had my empty glass 50 mins on my tray table before anybody came to collect it.
I missed being able to buy something to eat onboard as well, SEA-DEN is long enough for people to get hungry if you didn't eat anything at the airport or before leaving home.
It’s nice they offer channel 9 onboard though, I could easily follow our descent into Denver.

Pics
The view seconds after take-off from Seattle

Denver airport is quite nice, lots of glass and very bright, and plenty of shops and restaurants as well.
I was actually supposed to have taken a later flight from Seattle, but due to a timetable change my connection in Denver was significantly reduced to something like 45 minutes, a bit short (especially with checked luggage).
Since I actually wanted to have a look around the airport before continuing to DFW I contacted the airline and was allowed to change to an earlier flight from Seattle.

Pics
Inside the nice dedicated UA concourse in Denver
The departure monitors in the terminal

United Airlines Red Carpet Club, Denver

After lunch in one of the restaurants (as I said, nothing to buy/eat onboard the planes) I made a visit to the Red Carpet Club.
There are actually two RCCs in Denver, one in the western part of the terminal and one in the eastern part, I visited both and they are virtually identical.
The reception desk is on the ground floor, and then you take an escalator up to the lounge.
Not much to eat and drink there either, but at least they had some fresh vegetables which was appreciated. And of course being the coffee addict I am it’s always nice to get a cup for free.

Pics
The bar inside the Denver Red Carpet Club (the two RCCs in Denver are identical)
The self-service area inside the Denver RCC
The view from the lounge

Denver-Dallas, flight UA 450 operated by United Airlines
Departure: 15:25
Arrival: 18:13
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Class: Economy Plus
Seat: 07F

The flight to Dallas was not completely full, at least not in economy plus (seemed a lot worse at the very back) so the middle seat remained empty.
The crew onboard was surprisingly nice, very pleasant and chatty (one girl in particular). I could see many other passengers also appreciated a crew actually working in the cabin and talking to the passengers rather than with each other in the galley.
We also had a crazy pilot onboard, Mr Geography and History Professor. Rather than keeping us up-to-date about the flight progress he kept us up-to-date about the places, cities, lakes and rivers we passed on the way and any history related to these places.
It was wicked!! And he kept talking and talking… Even the flight attendants didn’t know if they should be amused or annoyed, the chatty flight attendant said it was the very first time she flew with that man in the cockpit.
Anyway, it ended up being quite a memorable flight for that very reason.

We landed 10 minutes early at Dallas Fort Worth airport, and inside terminal B the baggage reclaim was right opposite the gate.
I was a bit surprised to find my bags already on the belt, sure they had the red priority tag attached, but this was almost ridiculous, I just got off the plane and had walked 50 meters to get to the baggage reclaim, and they were already there.
An hour later I got the explanation, the TSA had opened both my suitcases and gone through all my stuff, there was a note inside saying my bags had been opened.
I didn’t really know what to think, but I can't say I like that people open my luggage without letting me know, even if they work for some airport authorities.
What was the reason for opening my bags?? And why both of them??
Fortunately I had at least left my bags unlocked, otherwise I guess they would have broken the locks.
Everything seemed to be there though, nothing missing, I had no valuables inside anyway.

That's the final report for today!

Here is a map of my travels so far!

greg99

What an amazing TR - can't wait for more.

Greg

jacob_m

I had a fun weekend in Dallas with warm and sunny weather.
One of the days we visited the Southfork Ranch which was the Ewing residence in the TV-series Dallas. As a coincidence there was a country and cowboy festival going on at the ranch during that weekend, so I got to enjoy a fun afternoon with traditional Texan culture, Wild Western!

Anyway, Sunday evening it was time to leave and my friend drove me to the airport in good time for the last evening flight to Los Angeles.
The UA check-in area was quite small, and there was no one in line for the single premium check-in counter.
Once again I got to keep my economy plus seat for the flight, not a comment!

With a quick check-in process we still had plenty of time before departure so we decided to find a cafe or a bar to have something to drink. Absolutely impossible!! The best we could find was a vending machine with instant coffee!! What a find…
We went back to the UA check-in and asked the man who had just checked me, but he confirmed there is actually not a single place in the public area of terminal B to have a drink.
We then asked if my friend could join me airside, but the answer was of course no, unless I was a child, disabled, or didn’t speak English.
Well a child I’m not, and I’m certainly not disabled either, but I could always pretend not to speak a word of English! Well we didn’t try…
With not much else to do we decided to say goodbye and I went airside.

United Airlines Red Carpet Club, Dallas

The airport was very quiet this evening and the staff at the security check looked extremely bored.
I went to the UA Red Carpet Club located almost right opposite the security checkpoint.
The staff at the reception looked extremely bored as well, they were surfing the net and solving a crossword to make the time pass quicker. Well it turned out the lounge was completely empty and I ended up being the only guest inside.

The lounge was quite small, but kind of cosy, certainly one of the nicer RCCs I have visited.
It had a nice view of the apron, of the two gates mostly visited by UA metal.
The snacks and drinks selection was also quite allright with vegetables, lots of fresh fruit, and cheese and crackers. Northing extraordinary, but certainly better than some other domestic RCCs I have visited. There was also a fridge with plenty of soft drinks.
One of the lounge dragons came into the lounge and asked if I wanted anything from the bar, and I actually decided to go for a whiskey, even though I had to pay for it.
While sitting in the lounge a UA plane arrived and parked at the gate next to the lounge, and it ended up being the one that would take me to Los Angeles later that evening.

Pics
Inside the Red Carpet Club in Dallas with a nice apron view
The self-service buffet in the Dallas RCC

Dallas-Los Angeles, flight UA 359 operated by United Airlines
Departure: 20:26
Arrival: 21:39
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Class: Economy Plus
Seat: 07F

The flight time to Los Angeles was quite long, three hours. I suddenly remembered they have nothing onboard to eat so I rushed to one of the cafes to buy a takeaway sandwich as I was starting to feel hungry.
Priority boarding as usual, quite a lot of people at the gate, which also meant quite a lot of people on the flight.
However I was up for a little surprise! I’m not sure if it was a coincidence or if the check-in staff had been nice to me (I try to think the latter), but I actually ended up getting my own row, as the only person on the plane. For a three-hour flight that was very appreciated!! ^
Considering the empty lounge and the few people who boarded when seating area 1 was called there were obviously not a lot of status passengers onboard, and perhaps they decided to look after one of the few existing ones after all.

Pushback a little late, but shortly afterwards we were airborne and I got to enjoy a nice view of Dallas during the climb.
Standard drink service during the flight, and we were actually offered refills due to the long flight time. On the main screen they showed a movie with Meryl Streep, but I was too tired to watch.
Somewhere over Arizona we encountered bad weather, the seat belt sign was turned on and I could see several flashes through the window. For a moment I was actually a bit worried the plane could be hit, but the captain got permission from ATC to climb to a higher flight level where we would be safer.
All went well though and we landed in Los Angeles a few minutes ahead of timetable.

Pics
Economy Plus seating onboard
DFW Terminal B seen from my seat
The UA safety demonstration video
Dallas by night

Again we parked at terminal 6, but since this isn’t the standard UA terminal the baggage delivery took place in terminal 7, which requires the long walk again through that long corridor.
There was a brief announcement about it just before the doors were opened, but I’m pretty sure several people did not hear that or did not understand what was said and ended up in the wrong baggage hall in the wrong terminal. I was actually unsure myself where to go.
Baggage delivery took forever due to many subsequent arriving aircrafts and the bags arrived in no particular order, both in terms of priority and flight number.

I had a reservation at one of the airport hotels, but at least the shuttle bus arrived almost immediately.

Next it’s time for some proper international first class again, 11 hours to Tokyo!!

jacob_m

Time for another first class flight, this time Los Angeles-Tokyo with All Nippon Airways (ANA).
This was probably the best flight on the entire trip!! (that's why you'll get a thorough description of it... )

I stayed overnight at one of the airport hotels at LAX between my evening flight from Dallas and my onward flight the next day at noon to Tokyo.
The hotel offered a free shuttle bus to all the terminals, so I asked the driver to drop me off at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), the terminal ANA uses.

Check-in

The dreadful TBIT was very crowded this morning, there were people and queues absolutely everywhere.
At TBIT they require all passengers to have their luggage screened before check-in rather than in a baggage sorting area somewhere.
This obviously caused queues all over the terminal, especially as there were many flights leaving in the afternoon.

The ANA check-in area was to the very left of the terminal, fairly crowded.
I didn’t really know how the baggage screening worked, so I just joined the first class line to see what would happen, or at least to find someone to ask.
Before I had even reached the counter a man approached me and told me I had to have my bags screened before I was allowed to check-in.
He asked me if I was travelling in first class and I said yes. He then told me he would take care of the baggage screening for me and I could just proceed to the check-in desk, the luggage would be taken care of afterwards.
That was very appreciated, the poor economy class passengers had to stay in line for the baggage screening.

There were two Japanese women working at the first class counter, both extremely friendly and polite.
The check-in process was done very thoroughly, I don’t think I have ever seen anybody doing it so properly and carefully.
They double-checked each digit of my frequent flyer number with the number in the reservation, they checked that I was happy with my seat assignment, they checked I only wanted my luggage tagged to Tokyo, they explained how to get to the lounge, and so on..

They further asked me if I had any luggage to check, and I said yes but told them the security guy had taken it for screening.
They called for the guy and we went to the screening area where they had a special collection point for premium luggage. I found my two suitcases but was not allowed to touch them (I guess they had to re-screen them if I did).
Back at the check-in desk the check-in agent offered to change the number on the combination lock so my bags would be locked during the flight (they had already been screened anyway), which I gratefully accepted. My luggage was then tagged with both the standard Star Alliance priority tag and the ANA first class tag.
Overall I was very impressed by the whole check-in experience. The check-in agents were very polite and the check-in process flawless, they really wanted to be sure I was completely satisfied with every part of the check-in process and my upcoming flight.
A very good start!

At TBIT all tax-free shops are located before security (well almost), however considering the large number of departures in the early afternoon and after having seen the masses in the departure hall I expected very long lines at security, so I went there straight away (I also wanted to be sure to have some time in the lounge).
However the security check was almost empty, I was through after five minutes, I had certainly not expected that.

Pics
The departure board inside the Tom Bradley terminal

Singapore Airlines First class lounge, Los Angeles

As security was so quick I suddenly had plenty of time before departure. As there were not a lot of shops after security there was not much to do but visiting some lounges.
This was the last day before the old lounges were closed (can anybody figure out the date?), so I knew there would still be a few lounges to choose between.
I had read the ANA lounge was nothing to write home about (well none of the lounges at LAX were great) but I found there was a Singapore Airlines First class lounge to visit, so that’s where I headed.

The lounge corridors looked absolutely awful, I hope they are being greatly refurbished now (or preferably demolished).
I managed to find the SQ lounge on the top floor right in the middle of the corridor, after ringing the bell I went inside and was greeted by a woman at the reception.
I presented my ANA F-boarding pass and asked if it was OK I used the SQ lounge for a while.
The lounge agent didn’t really know what to answer and just looked at the boarding pass for a while, all of a sudden she found SK*G printed so she asked for my card.
I didn’t really know why she needed it, but I gave it to her and after looking at it for a while she apologised for not being able to offer me a business class lounge to use.
Knowing the rules I pointed out none of it mattered as I had a same-day first class boarding pass with a Star Alliance carrier.
The woman still looked confused and was obviously not aware of the rules, so she called a supervisor to ask for advice, after a lengthy discussion they decided to “make an exception” and let me in.
Well I had a printout of the rules in my bag just in case.

The SQ lounge was quite small, but also completely empty. Since I had not had any breakfast I was happy to find a decent food offering with nice sandwiches, yoghurt, fruits and pastries.
The lounge wasn’t as fancy as some other SQ lounges, but it could have been a lot worse, I have no complaints about it. The staff were also nice, the little argument in the beginning to get me in was quickly forgotten.

Pics
Inside the Singapore Airlines First class lounge at LAX
The buffet area in the lounge

All Nippon Airways Signet lounge, Los Angeles

After a nice breakfast I left the lounge and decided to find the ANA lounge (to which I had an invitation) among all the lounges in the long corridor.
After just a few meters I saw a sign with ANA printed on it, so I went inside. I gave my invitation to the woman at the reception and was allowed inside, but just as I had found a seat another agent approaches me and tells me I am in the wrong lounge.
It turned out I was in the China Airlines Dynasty lounge, which doubles as ANA business lounge. She told me as a first class passenger I was supposed to use the proper ANA lounge, but I could stay there if I wanted.
Well, obviously being in the wrong lounge I decided to leave.

The proper ANA lounge was one floor below.
As I was leaving the China Airlines lounge I could see a couple leaving another lounge escorted by a young girl from Air Tahiti Nui (the very distinctive uniform was easy to recognise) and we all walked towards the lifts.
Inside the lift the man turns around and asks me in French if I’m going to Paris as well. He obviously thought I left the same lounge seconds after him. In French I reply to him “no I’m going to Tokyo”. He just stares at me, obviously very confused as I get out of the lift on the next floor.

I finally found the proper ANA Signet lounge, which was very small and almost completely full. I really should have stayed in the China Airlines lounge which seemed much nicer and a lot less crowded as well.
Two Japanese women were in charge of the lounge, and the vast majority of the guests were Japanese as well, I think there were three non-Japanese people in total in the lounge, and that’s including myself.
There was a small self-service area with a good amount of alcoholic beverages (including some Japanese stuff), but very little to eat. Apparently it wasn’t such a bad idea to work my way inside the SQ lounge, otherwise I would probably be starving by now.

The lounge staff advised us to leave the lounge around 30 minutes before scheduled departure. As I didn't want to hang around the gate area I stayed quite long and left the lounge as one of the last passengers (one of the last visitors ever, as the lounge closed after this departure).

Pics
Inside the ANA Signet lounge

Los Angeles-Tokyo/Narita, flight NH 005 operated by All Nippon Airways
Departure: 12:55
Arrival: 16:20
Aircraft: Boeing 777
Class: First Class
Seat: 02K

At the gate there was a separate line for first class, business class and star gold.
There seemed to be quite a few premium passengers onboard, but we were processed very quickly.

Once onboard I was greeted at the door in the middle of the business class cabin and directed to the first class cabin where another flight attendant immediately approached me, welcomed me onboard and offered to take my jacket.
Unfortunately no pre-departure drinks were offered onboard, which I know has to do with US regulations rather than with ANA.
Not the end of the world, but it’s always nice to get comfortable onboard with a glass of bubbles before take-off, now it meant the first class service would not start until we were airborne.

Minutes later the same flight attendant came through the cabin with a trolley offering newspapers and magazines. They have no amenity kits onboard ANA flights, but they offer some things from a basket you can take, mostly skin products to prevent dehydration.
I missed getting some kind of bag to put everything inside though.

On the Los Angeles-Tokyo route ANA offers their new first class seat onboard (they call it simply "New First class"), which is very nice. It’s what people here would call a suite, and all passengers have direct access to the aisle.
The suite is a bit similar to the Singapore Airlines SkySuite, but the ANA suite actually gave a lot more privacy.
There are eight first class seats in the Boeing 777 configuration and six of them were occupied on this fight.
The “suite” was packed with things when I arrived. A grey sleeper suit, a black cardigan, slippers, two pillows, a blanket, and probably something else I have forgotten.
Fortunately the seat has a lot of storage!!

We pushed back almost 20 minutes late, which had something to do with ATC restrictions, too bad they did not offer any pre-departure drinks with such a long wait.
Once the engines were started we were quickly airborne though and we got a pretty nice view of the Californian coastline as we set course towards the north and Alaska.

Once the seat belt sign was off the curtain between business class and first class was closed and the service onboard finally started.
Hot towels were handed out and drink orders were taken, I asked for a glass of champagne and minutes later I had a nice glass of Krug in my hand.
With the drink also came a small tray with some snacks, certainly the coolest pre-meal snacks I have ever seen onboard a plane. Who needs warm nuts?!

Pics
The ANA B777 at LAX
Sleeper suit, slippers, blankets and pillows are available at the seat
Newspapers, magazines and other amenities are offered in the first class cabin
Amenity kit
Champagne (Krug!) and some cool snacks

The very extensive menu!

The menu was then handed out in a classy paper binder together with the drink list.
I had a look inside, and wow!! They had so much food onboard!!
This menu was easily the most impressive and the most extensive of all first class menus on this trip, without competition!!
And anything on the menu could be ordered at any time during the flight, and that’s not just something they said, they did it, without a comment!
There were passengers in first class who ate four times during the flight. One man had (I think) both caviar, a Japanese meal, a few Western dishes, fresh fruit, snacks, and god knows what else during the flight. He was served all of that without the slightest little complaint from the flight attendants!

Pics
The menu and the drink list

It was a pain typing the entire menu, but I really wanted to give you the chance to have a look as the menu is quite spectacular!
Read through it properly, and keep in mind that all this food was actually available onboard in the galley.
This menu really puts any a la carte restaurant to shame!

Enjoy!!

Meal service

OK, so I’m still drinking Krug, in case you have been reading the menu for some time.
Frequent refills were offered of the champagne, always with a smile. The flight attendant almost seemed happy every time I accepted another glass of champagne, I could probably have had ten glasses onboard if it wasn’t that I really didn’t want to get completely wasted on a long 11-hour flight.

Soon the flight attendant was back and asked me if I had chosen what to eat.
I double-checked with her there would indeed be two meals onboard (stupid question) as I wanted to try both a western meal and a Japanese meal onboard. She said I could eat whenever I wanted, so obviously no problem having a Japanese meal later during the flight.
I had a hard time deciding what to eat, I wanted to start with a western meal, but there was still so much to choose between.
I finally decided on foie gras as appetizer, followed by a fresh garden salad, beef tenderloin, and peach compote.
The flight attendant confirmed my order, and rushed back to the galley to start preparing my food.

Minutes later she was back with tablecloth and cutlery for my table. They use blue tablecloths onboard ANA which make the table setting look very elegant, although unfortuately only plastic knives onboard though as the flight originated in the US.
The FA also folded the napkin and placed it in my lap, wow, they really treated me like a royalty!!

After three glasses of Krug I felt I had had enough though, even though the flight attendant happily tried to offer me another top-up. I decided to have some red wine with the meal instead.
The meal service then started, and it was all very yummy, except that I apparently didn’t read the menu properly (I guess I should blame the champagne) and didn’t realise the beef tenderloin was served with mushrooms (not a big fan).

After the main course I asked if it would be possible to have some cheese before the dessert, it wasn’t part of the a la carte menu, but I saw it mentioned on the delights menu.
No problem at all, the crew onboard seemed almost happy when I asked for something.
There was certainly no inconvenince in getting me something that was not on the menu, rather the opposite, they seemed absolutely delighted they got another chance to make me a happy customer.
This was one of the main differences between ANA and Singapore Airlines (which will be covered later on).
On SQ they try to anticipate every single thing you do, on ANA you have to ask for most things, but once you ask they almost bring you the moon.

The cheese plate arrived minutes later, followed by the dessert.
I also asked for some coffee and was asked “which type of coffee can we get you Mr jacob_m?”. Well regular black is fine, I answered. “Yes, but which coffee bean would you prefer?”, she continued.
Oh, that’s advanced! It took a little while before I understood what this was all about, but after a look at the back of drink list I realised I was actually in heaven.
I am an extreme coffee lover, very very addicted, and onboard this ANA flight I have a choice between five different coffee beans.
The drink list gave a nice little description of characteristics of each coffee bean, a little bit about the body, acidity and aroma. Wow!
I instantly realised there would be quite a few cups of coffee consumed on this flight to work my way through that fantastic list of coffee beans!
A glass of Ballantine’s Limited with the coffee was also the perfect end of a nice meal.

Pics
Table setting
Appetizer
Salad
Main course
International cheese selection
Dessert and coffee
A glass of Ballantine’s Limited

The inflight entertainment system, and time for a rest!

After a long meal service it was nice to stretch my legs a bit, gosh so much food onboard!!
I decided to change into my sleeper suit to get more comfortable and to get some rest onboard. The grey sleeper suit was very comfortable (at least the lower part of it) and fitted me perfectly.
One of the flight attendants noticed I was about to get changed and was waiting with a hanger when I came out from the lavatory to take care of my regular clothes.

I then decided to have a look at Skymaster, the ANA inflight entertainment system.
ANA has AVOD onboard which is a big plus. Through Skymaster there are several movies, documentaries and tv-series available. They also offer games, a cool flight map, arrivals information, and some music to listen to (although the music was more suited for Japanese passengers).
I decided to watch the movie “Cars” (the Disney one) on my 15” screen which I had not seen yet, quite good!!

After the movie I started feeling quite tired after all the food and a lot of travelling and change of time zones, so I reclined the seat a bit to have a rest (but not really a proper sleep).
Minutes later I could feel a soft duvet being put on top of me, lovely!!
I had earlier declined to have my seat turned into a bed as I didn’t really want to sleep onboard, but this was absolutely perfect!! A bottle of water was also placed next to me.
Other passengers chose to sleep properly though, the ANA seat can be made completely flat and they have mattresses, pillows and duvets onboard to make the seat into a real bed.
I doze off for about two hours, at this point the window shades had been lowered as most passengers tried to get some sleep, or at least some rest.

Pics
Flying over Bering Sea, soon passing the International date line
The first class cabin darkened
The ANA Skymaster inflight entertainment system
The video console
Watching “Cars” on my personal TV
The ANA first class suite
The seat control

More food onboard

As I woke up I watched another movie and then decided it was time to have something more to eat.
Seeing how other passengers were mixing and matching dishes from the menu I asked if I could do the same, there was still so much on the menu I wanted to try, obviously not a problem!
I ordered the Petite Japanese course (as I said earlier I wanted to try a Japanese meal onboard), followed by a fruit plate and the ice cream dessert.
The flight attendant suggested I should start with the fruit plate as the ice cream was very sweet, a good suggestion!
The Japanese meal arrived around 20 minutes later on a large tray, it looked very nice, but I was really not sure what it was, even less how to eat it.
The flight attendant was happy to give me a short introduction though, but it was hard for her to explain in English. She made a good try, and at least I got to know how the different dishes should be eaten.
After the Japanese meal the fruit plate arrived which was nicely decorated with a flower and looked beautiful, it was followed by the ice cream which was very delicious.

Pics
Japanese meal
Beautiful fruit plate!!
Ice cream and sorbet medley and coffee

Descent and arrival at Narita airport

After another movie (or half of it anyway as I fell asleep) we started our descent into Tokyo Narita airport, this also meant it was time to change back to my regular clothes.
The crew did an excellent job there by returning the clothes to each passenger with a 5 mins interval, so each person could go straight into the lavatory and change without any congestion.
Another thing that impressed me a lot!!

Shortly before landing the flight attendant who had mostly been serving me during the flight came to wish me good-bye and thank me for flying ANA.
I took the opportunity to thank her for a wonderful flight with fantastic service onboard, and I don’t think I have ever seen anybody getting so happy, she thoroughly appreciated what I said.
She told me she would be most happy to serve me again on another flight some other time, well so would I!
Before landing I was also given another bottle of water, to have something to drink on the train to Tokyo!

We landed a little behind schedule at Narita airport and taxied to the brand new south wing of terminal 1.
So nice to be back on the ground after 11 hours in the air, but I realised I had one heck of a jet lag to take care of. Eight hours time difference between Tokyo and Los Angeles, and another two hours between Los Angeles and Dallas, that’s ten hours!!
Anyway, after the seat belt sign had been switched off they closed the curtains between business class and first class and all first class passengers disembarked through the front door (1L).
We were once again thanked for flying ANA as the crew bowed when we got off.

Being one of the first passengers off the plane also meant I was one of the first passengers to reach immigration.
Minutes later the passengers from a full Seoul flight arrived at immigration followed by the rest of our passengers. Quite a few people were waiting when I was processed.

I entered the baggage hall, also part of the new Star Alliance south wing, which was very nice and very modern, you could easily see it was very new.
My priority tagged suitcases were already on the belt, less than 15 minutes after the plane had parked!! Well done!!

Pics
Almost there!
The baggage hall at the brand new Narita terminal 1

All Nippon Airways arrivals lounge, Tokyo Narita

Before taking the Narita Express to Tokyo I made a visit to the ANA domestic lounge which doubles as arrivals lounge for longhaul first and business class passengers.
In the lounge I had a shower in one of the high-tech shower rooms, those showers were really advanced with three different shower heads that could be used simultaneously. Very nice with a shower after 11 hours in the air!
They also had free internet in the lounge, and some light snacks, so I took the opportunity to have another cup of coffee and check my e-mail.
The Japanese keyboards are very confusing if you're not used to them, all of a sudden everything changes from western letters to Japanese letters if you manage to press the wrong button.

Pics
Inside the ANA arrivals lounge at Narita airport

Before finally leaving the airport I went upstairs to have a look at the new dedicated Star Alliance departure hall. It is very nice, but almost all flights that day had already departed.
What is remarkable about the south wing at Narita is that the check-in area is divided by class of travel and status level rather than by airline.
So there is a check-in island for all Star Alliance first class passengers irrespective of carrier, and another check-in island for Star Alliance Gold passengers irrespective of carrier.

After snapping a few photos I went back downstairs and caught the Narita Express to Tokyo.
Time to explore Japan…

Pics
The new Star Alliance departure hall at Narita Terminal 1,
The Star Alliance first class and Star Alliance gold check-in counters

Final comment about the flight

Overall I have to say this ANA flight was absolutely fantastic, possibly the best flight on the entire trip (but obviously there are competitors).
The menu is the most extensive I have ever seen onboard a plane (including all flights on this trip) and the seat was very comfortable as well with lots of space.
But what mostly impressed me was the service.
I’m not going to say that every single aspect of it was 100%, but everything they did was genuine, and that’s what I liked!!
They took so much pride in what they did, and they seemed genuinely happy to get yet another chance to please you, and that’s something I did not really experience on any of the other flights in the same way.
So a big big hands up to ANA after this fantastic experience!! ^

upgrade lover

Yet again another fantastic installment of your epic journey! ANA is really fantastic. I had the pleasure of traveling with them one time in FIRST and it was a great flight.
One comment, I live in the LAX area and travel alot internationally, and I always am offered pre departure drinks champagne etc. I do not believe that there is any US law that prevents this. Also, when did you travel? For some time now there are no restrictions to metal cutlery to or from the USA.

Kiwi Flyer

Great report. Looking forward to the next instalments.

It seems I was in LAX around the same time as you (but on a OW RTW in business for me). shameless plug for my trip report

After printing out your fine report to read on my flight tonight, I read it all (to this point) on the way to the airport (grrr heavy traffic).

mosburger

The ANA flight report is the highlight of an immensely enjoyable reading package. What a great way to arrive in Japan in style!

fumitani

I'm enjoy reading this report. Hopefully I'll be able to write this well if I do a trip report

sporadic

^ Now I also wanna fly NH F. ^ ^ But no $$ only

andrewp

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this trip report and sharing your experiences with all of us. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I've yet to experience a better airline than NH and am happy to see that your experience exactly mirrored mine.

This is the best way to sum it up and something that I've noticed about Japanese culture. People take such immense pride in what they do no matter what it is.

jef7

A delightful trip so far jacob_m ^ .

I can definitely attest to the Japanese hospitality as I have recently experienced on JAL. Given your similar detailed account of excellent service on this NH flight, the common culture is apparent, and that is to genuinely serve and make customers happy and comfortable.

I do have to say that I am somewhat unimpressed by NH's presentation of their in-flight food service. Of course I am comparing my limited impression based on your photos to SQ's presentation in F, and that plastic knife certainly does not help. Confusingly, after browsing through some of my own photos from past trips, a real knife was served on SQ 11 (LAX-NRT). Still, this criticism is simply about aesthetics, as it is the service that really makes the trip enjoyable and memorable.

Thank you for your efforts so far and looking forward for more.

jacob_m

Thanks all for the very nice comments!! I'm glad you're enjoying the report, despite my love for details...
There is a lot more to come, not even half the trip has passed yet, there are a few more very nice longhaul flights to post for example, among other things.
It is not a coincidence I felt the trip was worth calling the trip of trips.

Regarding the pre-departure drink, that's actually something I read here on FT, there was a discussion about it.
There is no law preventing it, but it was something about the airlines having to pay a fee, or duty, to be able to serve alcoholic drinks on the ground.
So the airline you were flying had to pay a certain amount of money to open that bottle of champagne before take-off, and obviously not all airlines want to do that.
Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (this is just something I remember reading) and I just assumed that was also the reason for the lack of pre-departure drinks on ANA.
The flight was in the beginning of October btw.

Singapore Airlines will be covered later in this report, so all readers will get a chance to compare themselves.
But I did not really have any problems with the presentation of the meals onboard ANA. Surely SQ does an excellent job in that area, but that's not the same thing as saying ANA did a bad job.
I actually thought the ANA table setting looked very nice with the blue tablecloth.
Regarding the use of plastic knives I unfortunately ended up getting that on SQ as well (with a little note apologising for it).

jacob_m

After three days in Tokyo and Yokohama it’s time to continue the tour of Japan.
Next stop is the Kansai region on southern Honshu, and to get there I booked a domestic flight with ANA from Haneda airport (the domestic airport of Tokyo) to Itami airport (the domestic airport of Osaka).
A great chance to fly a second time with ANA and experience a domestic flight within Japan.

ANA uses almost exclusively widebody aircrafts on the Tokyo-Osaka route, which feels a bit strange considering the short flight time, most of the time they use Boeing 777s.
There must be one heck of a demand for airline tickets on this route as they have at least one flight every hour, and each time it’s a Boeing 777.
There are three classes onboard the domestic flights: economy, premium economy and first class (as they brand their premium cabin). With a first class RTW ticket I was obviously seated in F.

Haneda airport is located in the outskirts of Tokyo city centre, just by the water, quite a difference to Narita airport which is a massive 80 km away.
You can actually take the underground to Haneda which makes ground transportation very easy.
There are two terminals at Haneda airport, one used exclusively by JAL (terminal 1) and one used exclusively by ANA (terminal 2). There is also a very small number of international flights out of the airport, in most cases with South Korea as destination.

Haneda terminal 2 was actually very nice, very bright and modern with plenty of shops in the public area.
I checked in in the premium check-in area. Very friendly and polite staff (as always in Japan), but the young woman who checked me in did not feel very comfortable speaking English.
She made herself understood though and I was told I was invited to visit the ANA Signet lounge as a gold card holder.

Even at the security check they were polite, they even apologised for having to re-screen my bag as they could not identify everything inside, and they thanked me afterwards for waiting that extra minute it took.
More Japanese security people to the world!!!

Pics
The underground station at Haneda airport
The departure hall at Haneda airport terminal 2, exclusively used by ANA
ANA premium check-in area

All Nippon Airways Signet lounge, Tokyo Haneda

After security I made a visit to the ANA Signet lounge which is the ANA gold lounge. Again very friendly staff at the reception who really made me feel welcome.
After the reception desk you take an escalator to get to the main lounge on the first floor.
The ANA lounge was very nice, very modern and spotlessly clean, but there was not much to eat and drink.
Virtually nothing to eat actually, and only soft drinks, coffee/tea and Japanese whiskey to drink. Quite a disappointment for a dedicated gold lounge. I tried the Japanese whiskey though, Suntory, not too bad!
I had a look around the lounge, and soon realised I was the only non-Japanese person in the entire lounge, not that it bothered me (or anybody else for that matter), but it was quite a strange feeling.
Overall the lounge was OK, nice place to wait before leaving for the flight, but I wouldn’t arrive early at the airport just to spend some extra time in the lounge.

Pics
The entrance to the ANA Signet lounge at Haneda airport
The reception desk in the lounge
Inside the main lounge
The small self-service buffet area
The view from the lounge with central Tokyo in the background

A quick and clever boarding

I left the lounge 30 minutes before departure and went to the gate, but boarding did not start until 11.50, only 10 minutes before scheduled departure time.
Still they managed to make the flight leave on time at noon (sharp!), it meant they managed to board a full B777, complete the last paperwork, and close the doors in just 10 minutes. Most impressive!!
Boarding was done by sections or row numbers with priority boarding offered for first class passengers and star golds.
Instead of making announcements each time they used kind of a flipchart (I don't really know what to call it) with the row numbers or photos of the elite levels printed on the pages, so each time they wanted to continue the boarding process they just turned to the next page.
Quite smart actually, a completely standardised boarding process for a smooth boarding, and any language barriers could also be avoided!
You can see it on the photo below of the gate area, it’s the thing right in the middle on the photo.

Pics
The departure screen, not a lot of destinations I’m used to see
The modern transit hall at Haneda airport
The Boeing 777 that will take me to Osaka
The gate area

Tokyo/Haneda-Osaka/Itami, flight NH 023 operated by All Nippon Airways
Departure: 12:00
Arrival: 13:00
Aircraft: Boeing 777
Class: First Class
Seat: 02K

In domestic first class ANA has a seat they call "Super Seat". The seat is quite nice and a bit wider than the standard economy seats (2-2-2 configuration in F onboard the B777), but of course it’s nowhere near as nice as the longhaul seat.
Once onboard I was offered English newspapers and magazines and also the ANA inflight magazine in English.
The first class cabin ended up being completely full to Osaka.

Push-back right on time as already mentioned, and we took off to the north and made a sharp right turn directly after take-off to avoid unnecessary noise and pollution over Tokyo.

Onboard an o-bento box was served in first class. O-bento boxes are like lunch boxes, often made of wood, and can contain almost anything.
They are very popular in Japan and can be bought almost everywhere, for example onboard the high-speed trains or at the railway stations where the contents often reflect the food culture in that region of Japan.
I was very excited to see what the box would look like inside, after all this was a premium cabin onboard ANA.
The food looked delicious, very beautiful, but I can’t really tell what all of it was. There was some fresh fruit for sure (some kiwi for example), also some chicken and rice, and something very sweet, but the rest, well have a look yourself on the photo!
They also served Japanese green tea with the meal, and later alcoholic beverages were offered (beer and wine) and I had some red wine.

While I was eating, just by a coincidence I had a look through the window, and what did I see, a spectacular view of Mount Fuji!
Well actually it was only the top of Mount Fuji as it was very cloudy, but the clouds just made it look even nicer and I naturally took a photo of it.

We landed right on time at Itami airport not too far from central Osaka.
Most passengers seemed to travel with only hand luggage so the baggage delivery started quickly with only priority-tagged bags in the first batch, these things really work in Asia!
At the exit of the baggage reclaim there were two ANA agents who asked for my baggage receipt, they checked the number on my baggage receipts and the number on my baggage tags to make sure they were the same before letting me continue.
That is the very first time that has ever happened to me, but I was very surprised it happened in Japan, not the kind of place where you’d expect people to steal other people’s luggage.

Pics
The first class cabin and the “Super seat”
The o-bento box served onboard in first class
A look inside the o-bento box, I don't really know what all of that is, but it looks delicious!
Cool photo of Mount Fuji seen from the plane
Seconds before landing at Osaka Itami airport
The arrivals hall at Itami airport

upgrade lover

^ I say keep them coming!!! ^

Kiwi Flyer

Yes please. I have some more flights tomorrow