I'm thinking of booking an XF (award first) seat on the HNL-NRT route. ANA or another partner is not an option because I'd like to do a one-way award, which is currently UA-only. A few questions for the experts out there...

1) Is this an old Pan Am route? Doesn't make a difference, of course, but it's interesting from a historical perspective.

2) Is the meal service identical to what one would get on other US-Japan flights, such as SFO/LAX-NRT? The "Let's eat" thread suggests that it is, but curious to see if anyone has direct experience.

3) What is the rest of the service like? Should I expect the usual UA int'l first experience (i.e. hit or miss!) or is it one of the routes with a typically stellar crew?

4) Anything else you'd share about this route that might be interesting to know?

Sorry if this post has been covered elsewhere. Besides the "Let's eat" thread I didn't find anything else with information about this specific route. Thanks in advance!