Hi guys, it's been a long while since I posted over here but I thought you might be interested to read my TR for the new ANA First Class since nobody else has reviewed it anywhere yet.
I post all my TRs over on my (massively unprofitable) blog these days, since it allows me a greater degree of flexibility with designing an uploading my content. However I will give you enough detail here so that you don't have to click the link to the full review if you don't want to.
The full review:
WORLD EXCLUSIVE REVIEW - ANA : New First Class Suite
Pre-Departure
I was warmly greeted at the door of the plane by two smiling flight attendants and immediately started snapping pictures as quickly as possible, before the other passengers boarded.
The 8 seat First Class cabin of the refurbished ANA 777
Once I had my shot of the First Class cabin, I quickly rushed past my seat (2A) and into the 2 row mini-cabin of business class. Excited though I was about First I was almost equally enthused by the prospect of seeing the groundbreaking new Business Class seat.
Bonus: A sneak peek of the new Business Class
The new ANA Business Class seat (5A)
I only had a brief chance to photograph the new Business Class seat but I have to say that I was extremely impressed. If you're in the two row mini-cabin, directly behind First Class, you'll be in a quiet and private cabin, with the same number of seats as First class.
The First Class Seat
Stepping into the First Class cabin the first thing you're struck by is the overwhelming enormity of the screens. At 43" and featuring a 4K resolution these rival what a lot of people have in their living rooms. To see this on an airplane is truly incredible
People usually have a strong desire to sit in row 1, meaning that the rear row in First tends to have empty seats. My plan of picking seat 2A worked perfectly. 2D was free to become my bedroom later on.
The seat is certainly not lacking in storage options. I was impressed both by the fact that the power supply supported fast charging and that HDMI connectivity was offered.
Very Meta: Editing photos of the flight whilst still on the flight. Unfortunately Seat 2A had a malfunctioning HDMI port as well as a broken storage compartment, which is why I was using seat 2D when connecting my laptop. Slightly worrying for such a new product...
This is in many ways the most exciting thing about the newly refreshed 777 cabins:
Finally an Asian carrier that permits passengers to control the temperature! In the past, enduring onsen-like temperatures was the trade off for superior service and food. Now you have air vents powerful enough to blow your chopsticks clean off the table, which is fine since connoisseurs eat sushi with their hands anyway ����
Food and Drink
I opted for the Japanese Kaiseki tasting menu as my lunch, preceded by a starter of mixed seafood and marinated vegetable crudites with caviar.
Focus firmly on the Krug ��
This dish was absolutely exceptional. Truly magnificent. A mixture of fresh and vibrant vegetables with crab, scallops, lobster and a generous serving of caviar. This dish was genuinely indistinguishable from fine-dining served on the ground.
Not only was everything absolutely delicious I was also inspired to bake an avocado at home too after particularly enjoying that component of the main course! I also took the opportunity to sample the sublime Aramasa 6 X-type sake as a pairing to the fish elements. If the only sake you've ever tried came from a restaurant that serves two types: hot or cold, then the you will never forget your first taste of the good stuff. It is like an entirely different category of drink.
Bed
Living Room in 2A. Bedroom in 2D.
All the cushions and pillows are memory foam and there is plenty of space so spread out, the doors also ensure privacy and help to keep light out if you're in the centre seats. However, I did not sleep comfortably.
The memory foam mattress which I enjoyed on the old product is now gone. It has been replaced by a large linen napkin, roughly one micron thick. I've had far more comfortable sleeps in Business Class on the likes of AA, AC and NZ, all of whom offer proper thick mattress toppers.
Conclusion
I've been to Japan ten times since 2014 and have flown a wide variety of carriers there, including
Thai,
Virgin, Qatar,
JAL and
Cathay. Recently I had almost exclusively flown to and from the Land of the Rising Sun on JAL; it is a very easily accessible product which regularly makes 2 seats available for redemption and is a wonderful experience in almost every way.
However, every time that I flew JAL I couldn't help but think back to my
ANA First Class flight back in 2014. Despite the bland seat with its blocked windows, I remember that flight very fondly and had been longing to try the experience again. I totally lucked out when booking this seat using Virgin miles. Availability was wide open back when I booked this, ten months ahead of the flight date and nobody had any idea that ANA would be releasing a new seat.
***
Where does the new ANA F stack up overall? I currently rate it second only to Singapore Suites. However ANA (much like SQ) still clearly need to work on their lounges. Lufthansa and
SWISS both offer superb facilities to passengers in their home terminals and ANA's is an embarrassment in comparison. I'd honestly rather spend time in Cathay's
outstation business class lounge in London than in the
ANA Suite lounge in Haneda.
With these new seats ANA have issued a clear statement of intent. The hard product now matches the superlative service and phenomenal food offering. Will this be a flash in the pan or will ANA follow up to deliver a truly premium experience from end to end? Here's hoping...