ANA vs DL premium economy (SEA > NRT)
 

Hello all,

I'm trying to book a PE flight to NRT in June from SEA for personal travel with my wife.
I'm looking to book nonstops only if possible, and that leaves me with two options - either ANA or DL. (Leaving JL out since I don't have Oneworld account)

There is only $100 difference between the two (ANA being a bit more expensive) and scheduling is also a wash, within two hours of each other. ANA is on 788/9 while DL will be on A350.

It seems like the only difference is that DL might offer a better meal than Y whereas ANA simply has same Y meal plus J dessert and Ippudo ramen.
The catch there is I already consider ANA Y meal to be superior to DL (or UA...any American airline for that matter) already so I'm not holding breath that DL's PE meal is going to be better than ANA basic Y meal.

Does anyone have PE experience on both ?

I have only flown Y on ANA (several times in the past few years), but I just flew PE on Delta from LAX-PVG on the A350, and I would say the PE meal is definitely a step up from a standard ANA Y meal. The seats in the A350 are quite comfortable, as well. Delta comfort+ is a scam and a waste of money, but their PE is actually a good product. If food is the deciding factor, definitely save a few $ and go with Delta. The service on ANA will likely be friendlier, but even that is not a guarantee. While the more senior FA on most Delta TATL/TPAC segments tend to be a little less courteous than their Japanese counterparts, I have had the ANA flight attendants ignore me or assume that I want a western meal because I am Caucasian on more than one occurrence. Another advantage of Delta is that all their foreign films have English subtitles. Unfortunately, someone at ANA determined that no one who does not speak Japanese would want to watch a Japanese film, so they are often devoid of subtitles. One definite advantage of ANA is that you would get lounge access with PE. But that depends on how good the lounge is in SEA. In NRT, lounge access is less of a plus because there are many better options for dining in the airport that you may prefer to take advantage of if you enjoy Japanese food. As much as I appreciate lounge access, you really do miss out on actually exploring an airport when you just head straight to the lounge. That is not an issue in most dull USA airports, but the airports in Asia are well worth spending some time in.

I've never flown DL's international PE. But some things to keep in mind about ANA, at least based on my experiences and in my opinion... 1).ANA's PE is not a dedicated cabin with its own lavatories like EVA (at least on 787 flights to YVR); 2).I would not choose ANA Y or PE based on food... their meals have deteriorated to the point where it's same level as UA and worse than AC honestly; PE's Ippudo ramen is just a cup o' noodle and not like the bowl of Ippudo ramen you get in J; 3).ANA's FA's are still some of the most pleasant imo.

I would choose based on the reviews of seat comfort and your mileage program situation.

I like ANA PE. The food was excellent and you can also request for the business class dessert for your snack. On one flight, the flight attendants served PE a second dessert from the business class. When I started flying NH, I had no status so the lounge access was great. A shower after a flight is always a delight.
I have not tried Delta PE but have done their comfort plus many times. The latter is just not much different from coach.

FYI, both HND and NRT have very nice shower rooms available to all departing/arriving passengers for less than $10/30 minutes, typically with no wait. Personally, I found the lounges in NRT and HND to be a bit underwhelming (unless you happen to be there during the 3 hours they are serving up nigiri).