op487062

Paying for two seats for early December from LAX. Haven't flown trans-Pacific economy in quite a while, which would you recommend?

Only going to be in Tokyo for five nights so Haneda would be convenient but not sure which seat is more comfortable (if there is a difference).

mapleg

SQ, every time. While I like NH, their economy seats can be quite uncomfortable.

rurouni212

Based on product, I would vote for SQ however HND vs NRT makes this tricky. I personally would go for NH in this case because of HND.

mapleg

Lot of people keep saying Haneda is "more convenient" for Tokyo and it is for some parts, but really, you can get from NRT to Ueno in 45 minutes. Not really a deal breaker for me.

I would rather spend an extra 20 minutes or so on a train than sit in a less satisfactory seat to Japan and back.

op487062

Probably staying near the palace or Roppongi.

Convenience helps because the 75 min Narita Express ride after a flight only adds to the exhaustion in economy.

Is the SQ product that much better than others? It's been a while since I've flown economy for more than 5 hours.

lokijuh

What's your personal preference for timing?

I note NH is an overnight flight arriving into HND @ 0505, whilst SQ is a day flight arriving into NRT @ 1905. Personally, in economy I prefer day flights so SQ would win on that grounds alone, but then there's also an NH day flight to NRT worth considering. Also what config is ANA flight? If it's the 3-4-3 configuration, on 777, I'd definitely prefer SQ.

cowie

The other thing to consider also is load factor. Having empty seats around you in Y makes a world of difference. Maybe someone who's familiar with the route could chime in?

op487062

SQ looks pretty full, so extra space is unlikely. NH has more open seats and 2-4-3 configuration.

No preference towards time although I'd prefer to get to the hotel before too late.

cowie

SQ does block off entire sections on the seatmap though. E.g. the first two rows for Solitaire, next two rows for PPS, and most of the aft cabin for what appears to be for tour package bookings. Maybe a quick poke around in ExpertFlyer would elucidate the true state of affairs.

lokijuh

Too be honest, six months advance, it can be almost impossible to tell from the seat map how full the flights will be, especially given the fact that SQ block big chunks of the cabin up until T-96.

One pointer is comparing flights in the next 2-3 days between the two carriers to see who has the most full flights close to travel. Although that's difficult on ExpertFlyer as NH flights come up as "in airport control".

truncated

NH seatmap almost always shows 2-4-3 early out but they often put the 3-4-3 77W on LAX/SFO flights so you never know what you might get. Whereas the A380 on SQ should be a reasonably comfortable ride. Soft product on SQ will be better as well IMHO (NH catering ex-USA is unremarkable and their IFE has a very very limited selection of anything; service should be a wash).

As to the whole HND/NRT question — depends where your hotel is, if you're staying near Ueno/Asakusa/Tokyo then NRT is arguably as convenient as HND but if you're in Shinjuku/Shibuya then HND wins out. However also a 7pm arrival at NRT means you'll get to your hotel about 9 or 10pm and you can just go straight to bed and wake up fresh the next day, whereas if you get in in the morning not sure whether you'll have the energy to last a whole day after a TPAC in Y.

nanyang

I usually prefer HND if I take the SQ day flight and stay somewhere near Hamamatsu-cho monorail stations (e.g. Shimbashi). Not sure if this plan would work so well with 5am arrival. Of course the taxi fare would be a lot lower from HND...

Then again, from NRT there could well be a direct bus service to the hotel:
https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/

Plus as noted above, train to e.g. Ueno is very much doable (and then taxi or public transport to destination).

I have never flown NH in Y, so really don't know the deal with that - but generally speaking I think SQ are perfectly fine in all classes.