NH J to Japan & Taiwan: Great Meals + A Passenger Disruption
Oct 30, 2017, 12:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
NH J to Japan & Taiwan: Great Meals + A Passenger Disruption
I just returned from a two-week trip to Japan and Taiwan on NH in J. My original routing was:
10/14: NH115 YVR-HND (789)
10/23: NH851 HND-TSA (788)
10/28: NH854 TSA-HND (788) / NH116 HND-YVR (789)
...with a separate positioning flight from/to SFO on AC.
After ANA swapped its J product on YVR-HND from the lie-flat Business Staggered seats to the regional Business Cradle seats, I was — after much effort — able to reroute to:
10/14: NH171 SJC-NRT (788)
10/23: NH851 HND-TSA (788)
10/29: NH824 TPE-NRT (763) / NH172 NRT-SJC (788)
NH has long been one of my favourite airlines, but one I seldom have the occasion to fly. As such, I was really looking forward to this trip.
NH did not let me down. Every interaction, both at the airport and in the air, was fantastic. Every ground and cabin crew I met was courteous, friendly, and professional. The contrast with the North American service attitude I've grown accustomed to was night and day.
Priority boarding was always enforced and overall boarding was always completed in under 20-25 minutes. I was greeted by name and with a smile on every flight. And I really noticed the attention-to-detail when it came to little things like having lounge shower heads turned away from the shower door and onboard lavatories sparkling clean throughout the flight.
And then there was the food, for which I'll just let the pictures do the talking:
NH171 SJC-NRT 10/14 Lunch (Amuse Bouche, Appetizer, and Entree)
NH171 SJC-NRT 10/14 Breakfast
NH851 HND-TSA 10/23 Lunch
NH824 TPE-NRT 10/29 Lunch
NH172 NRT-SJC 10/29 Dinner (Amuse Bouche, Appetizer, and Entree)
NH172 SJC-NRT 10/29 Breakfast
Every meal, both in terms of taste and presentation, was absolutely wonderful. As a regular flyer of AC, I've long given up expecting great food at 30,000 feet. NH was such a refreshing change.
As a (not so) small coda, I encountered a rather interesting passenger (near) disruption on my final flight, separately documented here:
I've decided to include it here as I would love to hear input from a more general audience regarding my questions at the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip and will continue to seek out opportunities to fly NH in the future.
Bonus: NH851 Window View Departing HND
10/14: NH115 YVR-HND (789)
10/23: NH851 HND-TSA (788)
10/28: NH854 TSA-HND (788) / NH116 HND-YVR (789)
...with a separate positioning flight from/to SFO on AC.
After ANA swapped its J product on YVR-HND from the lie-flat Business Staggered seats to the regional Business Cradle seats, I was — after much effort — able to reroute to:
10/14: NH171 SJC-NRT (788)
10/23: NH851 HND-TSA (788)
10/29: NH824 TPE-NRT (763) / NH172 NRT-SJC (788)
NH has long been one of my favourite airlines, but one I seldom have the occasion to fly. As such, I was really looking forward to this trip.
NH did not let me down. Every interaction, both at the airport and in the air, was fantastic. Every ground and cabin crew I met was courteous, friendly, and professional. The contrast with the North American service attitude I've grown accustomed to was night and day.
Priority boarding was always enforced and overall boarding was always completed in under 20-25 minutes. I was greeted by name and with a smile on every flight. And I really noticed the attention-to-detail when it came to little things like having lounge shower heads turned away from the shower door and onboard lavatories sparkling clean throughout the flight.
And then there was the food, for which I'll just let the pictures do the talking:
NH171 SJC-NRT 10/14 Lunch (Amuse Bouche, Appetizer, and Entree)
NH171 SJC-NRT 10/14 Breakfast
NH851 HND-TSA 10/23 Lunch
NH824 TPE-NRT 10/29 Lunch
NH172 NRT-SJC 10/29 Dinner (Amuse Bouche, Appetizer, and Entree)
NH172 SJC-NRT 10/29 Breakfast
Every meal, both in terms of taste and presentation, was absolutely wonderful. As a regular flyer of AC, I've long given up expecting great food at 30,000 feet. NH was such a refreshing change.
As a (not so) small coda, I encountered a rather interesting passenger (near) disruption on my final flight, separately documented here:
I flew NH172 on Oct 29 from NRT to SJC. I was seated in 3K and witnessed a passenger (almost) disruption incident that led me to wonder about what would have happened if things had devolved further.
For context, I should mention that boarding was delayed from 17:05 to 18:45 due to late arrival of the inbound aircraft (with the departure time revised from 17:30 to 19:10). After boarding wrapped up, we learned that the departure time would be further delayed due to a typhoon.
While waiting on the ground, I overheard a conversation (or lack thereof) two rows behind me between an elderly Chinese passenger who didn’t speak English or Japanese and a flight attendant who didn’t speak Chinese (beyond a few phrases like “hello” and “thank you”). As this was a Japan-US flight, there was no Chinese-speaking crew onboard. Since they were clearly having trouble communicating, I offered to help translate. Both passenger and flight attendant gladly accepted my offer. It turned out the passenger, who was traveling alone from CTU to SJC via NRT, had questions about the US customs form, which I helped resolve. Both passenger and crew thanked me, and I returned to my seat.
Shortly after 20:30 (so approximately 3 hours behind the scheduled departure time), we finally took off.
Not long into the flight, my travel companion in 3G interrupted the movie I was watching to point out something was going on with the aforementioned passenger. As soon as I removed the noise-canceling headphones, I heard loud yelling coming from her row. At this point, one of the flight attendants came over to inquire whether I could help translate again. I promptly obliged and walked over, where I saw the passenger in tears.
After listening to both sides, I learned that the passenger was watching a movie on her iPad with no headphones on. The volume was loud enough that a neighbouring passenger complained to the crew, who had politely asked the passenger to use headphones. Somehow, the situation escalated to the point of yelling and crying (all on the part of the passenger; throughout the entire experience, I observed nothing but politeness and professionalism from the NH crew).
After hearing the passenger vent some more, I gathered that she has had a long travel day and was tired and frustrated. She complained about the long delay, not being fed on her CTU-NRT flight, not being able to use her flight delay meal voucher at NRT, not being offered anything to drink since boarding this flight, and just generally feeling disrespected by NH (most of which I surmise could be attributed to the language barrier). Being asked to put on headphones — which the passenger didn’t want to do on account of ear pain — was the final straw for her. She insisted she was playing the video on low volume so didn’t see what the big deal was. Truth be told, the volume was definitely loud enough for passengers within a couple rows to hear.
Through some selective translating and lots of apologizing and agreeing, I was able to defuse the situation and calm the passenger down. By this point, the flight attendant was ready to relent and let the passenger be (and it seemed the neighbouring passengers were also ready for the commotion to end and accept whatever iPad noise was to come). The rest of the flight proceeded uneventfully, and I provided a few more translations related to meal selection, etc.
IMO, the crew was fantastic (consistent with my experience on four NH flights over the past two weeks) and could not be faulted. At the same time, the passenger’s frustration was also understandable. (FWIW, if any blame is due, I’d say it belongs with the passenger’s family who sent her on an international flight with a connection operated by a carrier that cannot be expected to speak the only language she understands. Just my two cents.)
In any case, this incident got me wondering: What would have happened if the passenger had not calmed down? What if no other Chinese speaker was onboard or I wasn’t able to defuse the situation? At the height of the commotion, the passenger’s yelling was loud enough for the entire front J cabin to hear. Could it have ended with a diversion? Not sure what the protocol is for such situations.
For context, I should mention that boarding was delayed from 17:05 to 18:45 due to late arrival of the inbound aircraft (with the departure time revised from 17:30 to 19:10). After boarding wrapped up, we learned that the departure time would be further delayed due to a typhoon.
While waiting on the ground, I overheard a conversation (or lack thereof) two rows behind me between an elderly Chinese passenger who didn’t speak English or Japanese and a flight attendant who didn’t speak Chinese (beyond a few phrases like “hello” and “thank you”). As this was a Japan-US flight, there was no Chinese-speaking crew onboard. Since they were clearly having trouble communicating, I offered to help translate. Both passenger and flight attendant gladly accepted my offer. It turned out the passenger, who was traveling alone from CTU to SJC via NRT, had questions about the US customs form, which I helped resolve. Both passenger and crew thanked me, and I returned to my seat.
Shortly after 20:30 (so approximately 3 hours behind the scheduled departure time), we finally took off.
Not long into the flight, my travel companion in 3G interrupted the movie I was watching to point out something was going on with the aforementioned passenger. As soon as I removed the noise-canceling headphones, I heard loud yelling coming from her row. At this point, one of the flight attendants came over to inquire whether I could help translate again. I promptly obliged and walked over, where I saw the passenger in tears.
After listening to both sides, I learned that the passenger was watching a movie on her iPad with no headphones on. The volume was loud enough that a neighbouring passenger complained to the crew, who had politely asked the passenger to use headphones. Somehow, the situation escalated to the point of yelling and crying (all on the part of the passenger; throughout the entire experience, I observed nothing but politeness and professionalism from the NH crew).
After hearing the passenger vent some more, I gathered that she has had a long travel day and was tired and frustrated. She complained about the long delay, not being fed on her CTU-NRT flight, not being able to use her flight delay meal voucher at NRT, not being offered anything to drink since boarding this flight, and just generally feeling disrespected by NH (most of which I surmise could be attributed to the language barrier). Being asked to put on headphones — which the passenger didn’t want to do on account of ear pain — was the final straw for her. She insisted she was playing the video on low volume so didn’t see what the big deal was. Truth be told, the volume was definitely loud enough for passengers within a couple rows to hear.
Through some selective translating and lots of apologizing and agreeing, I was able to defuse the situation and calm the passenger down. By this point, the flight attendant was ready to relent and let the passenger be (and it seemed the neighbouring passengers were also ready for the commotion to end and accept whatever iPad noise was to come). The rest of the flight proceeded uneventfully, and I provided a few more translations related to meal selection, etc.
IMO, the crew was fantastic (consistent with my experience on four NH flights over the past two weeks) and could not be faulted. At the same time, the passenger’s frustration was also understandable. (FWIW, if any blame is due, I’d say it belongs with the passenger’s family who sent her on an international flight with a connection operated by a carrier that cannot be expected to speak the only language she understands. Just my two cents.)
In any case, this incident got me wondering: What would have happened if the passenger had not calmed down? What if no other Chinese speaker was onboard or I wasn’t able to defuse the situation? At the height of the commotion, the passenger’s yelling was loud enough for the entire front J cabin to hear. Could it have ended with a diversion? Not sure what the protocol is for such situations.
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip and will continue to seek out opportunities to fly NH in the future.
Bonus: NH851 Window View Departing HND
Last edited by capedreamer; Oct 30, 2017 at 6:09 am
Oct 30, 2017, 4:38 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: AY Platinum, UA Premier Platinum, OneWorld Emerald, VA Platinum
Posts: 558
Fantastic photos capedreamer, particularly the first one. It looks like something from a magazine.
Is photography your profession or just a hobby?
Is photography your profession or just a hobby?
Oct 30, 2017, 5:04 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Oct 30, 2017, 9:00 am
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, NH, DL, AA, BA, Global Entry/Nexus, APEC..
Posts: 18,877
Oct 30, 2017, 11:21 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Oct 30, 2017, 9:42 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,604
Great TR! And thanks for helping to defuse & de-escalate a very sad situation. I agree that the passenger's family could have used better judgment with international travel. I assume they put budget before logic.
Oct 31, 2017, 4:47 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
I do believe cost was a determining factor. While deplaning, I asked the passenger whether she knew there was a non-stop CTU-SFO flight on UA, and she said yes but that it was very expensive (~$6,000). Not sure how much she / her family paid for the NH flight, but I suspect they could have found a comparably priced connecting flight on a Chinese or American carrier that would have at least guaranteed a Chinese-speaking staff. I'm guessing they were trying to solve for the ideal balance between cost, quality, and language, and just missed the importance of the last factor.
Oct 31, 2017, 3:34 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Seattle & Seoul.... and now, Maastricht....
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, NWA WorldPerks deserter, Alaska Airlines Something-er-Other...
Posts: 1,886
Kudos to you for helping the passenger! ^
"I was seated in 3K and witnessed a passenger (almost) disruption incident that led me to wonder about what would have happened if things had devolved further."
This would have happened:
"I was seated in 3K and witnessed a passenger (almost) disruption incident that led me to wonder about what would have happened if things had devolved further."
This would have happened: