ANA Business Class Review – How it was Cheaper than Economy!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
On my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo a couple weeks, I got the opportunity to fly business class for the very first time (but certainly not the last – I already have several business class tickets booked with points for this later this year). At 12 hours and over 5000 miles, this was the longest flight of my life and also the best one yet. And the very best part? We spent less money on this flight than the economy rate!
When our Peru trip got cancelled and I was looking for alternate destinations, I came across a mistake fare to Japan on Air Canada that had premium economy listed for cheaper than regular economy. I immediately jumped on it was very excited to fly premium economy for the first time on the overseas flight. The winter storm that was coming for North America that week caused us to have to re-arrange our flights and Air Canada rebooked us on a direct ANA flight (a Star Alliance partner of Air Canada) and assured us we would still have premium economy seats. I logged on to the ANA website right away to make our seat selections, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get seats together.
24 hours before the flight, I tried to check in but received repeated error messaged telling me I had to check in at the ticket counter at the airport, so the next day we showed up at LAX 3 hours before our flight. When we got to the front of the line, I casually asked if there were any business class seats open we could pay to upgrade to (I was curious what the price would be and would have paid for an upgrade if it had been reasonable). The very nice gate agent said that premium economy had actually been oversold, so she’d upgraded us to business class for free! And we were even going to be able to sit next to each other. I could barely contain my excitement as she finished getting us checked in and literally skipped my way to security. I’m still amazed we got upgraded without having any airline status.
Another perk of business class was getting access to the LAX Star Alliance lounge, which had a buffet breakfast when we were there, an outdoor seating area with fire pits, more seating overlooking the terminal, showers, a media room, etc. This was such a nice place to relax before going to our gate. We could have also gone to the Centurion Lounge which was nearby, but I can get into that lounge anytime with my Amex Platinum card, so I wanted to maximize the opportunity in this more exclusive lounge.
ANA Business Class Review
Having never been flown business class before, I don’t have other airlines to directly compare this to, but ANA had a pretty solid business class product. The hard product (aka the actual seats) on our plane were ANA’s old business class, not their new “The Room” product that has gotten so much hype. This was slightly disappointing, but any seat that lies flat is a huge win!
Boarding
Our flight ended up being about an hour delayed, but otherwise went off without a hitch. Our plane wasn’t connected to the terminal via a jet bridge, so instead we had to board a bus that took us to another building that was connected to a jet bridge. This seemed strange, but LAX is a massive airport, so I guess sometimes they have to get a little creative. We were able to board very early on, right after the first-class passengers, which allowed us plenty of time to get settled in our seats before takeoff.
The plane had 2 aisles and our seats were next to each other in the middle of the 1-2-1 configuration, so we each boarded down a separate aisle. On this plane, there was no full divider between the seats in business class, so you could walk through the row if necessary (and many people did just out of convenience). There was overhead bin space above every seat and I had an entire bin to myself, leaving me plenty of space to store my carry on and winter coat above me, while I put my backpack in the cubby under the footrest for easy access.
Before we took off, they came around and offered a welcome beverage, a choice between orange juice or sparkling wine, in a plastic glass. Masks were required during the entire flight and reminder announcements were made after each meal. All announcements on the flight were made in both English and Japanese.
The Seat
While not the newest version of ANA’s hard product, these seats were still great. To start with the most important feature, the seat does lie fully flat (unlike some old business class products on other airlines that feature “angled lie flat seats” which are not the same). Also, these seats feature a large square footwell so you can easily sleep in any position without your feet hitting the walls. Even Thomas, who is 6’1”, was able to lie fully flat.
In addition to the fully upright and fully flat positions, the seat could be adjusted both forwards/backwards and at any angle at the touch of a button, which allowed you to customize your comfort. The seat did have to be fully upright during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
After messing with all the buttons and getting to know all the features of my seat, I discovered a shoe cubby underneath my seat, but it just barely fit my hiking boots. There was no way any shoes bigger than my size 7 (women’s) were going to fit – there’s a metal piece that comes down that seems like a design flaw blocking most shoes from comfortably fitting.
The seat featured a 17” touchscreen TV, but the seat was so far from the screen that they also provided a remote next to the seat to use instead. The tray table slid out from under the TV and then unfolded – the table was massive but did have a tendency to slide forward and back a bit instead of staying in place while I was using it. There were also several lights you could control, including 2 ambient blue lights (1 on the side table and the other in the footwell) that seemed to mostly just be there for aesthetics. Other small features included a USB plug and universal outlet and a coat hook. There was also a water bottle holder that flipped down from the side, but it was too narrow for my already-narrow water bottle.
The biggest downside of this seat was probably the lack of privacy. There was a gap between the 2 seats that allowed me to see the screen of the person diagonally in front of me (and in turn when I turned my head I could see the person diagonally behind me). This struck me as such a preventable design flaw. The seats were staggered to maximize the space in the cabin, so my seat had the side table closest to the aisle and the seat towards the middle, while Thomas’s seat next to me was the opposite, which meant he was physically closer to the aisle and thus had even less privacy. There were no doors or dividers on this product (something that has been upgraded with the new The Room business class).
The Amenities
Every seat had a pillow, blanket, mattress pad, slippers, headphones, and an amenity kit waiting for us upon boarding. In all honesty I mistook the blanket as a second pillow for a while because of the way it was folded – it was also really warm in the cabin so the blanket wasn’t needed. The mattress pad was strange because it only ran about ½ the length of the bed, so I just used it for my upper body.
The headphones were comfortable and over-ear, but more importantly they were necessary for watching TV because the seat required a 2-prong plug that most headphones don’t have. Unfortunately, you can’t keep the headphones (or the pillow, blanket, and mattress pad for that matter).
What you could keep were the slippers and amenity kit. I was really glad I didn’t have to put my hiking boots back on every time I went to the bathroom – the slippers were perfect for this. The Globe Trotter amenity kit looked like a mini suitcase and featured an eye mask, ear plugs, a toothbrush and toothpaste, yuzu lip balm, and a yuzu facial mist (in true Japanese fashion). The bathroom also had amenities on hand, including more toothbrushes/toothpaste, so I didn’t end up using anything from my amenity kit during the flight, but of course I took it home with me! The bathroom also featured a Japanese toilet with a bidet.
There was no free WiFi, but it was available for sale. I decided to save my money and force myself to disconnect for 12 hours and enjoy the flight. Luckily, there was over 100 American movies (and plenty more foreign ones) to watch on the flight to help the pass the time.
Food & Drink
After takeoff, the flight attendants came around with menus, which featured an extensive drinks list with wine, beer, and sake offerings, along with non-alcoholic options starring the “ANA Original Drink Aromatic Kabosu (Citrus).” I’m not 100% sure what this drink was, but I must have had 5 glasses of it on the flight. It was light and refreshing and I can’t compare it to anything else I’ve had. All drinks were served in stemless glass wine glasses.
For meals, we had the option between the Japanese offering and the International (aka “Western-style”) offering. For the first meal (served about an hour after takeoff), Thomas and I both chose the Japanese dish as we were so excited for our destination. Either meal option started with an amuse bouche of pork pâté & dry cured duck ham in a petit pastry puff with nuts, which was absolutely delicious. From there, we were served a variety of small Japanese appetizers, most of which we couldn’t identify, even with the menu in front of us. The third course featured halibut in ginger sauce, steamed rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles – the fish was good but the miso soup was underwhelming (and I usually love miso soup). Afterwards we were given a choice of ice cream, cheese, or fruits for dessert – I chose ice cream and was given vanilla Häagen-Dazs. Overall, the dinner was good but a bit too foreign for my tastes and I somewhat regrated not going with the international option.
Between meals we could request light dishes, ranging from a panini to cereal to ice cream. They also periodically passed out mini bottles of water. For the second meal (served about 90 minutes before landing) we both ordered the international option, which was pasta with chicken and mushrooms, which I really enjoyed.
During both meals, the flight attendants put a white table cloth over our tray table and our food was served on real dishes (as opposed to plastic) with metal silverware.
Overall Thoughts
No airline is perfect. While we lucked out with this upgrade, booking an ANA flight with points on their website is frustratingly difficult because they only let you book round trip tickets on their site. This can limit your options if there’s not enough reward availability or you’re booking a complicated itinerary.
All in all, this was the best flight of my life (so far). Turbulence even seemed to phase me less in business class! I am so happy I already have 4 more business class flights booked for 2023 (all with points!) because it’s hard to go back to economy after getting a taste of the finer things.
You may also like: