We are always looking for the best deals and the cheapest prices. Sometimes you get lucky and for a short time, the cheapest price for a route is on one of the best airlines in the world. (This is also true for our next trip – just a different airline so watch out for that post, too.) While we covered a little bit of our experience with our first time flying Emirates, this will be our first airline-focused review.
Our ANA Flight Review
Pre-Flight
Choosing ANA
We saw some open-jaw flight deals in previous months and thought about getting them. We were waiting for something to pop up with availability in November over Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving, though.
Side note: for those unfamiliar with the term open-jaw — there are multiple kinds of open-jaw flights, but in this case it just means a flight which flies out of one city to another and then from another city back to the original city (basically City A -> City B; City C -> City A).
When we saw this particularly good deal for an open-jaw on ANA which included Labor Day availability, we waited and waited, contemplating if we wanted to do it and if we wanted to add in a Tokyo stopover and fortunately, the deal remained around long enough for us to say yes! Sometimes we take too long to think. There are times when you have five minutes and other times you have months, you never really know with flight deals!
When actually booking (using our Chase points – still wanna be thrifty with our points!) I made sure to choose an option where we would be flying ANA rather than a codeshare (Travel and Leisure has a good article on this term if you don’t know what it means) with United. I think we would be perfectly fine with United, but I wanted to experience ANA.
A tight connection
While I wouldn’t have chosen to fly ANA for each leg if the routing was terrible, I did make one concession: a tight layover in Tokyo-Narita on the way over. All routes had the layover in Narita of course, it was just the length of time that differed. We were a little nervous about the short length, especially since we would have to go through security at Narita but decided to go with it anyway for a number of reasons, including:
- Everything was on the same ticket and same airline for this connection.
- We didn’t expect a delay – we experience them sometimes, but nearly every other time the plane has made up for it in the air.
- Google searches of random strangers on forums reassured me that our gates would likely be close to each other due to both flights being on the same airline.
- I gave us room for our next flight (which was not on ANA). We were going to have two nights in Malaysia (we thought it would be nice to spend a day there) before taking our flight to Myanmar so I wasn’t overly worried about missing that next flight. Even if we did miss this connection I expected ANA would get us on a flight to Kuala Lumpur within enough time to make it.
Selecting Meal Preferences
We were able to select meal preferences in advance. There are actually several vegetarian options you can choose from when flying ANA. These include:
- Vegetarian Meal Lacto-ovo (VLML). I didn’t choose this because I don’t like eggs and was afraid of receiving egg dishes.
- Vegetarian Vegan Meal (VGML). This is what I maybe should have chosen. I wasn’t sure if they’d try fake meat though which also isn’t my thing. I saw another person complain about this one because they said they were given dairy but I wonder if it really was because despite having no food on my plate that it would go on, they did give me vegan butter at a couple meals (it was specifically labeled as such). It also looks like they got different meals each time which is kind of nice, though.
- Asian / Hindu Vegetarian (AVML). With this one, I thought it was probably going to be Indian food which I like but I felt like would be more likely to make me feel sick on the plane with the spices and whatnot.
- Vegetarian Raw Meal (RVML). No animal products, no preservatives, etc. This is what I chose. Not bad all in all.
- Vegetarian Oriental Meal (VOML). This could have been another good option for me. Asian meal with no animal products. Not sure why I didn’t choose it.
Kyle did not select a meal preference.
Seat Selection
Our flight was (1) a multi-city flight (2) was booked through the Chase portal which made it just a tiny bit more confusing when it came to checking in. We were able to select seats when we checked in online, though. For one of the flights it initially showed no seats next to each other which was upsetting but later in the day I found that suddenly there were more openings. Not sure what that was about but thankfully we did end up together on every flight. We even got our preferred seats (basically what we might have chosen had we been given the full range of options) on a couple legs.
Time to Fly
Checked Bags vs Carry-ons
ANA allows two free checked bags per person. That is great! We prefer to travel light but it’s nice just knowing that is possible. We did end up checking a bag and this made it less stressful. Flying on a quality airline made us feel reassured that our bag was less likely to get lost.
Originally we wanted to fly with just carry-ons but the main reason we decided to check a bag (aside from it being free) was that we read that some items we wanted to keep (such as bug spray) would possibly get confiscated at security at some airports. The fact that it was one less thing we had to carry in the airport was also nice. For our first flight, we especially did not want to deal with anything slowing us down as we had that quick connection.
One slight reservation we had about checking a bag was the waiting period to get the bag. It turned out that we didn’t really ever wait because by the time we finished going through immigration and customs, almost every time the bags were all taken and ours was sitting in a small pile with other bags ready for us to pick up.
Quality of Service
The flight attendants were all nice. They were friendly/helpful, and minus a couple I was a bit astonished how they maintain such a consistently happy demeanor. I wouldn’t judge a flight attendant for not being smiley knowing how their schedules can be but they seemed to be that way.
Seats and Leg Room on ANA
The seats were comfortable. Legroom was good. Then again, we also sat in exit rows for two of the flights which meant lots of extra leg room! We both have long legs so this is important to us, particularly on longer flights. The difference became even more apparent after our Air Asia legs where in comparison the legroom was very limited.
Entertainment
When we sat in regular seats we had screens on the backs of the seats in front of us and when we were in an exit row, we had screens which we could pull up in front of us. While there were not as many options as we had on a couple other airlines, there were a variety of movies, episodes of television shows, games, and things of that nature.
We both watched: A Quiet Place, Life of the Party, Ready Player One, maybe some other things. I watched Maze Runner and some videos on tourism in Japan including some episodes of this show they had where tourists visit different areas of Japan which were cheesy and a little odd but entertaining enough for me. Pretty much the only time we ever watch movies these days is when we’re on airplanes and it’s nice time to relax and catch up on what’s new. (Though, oddly, this past weekend we put on a few movies while we worked and did things and it was kind of nice so maybe we’ll do more of that! Could have been because we were homebound for the 3-day weekend due to all the smoke.)
Kyle watched some other shows as well like a video on Lamborghini and Ramen Heads which I almost watched but suggested to him and he said I’d probably be less interested due to the focus on the meat. I did watch some of it since he was next to me and it had subtitles so I saw how some Japanese people devote their lives to making ramen.
I also played a few games including many rounds of Solitaire.
Special Additions
Each seat on ANA comes with a complimentary blanket, pillow, and headphones. While I understand why this isn’t commonplace now, we enjoy it when it happens. I feel like in the past more airlines used to do this but these days only the best airlines on long-haul flights seem to offer them.
I used my pillow and blanket every time as I was usually a little cold and was sometimes tired. They also provide headphones, the kind which covers more of your ear (rather than just sticking something in your ear) so you are able to enjoy the provided entertainment even if you forgot your headphones. I did notice many people did bring and use their own headphones, though.
FOOD
Snacks and Water
On the two longest legs (to and from Narita International Airport) we were provided with a snack of rice crackers. This is a good Japanese snack. The first time they gave me one specifically designed for vegetarians but the next time they didn’t have those so I went without. No problem.
I will say I was also satisfied with the amount of water provided. Sometimes airlines just do not give you enough and it’s important to stay hydrated while flying!
My Raw Vegetarian Meal Experience
Because I had a special meal request, not long after we boarded each flight, a flight attendant would come to ask me if it was okay if they put a sticker which says RV (raw vegetarian) at the top of my seat. I’m sure this makes it more convenient for them to identify which passengers have a special meal request. As has been the case on other flights, I was usually served before other passengers, though once or twice it was after.
On our Instagram account (come follow us!) I mentioned that I was given essentially the same meal for each flight. After looking at our photos I realized this wasn’t quite true. The first meal I was given (on our leg to NRT) was different from the others. And guess what? We didn’t really get photos of what I remember getting most often. So that photo you see above is my first meal, not my normal meal. This is mainly because Kyle isn’t that into taking food pictures (my phone at the time had no room or I would have done it myself) and he thought he only needed to get pics of his food (more variation). Oh well.
So generally what I received for the big meal was one big salad, two small salads, and a small fruit container for the main meal. For the second, smaller meal on the longest long-hauls, I received an additional meal of: medium salad, small salad and one other item. It was also the same salad dressing each time. Basically, it looked like below except I am guessing this photo is displaying my meal after I traded one of my three salads for something in Kyle’s plate.
Anyway, all the food was decent and never left me feeling sick which was great. As I said before, one of the reasons I chose raw vegetarian as opposed to a different vegetarian option is that I’ve noticed some airplane food leaving me feeling ill because the food or flavors just didn’t sit right with the travel and elevation and lack of sleep, etc. I wouldn’t criticize it really because I think this is probably what you would basically want and expect from a raw vegetarian meal. It just felt like a lot of salad.
Regular Meal Experience
When it was meal time, the flight attendants would come around and hand a menu to the people without dietary restrictions. I think there were generally two options to choose from each time. Kyle had basically a different meal each time. He thought they were pretty good for airplane food. Sometimes I would trade one of my salads for something of Kyle’s such as a roll or more fruit.
Dessert
On our two long-haul flights to/from California and Narita, the attendants gave us ice cream as a dessert for the big meals. This was quality too – an entire little personal container of Haagen Daz. The second time they didn’t give me one immediately as I guess it’s not a part of my meal but then they did after other people refused their ice cream.
Bathrooms
On at least one leg there was an extra large bathroom which was nice. Often the airplane bathrooms can feel a little cramped. Overall the quality was fine.
The only issue was on the NRT to SFO leg, the bathroom was especially busy. The flight seemed to include mostly Japanese and Japanese-Americans. Do they pee more than normal (like me)? Or was it just happenstance? The plane seemed to have a normal amount of bathrooms. I was in the exit row which I like as a frequent pee-er because it means I am near the restroom and can easily go when no one is there. Except on that flight there was almost never not a line. So if I wanted to go I would have to stand up and get in line or never get a chance to go. The flight attendants were helpful in sometimes directing people to bathrooms with shorter lines, though.
The Planes
On the legs to and from Tokyo and the U.S. we flew on a Boeing 777-300ER. Here is the configuration. It’s supposed to be a good plane for transcontinental flights. Many other top airlines use this plane. For our flights from NRT to KUL and BKK to NRT, we flew on the Boeing 787-8. If you aren’t familiar with the Dreamliner, you can read more here. Here is the configuration for that plane. We liked both planes.
Our Short Connection: Did we Miss our Flight?
FYI: the above photo is not from our NRT connection but a photo of me in California before we left.
Looking Like We’ll Get in a Little Late
So that first international leg with the 50 minutes layover? The flight was delayed. The plane did not fully make up for it in the air. It became more apparent over time that this was going to be the case so I flagged a flight attendant and told her about our short connection. I asked if she knew which gate we would need to get to upon exiting the plane. She said she would check and get back to us. My hope was that she would make sure that someone was there to drive us to the gate. At the very least it would be good to know so we could make a quick exit without trying to check anything via our phone.
Probably forty-five minutes later the flight attendant let me know there would be someone there when we will exit the plane to guide us. Okay great, I thought. We left the plane with something like 20-25 minutes to spare. Upon entering the hall which leads to the airport there were a couple people standing with a sign noting out flight and the gate number. We told them that was our flight. (So did another couple. I don’t think they made it because they seemed too relaxed about it and we never saw them after that). They told us the gate number and told us to go. Well, at least it was something I suppose.
Time to be Those People Running in the Airport
After getting through security, we ran. We were glad we checked a bag so we didn’t have our extra bag to carry though did worry a little it wouldn’t make it. It did, thankfully. We ran until I could run no more and then Kyle continued running hoping he could hold the gate if needed. As I took my phone out from time to time (to check the time) I realized I was not going to make it if I didn’t run so I made one last sprint and was not far behind Kyle. Fortunately, there were many signs leading to our gate but they never seemed to end! We made so many turns! Gates 1-100 this way, gates 20-100 this way, gates 30-100 this way (I don’t remember the actual numbers). At the beginning, we had a little while to go before we reached any gates period.
Anyway, we did in fact, make it. And after we did it seemed there was another problem. The woman at the gate told us there was something wrong with Kyle’s seat. It sounded like we weren’t going to be able to board but turned out there was just a communication issue. She was just telling us that the plug/charger for his seat didn’t work. We said no problem and finally made it on the plane. Finally, we got to relax in our relatively comfortable seats, sweating, in pain, and wide awake despite being awake for nearly 24 hours. They closed the doors to the plane within a few minutes of us getting on and it wasn’t long before we were tired again.
Overall
We flew ANA for four legs. The first flight was to NRT and then NRT to KUL (2 legs). (Different flights in between we went from KUL to MDL then MDL to DMK). Then we flew from BKK to NRT and stayed there. Our final leg was NRT to SFO. Each of these flights was relatively long, so we definitely got a full ANA experience! The only cons were (1) our near-missed flight/layover but we can’t fault them for that, I think there was a storm out in the Pacific and we’d rather be safe and late! Though they could have helped a little more, I think and (2) the ever-full bathrooms on the NRT to SFO leg. Not really ANA’s fault, though. If it’s because of more water I’m all for it. So everything else we’d have to rate pretty positively. Seats were comfortable, staff was polite, we liked the extras, and the food was pretty much as good as you could expect on an airplane.
Have you flown ANA? What was your experience like?