After my amazing stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, it was time
to return home. The Narita Express was
on time and check in was a breeze. Narita airport (NRT) has some great duty free stores and I was excited to check them
out. Unfortunately, the strong Yen took
all the fun out of duty shopping in Tokyo.
If it were 100:1, the prices would be great, but at 80:1 I didn’t find
any deals. I did spend my leftover money
on some Hello Kitty stuff for my niece, she liked it.
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| ANA 777-300 NRT-LAX |
After shopping, I went lounge hopping. First stop was the United Club. The lounge is huge, bigger than any in the
USA. They had lots of yummy sushi (for a
westerner) and a draught beer machine that pours a perfect pint. Next up, thanks to Priority Pass form the
Palladium Card, was the Korean Air lounge.
It was small and nicely decorated, good liquor, but limited food items.
Finally I visited the ANA business class lounge. I might have been the only westerner in the
place. The lounge is large and had some
good views of the field. The snacks were
more Japanese in focus, but I still enjoyed a few sushi rolls and beer.
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| ANA Business Class Lounge Tokyo - NRT |
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| United Club Tokyo - NRT |
I left the lounge in time to make it to the gate before boarding started. I was really excited to fly
the 777-300 (my first trip on the stretched model), fly with ANA (first time in
their care), and experience a new business class (new to me and the
world). I was such an excited nerd; I
even wore a Boeing t-shirt. The seats are
great. They are in an offset staggered
layout, so no one is next to you. It
feels very private and is exceptionally quiet.
The seat is a little narrow and maybe 5’10’’ long when flat. I’m 5’10’’ so it felt a little cramped. I was also the tallest person I saw, so I
guess these were designed with the home market in mind. The TV is large and had a good selection of
movies, more than enough to keep me entertained over the Pacific. ANA doesn’t hand out amenity kits, but has
slippers waiting at your seat. There is
a basket of goodies at the small lounge in the rear of business class with eye
masks, ear plugs, lotions, and a few other items. A fun observation is the lavatories have a
built in bidet system like on Japanese toilets (I didn’t try it out). Every seat in business class was booked, but it didn't feel crowded.
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| ANA 777-300 Business Class Seat |
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| ANA 777-300 business Class Flat Seat |
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| Forward Business Class Cabin ANA 777-300 |
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| ANA 777 Business Class Leg Room |
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| ANA Business Class Seat Storage Area |
The meal and drink service started shortly after takeoff. I opted for the western meal and a
martini. The meal was very good, but the
steak was outstanding. After the meal
service ends, flight attendants won’t come by unless you ring the call button
(a different method than US carriers), but they are quick to respond and
friendly (again, different from US carriers).
There is a list of meals and snacks available any time on demand. I went for a breakfast cheese burger instead
of the omelet. I also got a cheese plate
to add some Roquefort cheese to the burger and try to replicate the best burger
ever at The Spotted Pig in New York. It
still didn’t compare, but was still good.
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| ANA Business Class Western Appetizers |
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| Delightful Steak Tender and Tasty |
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| Fun and Tasty Parfait Dessert |
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| Roquefort Cheese Snack - ANA Business Class |
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| ANA Cheese Burger Snack, Add Some Roquefort |
Once on the ground at LAX, it was a lengthy taxi to the
gate, then a breeze through customs (the American citizen line was fast at
least). An earlier flight to Denver was
boarding, so added my name to standby and grabbed a quick bourbon and Coke at
the United Club. I went back to the gate
and waited. I was the only standby to
clear and got an exit row seat. I was
happy to trade first class for 3 fewer hours at LAX.
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