A smattering of airline pajamas… how many is to many? – Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com
With so much talk in the past of pajamas in first and business classes, another story on pajamas was due, right? You’re not sick of it all yet, are you? If you do not remember the previous stories, feel free to take a look:
Why is looking at pajamas something important? I feel they are a link to the past of almost all airlines having high-end service and they are an aspect of an airline’s premium cabin that often get overlooked. There are a few more that I have been able to check out, and I wanted to share my thoughts.
The ANA Business Staggered Seat. This is the “C” seat with the storage window side giving true Aisle access. Chose “A” if you love a true window seat.
During my ANA Ambassador trip, I was given the chance to fly three different types of All Nippon Airways (ANA) Business Class seats and I wanted to share my thoughts on them. For my story, I will be concentrating mostly on the hard product (the seat) vs the ’œsoft’ product (meals, service, amenities), which is common across all the aircraft.
The current generation of Business Class seats are fitted to ANA’s 787 as part of the Inspiration of Japan series. There are two different versions: international and domestic. The long haul (international) 787 seats are called ’œBusiness Staggered’ and are similar to a small pod. This is currently the airline’s premium product. The seats lie fully flat and, with a length of over 6ft, allows passengers to easily get some rest. The Business Staggered seats can also be found in some of ANA’s 777s (though the 777 version is slightly larger).
A view from the Singapore Flyer. Photo by Blaine Nickeson.
INTRODUCTION
Maybe it’s not to the extent of the regular contributors to this site, but I’m an #AvGeek. I love planes, airlines, and miles. But given my busy career, two toddlers, and a wife who thinks I’m crazy, I don’t get to participate in nearly as many adventures as I would like. My wife’s come a long way in supporting my habit; I think it may have had something to do with flying her to Europe this spring in Lufthansa First Class on miles. Maybe that helped lead to the amazing adventure I had recently.
I live in Denver, and I fly United Airlines (UA). There has been lots of local media coverage about the introduction of UA’s DEN-NRT flight, operated by the 787 Dreamliner, which started on June 10th (unfortunately that flight had an issue after having to divert back to Seattle).
This is a big deal for DEN, not so much because of the Dreamliner, but rather it’s our first nonstop to Asia. A few weeks ago my wife casually opened a can of worms, stating, ’œI looked at booking you on that Dreamliner flight for Father’s Day, but it was just too expensive. I know you really want to fly on a 787, and also need to re-qualify for your status-thingy.’ I, of course, sprung in to action trying to take advantage of this moment that was sure to be fleeting.
Long story short, I scored a ride on the (re)inaugural ANA 787 Dreamliner flight from San Jose (SJC) to Narita (NRT). To make the ticket cheaper (this logic fails me) I continued on to Singapore. Final routing was 19,000 miles; DEN-SJC-NRT-SIN-HKG-SFO-DEN, or about 39 hours in the air during a 77 hour period. Yes, I’m crazy, but it was worth it.
ANA To resume 787 service on the Seattle to Tokyo flights from Fall 2013 – Image: All Nippon Airways
Today All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced that as of the 20th of September 2013, they will be returning the 787 Dreamliner to its daily service from Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT) to Seattle (SEA).
The service was started on October 1st 2012, when ANA was the first commercial operator to service Seattle with a 787. However, the route was cancelled after the grounding and battery fire dramas. On the 1st of June the service to Seattle resumed, but a Boeing 777-300ER was used instead. With the resumption of daily flights to Seattle this adds a second daily 787 service to North America with daily flights on the Tokyo to San Jose route as well (which will begin daily service on the 10th July).
An ANA (Air Japan) Boeing 767-300ER awaiting the morning flight from Hong Kong back to Tokyo – Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com
This is the continuation of a multi-part series covering my trip from Seattle to San Jose to Narita to Hong Kong and back as a ANA Ambassador. My flight was provided by ANA, but all opinions are my own. Part1: San Jose to Tokyo on the 787 Dreamliner – Part2: Connecting in Tokyo’s Narita Airport.
After a nice long flight over the Pacific Ocean onboard the 787 and a brief stop in the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Lounge in Narita, it was time for me to make my connecting flight to Hong Kong. The last part of my journey that ’œday’ was on-board an ANA Boeing 767-300ER. At the other end of the four hour flight lay a bed for me to finally get some rest.
