Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012: First Class on All Nippon Airways NRT-IAD

Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012  

a.      Introduction/Preface

b.      United Club at DFW and First Class on United DFW-SFO

c.       United First Class lounge at SFO

d.      First Class on Lufthansa SFO-FRA

e.       Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at FRA

f.       Exploring Frankfurt

g.      Lufthansa First Class Lounge at FRA

h.      First Class on Thai Airways FRA-BKK

i.        Thai First Class Lounge and Spa at BKK

j.        First Class on Thai Airways BKK-HKG

k.      Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong

l.        Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge (The Wing)

m.    Business Class on Dragon Air from HKG

n.      Business Class on Dragon Air to HKG

o.      Cathay Pacific Lounge (The Arrival)

p.      Exploring Hong Kong and Macau

q.      Business Class on Asiana Airlines HKG-ICN

r.        Asiana Business Class & First Class Lounge at ICN

s.       First Class on Asiana Airlines ICN-NRT

t.        Conrad Tokyo

u.      Exploring Tokyo

v.      United Airlines First Class Lounge/United Club at NRT

w.    All Nippon Airways First Class lounge at NRT

x.      First Class on All Nippon Airways NRT-IAD

y.      Lufthansa Lounge and British Airways Lounge at IAD

z.       United Economy Class IAD-DFW plus Conclusion and Final Thoughts

First Class on All Nippon Airways NRT-IAD

All Nippon Airways 2 NRT-IAD  Boeing 777-300ER
Wednesday, February 8
Depart: 11:40 AM  Arrive: 9:40 AM
Duration: 12hr30min
Seat: 2K (First Class)

At 10:40AM, boarding announcement for my flight was made but I waited another 10 minutes so that I could use the internet a little bit more.  I headed off to gate 51 and boarded my plane.  The premium line was pretty short as most First and Business passengers had already boarded.  I took the left fork for the First class and was warmly greeted by the flight attendants upon arrival.  I was shown to my seat of 2K where I had the entire right side of the cabin to myself.

Seated in 1A and 1D was an older Japanese couple traveling together and 2A was a man by himself.  The flight attendant asked if I wanted to change into my pajamas and I did before takeoff.  I was a offered a pre-departure beverage of champagne and green tea (I took both) along with newspapers/magazines.

We took off from the gate on time and waited 10 minutes for air traffic control to clears us for takeoff.  We left Tokyo-Narita at 11:30AM and were on our way to Washington DC on this 12 hour flight.  The head purser did come by and greet me before takeoff.  It was funny to see that on this plane, there was not a safety video and the flight attendants did the manual demonstrations on the life vest and seat belt usage.  The pajamas we were given are not meant for us to take home (a real shame) and the amenity kit I got was underwhelming compared to other airlines.

After we reached a cruising altitude, the purser came by to pass out the menus and take drink orders.  I chose the Krug, still water, and hot tea.  I was served Amuse-Bouches first and it was presented very nicely.  For my meal courses, I had the caviar, the crab and avocado starter and the garden salad with strawberry dressing.  I had two main courses: the beef fillet and the pork ribs.  The beef was a little on the rare side for me but the ribs were pretty good.   

 The next course was the cheese plate (Chaource, Roquefort, Pont-l’Evêque, and Rigotte de Chndorieu) which I thought were pretty pungent for my taste.  And lastly, the dessert course where I requested the honey ice cream with apple pie and a selection of fresh fruit.  

While I enjoyed my dessert, the flight attendant made up seat 2G into a bed for me to use as it was empty.  She placed a comforter, blanket, and 2 pillows.  I tried to watch The Big Year but fell asleep after 10 minutes into the movie since it was so slow and boring.  I then went to sleep and had about 2 hours of interrupted sleep where I woke up right when we were crossing over Alaska.  We had about 6 hours left for the flight so I watched What’s Your Number which was a funny romantic-comedy starring Anna Farris and Chris Evans. 

 I also enjoyed a mid-flight snack consisting of beef tapas, MaPo ToFu (Szechuan style spicy braised tofu with minced pork), and Chicken/Mushroom Curry all served with rice.  We had several choices to choose from and I went with the Asian options as the Western ones did not seem too appetizing.  This was all enjoyed with hot tea and X Soda (ANA original beverage).  The dessert was a chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream and mixed berries.  After I finished my meal, I walked around the cabin and explored the Business Class section to see how it was set up.  It looks more comfortable than the current one on American and Lufthansa but not as good as the US Airways or Cathay Pacific.   The cabin was set up in a 2-3-2 per row with about 60 passengers.  The Business Class was only about 75% full

After that, I worked on blogging by continuing my trip report and watched a few short videos while I worked.  One was about anime in Japan and then other was about the Boeing 787 aircraft.  I was a little surprised that the selection of entertainment on the ANA plane was limited and there was not any comedy shows for viewing.  

At about 90 minutes before landing, I ate some breakfast which consisted of a fruit plate and some yogurt.  Then I changed out of my pajamas and the purser gave me a bag so I can take the pajamas home.  ANA usually takes the pajamas and launders them for reuse on future flights.  They did provide a cardigan to me to use on the plane and I had to give that up.  The rest of the flight was uneventful and boring as the entertainment system was turned off during our approach to the airport.  We landed into Dulles about 15 minutes early. 

The curtains between the First and Business class were closed upon landing to ensure First Class passengers deplaned first.  We landed into Terminal B and had to take the roving moon buggies to immigration.  One was for passengers terminating their journey at Dulles and the other was for those with connections.  I was the first to board the buggy for connections and had to wait about 20 minutes for the buggy to fill up.  Then we were on our way to the immigration halls in Terminal C.  It was very fast as I had global entry and I was the first one out.  My luggage was already sitting there and waiting for me as the previous wait for the buggy bound for the immigration hall took forever before we left.   

Since my bags were tagged for DFW, I had to only place my bags on the conveyer belt while the contracted worked just played on his cell phone.  After that, we had to go through security again and I got to go through the nude-o-scope this time.   

I headed straight to the United Club and inquired where the First Class lounge was located.  I was told that ANA did not pay for First Class lounge access upon arrival and could only use the United Club.  I thanked her and were to the First Class lounge anyways to ask if I could use the showers there as an exception.  The agent told me that the club did not have showers.   

Then I headed towards the Terminal D United Club as the next flight to DFW departs from D8.  The agent at the United Club there was very helpful and rebooked me on the 1:18PM flight to DFW on a CRJ.  She was able to get by bags retagged and gave me an Economy Plus seat on the plane as First Class was already full but I will arrive at 3:30PM and will be home about 6 hours earlier than on my originally booked flight on an Airbus 319 in First Class.