Jaunted

Onto the 787!

What a lovely plane from the outside and inside. In flight, it is ever so slightly quieter but, to me, otherwise much like any brand new Boeing. It's mostly the ANA details that make the difference. Again, staff were incredible in both pleasantness and efficiency. A detail i loved was, while serving the meal, an FA came down the aisle with a plastic laminated English/Japanese picture/text description of meal choices, thus making the decision far more informed than “chicken or pasta." Very smart.

As for the IFE (in-flight entertainment), it did not disappoint for a new aircraft. The personal seatback screen was very responsive, the system was stocked with a rich selection of entertainment and even seat-to-seat messaging and email (coming soon apparently). There’s connectors for your iPod so you may stream your own content to the seatback screen, even though I’ve never taken them up on this nor have I seen anyone else do it. And of course, duty-free in-flight shopping can't be forgotten; passengers can even order ties right from the screen.

Pro tip: Don't miss the channel with the live exterior view camera. It faces down, in case the window isn’t enough to stare out of.

Commenting on the comfort, I found that the seat was decent for economy and did that slide-forward thing instead of tilt-back. This I far prefer as it’s less intrusive into the space of the person behind you. The seats also had the best adjustable head winglet thingies I’ve ever used and I easily caught some Zzs sitting straight up.

Overall, I was left with the impression that ANA is a wonderful airline and I'm happy they're part of my Star Alliance trips through Asia. Can’t wait to fly them (and the 787) again; next time I'll spring for Business or First for sure.

Photos: Max Graham]