Seatlink

ANA 787-800 Regional Business Class Review

Good, but not great regional business class

On another Westbound RTW, and from Tokyo to Bangkok I decided to try out the 787 for the first time, and also check out ANA since I've flown this route on Thai Airways twice before. This cabin is in contrast to the longhaul business class that they fly in a 1-2-1 staggered forward-facing configuration, similar to the product found on Garuda Indonesia's 777-300ER (which was great, btw). I find that Star Alliance partner rewards can sometimes be really good when booking via United MileagePlus, which is why I put a lot of my spend on the cards outlined below...
What's awesome:
  • lots of space at the bulkhead, I recommend these seats over the standard
  • washlet in the lav -- what's not to love?
  • plenty of amenities such as toothbrushes, earplugs, mouthwash, etc.
  • I found the seat/traytable combo to be a good workspace
What's not:
  • the seats were recliners, not even angle-flat, which is fine for short flights, but in retrospect I'd try for a different cabin
  • service was just ok, certainly as compared to other carriers and ANA's own longhaul service
  • lack of true window shades is no good when you're working on your computer on the sun side of the aircraft...

The Gallery:

The Bottom Line:

I can't say that the 787 was a remarkable experience - aside from the novelty factor - especially considering it was a 7 hour flight. To that end, I also found the seat a bit underwhelming (good for working, bad for sleeping), BUT, at the end of the day the ANA regional 787 business class product is still a good one, and definitely superior to Thai Airways 747 business class, which is another Star Alliance carrier that flies this HND > BKK route daily (and with inconsistent product offerings).

Booking ANA Business Class on Points

As this was a booking made through United, the cards that got me the points were from Chase, the only transferable points currency that can transfer to MileagePlus. The three personal cards are the Sapphire Preferred (2x bonus categories for dining and travel), the Sapphire Reserve (3x bonus in dining and travel), and the Freedom Unlimited which gets 1.5x on all spend. If you have a small business then definitely look at the Ink Plus® Business Credit Card, which as of this post has a 60,000 Ultimate Rewards point signup bonus and a 5x category bonus for office supplies.

What else?

Did I miss anything? What's your experience been on ANA's regional business class? Let us know in the comments below!