The more that I fly ANA (All Nippon Airways), the more that I realize that the class of service and the aircraft type doesn’t really matter all that much. It’s always going to be great.
The following is a full review of my recent ANA 787-8 economy class flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda).
Guess what? It was great.
NH105 Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Tokyo, Japan (HND) Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Aircraft: 787-8 Registration: JA828A Duration: 11 hours 47 minutes Seat: 29G (Economy)
ANA 787-8 (JA828A) side view illustration by NorebboStock.com Our route from Los Angeles to Tokyo / Haneda this evening as NH105.
My full review of ANA 787-8 economy from Los Angeles to Tokyo / Haneda
Because my ultimate destination was Hiroshima, the best option for making connections out of Haneda was to take the midnight flight out of LAX. Longtime readers of this blog know that late night flights and SANspotter mix like oil and water, but I did what I had to do. Because ANA (and that “always great” thing).
Arrival at LAX
The best way to enjoy ANA long-haul economy class? Connect to it via an inferior product. In my case, it was United Express Embraer 175 economy from San Diego. That’s about as inferior as it gets IMHO.
I arrived about 2 1/2 hours to spare. Most of that time was eaten up by a leisurely walk from Terminal 8 to Terminal B, followed by a quick stop for food.
Welcome to a very empty Tom Bradley International Terminal (also known as Terminal B). Current time is 10:40 PM, and…things cannot proceed until I find some food. They just can’t.Nourishment obtained (and devoured). It may not look like much, but knowing how stingy ANA is with food economy class on late night flights, this little bowl of chicken salad will be responsible for keeping me alive until Tokyo.
This flight to Haneda was going to be departing out of the West gates of Terminal B – which required even more walking once I finished my meal. I’ve never had to work so hard for a flight on ANA in all my life.
Aha! I found everybody. They’re over here in the west gates! I also found the ANA 787-8 that will be taking us to Haneda this evening. Which is good, because it’s kind of the most important part of this review.Delayed (slightly). The funny thing about flights departing after midnight is the fact that delays don’t mean anything. It’s already late AF, so what’s a few more minutes? Bring it.ANA LAX HND TBA OMG WTF
The boarding process
They got the boarding process underway at 11:55 PM, which was exactly 20 minutes behind schedule. The culprit? Rain and fog. At least I think that’s what it was. This aircraft arrived from Tokyo 6 hours earlier, so it certainly wasn’t because of tardiness.
Passing through the premium economy cabin. And I could already feel that the salad wasn’t going to be enough.All up in dem gutz Entering the economy class cabin of the ANA 787-8.
Seat overview
FYI: the economy class seats on the 787-8 are not as fancy as the ones you saw in my ANA 777-300ER economy review. Those aircraft feature ANA’s newest interior. The long haul 787s do not. At least not yet.
Row 29 (the middle section). Whether I liked it or not, this is where I was going to be whisked all the way to Tokyo tonight. Pillows and blankets on every seat (actually I’m just stalling because I don’t wanna sit down yet).This is every bit as spacious as JAL 787-8 economy IMHO. But it straight up feels like first class compared to ANA 787 domestic economy. Not all ANA 787s are created equal!Holy moly, this is kind of nice. I certainly won’t be complaining about the leg room in this review.
No amenity kits are included (of course), but you’ll get a pair of decently comfortable headphones and a really comfortable blanket. The pillows are a’ight.
It’s a very dated looking economy class product in my opinion. That said, legroom is fantastic for long haul economy, so I don’t even care what it looks like.
These seats feature both video screens (which were large and vibrant) and retractable remote controls for said video screens (which I deemed to be unnecessary due to the proximity of the multi-mentioned video screens).Coat hooks and USB-A charging ports too. You’ll survive just fine.Those requiring full size 110 V electrical outlets to power a laptop will be required to stretch like a rubber band to find the hole down here beneath in between the seats. A somewhat familiar experience for some of you?Imagine being able to sleep in economy class. This ranks right up there with having a full head of hair and a chiseled jaw for me.
The departure
They got us pushed off the gate at 12:25 AM, and from there it was a fairly speedy taxi all the way out to runway 25R. It was a little foggy and rainy though. Rare form for LAX.
Current time: 12:43 AM. Location: Approaching the threshold of runway 25R. The mood: Dead.We have liftoff! I’m slightly concerned about the fact that we’re banking to the left (when we should be banking to the right), but otherwise, things are going smashingly well so far.
In flight entertainment
Quite possibly the most dated part of these seats is the integrated entertainment system. Sure, the video screens are plenty big enough. The problem is that resolution (and performance) is very “10 years ago.”
I already mentioned the USB-C port located just beneath the video screen. Forgive me for not showing you the 3.5 mm audio jack and the unknown glowing blue square thingy (for connecting God knows what). English? Don’t mind if I do.As long as you go into this experience expecting in-flight entertainment circa 2013(ish), I think you’re gonna like this.
It’s also worth noting that the catalog of content is somewhat lacking by current standards. If it’s the latest Hollywood blockbusters are what you demand, ANA is not your airline.
I sh*t you not, this handy remote control is actually referred to as “The Sky Master 3.” Somebody thought very highly of this thing.Not only that, they actually spent the time to create a diagram explaining the function of every button. One of the many reasons why I absolutely love Japan. The headphones? They’re not that bad actually.“They’re not that bad actually!”
The first meal service
As with any late night departure on ANA, the first meal service consisted of a simple snack box (and a drink). It’s not much, but I completely understand why they do it. I didn’t see anybody around me eat everything in the box. As a matter of fact, many didn’t eat anything at all.
The ANA “it’s too late so we’re not going to feed you a proper meal” snack box. Hence the reason for paying $20 for a small chicken salad back at the airport. I’m not as dumb as I look! At least they tried to be whimsical about it. The appetizer: a banana. The main course: a tuna salad sandwich. For dessert: Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies. Mayonnaise is a no go for me, but I ate sh*t out of that banana and those cookies.A word of warning about the beverage service in ANA economy: the paper cups they use are small, and they’ll only fill them halfway. I’ve had shots of whiskey more substantial than this.They do provide complementary (Japanese sized) bottled water though. I think I drank like 6 of these bad boys over the course of the flight.
Seat (and cabin) comfort
These economy seats aren’t the best for sleeping in, but I’ll tell you what: they’re not that bad if you can score an empty seat next to you. With enough wiggle room, it’s not all that hard to get comfortable.
I’ve never not had anything bad to say about the blankets in ANA economy. All you really need to know is that these things always trigger my purr instinct. They are a little small though. You’re probably gonna have to double up on them if you demand full coverage.
One of the things that helped to make this so comfortable with the fact that they kept the cabin temperature relatively high. It wasn’t too uncomfortably hot though – I wasn’t sweating buckets or anything.
I ended up sleeping about 2 1/2 hours in total. It wasn’t very good sleep. My neck hurt for days afterwards. But it was deep enough to dream some really weird sh*t, so I guess it counts.
To the man (or woman) two rows behind me who was snoring like a buzz saw: God bless you for being able to sleep so soundly in these seats. A Herculean effort indeed.
The lavatory
Not only were the seats showing their age, the lavatories were as well. Everything was clean and tidy of course, but the yellowing plastic (and mystery stains) were a pretty good indication that these aircraft are due for an overhaul.
As long as you can ignore the fact that there is somebody waiting just outside the door for you to hurry the hell up, the economy class lavatory isn’t all that bad of a place to hang out actually. If they’re being super impatient, feel free to leave behind a “surprise.” They’ll love that.
The second meal service
Finally! Real food! We were presented with two choices for the pre-landing meal service. Both looked good, and I would’ve been happy with either. Just know that whatever you choose, it’s standard economy class fare. It’s hardly gourmet. But it is tasty.
Breakfast menu. The flight attendant who handed this to me went really far out of her way to recommend the chicken – which leads me to believe that she was running out of the beef and was looking for suckers to take the chicken.“Sucker!” (What she was no doubt thinking as she handed me this tray of chicken).Should I be concerned that some of this chicken appears to have died while trying to escape? Heck no! This was quite good actually. I’m not really sure what that little guy was so worried about.
The descent (and landing) into Haneda Airport
It was still pitch black outside as we began the descent into Haneda. Everyone was still dead asleep, and the cabin was eerily quiet. My assumption is that nobody cared that we were 17 minutes behind schedule. I sure as heck didn’t.
Looks like we’re gonna “Tokyo Drift” our way all the way into HND this morning. Anything to help make up a few minutes of lost time I guess. I know it was really anticlimactic, but… Welcome to Haneda Airport!A big fat “neener neener” goes out to those of you who were hoping that this would’ve killed me dead (so that you’d never have to read any of my stupid airline reviews ever again). ANA 787-8 economy isn’t that bad, y’all. As a matter of fact, I’d go as far as to say that this was probably one of the best long-haul the economy class experiences I’ve had in a while. A little less mayonnaise, and this would’ve been pretty much fantastic.
Pros and cons
As I said at the top of this review, flying ANA is always going to be a great experience. It doesn’t matter that the interiors of these 787-8s are getting somewhat dated. Everything else makes it worth the price IMHO.
Pros
Legroom is “premium economy” good.
Everything is spotless and clean (which is surprising giving the age of these interiors).
The blankets are some of the best in the business IMHO.
Cons
The first meal service is extremely limited on flights that depart late at night.
Did I mention the dated looking interior yet?
In flight entertainment is just OK. It’s not terrible, but don’t expect the latest and greatest content.
