Flashback -- Rich Travels

Hi! It’s Rich. Normally one tends to gloss over the air transportation part of these trips, and for good reason: international air travel is often mundane, grueling and tedious. Nothing you want to read about. But flying in first class is an experience that needs to be shared.

Part I - Bon Voyage

United Lounge

My first class experience began in the O’Hare United Global First Lounge. I had a three-hour layover, which was plenty of time to relax and take in the lounge. It never got very crowded.

Free food…

And free drink.

After settling in and grabbing a bite to eat, I asked if I could use the shower. Unfortunately, the desk attendant informed me that the line was too long and that I wouldn't have enough time before my flight. (I would later find out that the shower facility is shared with the much larger domestic first class lounge next door.) It’s a nice place to wait for your flight, but nothing too special.

ANA International First Class

My seat!

Plenty of legroom.

The rest of the cabin from my seat.

Of the eight seats in first class, only five were occupied. In addition to myself, there were three Japanese businessmen and one Japanese businesswoman. They all looked dead inside, as if this was the third time this week they've flown in first class and wanted nothing more than to be left alone. I was positively giddy, and the flight attendants responded to my enthusiasm in kind. Not only were they very polite, as you would expect from Japanese service, but the attendant who served my side of the cabin was incredibly friendly and sweet, in a motherly sort of way. Not only did she do everything possible to make my flight as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, but she made me feel at home, too.

After my flight attendant showed me to my seat and helped me get settled, she came back to offer me pre-departure champagne and orange juice. (This is why they let first class board first. While you're all fighting for overhead baggage space, we're sipping champagne.) I can’t think of a better way to start a flight. All of the stress and hassle is totally gone.

Shortly after takeoff it was time for meal service:

I ate pretty much all of this

The appetizer

I don’t remember what kind of seafood was in the top smaller bowl, but it was amazing.

The flight attendant asked me to choose from half a dozens sakes to go with my appetizer, to which I replied: "Uhhhhhhh." I let her choose one for me. It was fine, but I don't really care for sake (it makes me stuffy).

The soup broth was fairly flavorless, but that egg-looking thing was actually poached sea bream (that's a fish, also known as a porgy) coated in egg yolk. Amazing.

The sashimi was also fantastic.

Main course: grilled sablefish. Also excellent. The potato-looking thing in the upper left was actually simmered turnip in a prawn broth, which was surprisingly good. The soup was miso and the rice was white and steamed. I didn't like all the pickled stuff, but it was overall excellent.

For dessert I had a cheese platter and a pear galette á la mode.

And that was the end of the meal service. It lasted nearly 3 hours, so there were only around 10 hours left in the flight. All of the other passengers in the first class cabin were asleep (I'm a slow eater, okay?), so I decided to change into the complimentary pajamas and get some sleep too. While I was changing the flight attendant transformed my seat into a 180º-flat bed, complete with pillows and blankets. Since I wasn't particularly tired it took me a couple hours to get to sleep, but I eventually drifted off and slept soundly…

…until I was awoken by the awesome flight attendant, informing me that we were about an hour from Tokyo! This is by far the best way to pass time on an airplane. She handed me the menu once again and asked if I'd like anything off the á la carte portion. I asked for the udon with seaweed, pictured below, and some orange juice.

I finished the bowl, changed out of the pajamas and waited for touchdown.

Shortly before landing, the flight attendant gave me a goodie bag filled with treats - and a nice message:

She was so sweet and wonderful.

Part II - The Journey Home

ANA Suite Lounge

After we parted ways in the departures check-in area, I proceeded through the ANA first class check-in lounge (yes, they have a first class lounge for checkins) and the special ANA first class security checkpoint, which was the best security checkpoint I've ever been through. I’m guessing few terrorists fly first class, even with miles. I made my way through the terminal to the ANA Suite Lounge near my gate.

This was a fantastic lounge. It really blew away the United lounge in Chicago.
While the food wasn’t as good as what you could expect on the plane, it was leagues better than the food in the United lounge.

There was also hot food available a little later on.

Very nice shower.

There was also a noodle bar. I forget what kind of udon this was, but it was awesome.

Eventually it came time to board. This time, there was one other passenger in first class.

Ittekimasu!

I boarded and took the same seat as before, but since there were only two of us and the other passenger was directly behind me, the flight attendant asked me if I'd like to take a different seat. I had originally wanted seat 1A anyways, so I took my things to the left side and settled in. The flight was largely the same as the previous flight, but this time my flight attendant wasn't friendly like the previous one (I miss her…), the meal service wasn't as good, and I watched a movie before going to sleep.

Similar, but different.

I think the green thing was foie gras. Tasty.

Similar starter dish

The quick-poached conger was really good.

More amazing sashimi.

The main dish was mediocre. The fish was stuffed almost entirely with roe.

I ordered a rice bowl with crab and roe to eat instead of the fish.

After dessert I went to sleep, in my third seat this flight (1D).

Breakfast consisted of milk, orange juice, and more awesome udon (tsukumi - it makes sense before you smash the yolk).

We finally landed in rainy Chicago. I was the first to deplane and breezed through immigration thanks to Global Entry. I made my way to the United Club in terminal 2 where I immediately inquired about a shower.

They informed me that the only showers were in the United Club in terminal 1, so I took the bus over to concourse C and found the promised lounge. This lounge was a regular Club lounge, not Global First, which meant it was much larger, far more crowded, and the free drinks were coffee and the free food was pretzel mix. I immediately asked to be put on the shower wait list and was able to take a much-needed shower an hour or so later.

The United shower room may have been nicer than the ANA shower room!

I relaxed in the lounge for a while before trekking back to terminal 2 to catch my flight back home. Once again I was in first class, and once again it was disappointing. The worst part was the bathroom. Around halfway through the flight, I needed to use the restroom (unlimited free beverages will do that to you). Since it was a tiny, single-aisled plane, the only lavatory was in the very back. It was occupied, so I decided to wait in my seat until it was free. When that occurred, I got up and started heading back. I made it a few rows before someone in front of me got up and headed to the lavatory, leaving me helpless. I sheepishly headed back to my seat and waited for the light to turn off. This process repeated a few times, until I got sick of getting beat to the bathroom and decided to loiter by the lavatory - ensuring the next spot would be mine. Unfortunately my plan was thwarted by the flight attendant, who informed me that I needed to go back to my seat and wait there. So because I was in first class and had one of the three seats that were the farthest from the bathrooms, I had to wait for everyone else in the plane behind me who needed to go (this is where you're supposed to feel sorry for me).

And so my journey came to an end. International first class on ANA is an incredible experience that everyone should try at least once. Domestic first on United is nothing special, unless you just can’t get fly without free liquor and tons of legroom. But it was a wonderful trip, made even more wonderful by an amazing experience in ANA first class.