This was my 2nd attempt at flying on ANA’s Inspiration of Japan. ANA originally launched this new plane and new product on its NRT-JFK route and recently launched the new product daily on the NRT-FRA route. The first time, I found a great business class fare: SGN-NRT-JFK on the very first day of the scheduled launch of Inspiration of Japan. Unfortunately the launch was delayed at the 11th hour. The new premium economy seats, the original reason for the delay, are still not installed on the plane I flew from Narita to Frankfurt; registered as JA785A.

For this trip I had a coach class ticket. Upon check in, I attempted to get myself into a business class seat, but the best the check-in agent could do was moving me from a middle seat to an exit row: 30A. For this, I was thankful.

SEATS
Row 30, “window” seats have no window. You can see out a window if you lean back and turn your head. The emergency slide on both sides of this 2-4-3 seat configuration protrudes into the exit row. Boarding and departure were picture perfect for this flight that consisted of 11:34 flying time.

As was the case on my last ANA flight, all electronics needed to be turned off immediately after boarding. This was strictly enforced. The first thing I noticed was how narrow the seat was. My left shoulder was jammed right up against the wall of the plane. The seat was also hard as a rock. This aircraft was delivered to ANA in March of 2010 so the seats either have not been broken in yet or the manufacturer used a very tough material. By hour five of the flight, I was sitting on my pillow because my ass hurt so bad. By hour 8, I was sitting on 2 pillows! The backs of these new economy seats are fixed but the back and bottom of the seats do slide to provide a small amount of recline.
I took some quick pictures of the business class seats (below), which look narrow and there appears to be a lot of wasted space, but I have not sat in them yet.

FOOD
There were two meals served, The first was great in terms of quantity, quality and authenticity. The second meal was exactly the opposite. Terrible, in fact. I have had better coach meals on US carriers. ANA is offering “My Choice” dining between meals. From what I could understand, for a fee, economy passengers can order food and drinks through their in seat monitors, although that feature was not working properly on this flight. The food was still available though. I paid for a bowl of noodles and they were very tasty. Beer and wine were complimentary at meal time but were not available between meals for pay or free; that’s annoying; either make it available or don’t.

AUDIO VIDEO ON-DEMAND
The TV screen was the largest I have ever seen in economy. The music selection was pretty weak but the movies and games were great. There is a USB hook up to play your ipod through the planes system. There was also power at each coach seat, but mine did not work. If you are an airline and/or geography buff, you will love the half dozen, customizable moving maps and the nose camera.

CONCLUSION
I believe the Inspiration of Japan will be a success for All Nippon Airways. The food in economy needs some help, but the service was top notch. Perhaps 3rd time is a charm and I will experience ANA’s new Business Class seats on the Inspiration of Japan.

30a

view from 30a

mini economy cabin right behind business class

s-video, usb, headphone and power outlets

from top left: no clue, fruit, potato salad with fish roe, noodles with pork & egg, soup

my choice dining menu; different choices on different routes

whiskey 4 ways

business class

“meal” before landing

lufthansa cargo on approach to FRA

inspiration of japan; JA785A

For the flight from Saigon to Tokyo-Narita, I was assigned seat 1D. It’s a center seat on this 767-300ER with a 2-1-2 seat configuration. The lousy part of this middle bulkhead seat is that many passengers bump into you while boarding. Some even cut in front of me to make it to the other aisle. The positive side of “D” seats is a large storage bin not present in “A,B,F & G” seats. Before I took my seat, I took 1 photo and was “told” (more hand gestures than anything else) that I had to shut off my blackberry.

Once seated, an FA came over, shoved a menu in front of me and said:

“Japanese or western…wine list”

Huh?! I didn’t know what I was ordering. Breakfast? Dinner? Snack? And the FA couldn’t really clarify it.
Then she gave me second piece of paper without saying anything. It read:

“Wake or don’t wake for breakfast…”

Oh. I guess I had just ordered breakfast. I was as confused as you probably are right now. Then, the FA’s frantically asked each business class passengers to fill out this “wake up” document; zig zagging through the cabin. It was like they were asking if you wanted to go to Tokyo or stay in Saigon…very urgent.

While the FA’s did not quite have command of the English language, despite numerous English speaking passengers, they were all as friendly as could be. And in fact accommodated my request to move from the 1D to 1G (window, bulkhead).

No pre-flight drinks were offered, but ANA does offer Cardigan sweaters. I obliged with good intentions but the sweater didn’t make it out of the plastic it was wrapped in. Once we were at cruise altitude, a menu of drinks was shown to me. A few moments later I was offered a small finger sandwich on a plate or 2 pieces of sushi. That’s what I was offered, but it looked like everyone in business class was being served something different. I can’t tell you what it all was, but I guess I screwed up the ordering “process” …that was it for the post-departure food service.

Despite no formal service for the next few hours, the FA’s accepted the fact that not everyone was on the same time zone and they were more than willing to deliver any beverages one may have needed.  With 2.5 hours to go, the FA asked if she could get me something to drink. I asked for coffee, but only if it was already made. It wasn’t and she insisted she brew me a pot.

The seat was the most comfortable, non “lie-flat” business class seat I have experienced, mainly because I was able to sleep for a solid 90 minutes made possible by the properly functioning multi-adjustment head rest and room to stretch my legs beyond the foot rest. Breakfast was as disappointing as the first service: 2 triangles of ham, 4 triangles of cheese that tasted like each piece came in its own wrapper, yogurt, fruit and bread. Well, it was OK I guess.

I mentioned to a few FA’s what a shame it was that the Inspiration of Japan launch had been postponed. They hadn’t the foggiest idea what I was talking about. This was not a “bad” flight, but I was hoping to NRT-JFK would be more impressive. Pictures…

saigon departures

gate & crew

cabin before arrival a.k.a early morning

my seat in full recline

seen this in pictorial format, never video

mt. fuji-not a bad view while eating breakfast