Trip to Sydney and Flying with the Princess of Thailand in THAI First Class
Review: Conrad Beijing Executive Corner Room
Photo Review: Air China International Business Class Lounge, T3E (PEK)
Review: ANA B787 Business Class, Beijing to Tokyo
Video Review: ANA Suite Lounge Gate 110, Tokyo Haneda (HND)
Review: THAI B747 First Class, Tokyo to Bangkok Flying with the Princess of Thailand
Video Review: THAI Royal First Lounge, Bangkok Airport (BKK)
Review: Silver Kris Lounge, Bangkok Airport (BKK)
Review: THAI B747 First Class, Bangkok to Sydney
Exploring Sydney
Photo Review: SilverKris Lounge, Sydney Airport (SYD)
Photo Review: Air New Zealand International Lounge, Sydney (SYD)
Photo Review: Airport Business Lounge Moscow (DME)
Introduction
A few months before United Mileage Plus' devaluation took effect last year, I was able to book the North Asia to Australia & New Zealand First Class redemption for just 50K miles. From November 1, 2017, this same award costs 75K miles. I knew Mike would be traveling with the Singelresor group to Australia between February 17 and March 5 and would spend the last four nights in Sydney before going back to Scandinavia so I thought I might as well book a one way award from North Asia to Australia on that same period and join the group in Sydney. After some searching, I ended up booking a business class flight on ANA from Beijing to Tokyo, then first class on THAI from Tokyo to Sydney via Bangkok. When all was booked, I then searched for an economy class ticket from Stockholm to Beijing with a return trip starting from Sydney. The cheapest I found was with SAS for the outbound and Singapore Air for the inbound for just about 7000 SEK. All in all, I was glad with how I was able to book these flights although the coolest part happened when I flew in THAI first class from Tokyo to Bangkok and among the passengers was the Princess of Thailand 😍 It was definitely a flight I'd never forget 😉
Video from my YouTube Channel 📺
Flight: NH 964
Departure time in Beijing (PEK): 8:25
Arrival time in Tokyo (HND): 12:40
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Seat: 4A
Duration: 3h 15m
Date of flight: February 28, 2018
*Revenue Ticket, Business Class flight #151
Last updated: September 7, 2023
Beijing International Airport Terminal 3
Taking the taxi at 6:10am from the Conrad Beijing where I stayed the night before, I arrived at Beijing International Airport Terminal 3 around 6:45am.
Check-in, Counter D26-32
As a business class passenger, I used the line for premium and status passengers and was accommodated by a friendly agent. Since I had no luggage to check-in, the process went smoothly and I was given my boarding pass to Tokyo as well as for my THAI flight to Bangkok.
Beijing International Airport Concourse E
I took the APM (Automated People Mover) from Terminal 3C to Terminal 3D and after clearing immigration and security check, I headed directly to the Air China International Business Lounge located near Gate E19.
Air China International Business Lounge
I stayed for about 10 minutes in the lounge before slowly making my way to the departure gate.
Boarding, Gate E23
Some Japanese art on the way to the departure gate 😉
Boarding started at 7:55am from gate E23.
As a business class passenger, I had priority boarding together with those who have Star Alliance gold status 👍
Aircraft, Boeing 787
The beautiful Boeing 787 flying us to Tokyo 😉
*This version of Boeing 787 has 42 seats in business class and 198 in economy class.
Cabin
ANA's business class cabin on this B787 has rows 1-4 in the forward and behind the galley/lavatories are rows 5-7. With a configuration of 2-2-2, it meant no aisle access for everyone but luckily, the flight was not full so I did not have problems from my window seat 😉
13 of the 24 seats in the bigger business class cabin were occupied that morning flight to Tokyo.
ANA B787 seats 4D and 4G
Seat, 4A
My seat 4A was a window.
The map showed a lot of seats available when I chose my seat, 4A.
This B787 has recliner seats in business class (also known as ANA business cradle) but since it was a day flight and with a flight time of about 3 hours, it did not become an issue for me.
Already waiting at my seat was a blanket. Later, I was also offered a pillow shortly after settling in.
There was also a pair of slippers which I believe is the standard for ANA 👍
Moments later, a friendly flight attendant came to my seat to introduce herself and to offer some newspapers.
ANA B787 business class personal screen
The film selection was pretty decent and I was able to find a movie which I hadn't seen yet.
Watching "Murder on the Orient Express" 😉
ANA business class headphones by Panasonic
ANA B787 business class seat controls
Privacy divider
Reading lamp
Under the armrest is the IFE Controls
There's also a USB power port, international plug and headphones socket. and below is a storage space for a bottle of water and your eyeglasses. I guess ANA's passengers couldn't ask for more 😉
Foldable tray table
Foldable tray table
Who wouldn't love these "large" windows 👍 (I believe they are 1.3 times bigger than the normal windows)
Inflight magazines, safety instruction card, air sickness bag, etc.
From the inflight magazine, I learned about the Food and Koku-shu Corner in the Lounges (from December 2017 to May 2018) where Hokkaido is being featured. That meant I would be able to savour the Hokkaido Beef Sirloin Steak at the ANA Suite Lounge in Tokyo Haneda Airport before my flight to Bangkok. Or so I thought.
When all passengers have boarded, immigration forms were distributed and I took one. I only had 12 hours in Tokyo but I decided I'd go to the city anyway to visit the Ramen Museum 😉
Airshow
Airshow enroute to Tokyo
Moments later, the flight attendant came to take my choice for breakfast. They had Japanese and International and I chose the former. Around 8:20am, the chief purser came on the PA to welcome us onboard.
The inflight safety video was played a few minutes later and at the same time, we started our pushback.
View from my seat during push back.
At 8:45am, an announcement was made on the PA that we were ready for take off and in a few moments, we were airborne 😉 More announcement were made including the expected arrival time in Tokyo which is 12:35pm and the current time in Tokyo which is 9:50am (which was later corrected to 10:50 as Japan is one an hour ahead)
Dining
To start the meal service, hot towels were offered. Below is the menu and wine list:
Menu card
Menu card
Wine list
Wine list
Breakfast choice was between Japanese and International cuisine
Table was set with table cloth
Moments later, a flight attendant came to take my drink order and I chose a cup of green tea which was served with some rice crackers 😋
Then it was time for the meal. The food was very good and I ate everything with the exception of the "simmered abalone" which tasted a bit strange.
The Japanese choice read as follows:
Kuchidori
Simmered tokobushi abalone, salt grilled salmon, bacon and cheese fishcake, sweetened egg and fishcake
Kobachi
Egg tofu
Shusai
Braised beef and deep-fried tofu
Rice
Steamed Rice
Miso Soup
As usual, the presentation of the food was a joy to the eyes 😉
For the dessert, Haagen-Dazs ice cream were offered, and which I enjoyed with my green tea which had been refilled by the flight attendants continuously 😉
Lavatory
There are three lavatories on this B787 all of which were maintained clean by the crew.
There were mouthwash and face and body sheet in sachets as well as comb and dental kits.
As is the norm on Japanese planes, the lavatory is equipped with a TOTO washlet. Now if only all airlines could offer such amenity 😉
Washlet controls
Souvenirs
I've been collecting coffee cups from different airlines and since they don't normally use it in business class, I asked one of the flight attendants if I could have one from economy class. When she returned, not only did she have a paper cup but she also brought some souvenir items with her including some post cards ...
... two playing cards, a thank you card and an origami crane. Thank you so much guys 😍😍
Landing at Tokyo Haneda Airport
Around 11:58am, an announcement was made that we would be landing in 30 minutes. In preparation, the mood lighting was set which I thought was a cool feature of an aircraft 👍
Views on approach
We landed (not so) smoothly at Tokyo Haneda Airport around 12:28pm and reached gate 105 in a few minutes.
CONCLUSION
My last flight with ANA was in February 2014 when I flew in first class from Tokyo to Frankfurt so I was happy to have flown with them again this time. ANA is one of few airlines who have five star rating from Skytrax and I couldn't agree more. The crew on this flight were friendly and always smiling everytime they passed by my seat. The seats, although not fully flat were wide and comfortable. The food was fantastic and the TOTO washlet is a luxury in the sky 😉 The souvenirs and card I got from the crew was just so special. This will definitely be one of the short-haul flights that I'll never forget. To all the crew on this flight, "Arigato" 😍
Beijing International Airport Terminal 3
Check-in, Counter D26-32
Beijing International Airport Concourse E
Air China International Business Lounge
Boarding, Gate E23
Aircraft, Boeing 787
*This version of Boeing 787 has 42 seats in business class and 198 in economy class.
Cabin
Seat, 4A
Moments later, a friendly flight attendant came to my seat to introduce herself and to offer some newspapers.
Airshow
Moments later, the flight attendant came to take my choice for breakfast. They had Japanese and International and I chose the former. Around 8:20am, the chief purser came on the PA to welcome us onboard.
At 8:45am, an announcement was made on the PA that we were ready for take off and in a few moments, we were airborne 😉 More announcement were made including the expected arrival time in Tokyo which is 12:35pm and the current time in Tokyo which is 9:50am (which was later corrected to 10:50 as Japan is one an hour ahead)
Dining
To start the meal service, hot towels were offered. Below is the menu and wine list:
The Japanese choice read as follows:
Kuchidori
Simmered tokobushi abalone, salt grilled salmon, bacon and cheese fishcake, sweetened egg and fishcake
Kobachi
Egg tofu
Shusai
Braised beef and deep-fried tofu
Rice
Steamed Rice
Miso Soup
Lavatory
Souvenirs
Landing at Tokyo Haneda Airport
CONCLUSION
My last flight with ANA was in February 2014 when I flew in first class from Tokyo to Frankfurt so I was happy to have flown with them again this time. ANA is one of few airlines who have five star rating from Skytrax and I couldn't agree more. The crew on this flight were friendly and always smiling everytime they passed by my seat. The seats, although not fully flat were wide and comfortable. The food was fantastic and the TOTO washlet is a luxury in the sky 😉 The souvenirs and card I got from the crew was just so special. This will definitely be one of the short-haul flights that I'll never forget. To all the crew on this flight, "Arigato" 😍