Review: ANA 787 (Dreamliner) Tokyo (NRT) to San Jose, CA Business Class

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Since ANA introduced/ stopped and re-introduced the direct San Jose to Tokyo service I wanted to take that flight. Opportunity finally presented itself last week.

The flight was 60 minutes late - while the Seattle flight on te next gate was 2 hours late. The winds in October are often furious over the Pacific so Westbound flights are often late while Eastbound flights are racing close to the sound barrier. So it was for this flight - it arrived before the scheduled arrival time although departure was 90 minutes late.

Boarding itself was surprisingly quick. I think it took all but 10 minutes to get everyone on-board - that's quite fast!

The business class seat is most comparable to the lie-flat seat in Delta planes. It's a bit bigger than the Delta variant and offers a bit more space. When fully flat it gave me enough space to sleep on my side but not on my usually sleeping position on my stomach - nor could I fully extend on my back. I'm 6'3 so the experience may vary for different body sizes and shapes :)

It took me 10 minutes to find the panel for AC power and the USB plug. It's not exactly where you'd expect it.

The catering was just awesome - some of the best Japanese meals I ever had. I'm not exactly sure what I actually ate but it tasted fresh and delicious.

The duvet was more like a sleeping bag and it's a great idea. I could snuggle my feet into it easily and it did not fall off as easily.

There also was a bit of a mattress pad which I found of little use since it keeps moving when using the seat.

I found the flight attendants to be extremely friendly and attentive. English was well understood and spoken - much better than at my recent Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo (also in Business Class).

I played around with the window shades a bit. They darken the light exposure very effectively though the transition from full blocking to clear takes a long time.My window was completely iced over so I could not really see as much as I wanted.

I had the impression the plane had a higher air humidity than usual (especially compared to older 747 models) but it wasn't a huge difference.

Maybe that's coincidence but my jetlag was less than I usually have for these flights from Asia.

I also expected the cabin to be quieter than on other jets but it wasn't. While not noisy it was as loud as you are used to from other jets.

Immigration in San Jose was super quick and friendly. The same can be said for the customs agents. It's very different than the rather 'hostile' experience you will receive at SFO.

There is no global Entry kiosk though - so it's a good idea to be out of the plane first :)

Baggage handling is extremely quick so I think immigration/customs clearance and bag retrieval were done in under 10 minutes. That's really rare in SFO without global entry.

All in all I really enjoyed this flight. I wish the seats would be a little wider and longer. Otherwise it's a fantastic business class product and on par with many first class in-flight experiences.

Book your flight with ANA here.