Airline: All Nippon Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300
Seat: 32H
Class: Economy
Book (support modhop):
Economy seats that recline…but not by reclining.
The Seat: Three cheers for legroom. That’s one cheer for each inch of legroom you get aboard this All Nippon 777-300ER when compared to what most US carriers offer on this route between New York and Tokyo. Granted, some of that knee real-estate is lost while reclined in these new “slide forward” style seats, but they also prevent the person in front of you from reclining into your personal space. Lumbar support is surprisingly adequate here, but I noticed that the seat bottom was a little thin. You may want an extra pillow to sit on.
Where this seat really wins is it’s added function and entertainment options. It’s not quite the selection I found aboard the Cathay Pacific 777-300 but the personal video system is loaded with a good number of Hollywood and Japanese movies, a small selection of TV programming, music and gaming options. There are USB and video ports right in front of you for charging your small electronics and theoretically watch your own videos (via an iPhone, Android or other video device) on the relatively large 10.5″ seatback screen. You also have standard power ports for powering a laptop or anything that requires a little more juice.
Service: From start to finish this was a pleasant experience in how we were treated by everyone from the gate crew to the second shift flight attendants. I’m sure that if they had actually cooked the food themselves, we would have eaten much better.
Food: Slightly above edible…Slightly. Most everything came out squishy and lived up to the bad reputation of airline food. No good surprises here.
Notes:
Summary: When it comes to reviewing economy seats, I’d like to spend more time on ones that are considered “premium” or provide some sort of advantage (exit rows, bulkheads, extra legroom seats). While this one is clearly part of the normal ANA economy cabin, it deserves attention for it’s features vs. the competition. On this hop between New York and Tokyo (en route to Hong Kong), my friends at Cranky Concierge gave me a couple of options. First was a United 747. No thank you. (While United has plans to upgrade their coach experience aboard this aircraft, I’ll gladly pay a smidge more for ANYTHING else.) With ANA, a Star Alliance partner I was able to earn United Mileage Plus miles and not have to endure 14 hours of thumb twiddling, sky mall shopping and god forbid..reading. (I’m kidding kids…Reading is fun.)
Rating: 3 hops (of 5).
Strategy: There’s no strategy in booking a typical economy seat, but it pays to carefully compare the alternatives. I used Cranky Concierge to help find the right flight(s). Their help and my own diligent research combined to settle on ANA for it’s added legroom and entertainment options.
How I got it: Used Cranky Concierge‘s service for international itineraries. As much as I like to dig up my own deals, Cranky takes a lot of the extra legwork out of of planning a complex overseas itinerary.
Are the seats comfier than Cathay’s?
In my opinion, yes. Cathay’s leave me in sort of a slouchy position while ANA’s seem to do a better job supporting the back. The seat cushion might have been a little thinner than I would have liked, but nothing an extra pillow won’t help. While I’m still not sold on these fixed back seats, it seems like ANA did a little more research and testing here. Last I heard, Cathay was already planning to replace their seats when they install premium economy cabins.
since Q1 2012 I think premium economy seats (those exclusive 3 row behind business) are no longer available on newly refurbished B777-300ER aircraft.. so its normal economy seats that are available..
Indeed there was no Premium Economy cabin on this flight. The seats immediately behind business class were typical economy seats.
Hey, great and very detailed review, as usual.
However, I am going to fly from HND-FRA on their new 787, and I think they have the same seats. However, it is a long flight and I am afraid to not get a good night’s sleep. In your opinion, how was the seat for sleeping? (Overall, whar rating out of 10 (10 being the best) for the seat?) In addition, their webiste says that the legrest has a massage function. How as that? Thank-you very much in advance.
Thanks Gerard. To the best of my knowledge, there was no massage feature in the footrest (At least not on the 777). In most cases, sleep eludes me in-flight but if I were tired enough, I might be able to catch a few winks here. I’d prefer seats that actually recline and are cushioned a little better if I wanted good sleep. I’d give these about a “6″ using a general 1-10 scale of economy “sleepability”. ;c)
Nice review , were going to narita via united airlines but operated by ANA is this the same configuration of seats? Is it advisable to go premium? Thanks for your help.
There was no premium economy cabin on this flight but if it had been, we certainly would have considered booking or upgrading (for the right price, of course). The only real drawback of the economy seats aboard this 777-300ER is the fixed-back seat design. While better and more comfortable than similar seats we’ve experienced aboard other airlines, they’re still a tad less comfortable than the more typical recline. Do you know what type of aircraft you’re flying?
Its a 777-300 er that were taking. And it gives us the option to go premium when i logged in to their site. Anyway thanks for the quick reply. Ill keep you informed and probably send you some videos you might use on your site.
Looking at the current configurations it appears ours wasn’t configured with Premium economy at the time. Let us know if you upgrade to premium. An yes! We’d love to see pics and video.
Thanks for this review, Jake. How’s the width on these seat? Seatguru says they’re only 16.5″, which cannot be comfortable. But I wonder if that’s correct?
The seatmap shown at seatguru shows a different configuration than what’s shown in the video. If your aircraft features a premium economy cabin then I believe it IS the seatmap with the reported 16.5″ seats.
Hi Jake,
I want to say that I highly appreciate your review of ANA economy especially with their fixed seat design. However if there’s one thing I would like to suggest for those who fly ANA is to order the Japanese Meal instead of the other options. I’m not saying that you should not be disappointed with what you had on the flight. However, the food I had was quite delicious and one of the best meals I’ve had in economy class especially with their unlimited drink service that’s great for the long haul. Once again, thanks for the review and take care!
J.T.-
Thanks for the tip! It probably should have occurred to me to try the Japanese meal but on this particular flight the flight attendant insisted that I’d prefer the other choice. Maybe I was just too hungry to argue.
Great blog too. Looking at your review of IKKO and getting hungry!
.modhop