Head-to-Head: ANA First Class vs. Japan Airlines First Class

Japan is home to two of the world’s leading air carriers: ANA and Japan Airlines. While they both have an excellent reputation, what’s most impressive are the First Class products that are amongst the world’s most aspirational aviation experiences.

Onboard these First Class flights, you’ll experience attentive and personalized service, luxurious suites, indulgent multi-course meals, and expensive Champagne and whisky.

In this edition of Head-to-Head, it’s a battle of the airline titans as we pit ANA First Class against Japan Airlines First Class.

Routes

The Suite, ANA’s flagship First Class product, debuted in the summer of 2019. While the airline has 15 Boeing 777-300ERs in its fleet, just nine of them feature the new product.

For the purposes of this comparison, we’ll focus on The Suite; however, note that ANA also has two other First Class products: the older “First Square” and a third variant on the Airbus A380.

Since there are just a few 777s with The Suite, you won’t find ANA’s best First Class product on a predictable schedule. Rather, you’ll have to manually ascertain if the aircraft scheduled for your flight has The Suite or the First Square.

The first three destinations to receive the new cabins were New York, London, and Frankfurt, so you’re more likely to find The Suite on these routes. Occasionally, ANA rotates the new First Class product into other North American gateway cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

On the other hand, Japan Airlines has the same First Class product on all of its Boeing 777 aircraft, which serve Chicago, Los Angeles, New York JFK, and San Francisco, as well as routes to London and Paris.

Both airlines offer First Class cabins from Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita.

Verdict: With consistent routing and all of its fleet equipped with the same flagship First Class product, Japan Airlines emerges victorious in the first round.

Availability & Booking

Typically, scoring a First Class award ticket with ANA requires booking far in advance and being very flexible with your schedule. However, award availability for ANA First Class is currently extremely challenging to come by, even if you search a year ahead of time.

Plus, since it’s quite difficult to obtain award space for only one passenger, finding First Class award space for two is an even rarer occurrence.