Review / We review the ANA’s first class meal service, and discover why it’s worth flying at five-star rates
Aside from bigger seats and more privacy in first class, airlines also offer top service, lavish meals and the best drinks selection, writes David Slotnick
As airlines compete for premium passengers, international business class cabins are becoming more and more luxurious, getting closer to what first class seats look like.
However, for airlines that still offer international first class, the difference between first class and business class can be thousands of dollars – so there is a need to make the top product distinct enough to command that premium.
While I was very full after the initial feast, the flight takes 14 hours, and I woke up from a nap a few hours later feeling peckish
Aside from bigger and more private seats, the main way to do that: offer more over-the-top service, featuring lavish meals, top-shelf liquor and champagne that retails for hundreds of dollars.
Last winter, my wife and I used our credit card points to book US$20,000 first-class return tickets to Tokyo on the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) for about US$250 each – you can read about how we did it. The seats were great, but the meal service was over-the-top fantastic.
From sashimi, to waygu beef seared to a perfect medium, to a perfect miso soup, here’s what it’s like to dine in first class.
The feast began with an amuse-bouche plate, consisting of four bite-size morsels: a roasted duck and kumquat pincho, a grape and goat cheese ball coated in crushed pistachio, smoked salmon and scallop tartare served in a puff pastry, and a sharp cheese and pepper bar.
As we snacked on the amuse–bouche plate, flight attendants came by to take our lunch orders. There was a Japanese cuisine option, and an “international” one. I went with the Japanese – I mean, how could you not?
After she took my lunch order, the flight attendant came to set my table for lunch.