The NH919/920, NH921/922 and NH959/960 flights between Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) are commonly used by people flying Star Alliance routes between China and the U.S. These routes are usually operated by the Boeing 767, while the 787 is used during high-demand periods.
When I came to the U.S. this semester, I had actually paid for an economy ticket, but at check-in at Pudong Airport I was upgraded to business class for free on the first segment, NH922 PVG-NRT. (I do not have ANA Elite status—I assume the flight was fairly empty, so they upgraded some Star Alliance Elite members.) That is how this review came about.
Seats
This flight is operated by a B787-800. All ANA 787 aircraft have only Economy and Business Class, with no First Class. So even though this is only a little over two-hour short flight, the business class seats are still lie-flat, and they look like this:
The cabin is configured 2-2-2. If you sit at the window, entering and exiting is a little inconvenient; if you sit by the aisle, you may be interrupted when window-seat passengers get in and out. So choose one of the two middle seats. ANA’s service is still quite good, but there isn’t much storage space around the seat; however, because the flight is only about two and a half hours, it is not a big issue.
Food
Even though Shanghai and Tokyo are so close, there is still food on the aircraft! The menu and meal photos are shown below. Although it does not look much better than economy class, the taste was fairly decent and didn’t ruin ANA’s reputation.:P
Here is the beverage menu as well.
Summary
After AA devalues next month, ANA is a clear standout in China-U.S. business class redemption pricing. Since the points are also relatively easy to get via Membership Rewards transfer partners, both the 95,000-point round-trip in business class and the 105,000-point round-trip in first class + economy are definitely worth trying. Of course, heavy points users can also choose the 150,000-point first-class round trip.