Review: ANA Premium Class Boeing 737 (CTS-NRT)

For the return portion of our winter trip to Tokyo & Niseko, I flew All Nippon Airways’ Boeing 737-800 Premium Class on the 1hr30min flight from Sapporo (CTS) to Tokyo Narita (NRT). Premium Class is ANA’s forward-most cabin on domestic flights, and offers quite the pleasant experience.

While ANA’s 737s have seen better days, the planes are still comfy in the forward cabin, and feature free Wi-Fi, a satisfying meal, a solid selection of drinks, and friendly service. Admittedly this isn’t quite as cutting edge as some of ANA’s wide body aircraft (or Japan Airlines’ A350-900 first class), but for a narrow body, it was perfectly nice, and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly this product again.

How I booked my ANA Premium Class ticket

I paid cash for my ANA Premium Class ticket, and booked it pretty last minute. Specifically, I booked the following flight for $311.26:

3/11 NH2154 Sapporo to Tokyo Narita departing 1:40PM arriving 3:30PM

That’s a bit more than I would’ve ideally paid for the segment, but the reason I booked this was because I was connecting to ANA’s A380 first class, a flight on which I got an amazing deal (using points).

A vast majority of flights from Sapporo to Tokyo are to Haneda Airport rather than Narita Airport, and I valued the convenience of flying straight to the latter airport. As a matter of fact, the flight I took was the only nonstop flight that day between the two airports on a full service airline.

ANA Premium Class lounge & boarding

In the previous installment, I reviewed the ANA Lounge Sapporo, which was nicer than waiting in the gate area, but definitely on the basic side. The truth is that gate areas in Japan are really civilized, though, so it’s nice enough no matter where you have to wait.

My flight was departing from gate five, just a few steps from the lounge. Boarding was scheduled for 1:25PM, 15 minutes before departure. As you’d expect, boarding started right on schedule, with Mileage Club Diamond members being invited to board first, followed by Premium Class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members.

I proceeded down the jet bridge, and boarded the 12-year-old 737 with the registration code JA68AN, which would be my ride down to Narita…

ANA 737 Premium Class cabin & seats

ANA’s 737 Premium Class cabin feels both outdated and spacious. The Premium Class cabin consists of eight seats, spread across two rows, in a 2-2 configuration. The seats have 50″ of pitch and 20″ of width, so they have a lot more legroom than your typical recliner seat.

I wouldn’t say there’s a big difference between the first row and the second row, as floor storage isn’t really allowed in either row, and spacing is roughly comparable.

I assigned myself seat 2K, the window seat on the right side in the second row (it was the last window seat available when I booked).

There’s a fixed privacy shield between seats. It’s not going to give you much privacy from your seat mate, but it at least means you won’t be fighting over the center armrest.

The tray table folds out from the center armrest, and is one large (and very blue) table.

Underneath the center armrest, you’ll find two AC power outlets, so that you can keep electronics charged during the flight.

The seat functions can be controlled manually via levers to the side of the seat, and that includes seat recline, and moving around the leg rest and foot rest.

The seat reclines a surprising amount, so it’s easy to get comfortable, not that most of the flights are long enough to really appreciate the recline.

The overhead console definitely feels a bit on the “classic” side, but crucially, includes individual air nozzles.

ANA 737 Premium Class amenities

Waiting at each Premium Class seat upon boarding were a pair of slippers. You’ve gotta love how this is just a standard feature in premium cabins on Japanese carriers, even on short domestic flights.

There were also a pair of headphones placed at the seat, not that there was much in the way of inflight entertainment.

Bottled water was handed out during boarding, and was the extent of any pre-departure drinks.

During boarding, the flight attendant also asked each Premium Class passenger if they wanted a blanket.

ANA 737 Premium Class entertainment & Wi-Fi

ANA’s Premium Class entertainment consists mostly of Wi-Fi and streaming options. There are some drop-down monitors throughout the cabin that show the safety video, and then have some sort of programming on for the duration of the flight.

You can also connect to ANA’s Wi-Fi and streaming portal.

This includes being able to connect to Wi-Fi for free. All passengers get unlimited free Wi-Fi with no data caps, and I found speeds to be quite good.

There’s also a small selection of streaming entertainment, including live TV, and a limited number of movies and TV shows. Personally, I’d expect to rely mostly on free Wi-Fi for entertainment, or otherwise bring your own.

I do appreciate how the portal also has a flight tracking feature, should you be interested in that.

ANA 737 departure from Sapporo

Boarding was ridiculously efficient, and finished up less than 10 minutes after it started, despite the flight being mostly full. At 1:35PM the main cabin door closed, five minutes ahead of scheduled departure time. The Premium Class cabin was full, and during boarding, Shingu, the lovely Premium Class flight attendant, came around to greet each passenger and introduce herself.

At 1:40PM we began our pushback, at which point the safety video was screened.

Then at 1:45PM we began our taxi, as the ground crew waved at our aircraft.

We had what must’ve been the shortest taxi ever, because just a minute later, we were cleared for takeoff on runway 19R.

It was a gorgeous afternoon in Hokkaido, and I loved the views on the climb out.

Despite it being a smooth ride, the seatbelt sign stayed on for over 15 minutes. Once it was off, the crew sprung into action.

ANA Premium Class meal service

ANA offers Premium Class passengers some sort of a snack on most flights, and I was pretty impressed by the quantity and quality. About 25 minutes after takeoff, I was presented a meal tray with a box, soup, a menu, and an oshibori.

Below you can find the menu and drink list, which was in the pamphlet on the tray (I always appreciate how clearly boxed meals are labeled, in terms of what each item is).

The box consisted of six items, including the following (in addition to the miso soup):

• Mixed rice with tuna and pickled daikon
• Japanese omelet with chicken teriyaki, pork and yuba roll, and simmered deep-fried sweet green pepper
• Spinach and herring with miso sauce
• Pork with grated ponzu
• Cheese croquette with demi-glace sauce
• Mixed rice with crab meat

When it came to drinks, I decided to order some sake, as well as still water. ANA serves Premium Class drinks in plastic cups, which isn’t necessarily that premium-feeling, but I also get that these are often very short flights, so that might just be more practical.

The flight attendant frequently passed through the cabin to check on passengers. At the conclusion of the meal, I ordered an iced coffee — how cool that ANA offers those on domestic flights!

The flight attendant also came through with a basket of snacks, ranging from snack mix, to sweets.

All-in-all, I’d say this was a lovely service for a short domestic flight.

ANA 737 Premium Class lavatory

There was a lavatory at the front of the ANA 737, reserved exclusively for Premium Class passengers. While the bathroom wasn’t particularly large or modern, it was spotlessly clean, down to having toilet paper folded into perfect triangles.

ANA Premium Class service

As mentioned above, Shingu was working Premium Class, and she was lovely. From the moment passengers boarded until we deplaned, she was kind, attentive, and had good attention to detail. Airline crews on domestic flights really hustle, given the short flight time, plus the number of people to serve.

ANA 737 arrival in Tokyo Narita

Around 50 minutes after takeoff, at 2:35PM, the captain announced that we’d be landing in 40 minutes, at 3:15PM. He advised that we’d soon start our descent. Our descent was gradual, and the seatbelt sign was turned on around 3PM.

We had quite the roundabout approach, presumably due to traffic. We first hugged the coast while approaching the area, then made a turn to the north, and then turned once again for our approach.

At 3:15PM, we touched down on runway 16L.

From there we had a lengthy taxi to our arrival stand at Terminal 1.

Interestingly, we arrived at a remote stand, near a bunch of Peach A320s. Funny enough, I don’t think I’ve ever arrived at a remote stand at Narita.

I appreciated the opportunity to admire the plane from the apron.

The arrivals process ended up taking quite some time, and we only arrived in the terminal at 3:40PM. From there I headed to the ANA Suite Lounge, ahead of my ANA A380 first class flight to Honolulu.

Bottom line

Traveling in Japan is an all-around civilized experience, and traveling in the forward cabin makes it even more pleasant. ANA’s 737 Premium Class offers spacious (but not particularly modern) seats, friendly service, and a great meal with solid drinks. On top of that, you get free Wi-Fi, and a small selection of streaming entertainment.

Admittedly I’d say that the wide body jets flying within Japan offer a better passenger experience, but if a 737 is operating the route you’re flying, it does the trick!

What’s your take on ANA’s 737 Premium Class?