Essence of Japan Air Travel
We are booked on the April 2026 Essence of Japan tour. We are looking at flights now and have found non-stop flights from Chicago to Tokyo on both United and All Nippon Airways (ANA). The flights on ANA are less expensive now. Just wondering if others have flown ANA and how it compares to United for this non-stop route business class. We haven’t flown ANA before. Thanks!
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Comments
The only thing I can tell you is a friend used to travel to Japan all the time and they would always use United Chicago to Tokyo. That is what I would do if I lived in Chicago. When we went to a Japan two years ago, we flew Japan Airlines.
Last year we flew United from San Francisco to Hong Kong and ANA for the return from Tokyo, both business class. ANA was okay, but United was nicer -- more room, better seats, smoother service. If the price difference isn't huge, I'd choose United.
When we took this tour last year, we flew Japan Airlines round trip from Chicago. Many reviews indicate JAL is similar to ANA. We loved JAL, comfortable business class seats and outstanding and attentive flight attendants and really good food. I did speak to one couple on our tour who flew ANA, and they were very pleased. Some ANA 777s have newly configured business class "suites" called The Room, sometimes compared to the Qatar Qsujtes, and they have received very good reviews. We are flying ANA next month.