I admit to never having flown ANA or JAL. I am concerned about leg room on a lot of the Asian carriers. I've flown Thai and Singapore in biz and first and was fine. ANA in biz is probably just fine. The food and service is probably better than UA (did I REALLY say that?? I am loyal to UA, as you know). That said, I like the first class international lounges a lot! But I'm not sure that the SEA one is all that exceptional. If you return on UA in first, you can go up the glass elevator to the int'l first at NRT. It's nice (although not one of the better ones in the system). Maybe you should go ahead and try ANA and give us a report!!

My first reaction would be UA 1st class so you can also use First Class lounges

What type of aircraft are they flying on your routes? The food would probably be out of the same flight kitchen I would think out of SEA but am probably wrong. Calling mrwunrfl!

I have flown ANA bus and UA first to and from Japan from HI and don't particularly like the ANA 767 business class seats as they are the older type of seats and do not lay flat. Don't know what type of equipment ANA uses out of SEA.

ANA's service from flight attendants is far.....far did I mention far superior but in first class UA service would ok too and they keep the bathrooms clean in 1st but UA will let them rot in the cattle classes. It would all depend on the aircraft and type of bed to me. I am assuming it is an overnight flight back home? Some of us are lucky enough to have to make those tough decisions, lol

Aloha!

Kathie, is ANA using the 777-300ERs out of Seattle (with the new staggered biz class seats)? If so, it's not even a question in my mind. ANA hands-down beats UA (even in first) in all departments. The three best flights I've had in my flying experiences so far were the LAX-NRT flights I've done on ANA in business class. Best food, best service, most comfortable seats, best in-flight entertainment and best lounges.

If it's the older 777-200 product, then you might lose points on the seat vs. United first. But service would still be much better on ANA.

I am loyal (although never completely pleased) customer of United. But they have some of the surliest and unhappiest flight attendants around and if given the choice between them or a Star Alliance partner, I'll almost always pick the latter.

Well, the ANA aircraft is the older 777-200. SO I was inclined to go with US First. As I played around with dates, I discovered that the only two days with UA First Class available were the original dates I put in. We realized that if we wanted the first class seats, we needed to grab them. So we did. (It's true we can cancel them without penalty within 24 hours)

There were ANA Biz seats (saver award) available almost every day.

you just wanted us to think you were democratic in considering other than united..

so what are your dates??

I think United First was the right decision. ANA business class is not lie flat (although that is changing) and their service is great, BUT first class is...first class...and United, for little more than ANA business would be worth it.

As Bob said, what are your dates?

Gee Kathie, wish I had to make that difficult decision. My decision is Dreamliner or no Dreamliner. Either way, it will be in economy.

This whole trip has been planning by happenstance. Yes, it is a luxury to choose between UA First and ANA Biz. We both have lots of miles and it struck me that this should be the year to use them. Cheryl is retiring at the end of April and I plan to retire next year, so this is the time to use miles and points.

Shelly, even with the early problems they've had, I'd go with the Dreamliner!

We leave Seattle on Nov 4 and fly out of Narita on Nov 20.

Like Filmwill, "I am loyal (although never completely pleased) customer of United." My complaint isn't the flight attendants - we usually get really good ones out of Seattle. My complaint is the Biz upgrade tickets that now cost $1200 RT over the price of the best-priced economy tickets. I'm so old I can remember when it was just miles to upgrade, no co-pay. Oh, yes, and I'm so old I can remember when First meant caviar...

Age does have it's benefits, though. It is called retirement. I'm sure you and Cheryl will love being able to travel without having to worry about returning to work after the trip.

Hey, Kathie, first DOES mean caviar and Dom Perignon on Thai!! The A380 first class experience was awesome.

We flew back NRT-SFO on ANA biz class, and I didn't like the seats at all (we had flown out on United in the new flatbed seats and they were sooooo much more comfortable. That was in March 2011 so it may have changed.

i have my fingers crossed for the dreamliner's return by summer..

Yes, sf, I love the United Flatbed seats. The ANA old seats don't get good reviews.

Carol, we'll have to save our miles for a first class Thai flight! Do I remember correctly that you got First in Thai for 67,500 miles each way?

ANd Bob, I certainly hope the Dreamliner is back flying by summer!

Kathie, it was 70,000 on Thai A380 via FRA and then FRA to ORD. The lounge in FRA was also very nice (and brand new).

Thanks for the info, Carol.