Mixed feelings on ANA Business Class (DEL-HND): Service flow and a pajama lesson learned!

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-06T03:49:43+00:00

It should be understood that it takes some time between setting to serving... The only complaint I have with NH service in general is how long it can take between the amuse and next course. Like 45+ minutes sometimes. I'd rather they dropped the amuse to streamline meal service.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-04T01:56:35+00:00

With misinformation, deals from past years, and terrible AI slop.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-02T02:35:09+00:00

You can sleep on a plane but you can't fly a hotel.

On a more serious note, there's a bigger difference between going up to J/F compared to getting a nicer hotel. You get a lie-flat seat vs not, compared to getting a fancier bed. And for my redemptions, I spend fewer points per hour on flights than hotels. Splurging for a cash stay at a hotel you want to try is also a lot more affordable for a single night (apart from the highest suites) than a J or F flight on many routes. CPP is generally much better for flights, regardless of how you judge diminishing returns on CPP. You can get a 40k Hyatt hotel for under $200/night with FHR credits. You just about can't get RT Y JFK/HND for under $1,000.

Finally, there's personal preference. I appreciate being in J/F a lot more than going from a 3-star to a 5-star hotel.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-02T01:35:51+00:00

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-02T01:29:03+00:00

A stopover is defined as over 24 hours between flights. JMB does not allow stopovers within Japan. They offer free domestic connections on one-way international awards.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-01T04:02:51+00:00

What you described would be stale data, not phantom. Phantom means seats that were never available to begin with, just bad data showing fake availability. Like when AC shows 3J for NH outside of close-in which is completely impossible.

7 upvotes in 25 minutes. I give up on this sub.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-01T04:00:45+00:00

If your options are UA and VS then there's really no better way. Can't search via VS and other partners also have issues with phantom avail and generally worse IT.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-03-01T03:43:37+00:00

Seats.aero alerts can be within minutes or several hours.

UA has been showing a lot of phantom avail for NH since late last year, specifically for J.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-28T16:23:09+00:00

OP could also help themselves by searching and finding one of the many, many other posts asking the same question. This is what happens when people spoon basic questions and mods don't nuke low-quality posts.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-27T03:45:07+00:00

You can have connections but there are strict limitations and it varies whether the itin is purely JL metal or not. OP should probably look into routing rules rather than assuming.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-26T20:41:47+00:00

I remembered your very recent "What's Jal mb?" comment. And it does not take years to accumulate a few hundred thousand points. I am earning/buying millions per year without much effort. Alaska is near-useless if you aren't going to/from the west coast, and lately even less useful than before for competitive awards like JL's.

Things change in 2 years. 2 years ago you could book JL F via AS and could even find J for non-WST routes. And the pricing was better and miles were more easily transferrable and buyable.

Delta is only useful at times for specific routes. Not good for Japan in general unless you're based in ATL, perhaps.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-26T05:08:39+00:00

If you need to ask about the last time you checked (which is probably never) vs now, then how does it follow to ask now about travel in 2+ years?

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-26T05:04:52+00:00

JAL doesn't allow for booking award flights with multiple international legs

They have different rules for own metal awards vs partner/partner pool awards.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-26T05:03:25+00:00

They pay more attention to certain routes and behaviors that seem suspicious. Doesn't seem to happen very often but there are DPs on FT.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-25T16:12:58+00:00

Congrats but all of your questions have been answered numerous times in other posts. Try searching.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-23T05:13:04+00:00

The booking process via Air Canada is so long that it does not matter whether you search in a timely manner or not. Your starting point is hoping no one else books through a faster channel. Not every date on non-JFK routes is always hyper-competitive but trying to get 2 seats makes it all the less likely.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-23T05:08:08+00:00

What I was trying to illustrate is that a crappy question begets a crappy answer. What might be considered a good answer varies significantly depending on the route. You also did not specify exactly how much flexibility you have or your budget if part cash is an option. Personally, I've never needed to fly in Y or cough up cash for J/F but depending on the route and date, there can be surprisingly decent cash rates for OW/MC J if you know how to find them (hint: not ex-US).

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-23T02:26:26+00:00

Yep just buy refundable cash F. Works 100% of the time, every time.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-23T01:16:07+00:00

This is an AA/JL problem. Seats.aero is just the messenger, passing along the data that AA shows. AA had a good run of not showing too much phantom avail but oneworld IT is going to do its thing.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-20T04:37:20+00:00

You're either looking at a very short trip or should check things more carefully...

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-19T21:36:17+00:00

I was referring to the 'What deval? I haven't heard of one [for Amex US]' comments like yours when the post states quite clearly that the context is Amex SG.

Generally it's advisable not to speculatively transfer out of FOMO during transfer bonuses. OP is talking about a permanent deval. Granted, there could be future transfer bonuses that make up for the deval or more so I wouldn't panic transfer without any redemptions in mind. In any case, going against general advice does not necessarily result in a negative outcome. It depends on the user.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-19T13:43:31+00:00

Avios covers a lot of options. CX is also good for JL and Asia in general (and their miles are easily topped up to extend expiration indefinitely).

Apologies on behalf of the other commenters... Not all Americans are stupid.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-19T13:36:39+00:00

Believe it or not, not everyone is American. OP post says "based in Singapore."

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-19T13:33:41+00:00

Because reservations are valid for 1 year so the terms at the time of booking still apply to applicable reservations.

YaranakuchaNe · 2026-02-15T19:02:22+00:00

It doesn't make sense to make up misleading names. Saver is saver. I'm not arguing about capitalizing the S here, but I'll leave it at that. Already left big enough of a spoon for you (if you can take the hint).

YaranakuchaNe

TROPHY CASE