First time to Tokyo and I was originally waitlisted in Polaris both ways. Winter storms in the middle of the US ended up rebooking me on ANA The Room from HND to ORD, and I’m honestly blown away.
I’m a self funded 1K, upgrade when I can, and I like Polaris. But if you ever have a choice on this route, ANA is on a completely different level. Hard product, soft product, everything.
Polaris in bed mode always feels like I’m wedged between armrests. In The Room, the seat is so wide it feels like two people could sit side by side upright. The IFE screen is massive, 24 inches, and I’m literally using it as a second monitor via HDMI while typing this. They even sent a free WiFi code before departure. United could do that tomorrow if they wanted to.
This is genuinely a more comfortable workspace than the tiny Tokyo Airbnb I just left.
I’ve read for years that Asian carriers are just better, but this was my first real trans pacific comparison and now I get it. Not sure if PlusPoints can be used on ANA yet, but if you can and you’re routing through Tokyo, you absolutely should.
Polaris Lounge still wins and I’ll miss James and Wilson when I hit ORD. ANA’s HND lounge is fine, more like a busy United Club. But in the air, between ORD and HND, ANA is clearly winning.
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