I’ve decided to try a new format for my trip reports. Rather than waffling on about my own personal experience, I figured it might make more sense to provide some hands-on information instead. Let me know what you think! And a happy new year, by the way.
Getting to the Airport
In Ishigaki I stayed at the ANA Intercontinental Resort. There are two options to get from the resort to the airport. A taxi will take approximately 20 minutes to make the journey and costs roughly 2’500 Japanese Yen. Alternatively, there is also the bus line 10, which in fact stops right in front of the hotel on its way to the airport. The journey by bus will take roughly 20 to 30 minutes and costs 430 Japanese Yen.
Check-in
Online check-in does not appear to be available on the ANA domestic website. There is, however, an iPhone app which would, theoretically, allow you to check-in. But it seems that bookings for domestic flights that were purchased abroad or not purchased directly with ANA are not eligible for any type of remote check-in. This also means there’s no advanced seat selection, unless of course you call ANA directly.
There are six ANA check-in counters at the airport, three of which are for passengers with checked bags. The other three are for passengers with cabin luggage only and also serve as ticketing counters. There is no dedicated Premium Class counter.
What Ishigaki airport also has, is a very nice open air observation deck on the second floor.
Airside
There are no lounges at Ishigaki airport. At least though there is a mini food court adjacent to the ANA check-in area where you can get some tasty Japanese food or a Starbucks coffee.
Departures are also on the second floor.
Boarding
Boarding for domestic flights is always very efficient, orderly and quick. A fully loaded Boeing B 767-300 is boarded in just under 15 minutes.
The Cabin
ANA operates a variety of different cabin configurations and seats in its Premium Class cabins. It helps if you know what aircraft type you’re travelling on, although even then there appear to be differences within the same fleet type.
The Boeing B 767-300 are kept in good shape, for sure. But their IFE is somewhat antiquated and consists of a limited number of audio channels and one video channel. Films are showed on a big screen mounted on the cabin bulkhead. On this particular flight they’re showing a documentary about the Boeing B 747-400SD in ANA service. The aircraft will be leaving the fleet with the start of the summer schedule on 29 March 2014.
Amenities
ANA provides every passenger with a blanket and slippers (available on international flights too). Additionally, pillows, eye shades and ear plugs are available upon request.
The Meal
The ANA domestic website gives a lot of useful information about the kind of service and food on offer on flights that have a Premium Class service. Flights with departures between 13:01 and 16:59 are served a light meal, which has an afternoon tea theme and is branded as Premium SABO. The meal consists basically of a variety of sweets and savouries.
There is also a menu in every seat pocket of the Premium Class cabin.
Arrival
ANA operates from Terminal 2 in Haneda.
Getting into Town
Haneda is the first, original Tokyo airport. Narita was built much later. To get into central Tokyo the most reliable option is to take the monorail from the basement of the airport to Hamamatsucho, which is the terminus station of the train. At Hamamatsucho you can transfer to the JR Yamanote line, which draws a circle around Tokyo and connects most of the important locations. Shinjuku and Tokyo Station are both served by the JR Yamanote line and the Narita Express and are only a few stops away from Hamamatsucho. So having a hotel in close proximity to one of these two stations is very convenient. I normally stay in the Shinjuku area because it’s quite lively by day and by night. Tokyo proper is mostly a business district and once the offices close, it gets rather quiet and, well – a bit boring.
You can buy combined tickets for the monorail and JR lines at the ticket machines for the monorail in Haneda. If you’re not sure about the ticket price, simply get the cheapest ticket there is, which is 600 Yen. There are fare adjustment machines at every station for you to top up your ticket.
Epilogue
In the meantime the miles for the outbound leg to Ishigaki have been credited to my Senator account. Premium Class is treated as First Class and subsequently yields 3684 miles, which is quite substantial for Miles & More these days, especially given the cuts they’ve made in an attempt to cause maximum irritation at minimum advantage – even to themselves…
Never thought to find someone who enjoyed flying as much as I do, or better yet, who enjoyed aviation and airlines as much as I do. I have fly on similar flights (airline and segments) as you, and experienced exactly the same in terms of confort, food, service, and overall impression. ( I take pictures like you as well) It would be nice to contact you and chat on details. I really enjoy your posts BTW¡
Hi there,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. This is probably a really dumb questions, but here goes: do you you know airliners.net and flight-report.com? Both websites have really good trip report sections with a seemingly endless list of posts and threads. Not sure any more how much the membership is, but it’s a cool way to get in touch with other people with the same hobby.
Cheers,
William
HI William¡ Your question is not dumb at all¡¡¡¡ as a matter of fact it made me think a lot on how did I find your posts in the first place¡ Im not much into chatting nor do I fan specific websites, I think I know airliners.net mostly for the airplane pictures, but when I found your posts I was so surprised to see pictures that could have been my own¡¡ like taken from my very own IPhone or camera¡¡¡
Confort (seats and configuration) and service are very important to me but food and all that it involves I found it very enjoyable, from the moment I board and settle in my seat to get the menú to the performance of the crew to deliver whats being promised or expected¡ I even have some guilty pleasures that today have been transformed into a collection of airline souvenirs like the cardigan you “accidentally” forgot to return to ANA, lol¡
Every time I read your posts cant help to think how much would I enjoy to have a job at ICAO where I could fly every week to far away places merely for the pleasure of flying, visiting different airports, experiencing different airlines and their innovations and scheduling flights¡ the more the better¡ If I need to get to London out of New York via Tokyo, well thats the flight for me¡¡¡
Looking forward for your next posts¡¡
Cheers¡
Hi William,
Interesting with the new format – I like the info-chart in the beginning, as well as your comments on milage in the end. Also, the more structured layout is cool.
I do miss, however, your personal inputs and views on service, hardware etc. Also, I like when you finish off with a small pointer on where you are staying and why (usually you pick awesome hotels) which I use as inspiration.
Keep ’em coming.
Kind regards
Anton
Hi Anton
Thanks for your input. I was aiming for a more structured format. I think I shall have to do a bit of both in my reports – a combination of personal view and useful information.
As for the hotel, the ANA Intercontinental in Ishigaki was nice and in summer it must be lovely to be able to swim in the sea. What struck me though, and this may not be to everyone’s liking, is that I was really the only non-Japanese in the hotel, so you kind of tend to stick out like a sore tumb.
Cheers,
William