ANA’s The Suite First Class: Why It’s Worth Every Mile in 2025

Few experiences rival the thrill and enjoyment of flying in a premium cabin on one of the world’s best airlines. Thanks to points and miles, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best first class products in the sky.

Among all my premium cabin experiences, ANA’s The Suite first class is my favorite. I rank it above the first class offerings of world-class airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, and Qatar Airways, all of which I’ve had the privilege to fly.

Although it had been several years since I last experienced ANA first class, the euphoric feeling from that flight remained vivid. So when the opportunity to fly it again came up, I took it without hesitation.

Here’s an in-depth look at what I loved about flying ANA first class from Chicago (ORD) to Tokyo (HND) in March 2025.

Booking ANA First Class

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a member of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world. With its Star Alliance partnership, you can utilize numerous frequent flyer programs to book ANA first class. This includes programs like United Airlines MileagePlus, Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, and Turkish Miles&Smiles.

However, ANA also has several nonalliance partnerships. One of these partners is Virgin Atlantic, a member of the rival SkyTeam alliance. This special partnership allows you to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points for ANA flights. 

Using Virgin Points for premium cabin travel on ANA is a sweet spot in award travel and ranks at the top of our list of the best ways to redeem Virgin Points.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has a zone-based award chart for ANA award redemptions. Here is the one-way award pricing for flights between the U.S. and Japan on ANA:

From my home airport of O’Hare, I booked a one-way, nonstop first class award on ANA for just 85,000 Virgin Points plus taxes and fees.

Although 85,000 Virgin Points already sounds like a fantastic redemption, it can get even better. Many credit card programs, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards, regularly offer transfer bonuses to Flying Club.

Before the award redemption, I took advantage of a 40% transfer bonus from Amex to Flying Club (now expired). Rather than transferring 85,000 Amex points to Virgin Atlantic, I moved just 61,000 points in anticipation of flying ANA first class to Japan.

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6 Things I Loved About ANA’s The Suite First Class

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is widely considered one of the world’s best airlines. It’s known for its stellar service, onboard cuisine, and fantastic premium cabins. Here are some highlights of what I enjoyed about flying ANA’s The Suite first class.

1. Best Inflight Dining Experience

There is first class dining, and then there is first class dining onboard world-class airlines like ANA and Japan Airlines. In my experience, ANA and Singapore Airlines are tied for first place for best inflight cuisine.

ANA is widely acclaimed for its onboard dining, which features gourmet Japanese and international cuisine created by renowned chefs. Its à la carte menus rival those of many fine-dining restaurants. First class passengers can typically choose from an extensive menu that includes fresh sushi and wagyu beef, among other exquisite dishes.

On my recent ANA first class flight, I opted for the kaiseki (traditional Japanese multicourse meal) service. The airline served a variety of Japanese delicacies, including a Japanese omelet, deep-fried sea bream, seared tuna, and snow crab meat.

For the main dish, ANA served a fantastic grilled yellowtail with crab meat and white sauce, steamed rice, and miso soup. The entire experience was exquisite and easily one of the best and most memorable meals I’ve ever had in the air.

2. Comfortable Seat and Bed

Although ANA offers different first class products across its fleet, The Suite is regarded as the best, and it’s easy to see why. The Suite is featured on many of the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with just 8 seats total. The suites are incredibly spacious, with a seat width of 34 inches. Best of all, the seats feature very soft and padded cushioning for superb comfort.

Of course, the seat can recline fully flat into a bed, measuring a solid 76 inches long. To make the experience even more comfortable, ANA provides a duvet and an additional pillow.

3. Sliding Door for Privacy

I believe privacy and comfort define the best first class products. The Suite features sliding doors that provide plenty of both.

Passengers can open or close the doors quite easily. When closed, the suite becomes a private room, ideal for sleeping or enjoying a quiet flight.

4. Massive Inflight Entertainment Screen

The Suite features one of the largest inflight entertainment screens in the air. Its massive 43-inch 4K high-definition monitor provides ultra-crisp imaging. The screen can be controlled via touchscreen and a handheld remote.

With high-quality noise-canceling headphones and a wide selection of inflight entertainment content, ANA offers a fantastic viewing experience.

5. Free Wi-Fi for First Class Passengers

ANA provides all first class passengers with a free Wi-Fi voucher for the entirety of the flight.

The inflight Wi-Fi service was fantastic, and I had no trouble working or browsing social media throughout the flight. However, streaming video is not supported due to bandwidth limitations.

6. Top-Notch Service

In ANA’s first class, the Japanese crew provides incredibly personalized service. The cabin crew members go above and beyond to ensure passengers have the most complete experience.

The crew on this flight was exceptional — highly professional and extremely courteous. They referred to me by my last name, a small yet thoughtful gesture. They also paid such attention to detail, and their pride in their service was evident.

They were proactive and quick to respond to any of my requests. The crew set up my bed using the empty seats in the middle of the cabin to ensure I was comfortable. This meant I could relax comfortably for the few minutes it took for the crew to neatly set up the bed.

Although there was no special celebration this time, the ANA first class cabin crew created a small birthday treat with various fruits and desserts when I flew on my birthday in 2022.

Final Thoughts

ANA’s The Suite first class consistently ranks as one of the top first class products in the world, and it’s easy to see why. It offers everything you’d expect, from an incredibly comfortable seat to fantastic onboard cuisine to top-notch service.

I prefer it to many other first class products I have tried on other world-class airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways. Best of all, it is incredibly easy to book ANA first class if you can find the award space for it.

Although I prefer to fly new airlines and premium cabin products, I would gladly fly ANA first class repeatedly because I know exactly what to expect. Fortunately, I will have the opportunity to do so again soon.