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- This past winter, I used credit card points to fly in first class on Japanese airline All Nippon Airways, or ANA.
- While bigger and more private seats are an obvious feature of first class, the biggest differentiator between first and business class is the food and drink service.
- From sashimi to steak, it was an incredible experience. Read on to see what it’s like to dine during a flight in first class.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
As airlines compete with each other for premium passengers, international business class cabins are becoming more and more luxurious, getting closer to what first class seats look like.
However, for airlines that still offer international first class, the difference between first class and business class can cost thousands of dollars — so there’s a need to make the top product distinct enough to command that price premium.
Aside from bigger and more private seats, the main way to do that: offer more over-the-top service, featuring lavish meals, top-shelf liquor, and champagne that normally retails for hundreds of dollars.
This past winter, my wife and I used our credit card points to book $20,000 roundtrip first-class tickets to Tokyo on the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) for about $250 each — you can read about how we did it. The seats were great, but the meal service was over-the-top fantastic.
From sashimi, to waygu beef seared to a perfect medium, to a perfect miso soup, here’s what it’s like to dine in first class.
The feast began with an amuse-bouche plate, consisting of four bite-size morsels: a roasted duck and kumquat pincho, a grape and goat cheese ball coated in crushed pistachio, smoked salmon and scallop tartare served in a puff pastry, and a sharp cheese and pepper bar.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
As we snacked on the amuse–bouche plate, flight attendants came by to take our lunch orders. There was a Japanese cuisine option, and an "international" one. I went with the Japanese — I mean, how could you not?
David Slotnick/Business Insider
After she took my lunch order, the flight attendant came to set my table for lunch.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – dslotnick@businessinsider.com (David Slotnick)