LON-NRT Business Class: Airbus 340 or Boieng 777

Hello all,

I am going from London to Tokyo on business and have a choice between the midday flight on A340 or the evening flight on B777.

Would you know if one is a better experience than the other ?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Assuming the earlier flight is the vs 900 in upper class who's the later one with ?

You're right, I realised after that the second one is in codeshare with ANA.

So the question really is:

Between ANA Business or Virgin UpperClass which one is better and why?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Would it be ANA?
I think there are a couple of factors to consider:
1. VS900 arrives early in the morning around 8:30 to 9:30 which by the time you get to central Tokyo gives you a good portion of the day.
Whereas the ANA flight arrives at around 16:00 and therefore by the time you get to tokyo it will be close to 7pm
2. The VS900 depending on when you go could be a 343 which then only gives you a 1in4 chance of VERA on demand which is not a good odd lol but if you have a tablet fully loaded you would be ok.
I don't know what the IFE is on the B777 but would guess its going to be better than REEL.
For me I would still prefer to risk the 343 and go prepared with tablet in hand as I prefer the earlier arrival
But I guess it comes down to personal choice.

According to V-Flyer WhichAircraft, VS900 had VERA on demand 100% of the time, is that info reliable?

You're remark about times make a lot of sense and will probably weight quite a bit in the balance.

Thanks

the schedule is changing very soon from 346s which have VERA on demand to 343s of which only one, RAINBOW LADY has.
about the class comparison. I have not personally flown ANA but the link below shows the seat on business on ANA.
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/japan/e/asw_common/inflight/guide/c/seat/

again personal choice but I think VS UC is cooler (I have flown UC NRT-LHR).

According to V-Flyer WhichAircraft, VS900 had VERA on demand 100% of the time, is that info reliable?

You're remark about times make a lot of sense and will probably weight quite a bit in the balance.

Thanks

The information is pretty reliable. Whilst in the past the VS900/901 has operated as an A346 with Vera on demand, gfonk is remarking on the change in schedule that has an A343 (3 of them armed with Odyssey - or VERA Reel in new speak) operating the route for a bit over the coming winter period.

When are you looking to fly?

In terms of ANA business against VS UC - difficult to call as I have not flown with ANA on a B777, but going by available material I would say that VS UC have the superior product offering. What are the prices looking like for you? Money does tend to be the deciding factor for me when it comes to business trips ii)

Thank you Joeyc.

I wil be flying on the 8th of november. would you know if the switch to A343 is planned prior to that date? Given I am not a frequent flyer, I'd like to make the expeience as enjoyable as possible.

I am flying for business so the company is in limbo between getting me to fly cheaper on VS900 and keeping me working the whole day and fly in the evening on ANA....

Hence, I think I can tilt the balance either way, just a matter of choice... making your experience/point of view valuable.

Thanks again for sharing

My advice would be to do a dummy booking and see which aircraft is mentioned
I know the change is happening as it is reflected in my MMB but I don't know exactly when.

Hi Gfonk. I forgot to say thank you ealrier for your pieces of information...

On the Virgin wbsite, at the moment, the aircraft mention is A346....

From the info gathered: if VS900 is an A346, this priduct will be better than ANA and conversely if it's an A343.

So I think i'll just keep the ANA booking and if closer to the flight it is confirmed as an A346 i'll use the earleir Virgin flight instead.

Thanks again all for your input.

On the 8th the flight is showing as an A343 - sorry about that. Still a 3 in 4 chance of a less than stellar IFE.. not always a deal breaker though if you have other entertainment or, like myself, spend the time catching up on paperwork/meeting prep, chatting with other pax/crew at the bar or wandering the plane with a mug of tea. I have done this route and the time does whizz on by..enjoy it y)

I am flying for business so the company is in limbo between getting me to fly cheaper on VS900 and keeping me working the whole day and fly in the evening on ANA....

Hence, I think I can tilt the balance either way, just a matter of choice... making your experience/point of view valuable.

Travelling under the business umbrella is always a tricky one if left to book it yourself. I have worked for companies that allow people free reign within a budget to ones that are mercilessly strict on which exact flight you can take... it does depend on your company's policies.

From what you are saying though there is a case to be made to your bosses and factoring in arrival time, productivity, subsequent recovery time and more importantly cost I would say the VS900/901 would be the way to go.

From the personal perspective it is the better option for yourself too, been reading up and from what I have seen VS UC is far better than ANA business ANA and VS are codeshare partners as well so if you are a member of either FF programs don't forget to claim miles - or let us know if you have any to redeem and one of the experts on here (or myself) might be able to help make the fare less expensive with a cheaper fare bucket and thus upgrades

Hope this helps, but if you need any further assistance post away 8D

Unless you have an evening meeting on the day of arrival take the earlier flight. I always found that i could operate throughout the day arriving at 9.30am but would fade by early evening, but taking the latter flight was fine to last the evening but the jetlag the next day was a killer. Being on a 343 is a downer but only for IFE. The rest of the product is pretty similar albeit slightly older, and i would take the virgin experience over ANA any day