Preface: United's "Technology Update"
United was doing a “technology upgrade” today and decided to be proactive about it given the 2024 Microsoft debacle that left hundreds of flights in the US canceled (which I was affected by). This meant that, back in December, I got notification that my nonstop flight from Haneda to Washington-Dulles was canceled and that I’d be re-routed via SFO.
My original flight leaving SFO for IAD was on a 737-900, and I would be damned if I paid for Polaris and would be in a domestic first class seat for the last 5 hours of my trip, so I had them switch me to the 787-8 nonstop instead, and they happily obliged.
Anyways, this also meant that on the morning of the departure, I received a text message from United stating that we wouldn’t be departing at 4:25 pm as scheduled, but now at 4:10 pm. This is because the “technology upgrade” was supposed to start at 4:30 pm JST on the dot so I guess they wanted to make sure we were up in the air before that happened?
I know 15 minutes doesn’t seem like a big deal but this meant that for an original plan or arriving by the airport by 1:30, I now had to make sure I got there a bit earlier because of this “technology upgrade”. I didn’t want anything messing up my check in, especially since United wouldn’t let me verify my passport online for some reason. The United App also kept saying that I "wasn't a mileageplus member" for some reason when I tried to check in, and wouldn't let me check in without trying to force me to create a new Mileage Plus account. This is very odd considering this was an award ticket and I'm a 1K member, so I'm definitely a mileageplus member and my number was definitely attached to this itinerary.
Check In and Security
I took the Kiekyu Express to Haneda and was surprised with how quick and easy it was. In only 15 minutes, I went from Mita Station to the check in counter! It was fast and efficient! And- it only cost me around 500¥, which is nothing compared to the 7,000¥ uber wanted to charge me to get from my hotel to the airport.
HND's Terminal 3 is huge and has lots of airlines. In order to know hich check in desk to go to, you should check the Departure Board in the Check In hall.
When I arrived, check in was closed. The signs said that they would open check in at 1:30 pm. They had separate lines for economy and Premier Access. Surprisingly, there was no separate line for Polaris and 1K, ahd the "global services" lane was closed off.
The reason why this surprised me is because Haneda is a big destination for United. Every hub except for IAH currently has a daily service to Haneda, and even London and Frankfurt have different dedicated lanes for Polaris and 1K and Globals.
Anyways, I wasn’t too far back in line and was done with check in by 1:20. This is because they actually started seeing people at 1:10, exactly 3 hours prior to departure. I was greeted by a friendly male agent, who took my passport, printed my boarding passes, checked my bag in, and said, “Mr. shivpilot14, you have access to the ANA lounge. It is across from gate 110. Once you get through immigration, turn left and you will find it! Have a safe flight!”
I then made my way to security. I was surprised to find that Haneda terminal 3 doesn’t have a fast track lane. Haneda is one of the busiest airports in the world, and terminal 3 is its international terminal, so I was surprised. If there was one, I definitely missed it.
It didn’t matter though, I was through security in only a few minutes. The whole process from standing in line, to getting screened, and even getting “randomly selected” only took 10 minutes!
The Lounge: The ANA Lounge
It took me some time to get to the lounge because I went to the duty free to check it out first.
I then made my way to the ANA lounge across from gate 110. To find out if you have access to this lounge, I’d recommend checking the ANA website. All I know is that I’m star Alliance Gold and flying in business class, so I had access two different ways.
This lounge is huge. It’s so big, that there’s a map of the lounge on the wall when you enter.
You enter the lounge and go down a hallway where you’ll find the “ANA shop” where you can buy some ANA merchandise if you’re interested.
You then find the main part of the lounge which is a large seating area with some armchairs and some “bar style” seating that overlooked the tarmac outside. I decided to sit in one of the chairs in this area.
I made my way to the food and oh boy, the food is where this lounge shines. They have a pretty good selection of things like Karaage (fried chicken), which was really good- it was glazed in honey wasabi sauce. They also had lasagna (which I didn’t try), stir fry vegetables, vinegar rice wraps with tofu (also really good), some breads, salad.
They had a bar selection with some wine, sake, and some liquor, including Japanese Whiskey.
The coolest part? They had a machine that pours beer! I couldn’t resist! (I took a video but this site doesn’t allow me to upload videos).
To top it off, they had a QR code where you could order noodles- from soba noodles to udon to ramen, and have it customized. When it’s ready, they send you a text message and you go pick it up from the noodle station! You could also reserve a shower time from this QR Code. I would've taken a shower, but the earliest available time was at 3:10, which was only 10 minutes before my board time.
I ate some of the Karaage, which was very good.
After I finished eating, I decided to look around the rest of the lounge. The Lounge is huge and has a few different seating sections.
I also found a display where ANA shows you all of hte different Sake that they serve on board the aircraft, and in flight. But note, that only 2 or 3 of these are available in the lounge or in business class.
There was also some really cool ANA luggage tags available!
The staff was also very friendly, they kept coming around to ask if I needed anything or if they could throw anything away for me.
The bathrooms were also very clean. I would’ve taken a picture but there were a few people in there.
I left the lounge at 3:10, about 10 minutes before my boarding time of 3:20.
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat
We were boarding out of gate 105, which is about a 5 minute walk from the lounge. When I got there, they had already started boarding and were calling 1Ks to preboard! So, I boarded.
The Polaris cabin on the 777-200ER has 50 total seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward cabin contains 8 rows, totaling 32 seats. The second cabin is smaller, with 4 full rows (rows 9-12) of 16 seats, with row 15 consisting of 2 seats, for a total of 18 seats in the second cabin.
My seat today was 11A, a window seat in the third row of the second Polaris Cabin. The Odd-numbered window seats are what you’d want in Polaris if you’re a solo traveler. This is because they are flush against the wall, whereas the even numbered window seats are angled towards the aisle and offer significantly less privacy.
At the seat, I found my bedding, with the gel pillow and the day blanket, as well as the duvet, and the amenity kit.
The seat controls are located next to the left armrest, with a wheel that allows you to adjust between fully-flat bed mode, and the fully-upright taxi, takeoff, and landing mode. You can also adjust your footrest, your lumbar support, and your recline with a lot of different combinations.
There is a faux marble countertop on the right side where you can set things on top of. Above that is the remove control, Universal Power Outlet, USB-A Charging Port, and a cabinet which I find is perfect for storing my headphones and amenities.
The seat is well padded, comfortable, and extremely private. You can’t see another passenger in the cabin unless you really start looking for them, and nobody else can see you. Which is what I love about the Polaris seats.
The seat does not feature individual air vents. Note that some of the 777-200ERs in United’s fleet do not have individual air vents. Pro tip: If you look up the tail number of the aircraft on AirFleets, and it was delivered to Continental… it won't have individual air vents.
The seat features 3 windows with views of that gorgeous GE-90 Engine!
Pre-Departure, Taxi, and Takeoff:
At 3:30, a PDB of either water or sparkling wine was served. This was really fast considering boarding had technically just started.
Here's a view of the menu on today's flight:
At 3:40, a friendly Japanese flight attendant, who was taking care of our cabin, came by to confirm my meal choice. United allows you to preorder your meal beginning 5 days before departure and closing 24 hours prior to departure. I had preordered the Japanese dining service because I really wanted to try it when departing Japan! She said, “Mr. Shivpilot14, welcome on board! Thank you for being a Premier 1K member! I see you preordered the Japanese meal! Is that still okay?” This was actually the only time she was super-friendly towards me, but more on that later…
At 3:54, the boarding door was closed, and a ground crew member from Haneda Airport came on the PA to thank us for choosing Haneda and to wish us a pleasant flight!
At 4:09, Rusty, our purser, came on board to welcome us aboard and announced our flight time of 9 hours and 33 minutes.
At 4:12, the safety video began to play.
We pushed back at 4:19 pm. We had a long pushback. Our gate was strangely positioned.
At 4:39, we were rolling down runway 34R for departure.
The views of Tokyo below on the climbout, were amazing!
Cruise
At 4:43, we reached 10,000 feet, meaning that we were well on our way to San Francisco.
At 4:56, service began with the distribution of a hot towel. It was really really hot. To the point where I couldn’t even touch it, so I had to put it on my tray table as soon as I got it. And then I just ended up wiping my tray table with it because I wasn’t going to put it on my face or hands after it touched the tray table… but that’s just me.
At 5:02, our captain came on for the first time to welcome us aboard. She said that we would be “very close to on time today” and told us to remember to keep our seatbelts fastened at all times while seated.
At 5:12, I was offered something to drinkby our purser, Rusty. I went with a gin and tonic, which was served with nuts.
At 5:20, my meal was brought out, all on one tray. For some reason, they treated the Japanese meals like special meals where they serve you first before anyone else.
I’ll be honest here, it wasn’t good. It didn’t taste fresh and the appetizers were all cold. Additionally, the miso soup was also cold. Which is definitely the opposite of what it’s supposed to be.
The yellowtail teriyaki as an entree was decent but the teriyaki sauce was overly sweet.
I finished my meal at around 5:40 and my tray was cleared. This was where the weirdness began. When this flight attendant was clearing everyone's trays in the cabin, she asked if they needed anything else. When she came to me, she just cleared mine, and didn't say a word. I didn't think anything of it at first, until later…
At 6:18, I was offered dessert. I went with the ice cream sundae.
At this point, I decided to switch my clock to the local time in San Francisco, making it 1:30 am in San Francisco the same day. Crazy how that works right?
When my ice cream was cleared, and again, she asked everyone else if they needed anything, but not me.
I rang the call bell and asked for pajamas. I was pretty much ready for bed at this point.
When I went to the lavatory to change my clothes, I thought the lavatory was occupied, so I stood in the galley waiting for the lavatory to "come open." That same flight attendant saw me standing there and didn't say anything, she didn't check the other side to see if it was open or anything, just stood there. And that was okay. Then another flight attendant came and said "Oh, sir, the other side is open, and actually… it looks like this one is open too!" Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it was just a bit strange to me…
I changed my clothes and went to sleep.
I woke up with about an hour and a half prior to landing, at around 7:30. I awoke to the noise of the pre-arrival service beginning in the cabin.
A flight attendant came by to ask me if I wanted breakfast. I said no- I wasn’t that hungry and the options weren’t “breakfast” they were more lunch. Fried Rice, Taiwanese Noodles… that kind of thing. I also knew that I was going to have breakfast in the Polaris Lpunge on my layover. So, I ordered a Coke Zero. She must’ve misheard me because she brought me a regular Coke instead.
Descent and Arrival
At 8:33, the first officer came on to announce that they’d be turning on the seatbelt sign in about 5 minutes and that it would remain on for the rest of the flight. I should note that this was only the second time we’d heard from the flight deck during the flight.I found it strange because both times, there wasn’t a lot of information given.
At 8:43, the cabin was being prepared for final approach. The approaches into SFO on the 28 runways are amazing!
We touched down on Runway 28L at 9:01 am and began our taxi into the gate.
We parked at gate B11 at 9:12, for a slightly delayed arrival. Which is surprising considering we departed 15 minutes early!
Getting through Global Entry was so fast! It took no time at all!
