This flight with ANA from Sydney to Tokyo was by far the most disappointing I’ve ever had with the Japanese airline, which is excellent under normal circumstances. Flight cancelled then rescheduled, total lack of assistance and information, somewhat disappointing on-board service – an experience to forget.
Here’s a reminder of the air routing for this vacation.
The time has come for me to return to Europe, and if it’s not without a certain sadness that I’m leaving Australia, at least I’m happy to be flying with ANA again, which so far has amply justified its status as one of the world’s top 3 airlines. Until then…. Because as I said at the outset, if this flight will remain in my memory, it’s not really for the reasons one might have hoped.
You’ll find at the bottom of the page a summary of articles about this vacation in Australia.
Arrival at the airport, check-in and ground course (1)
I tried to check-in online the day before and again in the morning, but in vain, without understanding why.
It took me about thirty minutes to get to the airport from the city center and the W Sydney where I was staying. Benefiting from a late check-out, I was able to keep my room until 4pm, but given the late hour of the flight, not only did this give me a lot of time to kill, but check-in was not open when I arrived at the airport.
It’s not easy to pass the time…Sydney isn’t Roissy or even Copenhagen, and when you’re landside you’re around the terminal in less than a quarter of an hour, and on top of that I had to drag my suitcase.
But as I wandered around, I ended up discovering an outdoor terrace overlooking the runways…better than nothing to keep me waiting.
There are still two hours to go before check-in opens, but many passengers are already crowding the counter and waiting… Good for them, I still prefer my solution.
Finally I reach the counter a few minutes before check-in is due to start, and they have not moved, ready to rush to the first open counter. But to no avail: the staff arrive, set up the signage and get them out of the way so they can form a queue in the right place.
And there I was, second in the business queue… there was no point in standing in line for two hours!
The staff line up in front of the counters, bow to greet guests and check-in can begin.
2 minutes later I’m checked-in and can go airside.
I’ve told you that the formalities for entering Australia are as simple as they are fluid, and the same goes for leaving.
No endless queues with surly agents, but, as in Singapore, biometric smartgates. Fast, fluid and then the security checks will be just as fast, since Sydney airport is equipped with new-generation scanners that mean you no longer have to take liquids and electronic equipment out of your bag.
So here I am, airside, killing time first in the Air New Zealand lounge and then in The House, a Priority Pass lounge. I leave the latter a few minutes before boarding time, as my gate was right next door, and that’s when things get complicated.
Boarding (1st attempt)
The boarding lounge is already packed.
Signage in place, boarding about to begin…
The layout of the jetway makes it impossible to see the plane, and if it had been possible, it would have been a red flag for me. In any case, after a few minutes and without anyone expecting it, an announcement is made: the flight is cancelled and we’ll have further information in the next few minutes.
All of a sudden, everyone starts to get agitated, and I see a young girl having a crying fit… As for me, my experience of IRROPs tells me that it’s best to stay calm and wait for the information in question, and that it’s not by attacking the staff that we’ll get things moving.
In the meantime, I take a look at flightradar24 (which is what I usually do and, in this case, which would have allowed me to understand at least half an hour earlier that we were unlikely to leave on time) and I see that our plane circled the airport for a long time, made three landing attempts and then left to land in Brisbane.
The reason? Heavy rain and strong winds forced some planes to divert, and the information board began to show several flight cancellations. I’d seen that it was raining, but didn’t realize the extent of it, perhaps because it had gotten dark.
A few minutes later we were informed that our flight had been rescheduled for the following day at 22:00 and that we would be accompanied to collect our luggage. Passengers with connecting flights would be given the necessary information “as soon as possible”.
This will be the airline’s only communication. Nothing will be said about possible compensation or accommodation.
At this point, panic broke out among passengers who, like me, had a connecting flight to Tokyo, and some of them broke down in tears. It’s clear that this kind of event is not for the very emotional… For my part, the wisdom of the frequent traveler tells me to take things in order: first collect my suitcase, find a hotel, then deal with the impact on the rest of the trip. As for rebooking my connecting flight, technically I don’t have any control over it, and in such cases I only concentrate on the things I can have an impact on, without losing focus and letting myself be disturbed by the rest.
Some passengers are harassing staff members because they don’t understand why we have to wait until tomorrow evening, even though traffic is now flowing normally, planes are landing and the Singapore Airlines flight that was rerouted is finally rescheduled for later in the evening.
It was a losing battle and wasted energy, but I made a little calculation… The flight time is more or less the same (8.30 vs. 9.30 approx.), but Flighradar tells me that the Singapore Airlines did not circle around Sydney and was immediately diverted to Melbourne, certainly because it arrived after the ANA and the situation could have been anticipated. The ANA, on the other hand, must have arrived when the situation deteriorated, and by dint of circling the airport after aborted landing attempts, it came up against the maximum flight time authorized for the crew, who had to take a mandatory rest in Brisbane and were not authorized to fly again until the following day, while the Singaporean crew still had a little margin to bring the plane back to Sydney and hand it over to the crew operating the return flight.
It may have been a matter of an hour or less, but here we are.
We are escorted to baggage claim to collect our suitcases, and then taken through immigration control, where a simple passport check is carried out.
Some passengers start looking for airline staff to sort out the accommodation issue, but it’s late and I don’t want to waste energy on that, I’ve got more important things to deal with. So I’ll book a new night at the W myself (and by choosing the hotel I’m sure I’ll get one that will credit my Marriott loyalty program) and will ask for a refund later.
Cancellation handling
Once I arrived at the hotel, I logged on to the ANA website to see if anything had changed in my booking, but nothing had. I decided to let the night pass and I’ll see what happens the next morning…in any case I know I’ll end up going back, it’s just a question of when and how.
Initially, I was supposed to land in Haneda, then head for Narita to catch an ANA flight to Brussels, then a Brussels Airlines flight to Gothenburg. A glance at Expertflyer tells me that the next day’s Tokyo-Brussels flight is full, so there’s no hope there.
But from memory, ANA operates two daily flights to Frankfurt and one to Munich, and if I add the flights of partners such as Lufthansa, Swiss and even Austrian, this still offers plenty of rebooking possibilities. My only fear is to end up on Lufthansa with their catastrophic business class, but in any case my opinion doesn’t matter.
On the other hand, I immediately contacted the restaurant where I was due to dine the next day in Gothenburg to cancel, as well as the hotel to cancel one of my nights, which was done without a hitch.
I’m going to bed to make sure I’m fresh for the next day, and, time zones permitting, Olivier is monitoring my booking from Boston and will phone me if it develops in a way that doesn’t suit me too well and I need to intervene.
When I got up the next morning, the situation had not changed. Olivier informs me that he has noticed that the plane will leave Brisbane at 6pm. So the flight should be on time, but for the moment there’s no information about my connection.
I then look into how to contact the airline.
Impossible to find a phone number. If I click on modify/refund on my reservation, I come across a page dedicated to COVID.
Eventually, I found a phone number well hidden on the site. There are two call centers: one in Japan, the other in the USA, and fortunately they’re both toll-free numbers. I call, only to be told by an automaton that there’s a…130-minute wait. I give up.
Maybe I’ll be able to find an email… well no: “Please note that new reservations and changes/cancellations cannot be processed by email.”
An SMS or Whatsapp channel? No.
There is a chatbot, but it’s only used for advice, not for customer relations.
I find a number for their Sydney office…which is actually the generic number for the call center.
No service on Twitter (Uh…X) or Facebook.
I take this opportunity to inquire about ANA’s compensation policy…
No coverage for bad weather? Well, I’ll see about that later, as the airport wasn’t closed and aircraft landed, only a few flights were diverted…
And at 1.30pm my booking was updated with my new routing: an ANA flight to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa to Gothenburg. Just about what I’d planned. Better late than never.
However, I’m asked to confirm that I accept the online itinerary…but I can’t figure out how. On the other hand, I manage to check-in online. But here again it’s not clear: I’m checked-in on the website but it doesn’t appear in the application. I’m able to choose a seat isolated from the aisle…from the site I’m able to issue my boarding pass but not from the app.
Well, let’s say everything’s okay and I’ll see at the airport.
In any case, if the communication and support provided by the airline at the airport were inadequate, their digital service channels are below par, and the overall online experience anything but smooth and straightforward. One thing I’ve noticed with all the so-called great airlines: if the service is impeccable, the relationship in the event of an IRROP is extremely laborious.
So here I am 24 hours later, heading back to the airport in the late afternoon. And I didn’t even get a chance to walk around town or enjoy the pool because of the incessant rain, so it was really a wasted day.
Check-in and ground course (2)
Arriving at the airport, I immediately look at the departure board.
So we have an NH880 and an 880D. I assume we’re the 880D, but the hours don’t match what we were told yesterday. Strange…
While waiting for check-in to open, I find myself back on my terrace… much less pleasant than the day before. Fortunately, there’s a sheltered area.
One look at Google and… let’s just say that my reflex at the moment is to say “it looks bad”.
So the flight originally scheduled for December 19 was postponed to the 20th, and now we’re being told it’s on the 21st? Unless it’s the normal flight that’s affected, not the flight delayed yesterday… On the other hand, this isn’t reflected at all on the boards in the airport. Strange, but it doesn’t ring a bell.
The airport website mentions flight 880, but not 880D. And it doesn’t match the flights or timetables displayed at the airport.
Let’s wait for the check-in and see.
I get to the check-in counter a little early and there’s a real crowd waiting, which makes sense given that there are two flights to be checked in, departing at almost the same time.
Nothing new on the departure boards.
Of course there are two flights, but not twice as many agents, so a long queue forms, moving slowly and making a merry mess.
I meet up with an elderly Japanese couple I’d chatted to at length the day before, and the gentleman tells me he’s shocked by the disorganization and the way the airline has handled the incident. “Unworthy of a Japanese airline”, he says. And I couldn’t agree more.
What’s more, they’ve put up the signage in the wrong way and it doesn’t indicate the right lanes… so it’s even more confusing.
Finally, it’s my turn and a surreal scene unfolds.
“So you’re going to Tokyo and then Frankfurt and Gothenburg?”.
“Yes“.
“What country is Gothenburg? Sweden? “.
“Er, yes.”
“Do you have documents proving that you have a permit or visa to enter Sweden? You have a European passport, but I don’t think that’s enough. “.
“What kind of visa? Does the European Union and the Shengen area mean anything to you? “
“Wait, I have to ask my superior” (looking very suspicious and skeptical…)
The superior arrives, they’re jabbering something in Japanese, and he looks at her with bulging eyes and raises his voice to say something that doesn’t sound very pleasant.
Then she hands me my boarding pass with a contrite look on her face, and the supervisor apologizes profusely…
Really, when things don’t go right, they don’t go right…
For the rest, it’s just like the previous day, with immigration, security checks and the Air New Zealand lounge, until things start to go wrong again.
The Japanese couple come up to me as I’m having a quiet beer without a care in the world, and show me the scoreboard. The NH880D is delayed until 13:50 the next day, and no problem for the NH880. Exactly what I’d seen in Google.
My new Japanese friends are suddenly very stressed. As for me, I’m hesitant: the indications for the 880D don’t match what I have on my boarding pass, neither the gate nor the time. Nor do those for the 880, for that matter.
And by the way, the 880 is marked “relax” when it’s supposed to have taken off.
To find out for sure, we leave the lounge and go to the door to see if anyone from ANA can enlighten us.
There are ANA staff at the gate and they have no idea why everyone is coming in and asking if the flight is delayed. Another scene of confusion ensues, until I think I’ve figured out what’s wrong: not everyone has the same information. I go up to one of the attendants at the gate and ask her to stop looking at her screens and to take the trouble to look at the departure board 20m away.
And then, by the look on her face, I realize that she understands that something is wrong.
So in fact the 9.25pm flight is actually our 10pm flight, and nobody knows what the 9.45pm flight delayed to the next day is, since we’re the last ANA flight of the day. So, as I thought, all the displays have been wrong since the beginning of the afternoon and no one has realized it.
So we’ll be able to board after this last scare.
Boarding
As the fateful hour approaches, we are told a delay of…. 16 minutes . We’ve seen worse.
We’ll end up boarding in an organized way, with strict respect for priorities… pretty much the first thing that works normally on this flight.
The cabin
Unsurprisingly, we’re back in the same cabin that I presented twice on the outward journey, so we’ll get right to it.
And this is my seat.
A cabin that’s nothing exceptional, but nonetheless very comfortable.
Larger screens are now available on many airlines…
But my main complaint is the total lack of storage space.
The amenity kit is also decent, but I’ve seen better elsewhere.
ANA is one of the few airlines to supply slippers in business class. Much less high quality than those of Turkish Airlines, however.
The flight and the service
No sooner had I settled in than a flight attendant came to take my jacket and put it on a hanger in the checkroom, bringing me a bottle of water and sparkling wine.
The crew hands out arrival cards, which I won’t need as I’m on a connecting flight. In the end, this change of itinerary is good for me, as I’ll be staying in Haneda instead of having to enter Japanese territory to reach Narita.
Unlike my two previous flights on ANA, the cabin crew did not introduce themselves to the passengers.
I’m all set up and ready to go.
We take off and, contrary to usual practice, the cabin remains lit – nothing illegal, but a surprising level of safety in the event of a problem.
We are then handed our menus.
Surprising, but more in a disappointing way: there is a choice between a Western menu and a Japanese menu, but no choice of main, and no service is provided on arrival. Nothing to do with the outward journey.
I choose the Western menu and my tray is brought to me, all the dishes at the same time. The flight attendant doesn’t even bother to take the lid off the dish.
A real regression in service.
Assorted cured pork ham, shrimp and roast chicken
The prawns are fresh and plump, the chicken melting and the ham very tasty.
Braised cheek with red wine and polenta.
It’s a pity that the sauce is served in an aluminum cup, presentation-wise it can be better.
The meat is melt-in-the-mouth and the delicious flavour is a perfect accompaniment to the polenta.
Watermelon cake.
Very fresh and light.
I’ll finish with a hojicha tea and cognac.
Throughout the meal, beverage refills will be constant.
I finish my meal at 1 a.m. and the cabin lights haven’t been dimmed since takeoff. It will be done a little later, but the cabin will never be in total darkness, which is odd for a night flight.
I switch my seat to the bed position, install the mattress topper and blanket, and I’ll be asleep practically the whole way to the arrival.
I wake up 40 minutes before landing and ask for tea.
I don’t know if passengers who woke up early were offered a meal, but nothing was mentioned on the menu.
Arrival
The cabin is switched back on 30 minutes before arrival, but in fact it had never been completely switched off. It’s 5:30 a.m. and the flight over Tokyo in the dark does not, to my great surprise, provide an opportunity to take any interesting photos.
We land in an almost deserted airport and I have to go through security again to get to the lounge before my flight to Frankfurt. This is done in just a few minutes, given the small number of people in the terminal.
Service
The staff were always efficient and friendly, offering a wide range of refreshments but a little more distant than on the outbound flight. Perhaps due to the fact that it was a night flight?
Bottom line
I think that on this flight, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and of course, the cancellation, the lack of support, and then the confusion that reigned the next day with an inconsistent flight display created a halo effect that weighed on everything else. Then, although the service on board was of a high standard, the absence of a choice of dish and of a second service before arrival was a disappointment, as was the lack of cabin management, with lights that were never really turned off, which is not ideal for many passengers on a night flight.
The articles about this vacation in Australia
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