ANA v. United

Typically when I travel by plane, I use one airline. This time, however, I flew on two airlines. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal, but an educational one nonetheless.

First off, I'm not sure I want to use Untied again due to their customer service, or the lack thereof. When I purchased the tickets I went through United's customer service line. It took me an hour to finish the transaction.  It was mainly due to the rep's poor command of the English language (please keep in mind that I was purchasing the tickets while in the United States from an American company, dealing with sensitive and important information). Even though we confirmed spellings and information several times, there were still several mistakes that could have caused major problems/delays on our international flight. Once I discovered the problems, I contacted Untied again and fixed them.  They didn't fix the entire problem.  We had to waste 20 minutes at the airport waiting for the people to fix it again.

The service on United was pretty bad as well.  Due to a paperwork error, we were stuck on the tarmac for about 2 hours while officials sorted it out. We received no real apology or anything for this.  Another irritating thing was the bassinet.  Since we were traveling with out infant son we requested the use of a bassinet.  I had no idea what to really expect, but I figured it would keep the boy off the floor and secure while he slept.  The flight attendant eventually came by and gave us what looked like an old gym bag.  She offered no explanation other than it was the bassinet and if the fasten seat belt sign was on, the boy would have to be held.  She laid it on the floor and that was it.  Not knowing what to do, we would put our son into this bag thingy and let him rest.  We followed directions and held him in our laps during the turbulent segments of our journey, but other than the initial introduction of the device, we were left alone.  I know I could have asked for further instruction, and I'm not sure why I didn't, but I figured at the time that the flight attendants would have gone through everything we needed to know as they gave it to us.

ANA was pretty professional the entire trip.  Although it did start out kind of rocky when they refused to issue my wife a seat.  She had a ticket, but they didn't give her an exact seat.  They kept telling us that United would have to issue her a seat as we bought the tickets from them.  United would tell us that since it was an ANA flight they would have to give us the seat.  We called both airlines multiple times and got the same runaround each time.  At Nagoya airport we asked at the ticketing booth and they said they would call and take care of it, which they did in front of us.  When we got to Tokyo, we discovered that my wife still didn't have a seat and they were still trying to find the customer sitting next to me so that they could ask him or her to change with my wife.  The funny thing is that they never once paged anyone or otherwise made it look like they were trying to work it out.  I was pretty peeved by the time we got on the plane.

After we got on the plane everything changed.  The flight attendants were at once helpful and accommodating.  They could see how I was struggling with the boy, a backpack, a satchel and a couple other things.  They helped clear the way to my seat and were patient as I blocked the aisle, trying to get everything situated.  Soon into our flight an attendant came over and set up our bassinet.  By set up I don't mean putting it on the floor, but she actually attached it to the wall, allowing us easy access to our son.  I was blown away by the fact that it was an actual bassinet and that she had set it up for us.  The courteous service didn't end there.  Each time we needed something they came to help and often offered us assistance when they thought we needed it.  They always smiled and were never rude like the United flight attendants were.

Overall, it was a good trip.  Probably won't use United again, but I highly recommend ANA.  They were very good to us and I am confident that they will be good to you as well.  Stay tuned for more details of our 2013 Japan trip.

Going back to Japan

Well this is the umpteenth time for me to go to Japan.  It's mainly to introduce my son to his Japanese family and for my wife to load up on Japanese goodies that are either hard or impossible to find here.  We'll be gone for a few weeks.  We'll get to see many of our friends and family and will do and see somethings that have been on the bucket list for a long time.  Chief among these will be going to Beppu.  Beppu is on the island of Kyushu and is famous for its sulfuric hot springs.  I've wanted to go there for years, but never got around to it.

This will also be the first time for me to use the Japan Rail Pass.  It's basically a ticket that allows you to use any JR trail as many times as you want within a certain time frame.  There are some restrictions, but that's for another post.  We will be purchasing the week long pass and with it we will go to Kyushu, Kyoto and a few other places.  I certainly intend on getting more than my money's worth from it.  I wish I could convince my wife to let me get the two week pass, but it's not really worth the effort.  Besides if I were to go to more places, I'd be more tempted to spend money that I don't really have.

Another part of the trip that I'm particularly excited about is the food.  I miss Japanese food.  I also look forward to karaoke and just having fun in my old haunts.

The hardest thing about this trip is the inevitable feeling of wanting to stay.  It happens each time I go back there.  I arrive and the nostalgia and good memories of my time in Japan flood back and I begin entertaining thoughts of staying.  I know I can't, but I still feel that way at times.  I've built a life here finally so I'm not going to just toss it away on an impulse.

Anyways, this trip will be fun and we're all excited.  Well excited except for the part of taking a young baby on an international flight...