ANA All Nippon Airlines has some unusual ways of operating, and it pays to check up on these before you fly, or you could miss out on perks like the free hotel for an overnight stop.

Operational Upgrades

One of the common questions is "How do I get an upgrade on ANA to Business or Club class?". Alas, getting upgraded to business class on All Nippon Airlines really isn't that easy. The airline has the Western, rather than American, model for upgrades longhaul. Which is to say you'll only get an upgrade if your paid for class is full, and then upgrades are processed accordingly to a pecking order of elite frequent flyer status. You are very unlikely to ever get an upgrade unless you are at least a Gold Star Alliance member.

To start with, make sure you are a frequent flyer, and you do fly frequently: after all, if ANA are going to upgrade anyone, they will upgrade those passengers who fly with them pretty regularly, and hence will enjoy the upgrade enough to put more business ANA's way. Then if the flight is full in economy, and someone needs to be moved up, the check in staff will first look at Diamond ANA members, and then Plantinum level, and then at other Star Alliance members at the equivalent levels (Gold, and then Silver. Another thing that ANA look at is how much you paid for your ticket: it's much more likely to happen with a full fare ticket (although occasionally you can get lucky with a discounted economy ticket).

All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-200 & 777-300 at Tokyo

As always, my advice on dressing properly in the pages on how to get an upgrade applies.

ANA All Nippon Airlines website

he All Nippon ANA website clanks a bit, but does an OKish job.

Japanese version: www.ana.co.jp.com
UK version: http://www.anaskyweb.com/uk
Entertainment (although you should search from the economy guide, and the timetable on the left).
Guide to economy
ANA hold baggage allowance

One good thing about the website is that if you are ANA Mileage Club members, you can use the ANA redeption checker tool to check all Star Alliance flights to see if there are redemption seats. This is a great tool if you are a member of any Star Alliance scheme, and want to check to see where you can fly - you just have to sign up to be a member, and then search for the free (or rather, free, plus taxes, charges and made up stuff) seats. The tool isn't that intelegent: if there are no direct flights, it will not check all valid connections. Instead you have to look for the connections yourself. Use the timetable on the StarAlliance site, and then check for seats on your longest connection first, then the shorter linking flights.
ANA redemption checker.