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I’ve gotten into business class. It’s a good time when the price is right. Actually, it’s an amazing time when the price is right. Last early summer, I embarked on my first business class flight to India and back (R), and I’ll never be the same. Business class is how everyone should fly long distances, but alas, capitalism prevents this.

Flying long distances in your 40’s in coach ain’t it. When I made my first trip to India, I was twenty-four years old. Just a young thing, with supple ligaments and fresh bones, and the ability to sleep just a handful of hours and feel good enough to carry on the day. Not anymore. The thought of sitting upright in a cramped seat for two 8-hour flights, or one 15-hour flight, was simply too much.

I decided to try business class to avoid what I knew would be a draining experience, and, after watching a ton of travel content, found a way to buy my tickets for a reasonable amount. We’re still talking over $2000 for a round-trip flight that costs less than half that in economy. But I’ll gladly pay for feeling well rested and well fed.

This time on my trip to India, I thought it would be good to trip to take the long way back home and fly across East Asia. In the travel content I was consuming, Asian and “Middle East” airlines were routinely ranked best, so I hunted for options to sample one of Japan’s best carriers. Japanese Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airlines (ANA) are the two Japanese flagship carriers, and both offer a well-reviewed business class.

About ten years ago, ANA premiered what soon became known as the best business class seat in the sky, next to Qatar Airways Q-Suite (R). So I was stoked when I found a one-way ticket from India in their fabled “The Room” business class seat. I booked my ticket and was excited for my 11-hour flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

They call “The Room” the room, because the seat is massive and there are doors you can close to encase yourself in a private space. Typically, first-class seats are the only ones that offer the kind of space and privacy that ANA offers in its business class. That, paired with the stellar reputation for cuisine and hospitality, all things Japanese, and I couldn’t wait for my trip home after two weeks in India.

I was immediately impressed and disappointed. The seat is massive enough to fit two grown adults sitting side by side. Bonkers! The doors are dope. I kept mine closed for most of the flight and have never experienced that level of cozy privacy on a plane ever. The information and entertainment screen was huge and a joy to watch movies on. The noise-canceling headphones were incredibly effective, so much so that I didn’t reach for my AirPods (R) the entire flight (something I rarely do).

Okay, that was the good. Now for the (surprisingly) bad.

The seat, while massive, is not very comfortable. Not to sit in or sleep on. I remain puzzled by this because it seems that all that would be needed to fix the seat is a more cushioned seat pad. Then again, what one finds comfortable is very much a matter of culture.

As for sleeping, the footwell was disappointingly small given the size of the seat. I could not lie on my back and have both feet fit in the footwell. This was okay because I normally sleep on my side or stomach, but I find it difficult to sleep when my feet feel cramped.

The worst part about the hard product was how worn things looked. There was so much chipping and visible weathering of the doors, seats, and other surfaces that I wondered if ANA hadn’t flown this product twice as long as they claimed. On my Virgin Atlantic flight (R), I observed similarly disappointing wear and tear, and while I understand that flying can be tough on a plane’s seat surfaces, it still feels like paying a lot of money for something to look kind of shabby.

The food was very good, but, to a much lesser degree than the seat, I was disappointed, a bit, by what I experienced. Some of the things I ate were spectacular, like the fish and the salad and the sake, but others were not, and two things were so unpleasant I couldn’t finish them. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the food, more so my unrefined palate for Japanese cuisine.

ANA is famous for its ramen, which, of course, I had to try. It was tasty, warm, and super flavorful. It was also really salty, which, on an 11-hour flight, is the kind of dish you’ll have to drink a lot of water to not get dehydrated.

The soft product is where, like Virgin Atlantic, the ANA business class experience shines. The flight attendants were the perfect combination of engaging, but not intrusive, helpful, but not condescending (Lufthansa and KLM, I’m looking at you), and just generally self-assured, which puts you at ease. Best flight attendants I’ve ever experienced, next to Qatar Airways flight attendants.

Yes and No. I think a good measure of a business class flight is if you would pay full price for such. For me, the answer is almost always, “hell no”, and ANA’s The Room is no exception. I would not pay full price for this flight unless a $7000 round trip ticket was of little concern to me.

That being said, I would absolutely fly in ANA business class again — for a discounted price — because the combination of the seat, the food, and the service (the ANA lounge in Tokyo Haneda airport is top tier and included in the cost of a biz-class ticket) is something I want to do again.

In terms of seat comfort, the ANA flight I took from Delhi to Tokyo was better. This is a very dated ANA business class product that I found to be more enjoyable. The IFE is akin to watching TV on a 780p screen, but the privacy, if you pick the right seat, was almost as good as The Room.

I’m launching another YouTube channel to showcase my travel adventures, review products, and discuss the things I’m learning. I’ll post a video version of this newsletter there, along with other business class flights I’ve taken as well. Stay tuned!

I’m super late to this party because I’ve been seeing these water bottles everywhere for a while. Why did y’all not tell Owala had the thirst-quenching hottness for your boi?!

The liquid delivery tech on this thing is level. A straw for sipping that doesn’t have any internal folding parts that are nearly impossible to clean thoroughly. No soft mouthpiece that gets chewed on that is also nearly impossible to clean thoroughly. I one-hand pop top that doesn’t gush water on a plane when the pressure changes (ask me how I know). And, what I think is the most underrated feature of this bottle, the flat edges on two sides for better grippage.

I love it when I find a product that I have no complaints about that also solves previous nagging features. Best $30 I’ve spent in a long time. Get in on this!

Part two of my Traverse Bay fishing adventure is live, and this is the companion episode to last month’s newsletter on dry-aging fish. If you want to see how easy it is to do this at home, watch this video. Let me show you how to take your wild catch to the next level!