Flying can quickly get expensive, but if you’re looking to enjoy a champagne experience on a lemonade budget, one major airline has a way in for as little as £13.23.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is Japan’s largest airline, offering flights to 95 airports globally, spanning 50 Japanese destinations as well as Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.
When travelling in premium economy or economy class across selective destinations, the airline offers the chance to select the option of a ‘paid exclusive dining meal’ – which is one cut above the standard dish served to economy passengers.
While it’s not quite the same as the food served to customers in business or first class, it upgrades the in-flight meal to a bougier option and costs a mere JPY 2,500 (£13.23) per person for a three-course meal.
The upgrade is available on all ANA-operated flights departing from either Haneda (also known as Tokyo International Airport) or Narita (also known as Tokyo-Narita International Airport).
So, if you’re off for the experience of a lifetime in Japan and want to enjoy the high life for a reasonable price, it could be well worth spending the extra cash on your way home.
Wondering what you might be in store for? Until May 2025, when the menu next changes, the airline is offering a marinated tuna and couscous salad with herb sauce as an appetiser, a choice between grilled tilefish with miso sauce or beef stroganoff with turmeric rice for the main, and a yuzu and white chocolate mousse for dessert.
Is it just us, or does that sound like a Michelin-star restaurant sitting?
‘Enjoy your time on board to the full with these beautifully presented meals, which are made with carefully chosen ingredients and seasoned to perfection,’ ANA’s website reads, adding that customers can choose between a Japanese or Western-style meal.
To upgrade, eligible customers can make a request when booking a flight directly via the ANA website – and this can be done any time between purchasing the ticket and 24 hours before departure.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind that it isn’t available on flights that don’t offer a meal service – so if only a light meal and drink are being served, you won’t be eligible to upgrade.
Wondering what passengers in business class are entitled to? The spring menu was curated in collaboration with Ginza Okuda, a famous Japanese restaurant renowned for its Michelin star, and features sea urchin, pen shell mussels, prawn dumplings, and even crab.
Elsewhere in the world of little-known aviation discounts, one TikToker recently realised that she could effectively unlock a ‘business class’ experience through Etihad for as little as £200.
Ahead of her visit to Australia, 24-year-old lifestyle and travel influencer Maddie Borge (@maddieborge) received an email inviting her to upgrade – and so she decided to peruse the offers available when she found a hack she’d never seen before.
‘I never really click on these emails, but I was like, you know what, let’s just see what they have,’ Maddie told her 328,000 followers in a recent TikTok video.
‘So, I log in, and it’s the basic choose your seat, extra baggage, upgrade to business.’
Out of curiosity, Maddie wanted to see how much it would cost her to upgrade to business class – and she ended up with an offer of £842. It was then that she came across an offer right next to it called ‘neighbour free.’
‘It allows you to buy out the seat next to you or the entire row for £200,’ Maddie shares.
‘You’re telling me I can upgrade to business class for £1,000, or basically get business class in economy for £200? I’m in shock, this is so cool.’
‘Positioning’ is the underrated travel hack that could save you hundreds on long-haul flights
An underrated travel hack proves that adding your own DIY stopover via an airport en route could save a considerable amount of cash.
‘Positioning flights’ is the lesser-known travel tip and it involves taking a flight from your home airport to a bigger international one for your onward journey.
Essentially, it gets you ‘positioned’ where you need to be for your final destination.
Typically, major travel hubs and airports get the best deals and this is where positioning flights come into their own.
A good way to go about it is to think about which major airports you can cheaply fly to from your home airport and then use this as your starting point when exploring positioning flights to save on international routes.
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