ANA First Class Lounge at Tokyo-Narita Review

The ANA Suite Lounge at Tokyo-Narita is a comfortable place to relax before your first class flight on All Nippon Airways. Like many premium lounges, it offers made-to-order food items, shower suites, rest pods, and workspaces.

The guest list here is exclusive: You have to be flying first class on a Star Alliance airline or hold the highest tier of ANA elite status. (Business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members have access to the regular ANA Lounge, which is located just next door.)

However, the lounge lacked the wow factor that one might expect from the ANA first-class flying experience or a first-class lounge. I felt like I was visiting a business class lounge instead. Some airlines like Air France, Lufthansa, and Cathay Pacific invest heavily in the first-class lounge experience, providing things like tarmac transfers from the lounge, sit-down dining with waiter service, and exquisite design. You won’t get those things at the ANA Suite Lounge.

Here’s a look at the ANA first-class lounge (and overall first-class ground experience) at Tokyo-Narita airport during my visit in September 2024.

The first-class experience at Tokyo-Narita starts even before you set foot in the lounge.

When you arrive at the airport, head straight to the ANA Suite Check-in, an exclusive area reserved for first-class flyers and ANA’s own top-tier elites.

Here, you’ll find a giant room with several counters, where an agent will help you check in and check your bags. The agent I interacted with was extremely polite and helpful, confirming various details of my flight, such as my seat number and meal selection.

The best perk, though, is a private security checkpoint to breeze through security.

When you first enter the lounge, you’ll pass through a long corridor that leads you to the buffet and noodle bar on your left and a large seating area on your right.

There are more seating options further down, ranging from bar-style seating to armchairs and loungers.

It’s a very open layout with little privacy — a big contrast from ANA’s first-class seat, which has sliding privacy doors. Some seating areas have dividers, but they’re separated by see-through strips of fabric.

One of my favorite things about the space: giant windows that span an entire side of the lounge, giving you great views of the runways.

It was a dreary day, but I was able to spot two of ANA’s three Airbus A380s with the “Flying Honu” livery. These aircraft fly exclusively between Tokyo-Narita and Honolulu and sport a lovely turtle design (honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle).

Off the large seating area by the entrance, a corridor leads to a business center with four cubicles, which visitors can use as quiet work areas.

Some of the business amenities include headphones, a printer, and even a calculator. I didn’t test out how easy it was to connect to the provided monitor, but the lounge is well-staffed, so I’m sure someone would have been able to assist if needed.

Again, there’s not a lot of privacy in here, which could be an issue if you need to take calls, but you could also pop into a nearby phone booth.

Across from the business center, there’s a relaxation area with three rest pods. Two of them have massage chairs, while the third has a regular lounge chair.

I don’t see massage chairs in lounges too often, so I had to give it a try. If you give it a try, remember to take off your watch or bracelets. The compression on your wrists can be pretty intense.

There’s also a smoking room available.

The ANA first-class lounge is located near gate 51 in Satellite No. 5 of Terminal 1, which is where Star Alliance flights depart from at Tokyo-Narita. To get to the lounge, turn left after passing immigration exit control and keep going straight until you see signs for airline lounges and an escalator taking you upstairs.

To the left is the ANA Lounge entrance, which can be used by Star Alliance business class customers and passengers with Star Alliance Gold status. Head right for the entrance to the much-more exclusive ANA Suite Lounge, available to first-class flyers and top-tier elites with ANA Diamond status.

The lounge is open from 7 a.m. until the departure of the final ANA Group-operated flight of the day.

The ANA first-class lounge is quite spacious, considering its strict requirements for admission. When I arrived around 2 p.m., it was fairly empty, although it had started to fill up by the time I left to board around 4:30 p