ANA (All Nippon Airways) knows how to treat their fans. They’ve got Pokémon and Star Wars-themed planes, and now they’re doing something even more special: raffling off the actual steering yokes of a retired Boeing 767.
Do you want to have the ultimate flight simulator controller? Or finally complete your ANA-themed bedroom? Read on to find out how you can get your hands on a piece of Japanese flight history! But be warned: There is a slight catch.
ANA is raffling off two refurbished yokes which were once used by pilots and co-pilots of a retired Boeing 767. The plane that they’re from, JA8288, was in use from 1989 to 2014, serving ANA for 25 years. Each yoke comes with a plaque with the airplane code, serial number, and the number of flights/hours flown carved onto them. It even includes a gift box and a memorial photo of JA8288, providing that authentic ANA feel.
So, how exactly do you get one? First, before anything, you either need to be a member of ANA’s mileage club, or an A-style member. Once you’ve got that out of the way, you go to A-style’s website and pick which yoke you’d like to enter the raffle for: either the pilot’s or the co-pilot’s. After that you just wait until October and hope you’re the lucky one who gets a call from ANA saying you’ve won!
Then, all you’ll need to do is…pay 767,000 yen (US$6,448)?!
Oh yes, this is not a raffle to win one of the yokes; this is a raffle to win a chance to buy one of the yokes. What, aren’t you excited you won? Now, pay up! You’ll get 7,670 bonus miles, so it’s not even a big deal!
As ridiculous as it may sound to have to win a raffle just for the chance to buy something, it’s not too uncommon in Japan. And for the people entering the raffle, they’d probably be happy to pay any price to own the prize. Just think of all the otaku-cred you’d get when flaunting a new, authentic steering yoke at the next ANA convention!
And for everyone who doesn’t with the raffle, at least they can still put their money to good use buying some slightly less expensive Ghost in the Shell ukiyo-e prints!
Leave a Reply