Just(ly) Good - JAL Business Class
Okay I’m ready to get a lot of hate for this review, but here is goes anyways. JAL business class, at least my experience, was a bit overhyped relative to other business class flights I have taken in Asia. Notably Cathy Business Class (though much better service at JAL), Eva Air (similar) and lord, Starlux Business Class, but no one can compare to that. Think of this more as an A- than an A+, where the average student would get a B-.
Booking
Flight prices to Japan has been elevated in the past several years, but overall flights from Chicago to Tokyo are much more affordable than flights from other hubs like New York. This is because there has been expanded capacity to Chicago, as well as competition (if u can call it from) from United. Spoiler, there is no competition from United unless you take into account the seat.
Flight: JAL55
Departing: Chicago (ORD)
Arriving: Narita International Airport (NRT)
Operated by: Boeing 777-300ER
Cabin: Business Class
Check In
Check in was done by American Airlines contracted employees for JAL. Immediately, relative to my experiences with American Airlines, there was clearly an elevated level of service given this was JAL. There was a nice terminal map presented to me to show how to get to the flagship lounge (which didn’t even happen in flagship first), and the employees tried to teach me a word or two of Japanese.
Lounge
JAL uses the American Airlines Flagship Chicago lounge. I very much like the design of the lounge, along with it’s ample seating. There was a JAL representative who was attentive in ensuring everyone made it out of the lounge on time.
However, the food selection remained much to be desired, especially…the sushi…on the way to Japan.
There was a remaining selection of cold and hot food, which was passable for lounge food.
But where American carriers tend to shine the most is the drink selection, and there were two extremely comprehensive bars in the flagship lounge. And of course, the famous Piper Heidsieck bar.
And, having finally completed my work, it was off to go to the plane!
Boarding
Normally I don’t reserve a special section for boarding, but I wanted to shout out to JAL, and I think Japan / Asia does this well in general well, is how well they cue. There were employees with signs prompting everyone to stand in the right line, and given this flight was more than half Japanese people everyone followed the rules. Imagine if everyone could board like this.
I did get a quick peek at our bird, and my is she gorgeous! Also respect to Japan Airlines for having a creative logo.
Cabin
JAL kindly provides us with an updated map and seat overview at this link.
I find it hilarious that they call their economy class JAL SKY WIDER in all caps. The JAL SKY SUITE is the older of the business class seats, with a new product coming on the A350-1000s soon. This would definitely move it from a A- to A, as its the biggest drawback of JAL’s current offering.
The seat is laid out in a 2-3-2 configuration, with the 3 middle seats thoughtfully configured so everyone can have direct aisle access without disturbing other customers. The seat itself is a bit narrow and shorter than average, although for most people it shouldnt be an issue - I am reminded a little of United Polaris, where there is a certain “business class bus factory” feeling to the seat, although to be fair it is a bus in the air.
On attention to detail: the seats with male names had a blue amenity kit, while the female ones have a pink one. I consider this wonderful attention to detail, not whatever culture war flaming is going on (there’s more important issues).
The amenities provided were headphones, slippers, blanket. One notable thing missing was…PAJAMAs! They provided a cardigan that was to be returned, and to be honest I didn’t like the cardigan. Relatively bottom of the pack when it comes to amenities, especially the sparse contents of the kit (outdated charger, phone stand, toothbrush, earplugs, Payot Hand cream).
Anyway, back to the seat. It’s narrow, but functional, with screen, charging and bottle of water. One annoying thing was that the electric outlet wasn’t stable enough, and my charger kept falling out.
As I had the window seat, I also got a divider from my neighbour - he was an extremely well behaved Japanese kid, with the only flaw that he only drank apple juice and ate the sugary snacks during the flight. U go kid.
One benefit was that the purser walked around with a basket of toys for the kids - having no shame (and for my friends benefit), I asked for one of the miniature planes. The purser said they were only for kids, only to double back and subtly drop one off for me. Wonderful service!
For reference, this is the first class seat. It’s got a more old school feel, which depending on your style may or may not be good.
The Food
Is where JAL truly shines. Let’s start with the very extensive menu. Let’s start with the drink menu. Note I did lose a page or two of photos during my flight, so apologies if there’s breaks.
This is the drink menu. Yes, just the drink menu. Yes, they take their coffee seriously. Yes, they also take their whiskey seriously. Much respect.
JAL does both international and Japanese cuisine, but you should only order from the Japanese menu (which I break later).
We started with a blind sake tasting - I liked one, which was a tad sweeter, than the other. Unfortunately I forgot which one, so I’ll have to repeat the tasting on my next flight!
First up from the Japanese menu was the appetizers. I have no idea what half these things were, but can attest that everything was incredibly fresh. It was like tasting seafood for almost the first time.
Same thing with the actual sushi, my goodness. Incredibly fresh, rice well done.
And not content with feasting, I also ordered a cheeseburger. My goodness, this tasted better than most I have had in America.
Other Amenities
Having gone out of order, this section will be quite short. There is wifi available on this flight, which had okay speeds (aka able to play youtube videos). The was to access the free business class wifi though was hilariously convoluted, and had its own pamphlet.
The bathroom, as expected, was kept nearly immaculate by the FAs. It also had skincare, as well as mouthwash (the green thing) and toothbrush and toothpaste.
One final cute end of service this was this gentle steam eye mask - it did take me a few minutes to understand how it worked lol.
The Service
Japanese, and indeed most Asian airlines as a whole, are known for their service. I’ll agree this was mostly the case: the ground crew, especially given they were US workers under Japanese tutelage, performed good. Service in the sky was excellent - everyone was attentive, kind, willing to indulge in this writer’s first time to Japan. They did give me a few language lessons, and were patience as I tried to thank them in Japanese. Two small faults: 1. Wasn’t addressed by name at all (I don’t care, I know some ppl do, hence the FYI) and 2. Service was sometimes a bit slow - I do attribute this this up to the sheer number of people flying in business, and not the fault of the crew. There was another instance where I asked for a bottle of water, and they forgot about this. Again, great crew overall, just some minor misses.
The Point
A solid, wonderful way to get across the Pacific to Japan. Where the airline stood out was it’s service, it’s next level (some of the best I’ve had) and extensive food and drink menu, and thought that was put into the overall experience. Where the airline could improve was it’s seat choice and amenity selection, with both being addressed in the next iteration of it’s product. When choosing to fly across the Pacific from North America, please do consider the A “tier” products of JAL and it’s Asian competitors over more familiar North American ones. Hopefully next time we get PJs!
