Jal First Class Review
By Aaron Anderson
Japan Airlines first class
A few months ago, I wanted to surprise my dad with an experience of a lifetime—something that he has never done before. I wanted to take him back to a place he lived for a couple years when he was in his early 20’s—and I wanted to do the whole trip in style—something that would be an absolute fantasy world of luxury for him. So we splurged for first class seats in the air and first class hotel experiences on the ground. I was taking him back to Japan and flying across the Pacific Ocean on one of the world’s best airlines carriers: Japan Airlines.
It was even more fun because my brother jumped in on the fun and came with us. Let me first start by saying, the overall trip was incredible. I went into this trip with HIGH expectations and Japan totally exceeded my expectations in every way.
Let’s get to the flights…
Why Fly first class?
For me, I find great joy in the journey. Don’t get me wrong, I love the destination of a vacation, but why sacrifice two days of your vacation time traveling in a less memorable way? The travel portion is not just a means to get to our destination—it is a vitally important part of the overall vacation experience. This is why we chose to fly first class.
If you are looking for a good way to spend American Airlines miles, then stop looking and start booking! Read through this article to see how you can get the best bang for your buck. And when I say that, I mean it. You can get a one-way first class seat on Japan Airlines for $5.60! This seat typically retails for $10k-$15k one way! Let me re-iterate…you can get this seat for $5.60!
Booking
On our flight to Japan, we booked using American Airline miles. If you want to book a one-way business class ticket to Japan, it’ll cost you 60,000 miles and $5.60. If you want to step it up a notch and fly first class, it’ll cost you 80,000 miles and $5.60. Do I think the extra 20,000 miles is worth it for first class? ABSOLUTELY. The difference in retail price would be about $6k to $10k….or you can book first class for only an additional 20,000 miles. In my opinion, it’s a no brainer—if you have the miles. And if you don’t have the extra miles, consider buying them. Our first leg was first class on American Airlines from Las Vegas to Chicago, then we flew Japan Airlines first class from Chicago to Tokyo, then our last leg (also on Japan Airlines) was in business class from Tokyo to Osaka. For the purposes of this post, I’ll be focusing on our first class experience on Japan Airlines from Chicago to Tokyo.
The flights were booked on American Airlines website and we were able to choose our seats on the AA segment, from LAS to ORD, on AA’s website. For seat selections on Japan airlines, we had to either call Japan Airlines directly or choose our seat assignments on their website.
Airport and Lounge Experience
There were three different lounges we tried during our trip:
- Las Vegas Club Lounge at LAS airport
- American Airlines Flagship lounge at the ORD airport
- Sakura lounge in Tokyo at NRT airport
Again, for the purposes of this post, I will focus primarily on the Chicago to Tokyo leg of our itinerary, which includes our lounge experiences in Chicago and Tokyo. Reviews of the different legs and lounges will be reviewed in different articles.
As good as the Las Vegas Club lounge was, the American Airlines Flagship lounge was a step above. Right after we checked into the lounge, we headed for the food. The buffet was great and there was an omelet station as well where a chef prepared fresh omelets. After we ate, we showered and got ready for our upcoming flight.
Service
The service was beyond fantastic. The stewardesses genuinely make you feel like they want nothing more than to give you the best experience you’ve ever had. They are the most friendly people you will probably ever meet in your life. When getting on the plane the stewardesses greet you and escort you to your seat. Then they come back almost immediately and introduce themselves by name, bring you a hot towel, and serve you a welcome drink with a mix of hot nuts. After you are settled into your seat and before takeoff, they take your food order for lunch or dinner and once you are in the air and have reached cruising altitude, they start serving you whatever food you’d like.
Food And beverage
For the main meal, you have two different menus to choose from: The Japanese menu or the Western menu. I opted for the Western menu since I’ll be enjoying Japanese food for the next week in Japan. You are served hors d’oeuvres first and I ordered the caviar. I had never eaten caviar before…and maybe I don’t have a “sophisticated” palette, but it wasn’t my favorite. At least I can say that I’ve been served caviar in first class though, right? Then you are served the main dish. I chose to have the Beef Tenderloin. They also served me the Sautéed Chilean Sea Bass upon request. Both were delicious. If you want your meat to be well done, just ask them. Mine came pretty rare, which is typical of Japanese culture. For my desert, I was served chocolate cake with ice cream and berries. Delicious!
Japan Airlines also has a dine anytime menu. I ordered the rice bowl with beef tenderloin, Japanese Ramen Noodles, and ice cream…lots of ice cream
The seat
The layout in first class on this Boeing 777 is a 1-2-1 format. I assigned myself seat 2k, which was a window seat. The cool thing about window seats in first class, is that you get 3-4 windows…all to yourself! There are only eight seats in first class and there were only five of us in the entire first class cabin, so it was very private and very comfortable. First class boards first (makes sense right?) so we had our choice of overhead bin space—which there was more than plenty—and got settled right in. The seat itself is comfortable and BIG. The seat is 33 inches wide (including the armrests) and the bed length is 78.5 inches long. The seat has several different modes. You can lounge in “relax” mode, dine in “upright” mode, or sleep in “bed” mode. When bedtime comes around, you are given a mattress pad, a comforter, and pillows for your bed. The stewardesses gradually turn off the lights and come offer to change your seat into a bed for you.
in-flight entertainment
Japan Airlines provided us with a free wifi code that we could use on the airplane. It’s really nice and quite a luxury to have wifi on a plane, especially when it’s FREE. Japan Airlines also has a wide variety of movies and shows to watch while you are onboard. Between eating, sleeping, and taking pictures and videos of everything, I didn’t really have much time to squeeze in entertainment. I did have time for one movie, so I watched Knives Out, which was pretty entertaining.
Amenities
Japan airlines provides quality amenity kits along with all sorts of pleasantries to tickle your fancy. They provide you with Bose noise cancelling headphones, pajamas (very comfortable), slippers, and everything that comes with the amenity kit (i.e. toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, body lotion, lip balm, eye mask, tissues, moisture mask, etc.) In short, they give you everything you need and everything you don’t need. Pretty awesome. The only thing you can’t keep are the headphones.
Overall Thoughts and Impressions
I loved this flight. It’s incredible that by signing up for one to two American Airlines credit cards and meeting the minimum spending requirements, you can have enough miles to get $10k-$15k worth of value. Will I fly Japan Airlines first class again? I hope so! I have more airlines to try and more reviews to do, but this was an experience unlike any other. From the service to the hard product, I was blown away. And…..so was my dad. Mission: Success!
