Japan Airlines Business Class (JFK-NRT), May 2016
I had a bunch of friends going to be in Japan around the same time and I never need much of a push or reason to go back to one of my favorite countries. Along with the AA miles devaluation, I wanted to use up the bulk of my mileage balance on travel this year.
The Flight:
Boarding went smoothly and my aisle seat, 3C, had a bit of privacy during the process being in the front few rows of the plane, and being left of the boarding door. Everything was neatly set up at my seat when I arrived — pillow, slippers, headphones, amenity kit, and a labeled hanger for your coat if needed.
The amenity kit had a nice red color and was a decently hard case that did well to protect its components — sleeping mask, moisture mask, toothbrush, earplugs, tissues, and lip balm. Although there was no pre-flight beverage or towel service, the flight crew handed out newspapers, magazines, and cardigans. The cardigan was soft and actually quite necessary because it was a bit cold during the flight.
Every suite has its own aisle access and is quite private. When I booked my ticket, there were only aisle seats available. Window suites seemed much quieter and private but the aisle access is very narrow and would seem troublesome for a lot of body types.
We started taxiing by 9:35 but didn’t fly until 10:10, so even though boarding was on time, we were 30 minutes late from our scheduled departure time. After reaching a safe altitude, flight attendants brought champagne and orange juice. When they ran out of one option, they made sure the tray was refilled with both options before offering me a beverage.
The pillow provided was a bit flat and not too comfortable. The mattress pads were located in the overhead compartment above every cluster of seats, which I set up and put away myself. It was decently comfortable and the lie flat seat length had more than enough room for me, and the width felt fine without any harsh obstructions. The privacy partition during the flight gave a very comfortable and private feel. Aisle def has more distractions with foot traffic and less privacy. I wanted window but there were none available when I got my flight.
The bathrooms were clean, and of course had the unique Japanese toilet bide options. Toiletries were quite elegantly packaged with tooth brushes and mouth wash. One of the pros for being in the front three rows of the plane is that you have a more private bathroom option at the front of the plane that the other rows most likely won’t use as there are two others behind.
Service noticeably felt different than JAL first. Not to say that it was bad but just that JAL first was exceptional and service on this flight felt less attentive or more willing to help. There were a good amount of flight attendants that could speak English on this flight from what I could see in my section.
I tried the in-flight wifi and thought it was a good price at $18.80 for the entire flight. However, wifi was unavailable 1.5 hours into flight and down for the bulk of the flight. It mostly worked near the beginning and end of the flight so I wouldn’t rely on it if you have to be connected during those hours.
The Food:
I chose The Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve N.V. Champagne as my first beverage after takeoff. It was not as dry as I typically like my bubbles, instead being a bit too sweet and buttery so I knew I would switch to a different beverage later.
The amuse-bouches were hit and miss. The asparagus with fromage blanc sauce was weird. The cheese sauce was too jello-y and sweet. However, the smoked salmon was good and had lots of flavor — strong smoke but not too salty. The coleslaw underneath was a good complement.
To accompany my meal, I ordered the Dassai sake, which was good — smooth and a bit sweet. I liked the small self-serve bottles that they came in. I also tried the other sake option, Zaku, but I didn’t like it as much with it tasting sweeter and stronger.
For lunch service, I chose the Japanese option — “Irodori Gozen ~Selection of seasonal colorful delicacies~”.
The Squid & Scallop dressed with Green Sauce was tasty and slightly creamy. I couldn’t figure out what green sauce was but everything tasted fine — slightly sweet and herbaceous but not necessarily like shiso. Both the squid and scallop were tender and not fishy in flavor. The bamboo shoots gave great texture and sweetness.
The Braised Taro & Yuba Cake, Stir-Fried Paprika, Simmered Bamboo Shoots with Dried Bonito Flakes sounded like a lot but everything tasted good overall. The bamboo shoots were delicious and had great texture. The yuba cake was really tasty though it had an unpleasant texture. It felt like it wasn’t fully cooked through — soft but had a crumbly texture. The braised taro was really good and had great dashi flavor. The texture was good and wasn’t too soft or hard. I didn’t care for the stir fried bell peppers though. It felt like a weird addition since they tasted so strong and out of place.
The Zucchini & Shiitake Mushroom with Sesame Vinegar didn’t have a strong flavor. I think also the altitude was numbing my tastebuds. I did taste the sesame and it was reminiscent of Szechuan cold sesame noodles.
The Mushroom & Asparagus dressed with Tofu sauce tasted creamy and healthy. There was lots of mushroom flavor in the tofu sauce but I added some soy sauce for more depth.
The Crabmeat & Tofu Japanese Omelette had a lot of crab flavor but it was a little too sweet for me.
The Grilled Chicken & Burdock Roll tasted kind of like a torchon. It was interesting and I’m not used to this flavor in Japanese cooking but it was good and the soy flavor lingered.
The Seared Tuna felt rubbery and tasted a bit fishy.
The Grilled Squid & Mashed Potatoes “Sushi” Style came wrapped in a Sakura leaf. I was not prepared for this at all as it ended up tasting like sweet jelly to me.
The Dainomono course came next. The miso soup came very hot. It also tasted a bit watery. The Fried Lotus Root Cake rolled with Grilled Conger Eel had good eel flavor. However, the lotus root was perishable and felt more like daikon.
The Fried Tofu Dumpling with Sea-Bream had sesame flavor but I didn’t care for the one-note texture.
The Chicken with Seaweed Sauce could have had more flavor. It felt like it was oyakodon-esque by being braised in dashi/seaweed but the flavor was too subtle.
The Japanese Pickles tasted like a Bloody Mary, which actually made me sick because I just associate them with hangovers now. I think it was from the strong Worcestershire flavor, which isn’t a traditional choice for Japanese pickles.
The steamed rice was delicious. Japanese rice really is the best and most satisfying. The rice bowl was beautiful and it even came specifically made and branded for JAL as noted on the bottom.
By meal’s end, I felt rather disappointed overall with the Japanese option. Even though there were some good things, nothing felt that great or memorable and had more weird moments instead.
For dessert, there was only one option — Orange Almond Mousse. The first taste was nice, and I liked that it wasn’t very sweet. But it being room temperature made it hard to eat much of.
Later during the flight, I decided to try some of the a la carte items through the controller, which they opened the menu after 2pm. There was some discrepancy among the available items that differed from the menus so I think they didn’t finish updating between flights. Noticeably taunting me was FUMIKO’s Japanese Set Plate with wagyu beef fillet.
I ordered the Japanese Dainomono set — Grilled Black Cod “Saikyo Miso” Flavor, which took about 15 minutes to arrive. The fish had good flavor but the rubbery skin could be a turn off for some. The fish complemented the rice well. The set also came with Black Sesame Pudding, which was really good. There was a layer of gelatinous evaporated milk on top, and it together it all tasted like I was having a shaved ice dessert.
I also ordered the Pork Cutlet Sandwich (katsu-sando) but the bread was a bit rough, toasted too much, and almost tore the skin inside my mouth. The cutlet was also dry and thin but overall had good flavor. I ended up just taking out the cutlet, mayonnaise, and cabbage and eating it with the delicious rice.
Even though I was plenty full, I wanted to try out other tasty sounding menu items.. for research.
The Salmon Roe & Egg Threads Rice Bowl was good but the proportion was a bit off. I did see that later in the flight, it did run out. The Udon with Seaweed Soup was good as well but it didn’t come very hot so it wasn’t as good as it could have been.
My favorite dish from my entire flight was actually the Japanese Seafood Curry with Steamed Rice labeled as a special collaboration between Tokyo Curry Lab and Japan Airlines. It had amazing flavor and not overwhelming in any regard. The curry itself was quite harmonious and had solid tomato flavor with small chunks of flakey fish throughout.
The Details:
Japan Airlines Business Class — NYC (JFK) to Tokyo (NRT)
Flight #: JL 3
Plane: 787–800 (Economy / Premium Economy / Business)
Duration: 14 hours; 9:40AM — 12:40PM(+1)
Price: 50,000 AA miles pre-devaluation (60k currently) + $5.60 in taxes and fees.
There are 38 business class suites in a 2–2–2 configuration but every suite has its own aisle access and is quite private. When I booked my ticket, there were only aisle seats available. Window suites seemed much quieter and private but the aisle access is very narrow and would seem troublesome for a lot of body types.
Even though I booked this flight pre-devaluation in March, this flight wasn’t available until 9 days before the flight date. I originally booked the flight for next year just to hold the mileage in hopes that a flight would open up and if not, I would book something else using United miles and flyANA or Lufthansa.
I did spend a lot of time checking availability up until a week before my flight, and I even tried some creative routings like JFK-CLT-ORD-NRT. And there were some complications with changing my tickets. At one point, one agent had tried to do the whole process by reinstating, which made the award value 60k instead of the original 50k since I was requesting the change post-devaluation. When I called back to do another change, I had to fight a bit to get them to honor the original 50k award since I was never told that would happen and would never have approved that change if it meant 10k more miles. Interestingly enough, they had to just add 10k miles to my account to supplement the difference in creating a new award flight.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very pleasant and comfortable way to spend 14 hours on a plane. The length itself was a good balance of sampling food and booze, watching some movies, and sleeping. I felt content with everything that I wanted to experience, all while arriving rather well rested.
For a business class flight, it still didn’t feel on par with Cathay Pacific. I feel Cathay’s business class product is probably my favorite overall and feels the most comfortable and luxurious with impeccable and welcoming service — so much so that I don’t see much different between its business and first class products. Even though the service on this flight wasn’t as attentive, it’s not a big priority for me in the grand scheme of things as long as it’s not rude.
With AA’s devaluation, I still think at 60k, it’s a great product and value for just 10k more, especially when you consider that other programs require more.
GALLERY
