Japan is one of the buzziest destinations of the moment, but for many of us, getting there requires a long trek.
For our second trip to Japan, my husband and I decided to treat ourselves to business-class upgrades to make the long-haul flight more comfortable.
We got a cheaper deal by taking a convoluted route from our home in the south of France: Marseille to London, London to Helsinki, and Helsinki to Tokyo. In the end, each round-trip ticket came to about 2,904 euros, or about $3,366.
We spent our 14-hour flights between Helsinki and Tokyo in business class with Japan Airlines (JAL).
I’m lucky enough to have flown business class a couple of times before — most recently with Qatar Airways — and I was excited to see how JAL’s experience would compare.
We kicked things off with a stop in the Finnair Business Lounge in Helsinki.
Access to certain airport lounges is a great perk of flying business class.
Since Finnair and JAL are both Oneworld alliance members, we were able to access the Finnair Business Lounge on the non-Schengen side of Helsinki Airport.
It was fantastic. The complimentary food was plentiful and delicious, and bartenders were pouring all sorts of drinks, from cocktails to Champagne. The lounge interior was comfortable, stylish, and spacious.
On the way back, we got to use JAL’s Sakura Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport. It was less inspiring, but still a relaxing place to wait.
The business-class layout was 2-3-2.
The 2-3-2 layout looks confusing, but it is actually quite clever. Seats are staggered so even the person in the middle of three can have direct aisle access without disturbing those next to them.
If you’re in a window seat, for example, you’ll be slightly further forward than the seat next to you. This means that the person in the window seat can access the aisle by walking behind the aisle passenger’s screen.
In my opinion, though, this layout isn’t ideal for people traveling in pairs.
When I wanted to talk to my husband, I had to lean quite far forward to reach the window-like divider between our seats (which also had a wall that could be raised for more privacy).
I didn’t love the aisle seat as much as I expected.
I thought I’d prefer an aisle seat, but I soon realized that the window or central seats would’ve been superior. My husband had a perfect cocoon of privacy beside the window. I did not.
I felt extra exposed to the aisle, unlike in some other business-class “suites,” where there’s something of a wall or door between the passenger and the aisle.
My seat was “open” all the way to my back/elbow, as was the seat of the man across the aisle from me.
That said, my aisle seat came with a convenient storage space.
Since I was in an aisle seat, I had a spacious cubby above my charging-port area. It was convenient to store items I wanted to easily grab during the flight here.
On board, a pillow and blankets awaited us.
We were each provided with a pillow, slippers, headphones, and an amenities pouch, plus a bottle of water.
On the return flight, we were also offered branded cardigans, but we didn’t get to keep them.
This differed from our business-class experiences on other airlines, where we were given pajamas we could take home. (On JAL flights, pajamas are for first-class passengers on select routes.)
The contents of the amenity kit varied slightly on our different flights.
Amenity kits were in all different designs of Heralbony washbags.
On the outbound flight, I got earplugs, tissues, a toothbrush and toothpaste, hand cream, a phone stand, and a heated eye mask.
On the return journey, there was no heated eye mask (a shame because I liked it!). Instead, the bag had a USB cable for charging a phone.
The selection of products seemed simpler than what we’ve seen other airlines offer in business class. In the past, we’ve gotten some high-end feeling toiletries, like face creams and lip balms.
Japan Airlines did have a nice facial mist in the in-flight bathrooms, though, and some mouthwash sachets (although I wish they’d been replenished more frequently).
The amount of legroom was lovely.
Legroom and personal space are among the biggest luxuries of business class, and there was no shortage of either on this flight.
I was able to stretch out completely. That said, when in the upright position, anyone smaller than me (5’9″) might struggle to reach the footrest at the end of the seat. Passengers can raise another footrest from under the seat, too, though.
The seat was wide enough for me and reclined to various levels. There was also a button to turn on the back-massage feature, which I enjoyed.
The seats turn into completely lie-flat beds.
My favorite part of flying business class, especially on such a long flight, is the ability to lie down completely flat.
My toes did touch the end of my “bed” when I was fully extended, but this felt pretty standard. My seat-bed seemed about the same size as others I’ve experienced in business-class cabins.
In the overhead racks, there were mattress toppers passengers could use to make their beds a little comfier, too.
Our in-flight menu had a mix of Japanese and international cuisine.
For the flight’s main meal, we were offered Japanese and international menus. After that, we had access to an à la carte menu that we could order from at any point.
Before being served, my large tray table was folded out and covered with a gray tablecloth — not as sophisticated as a white one, in my books, but still better than nothing.
I appreciated how my seat’s table twisted so I could get up easily while leaving my tray in place.
The meals began with drinks and nibbles, such as crisp breads with scallop cream or nuts and breadsticks with a tomato dip.
All of our drinks were served in simple tumblers, which obviously isn’t a problem, but it would’ve been nice to have different glasses for Champagne, wine, or a martini.
The food was generally good.
My husband and I sampled various dishes from both the Japanese and international menus, and they were all tasty and well-presented.
He enjoyed dishes like pak choi and king-oyster mushrooms in a sesame sauce with soy-marinated roe as well as deep-fried sesame tofu in Japanese dashi broth.
The origami-swan-style chopstick holder that came out with our Japanese meals was a nice touch.
From the international menu, I enjoyed a grilled fillet of Finnish beef with wasabi and soy-sauce-flavored onion sauce, cauliflower gratin, and grilled vegetables.
Meals felt really fresh and varied.
On both flights, I particularly enjoyed the salads from the à la carte menus as they seemed really fresh. My only critique is that they were a bit too cold. It seemed like they were served straight from the fridge.
I also really enjoyed JAL’s signature miso ramen. All in all, it was great to have an abundance of food choices on such a long flight.
There were plenty of entertainment options, but I wish I’d done more research beforehand.
I was able to control my seat’s screen using a remote on the side of my seat, which is also where I scrolled through movie options. On the remote’s small screen, though, I wasn’t able to find much additional information about each movie.
This made it hard to decide what to watch. I felt limited to the movies or shows I’d already heard of before my flight, and I wish I’d done a bit more research before boarding.
Fortunately, I still found plenty of titles I was familiar with. The big screen was a nice size, and the sound quality was good, so I was happy to settle in and watch some films.
As business-class passengers, we also had complimentary WiFi access throughout the flight. It worked relatively well, but did cut out here and there.
This wasn’t the best business class I’ve experienced, but it was still a real treat.
Flying business class with JAL was lovely, and any critiques I had were small.
This isn’t my favorite business-class flight I’ve been on, but it doesn’t help that my previous one was with Qatar Airways. The latter has been said to have the best business class in the world for many years running.
JAL’s business class wasn’t as luxurious as Qatar Airways’ — aisle seats didn’t have much privacy, the food was nice but didn’t blow my socks off, and the amenities felt more basic.
Despite all that, this upgrade was worth it to be able to lie down properly and have a bit more personal space. The staff was very polite, and my husband and I enjoyed all the luxuries you’d expect from business class, from Champagne to lie-flat seats.
I didn’t sleep a wink on the flight back (it was daytime), but the upgrade was still a great value, and I feel really lucky to have had the experience.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post I spent 28 hours in Japan Airlines’ business class. It wasn’t the best I’ve tried, but I don’t regret upgrading. appeared first on Business Insider.
