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JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  10 September 2009 by Michael Jones   (Japan)

JAL is struggling financially and having travelled with them many times this last year, its easy to see why. I've been lucky enough to travel in business class most of the time. My latest flight from Tokyo to Brisbane was so poor I felt had to comment. Firstly, the seats are tiny. I had to be moved from my bulkhead seat because of the lack of leg space. I'm 180cm and anyone over 150cm would not be able to stretch. Even in seats further back, the footrest is built for small people. Anyone with average height could not be comfortable. Of course, the seat wasn't flat - even for an overnight 8 hour flight. The seats were also incredibly narrow. 6 across on a 767 in business class is really very mean. It is very apparent that JAL has a monopoly on this route. The food service is also poor. On all JAL flights, the entire meal in business class comes out on the tray together. No effort to serve courses. As the lids are all removed, this leaves you racing to complete your appetizer before the main course gets cold - and its never very hot to begin with. This food service is very reminiscent of Japanese canteens - the warmth of food doesn't seem to matter. Next time I go to Australia I wil not be travelling on JAL!

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  9 September 2009 by John Duffus   (Thailand)

HNL-TYO-SIN-TYO-BKK. HNL-TYO had the very old business class seats. After a 3-hour layover at Narita, I was dismayed to find the 777 to SIN had the ol’ business class seats. Both are massively outdated and hugely uncomfortable for long 7-hour plus trips. I arrived in Singapore vowing never to take JAL business class again. The return from SIN and final sector to BKK did have the newer angled lie-flat seats - bit I still found it difficult to get a comfortable position because the seat seems to have a mind of its own! Japan Airlines business class meal service is also outdated. With an 08:20 take-off from SIN necessitating a very early departure from the hotel, I fail to understand why a full lunch is served at 09:00 rather than a nice hot breakfast, or at least a brunch with an egg dish and plenty of croissants and preserves. I could not face lunch at that hour and waved the meal away. The only flight of the four that was reasonable was the last sector to BKK, but even this B744 had a first generation IFE system with a very limited video selection. On the evidence of these four flights, JAL is caught in a time warp and little has changed in at least a decade. Is there any other major airline today which serves a whole business class meal on a tray, so that the main course gets cold as you finish the soup, the salad and the starter? The flight attendants are courteous in the extreme, but that cannot go near to making up for the airline's major failings. How JAL qualifies for a 4-star rating defeats me!

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  8 September 2009 by Rodney George   (Australia)

SFO-NRT on new Boeing 777 with the four class product fitted throughout. Only 4 out of 8 in First with three flight attendants. The service was outstanding, attentive but unobtrusive. Seats were wide and spacious. Very comfortable to sleep in with very nice pyjamas and quilt. Food and wine sensational.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  3 September 2009 by R Wong   (Japan)

Tokyo Narita-Hong Kong on an old B747 with poor condition of seats and interior. I was on the 2nd deck economy class. JAL tends to put economy class on the second floor for their regional flights. It is a 3x3 configuration. Wide range of meal and beverage selections and the movies are fairly new. Cabin crew are attentive and polite but they need to brush up their English a bit.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  2 September 2009 by Brian Smith   (Japan)

NRT-DPS-NRT in economy. I only flew them because of a free ticket. If you are considering flying JAL in economy, only do so if it's free. The seats are lousy! I cannot state this enough. I've flown them in economy on free tickets, and it's pure torture: no knee or leg room, no seat cushion or lumbar support comfort, extremely narrow seats and they are the only airline I've ever flown that I have to ask for an extension seat belt, humiliating every time. Their entertainment system is outdated and offers very little choice (Magic II). The food was not so great either. The only thing you can count on is decent service from the attendants and clean toilets. On top of it all, their flights from DPS to NRT are overnight! There is no sleeping going on, I can tell you that. If you travel economy on JAL, make sure you've got a massage scheduled on the other end, like I do!

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  31 August 2009 by Andrew Roberts   (Canada)

YVR-NRT-TPE and back in Economy Class. All flights by 747-400s except NRT-TPE which was a 767. The 747s had fairly nice seats, with personal televisions and a fair amount of recline. However, a footrest would have been nice, especially on the YVR-NRT/NRT-YVR segments. On the 767, seats were similar, but the personal televisions had AVOD, which made the flight more enjoyable. The food was great - all meals had two choices for the main course, except breakfast on the YVR-NRT flight. The cabin and lavatories were generally pretty clean, the cabin crew and ground staff were friendly.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  21 July 2009 by Daniel Keller   (USA)

Denpasar to Chicago with change in Tokyo. Both flights on 747s. I was not impressed with business class. Seats narrow and were not completely flat but at a slight angle which made it awkward to sleep. They were also fairly narrow and anybody not sleeping on their back would struggle. Entertainment system was very limited, especially on Tokyo-Chicago Route with Magic I system which seems to have fewest movies and audio selections. Video and music system was difficult to navigate. Flight attendants were courteous, but service was slow and not as focused as I would have hoped for business class. Food choices were limited and overall quality of food was disappointing. Wine selection OK. Boarding for Chicago leg was not well organized with no clear preboarding for business class. Snacks between meals on Chicago leg minimal and disappointing. Amenity kit provided on either flight was almost non-existent and very basic. I could not believe that business class bathrooms had "no" amenities such as lotions, facial spray etc. Would not pay for Japan Airlines Business Class (my ticket was frequent flyer award).

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  2 July 2009 by A Aiman   (USA)

NRT-JFK-NRT in Y. NRT-JFK leg was operated as on a B777-300ER. Cabin spotless and bright; new Y int'l configuration looks fresh and rivals CX's new Y config in appearance. Seat is noticeably wider than JAL's old Y, with more pitch. Found it sufficiently comfortable for my European size, though don't expect too much wiggling room. JAL cabins also don't have individual overhead seat airvents, so can be slightly stuffy before take-off. Cabin crew impeccable - extremely polite, and though not overly gregarious, are generous with their smiles and definitely nowhere as reserved as JAL crews tend to be stereotyped. Walked down the aisles with drinks regularly throughout the flight. Restrooms clean and dry, with all varieties of paper - seat covers, napkins, roll, sanitary towels etc. AVOD was good enough - on par with MAS, though not as comprehensive as say Emirates or SIA. Food was good. JFK-NRT a B747-400. Older aircraft, but clean and bright. Used old Y configuration, with cramped seats that Westerners may find very uncomfortable: seat base moves forward when back is reclined, exacerbating the tightness. Old PTVs are small, and older IFE system is not AVOD, with much less variety. Crew still immaculate, though the JFK-prepared meals were not as good as the NRT-prepared meals. Overall, a very good experience that could've been better if the return 744 had been updated. Would definitely consider using JAL again.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  15 June 2009 : by Peter Schweizer  (Australia)

BNE-NRT-FRA return economy with 2 adults, 1 toddler (own seat) and 2 infants in bassinets. 767 used on BNE-NRT-BNE legs, B777 used NRT-FRA-NRT in excellent condition. The interior of all aircraft in very good condition. Had 2 bassinets on all flights as booked. Ground staff very good but male ground staff in FRA checking us in for the return was the best agent we have ever dealt with. Big let down the provided transit hotel in NRT on our way to Europe. Got 2 separate rooms across the hall from each other but had requested rooms with connecting doors which were available. Another let down was the always smiling but very mechanical inflight crew on the mainline flights NRT-FRA-NRT. You could see that smiles were not coming from the heart. Asian crew on the flights BNE-NRT-BNE operated by Jalways much warmer. Believe majority of the flight attendants were from the Philippines and were extremely helpful preparing warm water bottles for our infants or holding a child while we were busy with the other 2. Food very average on all flights but not a big concern as we were more concerned keeping our kids entertained. Would probably not fly JAL to Europe again because of the below average transit hotel in NRT. Am a big fan of breaking down a long trip to Europe but other airlines such as KE or MH offer a 5-star accommodation as their transit hotel included in the air fare.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  14 June 2009 : by R Langlois  (USA)

SFO-Narita and onwards to TPE and back. Excellent service on all flights. Planes were new and well kept and time at Narita while waiting to connect to onwards flights very acceptable (only one hour on the return flight). All in all a good experience, even though I was in Economy class. The Premium Economy looked a lot nicer with its 2x4x2 seating though, instead of the 3x3x3 of the regular Economy.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  10 June 2009 : by N Short  (New Zealand)

Brisbane - Tokyo Narita. A very empty flight so all B & H seats on the sides were blocked out to give people more room. IFE was a little old and confusing, and had set times for the movies screening, rather than being able to stop and start at your leisure. Boeing 747-400 in nice condition. Crew maybe need to learn slightly better English and a louder PA system would be good. Other than that no complaints - very simple typical Japanese designs incorporated through-out aircraft; eg: heating stones on each food tray to keep meal hotter longer. Also flight departed and arrived at very reasonable times! Would recommend booking JAL through travel agent not online site as the online site is rather confusing to use!

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  20 May 2009 : by H Chan  (Australia)

We chose JAL economy from Melbourne to London via Tokyo because of their complimentary overnight hotel. However due to the Narita accident, we were rebooked at Sydney Airport onto a Qantas flight via Bangkok to London. We were in Heathrow 10 hours earlier than planned but missing out of the overnight rest. We returned to Australia from Tokyo on JAL. It was a B767 instead of those old 747 without personal screens. The onboard service was good but the food was horrible – cheese macaroni for dinner and frozen croissant for breakfast. Compared to the food service on flight between Heathrow and Tokyo, it is of a different grade. It negates their staff wonderful service. Might just as well pack your own dinner and fly Jetstar to save some money.