JAPAN AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  18 November 2009 by Quek Keng Guan   (Singapore)

Travelled from Okinawa to Tokyo Hanada on B747-400 in J Class. Check in staff assisted us as we are travelling with 2 kids (4 yrs, 18 mths). JAL check in counter has displays of weather of destination, seats available in Y class. Managed to obtain J class upgrades with 1000Yen (S$15.50). Seat has more recline and cushion and a padded footrest for this flight sector of 2.5 hrs. Two rounds of drink service done via trolley and Japanese cookies were given with wet wipes given, with frequent FA rounds. Cabin appears more cheerful in their pink coloured theme compared to grey contrast in their domestic Y class. Only Japanese news were screened on their main screen, and 10 channels of music (namely 9 channels of Japanese music and 1 channel of classic music) were available. Inflight magazine all in Japanese. Inflight duty sales available. J class were full on this sector while Y class were only 50% full, with many Japanese students returning to Tokyo with Okinawians goodies. Overall, J class is worth the upgrade!

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  12 November 2009 by Greg Harrison   (USA)

Chicago O'Hare - Nagoya (via Tokyo Narita), Boeing 747 and Boeing 737. Osaka - Chicago O'Hare (via Tokyo), Boeing 777 on both return flights. Flight to Tokyo on the 747 was disappointing. Outdated entertainment system, cramped seats, little storage under seats. However, flight attendants were warm and friendly, typical Japanese hospitality. Meals average, nice proportions, real silverware and wood chopsticks offered. Hot towel offered before meals, hot green tea and coffee served after. Be sure to try their sky time yuzu drink. Cabin and bathrooms very clean. Domestic service is typical. Pillows and blankets offered, drinks service after take-off etc. Seats are comfy with good amount of legroom. Once again, flight attendants very kind and welcoming. Flight from Tokyo was better - so much more legroom and seats a lot roomier. More storage space in overhead lockers and under seats. Magic III (features AVOD, multiplayer games, and more) is a lot better than Magic I, which was offered on the first flight. Meal routine and flight attendants' attitude are the same as inbound flight. Japan Airlines offers phenomenal service and a great product. The only bad thing is the Boeing 747, because the inflight entertainment and seats are very obsolete compared to the B777.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  10 November 2009 by David Maerz   (Australia)

SYD-NRT-AMS-KIX-NRT-SYD. Excellent service on all legs with new, comfortable aircraft (if a little warm in the cabin). Very friendly cabin crew, great meals and on-demand second meal service is welcome. The complimentary overnight stay at the Nikko Narita is a pleasant way to break up a long-haul trip. The lounge at Narita is lovely with a good meal and bar service. My wife and I were able to get an amazing business class deal, many thousands cheaper than the nearest rival. We also redeemed points very easily for a return business class journey SYD- NRT-SYD next year on our desired dates for travel. The JAL frequent flyer website is very easy to use. We have been flying JAL executive class since 2004 and always been impressed with the service.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  19 October 2009 by William Macintyre   (UK)

LHR-NRT-FUK return. Smooth check-ins, personable staff, and they try to do best to seat a long-legged person like myself in a seat that has some decent leg room if they can.

JAPAN AIRLINES customer review :  15 September 2009 by Bill Atkins   (USA)

SIN-NRT. Great check-in at private terminal with huge lounge and all the facilities, though no real food. Golf cart to the gate. Service on board unobtrusive and personal. Choice of snacks as late departure then decent breakfast before arrival. Great wines/other drinks choices. Old style twin seats, which I find extremely comfortable - cabin nice and cool (rare these days) with warm duvet and good pyjamas/cardigan. JAL always gets the priority baggage right. Hope they don't change to another alliance which will not match their style.

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).