JAPAN AIRLINES 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 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 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.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  5 May 2009 : by Roger Stone  (Australia)

BNE-NRT-JFK return economy class. I worked out that this routing gave the best option for good travel duration on each flight sector compared with very long initial trans-Pacific sector flight times on other airlines between Brisbane or Sydney and New York. This routing also offers the opportunity for a refreshing overnight transit stop at one of the Narita Airport hotels. Oddly, however, the guy at Brisbane immigration needed to be convinced that the earth is indeed round and spherical and one can fly over the polar regions between Australia and the United States. On these JAL and JALways flights the flight attendants were hard working, polite, gracious, well-groomed and attentive. B767 and B777 were clean and toilets always kept clean. My One World Emerald preferences always carried through the booking system so seat preferences were honoured and I even managed a small upgrade from base economy to premium economy on the NRT-JFK leg (premium economy seating on JAL is exceptionally good). All flights on time. The ground crews at Tokyo Narita even wave a pleasant good bye to all flights. The JAL web site offers very useful and efficient web check-in facilities. The only small disappointment I had was that, despite being a One World Emerald customer, this does not get any priority baggage handling on JAL (unlike, say, Cathay Pacific where one would get highest priority). In fact, on all flights on JAL, my bag came out last or near to last and this aspect was quite frustrating, especially after having had to go through many hours of health checks as well due to the influenza pandemic checks (which JAL handled very professionally). On the other hand, First Class check-in and access to the First Class lounge at Tokyo Naritia was very worthwhile. The ambience, food and wine in that lounge is exceptionally good. Also JAL have nice hot towels served twice throughout each flight sector. However the food servings back in '4th class' (discount economy) were pretty small and not necessarily that tasty, with the exception of the flights originating in Japan.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  30 April 2009 : by J Campos  (USA)

JFK-NRT-YVR 747-400, Y-class. First flight experience with JAL. Exceptionally swift check-in at JFK with eager agent ready to provide info on flight and amenities at Terminal 1. Also agent insured that our child received a toddler meal. Boarding process was smooth especially as pax from Sao Paulo (where flight originated) re-boarded this full flight . Decided to take JL Flt 47 as this was the earliest departure despite utilizing an older 747-400 - later flight utilizes the newer 777-300 aircraft. Seats seemed a bit more narrow than US carriers. These small inconveniences were amply offset by the amazingly attentive flt attendants. 1-hr after departure, drinks flowed and lunch was served, followed by more refreshments. I have never witnessed more hard working flt attendants than on JAL. They moved up and down the aisle constantly. My toddler was treated to a variety of JAL gifts and offered a plethora of childrens books. The inflight entertainment system was adequate as movies were on a loop (vs on demand). Return flight via YVR (YVR-JFK on Cathay) was equally impressive although felt like the UN as pax from India connected to this flt as well as Mexicans continuing on JALs flight to Mexico City. Agree with 4-star ranking (5 with AVOD/newer plane) and will fly them again especially with children.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  24 April 2009 : by Y Kim  (UK)

NRT-LHR First class. It was very poor service considering the class I have flown and compared to ANA on the same route. No pre flight drink service (Note: this is not allowed under Japanese law). However, there was 3 attendants for 4 first class passengers and it took them more than 30min after taking off to ask my choice of the first drink. I ordered champagne, but for them, it must have been so difficult serving me a glass finally - it took another 15 some mins. Meal service was also poor. I had 2 empty bottles of water and a can of perrier and an empty glass. They had been lying there until I asked them to take them all away. But they managed to arrange my blankets when I returned to the seat from the toilet. Japanese is my mother tongue and I have no probs communicating with them in Japanese, they were so polite, almost too polite, but no real service was offered. I changed my return flight carrier to CX. Much better and worth the amount you pay for the first class. I am sure JAL do not mind losing just one first class passenger - but I know that I am not the only one they are losing.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  18 April 2009 : by T Chaudhary  (UK)

Heathrow to Narita return in economy class. B777-300 in good condition. The flight attendants were helpful and cheerful. But 12 continuous hours in an economy seat can get very uncomfortable. During checkin at both airports I tried my best to purchase an upgrade to premium economy but to no avail. JAL dont seem to allow cash upgrades unlike BA who charged me £120 last year on a flight back from Hong Kong. This is something JAL really need to look at and relax their rules about. I hadnt pre-booked a vegetarian option for the meals, and they didnt have any spare meals either, so had to nibble on a lot of rice/crackers & fruit. Ground staff in Narita were all polite and efficient.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  26 March 2009 : by D Bower  (USA)

Customer service has apparently died at JAL. This week's FedEx cargo plane crash at Narita airport left JAL customer service personnel, including managers, not doing much of anything to help their passengers deal with the inconvenience of having flights cancelled. We were scheduled to return home to Honolulu from Narita when we learned at the airport that our flight had been cancelled. All week long, JAL personnel has failed to offer us any assistance in getting home as soon as possible. Even managers are telling us, "It's not our fault. There's nothing we can do." What happened to treating the customer with repsect and compassion when flights are cancelled... due to weather, plane repairs, or closed runways due to plane crashes? We're appalled by the lack of response from JAL. Up until last year, we were loyal customers of ANA but decided to switch our allegiance to JAL in part because of their reputation for great customer service. I'm afraid we may have made a huge mistake. True customer service is dead at JAL.

JAPAN AIRLINES review :  10 March 2009 : by Brian Smith  (Japan)

NRT-SFO-NRT in premium economy class. The whole reason I use JAL is for their premium economy class and the value and comfort it provides. The lounge at NRT is amazing, that standard Sakura lounges in the US airports look bad in comparison. Also, the meals are economy meals. They are very carbohydrate heavy but marginally satisfying. You don't starve, but it is mostly carb. Oddly enough, they serve economy before they serve premium and they ran out of meal choices. When I complained they apologized three times with three different flight attendants, but it still wasn't a satisfactory answer considering I paid more for my seat! Otherwise service and seat comfort were fine as usual. I recommend JAL only for their new 777's with this premium economy class product. As others have said, and myself, their fleet is imbalanced and many planes are old and decrepit.