Japan Airlines

If you are travelling with family do not fly with Japan Airlines (JAL). My wife son and I are currently sitting in the Qantas lounge at Narita airport as we transit to Taipei from Boston. Why are we in the Qantas Lounge a 10 minute walk from the JAL gates rather than the JAL lounge even though our entire return journey from Taipei to Boston was with JAL? Because the "friendly" staff at the JAL lounge informed me that even though I am a Platinum Oneworld member (of which JAL is a partner) I can only bring one guest into the lounge even if the second guest is my 8 year old son! Both Cathay and Qantas have shown common sense whenever we use their lounges allowing the three of us to enter. JAL where process trumps common sense - not nice at all.

HND-SFO Mar 25 2015 flight: JL002. SFO-HND Apr 7 2015 Flight: JL001. I am now a fan of JAL! I flew Tokyo HND to SFO and back! SkySuite on 777-300. It was excellent. Big crisp and responsive IFE display. Movies were very limited for a 12 hour flight though. I wish there were more movie options. Service is impeccable! Very polite responsive FAs. On time performance! I will definitely fly on JAL again!

PEK-HND-KMJ-HND-PEK Economy. Really pleasantly surprised by JAL. 787 from PEK-HND was brand new great plane fantastic IFE selection (esp for a 3hr flight) friendly cabin crew and best economy class food I've eaten in a long time. Not sure what others are complaining about in terms of legroom I'm 5'11 and don't usually fly Economy but this was fine more legroom than I'm used to in Europe. Domestic Japan flights decent no meal but friendly FAs and drinks offered. Overall I think JAL's better than BA and the economy food was tastier than our Air China First Class meals on connecting flights to London!

Flew Tokyo to Sydney Boeing 777. Flight 771. This plane was really old! It is the most cramped aircraft that I have ever had the misfortune to fly in. The cabin was too hot just adding to the sense of claustrophobia. The service and food was ok but because of the large number of cramped passengers the trays were slow to be removed. Anyone of even moderately large frame would virtually not fit. An awful experience! Never again JAL!

Flew NRT-YVR night flight on 787. Departure delayed by a couple of tardy business class pax then we taxied around for nearly 1 hour before take-off because we missed our slot. Dinner was excellent and just as I was thinking an ice cream would really top this off they came round with ice cream except if you had ordered a special meal then you aren't eligible! (luckily some other people declined so they found me one but why skimp on this?). Breakfast was a bit minimal. Recaro seats not too bad but the footrest is annoying and a couple more inches of leg room would have been nice. IFE excellent selection and nice big screen but touch screen functions hardly ever worked. Overall a good experience I would fly JAL again.

I cannot praise this airline or its staff enough. On my trip to Japan I was treated with respect the food was good stewards very friendly and the in-flight selection of movies was great. On my return trip the flight from Aomori to Tokyo was a domestic flight and a blizzard had delayed my flight a couple of hours or so. Ground staff spoke little to no English however they did their best to make sure I felt comfortable and help me make my flight home to Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo with less than 25 minutes before my flight to San Francisco took off I needed to get to the international terminal. The stewardess' tag-team sprinted me to the bus station rode the bus with me to the airport and dragged me through security. I made my flight by one minute and unbelievably my bag made it too!

Travelled in March - JFK to NRT. Generally like JAL except for the following: 1) Only two choices for soda in coach. 2) Selection on IFE was rather limited. 3) Seat cushion was hard. 3) Found a small piece of metal part in my meal and showed to FA no follow-up from JAL on that.

JL0772 8 Mar 2015. JL0771 20 Mar 2015. Cabin terribly hot took over 8 minutes to answer service call no amenities kit staff reluctant to give us a pen to fill out immigration form despite having heaps of them. Food poor but edible. Inflight entertainment poor - old movies not much choice. No Japanese meal option. Crew robotic slow to remove meal trays. Would never fly again. If you feel heat easily do not go with this airline or wear shorts and cool tops.

JL5 / JL711 JFK-NRT-SIN. Excellent service on both sectors from exceedingly courteous and warm crew. Departures were right on the nose and arrivals close to on time. The legroom is a real winner allowing you to stretch out and there were no underseat obstruction from any IFE box. Puts most of the other carriers on this route to shame. Cabin toilets and seats were generally well maintained if not immaculate on the 777 and 767. Both had the Sky wider economy cabins. Meals were well portioned tasty and well presented. A little snack bar set up in both galleys on the transpacific. The crew were always present in the cabin which was impressive. I couldn't fault the crew at all. The only 2 points that detracted from the terrific experience were the actual seat cushioning and the IFE. While the legroom was excellent the seat design great - the seat cushioning itself felt hard quite soon into the trip to NRT. Perhaps pack a seat pad if you go. The IFE system was quick and responsive but I found the selections a little limited compared to other airlines. WiFi was available on both flights but I didn't take advantage of it. Would certainly fly JAL again for the price service and connections.

Flight JL026 HKG-HND. This flight's business class looks more like premium economy. Its business class seat configuration is 2-3-2 for a Boeing 777 so the seat is a bit narrow. However the food and staff services were excellent. Inflight Entertainment was good as well.