Japan Airlines

HEL-NRT on 19/8/2013. The aircraft for the route was a new B787 which is quiet and comfortable as such. The service was Japanese style - extremely polite yet distant. Food in business class was a strange mix of excellent and mediocre dishes. The seat was not a very comfortable seat for a nearly 190 cm height. It was not lie flat seat and was uncomfortable for a business class seat. All in all a fine service but not great.

My family and I flew from Narita to JFK in July 2013. We were fortunate to have row 23 seats ABC & D on a 777-200 which is the first row past business class. Plenty of legroom which was a blessing. However the entertainment selection was rather poor especially the movie selection for our 12 + hour flight. I wish they offered a bit more choice as far as the food selection goes. I know most of the people were Japanese and they liked it but I'm not. Would I fly JAL again? If they offered the best price I certainly would.

Flight JL 074 15th July 2013. KL to Tokyo and it was probably the best journey that I've had. Cabin is very well maintained good food cabin crew very polite and the food is exceptionally good too. I am tall and I had good leg room space and overall I was very happy in choosing Japan Airlines.

NRT to LHR on flight JL401 on 30th July economy. Check in smooth and fast. On board the seats were incredibly uncomfortable. I honestly think they had just covered the hard shell of the seat in fabric because there was so little padding but it felt like there was plenty of legroom. Customer service on board was (as expected from a Japanese airline) spectacular. I'm on a gluten free diet and the stewards who were all bilingual were extremely polite and helpful. What really impressed me on this flight was the food. Bearing in mind I was in economy I didn't expect to be served two gourmet meals (by airline standards) including a steak and red wine reduction! Although this was a special gluten free meal everyone seemed impressed with the food in general which all looked very good. Without a doubt the best food I've had on a flight including business class on BA. Other than the uncomfortable seats my major complaint is the IFE which was appalling. Only a handful of English language movies of which 4 were so-called "new releases" and only 5 of which I'd ever heard of. There wasn't a single English language TV show on board and the Japanese programming (which was plentiful) doesn't do much for a western audience. I'd consider another airline next time I fly to Japan - on a 12 hour flight the last thing I want is to run out of things to watch.

SYD-NRT NRT-LHR LHR-NRT NRT-SYD. Excellent service including food cabin crew and AVOD. Was my first experience on the new Business Skysleeper seat that reclines to 100% flat. Very comfortable and very private. Plenty of room to stretch out with lots of room in the seated position to store magazines laptop headphones etc. Ability to order meals post the first meal service using the touch screen controller on the seat. Very convenient. Excellent value as well especially when considering I was connecting to the LHR-NRT leg from Frankfurt and this flight was included as part of the original fare at no cost in J class. Will definitely fly again.

I bought a one-way ticket on JAL at the last minute MNL-NRT-JFK for about USD 800 a great value. The flights were right on time on Boeing 767 and 777 the seating and food was very good. USB charger and stainless steel silverware were extra touches. The Asian food was very good as were the Japanese beer and French wine.

NRT-PVG was excellent food and service. TPE-HND a few days later was not so good - although a 3.5hr flight the order for drink and meal was taken after takeoff and arrived together 45 mins later. No refill offered. The economy-style Japanese rice/pork dish had been ruined by re-heating leaving rice more like a biscuit pork and veg solid. When I said it was inedible they appeared surprised. An apology and hope that my next JAL flight experience will be better from manager. I wonder whether there is a different service standard in/out of HND compared to NRT.

NRT-SYD and BKK-HND. It was my first time on this airline and I thought their service and product were extraordinary. The meals were very tasty Japanese and even served with Miso-soup. On leg between BKK-HND portions were a little small (night flight) with no meal choice. The cabin and toilets are very clean which I think is always important. AVOD was working perfectly and there were enough English options to choose from. The Crew was outstanding! They are not only correct and polite all the time but smiling and cheering as well.

FRA-NRT-FRA. Business class seat rather uncomfortable. Front of the business cabin was freezing while back was too hot. Staff just did not speak English which was rather frustrating at the time. I had ordered a Gluten Free meal due to my allergy and I was starving the whole time in both directions meals were not even a snack size and just salad leaves. My main complaint would be the food I guess JAL took the food allergy as allergic to food. It was horrible! My advice: pay a bit more and fly ANA.

BKK-YVR. 767-300. Food really excellent ditto red wine. Lots of attentiveness from FA. Efficient airline but a major negative is the seating in Business Class. Seats narrow and for me it was impossible to sleep because the seat does not lie flat and thus one 'slips' all the time. The airfare was ridiculously cheap but the seating negates this advantage totally.