hello my name is Paul Stewart and today I'm heading off to Japan which is a
country I quite like to visit. I find a history very interesting and I quite
like the culture where everything is very organized, very clean and everyone
is always very friendly. Whenever I visit new country I like to check out
their national airline so coming up is my review of the Japan Airlines Business
class product in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
from Sydney through to Tokyo.
As always the journey begins at check-in where I've dropped off my bag and got my
boarding pass. I was given a card to get through the express customs and you will
find that pathway right behind the Qantas check-in counters. Japan Airlines
don't have their own lounge at Sydney so they used their One World partner
Qantas' business lounge. I actually found out today that there's a complete
refurbishment that's due to begin in two months but here it is anyway at
approximately 6:30 in the morning. There is a buffet breakfast and after around
8:30, there is a plate of the day service which will be served to your table.
There is also fresh barista made coffee. Luckily for me, I've reached
Emerald status with the One World alliance so I was granted access to the
Qantas First Lounge, which as you can see, is pretty impressive now I should
clarify that unfortunately a business-class ticket alone won't get
you into this lounge. Breakfast continued with some fruit juice followed by a cup
of coffee and then some plane spotting. As you can see, it's Airbus a380-central
in Sydney this morning and thankfully we should see them in our skies for well
over another ten years although it's sad to hear that production is ceasing.
My flight was called and I took off to the gate. Now the aircraft for the flight is a
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and this particular one first flew in 2016 and is powered by
a General Electric engine, which is probably why it's not in a maintenance shed
I suppose. Boarding was called and I headed on board early to get some filming done
now there are two business cabins onboard with my seat 3A being
in the forward one. The seats are in a 2-2-2 layout although as you can see they
all still have direct all access.
The middle seats are best for couples as they're directly next to each other
while the window seats are slightly staggered allowing easy access for
window seats to the aisle. But having said that, window seats would still be
fine for couples as you can still turn your head around and say g'day.
Now I'll quickly go through the seat in more detail beginning with the power
plugs which are within easy reach.
Above that is it in-flight entertainment remote and underneath that is the
fold-out table
now this will return to the side allowing you to escape your seat during meal service.
Here are the buttons to control the seats and further on is another reading
lamp and head phones holder.
in front of you is a TV screen with a reasonable-sized
ledge in another ledge below that that also works as a footrest and the end of
the bed. Right above you re more lights but unfortunately there's no air
vents. I find aircraft cabins usually quite hot
so I really like a constant flow of air so that's rather unfortunate.
Here's a privacy barrier going up and the seat folding completely flat
Next up is the amenity kit and I'll be giving this away to a lucky subscriber
with details later on in the video. Some lucky soul we'll be able to take home this
medication stick which sounds suspicious. A choice of juice or champagne was brought
aroun,d on a plastic cup, and here's the slippers and noise cancelling headphones
which you can store on this nifty spot just above the reading lamp. Now there
are no pj is provided although you do get this jacket which you'll see me
modeling later on. We backed out and the engines started spinning. One
thing I really like about JAL is that the ground crew do this bow and wave every
single time the aircraft leaves. It's unnecessary and
time-consuming although it's a wonderful little piece of Japanese culture.
Here is another Airbus A380 and then it was our turn. I'll speed up through most
of the takeoff and I'll upload the full takeoff footage in a separate video on
my second channel Paul Stewart EXTRA and a link to that will be in the video
description below
As we broke through the clouds I had this opportunity to play with the
windows. I have been a critic of them and I find they draw out the colors when I'm
attempting to take photos and also the crew can lock them in the dark setting
stopping you from enjoying the view but thankfully the window dimming was
completely under my control on this flight. After a minute or two, they get to
the darkest setting although as you can see here they still struggle in
direct sunlight.
By the way I did find this view of the aircraft shadow pretty cool and you can
see the chemtrails being dumped over Byron Bay which seems appropriate.
Next up a warm towel was brought around and I headed into the bathroom to check out
this jacket. The bathroom itself is perfectly adequate with the usual
amenities here for your taking.
there was also this cool little card from the crew in both English and
Japanese. now I really like PJs as that they keep your regular clothes fresh
although it became obvious that I was meant to keep those clothes on rather than
just wear the jacket. Comment below and let me know what you
think. I reckon I was probably one of the coolest people inside the toilet and I'm
fairly sure I regret loading this photo to the internet. Anyway I put on my
normal clothes and returned to my seat. The journey continued up north over
Queensland and I'd like to mention these two very Australian locations
Mount Lindsay and Alaughterhouse Pinnacle. If you know the origin of
the second one's name please comment below. What became evident as well was
how dry everything was. International viewers might realise that Australia is
going through a drought at the moment and a few months ago I took part in the
Qantas Drought Relief event in Longreach and a
link to this is in the video description below. A big shoutout to our farmers
doing it tough down there. The meal service begun with a round of drinks and
I continued with the champagne. Japan Airlines offer both a Japanese and a
Western option and I went with the former. I really enjoy the intricate
little bits of food and frankly have no idea what I'm eating most of the time.
I will post photos off the menus at the end of the video. The appetizer was salmon
and chicken and tasted great. Following that was the main course, most of which I
can't identify and and I'm not sure if it was actually the same as what
was on the menu.
there's this cool little chopstick holder although I realized afterwards I
was using it incorrectly. For the second main, there was this grilled Cod and
simmered shrimp with veggies and, of course there was rice and miso soup.
By the way this ledge is perfectly sized for an eye for an eight in case you were
wondering. And finally some plum wine and a blueberry cake for dessert and some
green tea.
Another towel was brought around and a bottle of water as I mentioned before,
the table does swivel around so you can escape for a stroll during meal service
which is useful to know. We continued north along Queensland's coast and flew
up where I'm assuming was the Great Barrier Reef
A top-up of the plum wine was bought around and I reclined to watch the
in-flight entertainment. I must admit that I found it a little clunky and the
list of TV shows and movies would only come up on the remote rather than
the big screen so you couldn't really search it that well. I also found the
content was a little limited although the actual screen quality was fine and
the in-flight map was always a cool feature. I might mention here too that I
found this seat is really well-designed. people may wonder if it's a little
claustrophobic although I found it easily spacious enough and obviously
very private. Next up was a JAL original drink called SkyTeam Kiwi which tasted
fine and a cup of coffee. Now flying as much as I do
I've come to really appreciate a good crew and I must admit that it would be
very tough with the jetlag, sleeping in hotels and working in very cramped
conditions in the galleys. The nature of the service industry is that they'd
probably only get feedback when it's negative so I've started bring chocolates
as a token of my appreciation. It's certainly something worth considering if
you fly frequently and are usually very well looked after.
Just behind my seats in the middle galley was a collection of self-serve
items and some cool coasters which are quite literally now on my dining table.
I watched a movie for a few hours before selecting more to eat. There's a single
meal provided so anything further will have to be requested from that 'any time
you wish' menu. For second lunch, I started with their Japanese hot udon noodles,
and of course, what goes with soup? Wine. A sav blanc from New Zealand .
Following that were sandwiches; salmon cream cheese and roast beef, and both tasted great. Now
unlike the sandwiches I've had from a particular airline that frequents
Heathrow and rhymes with Mitish Pairways. they used bread rather than concrete
slabs and they didn't even taste like they'd been in the fridge for days.
For sandwiches, I was actually really impressed and for second dessert I had
cheese, fruit and more plum wine. And then killed some time watching BBC
news streamed, and of course, believing everything there say because the British
accent is just intrinsically intelligent sounding. And I enjoyed the view as we
crossed Japan's coastline.
Overall I thought this was a really good flight. I really like a seat design and
find them to be really private yet not too claustrophobic. Now having said that,
there is limited enclosed storage although the aisle seats on the sides do
have this semi enclosed area which will be perfectly sized for a small bag or
laptop. I think they are moving to the standard reverse herringbone shape that
everyone else is using although I think I'll miss this design. The service is
really good as was the food and drink. Now the in-flight entertainment screen
was fine although, as I said before, the actual content was lacking, unless I was
using it correctly! I don't feel like I'm that technologically inept!
I couldn't actually find much to watch. Japan Airlines often offer well priced
business fares through to Europe for Australians so
it's certainly worth considering and I'll certainly fly with them again. In fact,
I'm doing so tomorrow but in first class so make sure you subscribe and check the
notification bell so that YouTube tells you as soon as I've uploaded a new video.
And finally the amenity kit and a few other goodies which I'll give away to
a subscriber. To enter in the giveaway simply comment below including the text
(JALGiveAway) and in 30 days I'll select a
winner. Full details are in the video description below. iIf you've enjoyed
the video please give it a thumbs up and check out my channel for heaps more
similar videos. Thanks for watching enjoy the sunset landing in to Tokyo's Narita
Airport and then the menus