Truly, honestly, no hyperbole. This is the best sleep I’ve ever had in Business Class. Hi there,
my name is Kevin and I make honest, unsponsored and to the point narrated
video tours about hotels and flights all over the world. This is my 91st video and
today we’ve got a long haul Business Class trip report on Japan Airlines
from Tokyo Haneda to New York Kennedy. I hope you’ll stick around and join me on the trip.
Welcome to the very cool, calm and collected Tokyo Haneda airport. I just arrived,
literally like 5 minutes ago from Saigon and will shortly catch this flight to New York.
If you’d like to know more details about the fare I paid for this flight and the
next five videos I have in queue, please feel free to check the description below.
By the time I arrived from my connecting flight we should have been boarding already, but they had
posted a delay, I believe due to my flight landing late. So, up to the First Class lounge I went,
which was open to all Business and First class passengers due to consolidation at the moment.
Plus because of the delay I was able to have a few minutes to catch my breath in between flights and
ask you, no matter if you’re here researching a future flight, reliving a past one or just
daydreaming about the next one, to please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe for three
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ever my ears are open for any feedback or comments you may have. So, if you’re able to subscribe
or if you’d prefer to check out my new Patreon, whichever the case I thank you greatly in advance.
As happy as I was to visit the First Class lounge though I was literally in there for like 12
minutes. Long enough to film a few shots and sit and watch the apron for a few moments as I not so
delicately chugged a bottle of San Pellegrino so I could get back to the gate- after all,
I purposely hadn’t slept on the inbound overnight flight so my brain was in that
foggy place when you’re lucky if you know the country you’re in, let alone the time.
We ended up taking off 76 minutes late making our way up to 37000 feet for the
fairly long almost 13 hour flight which had us landing 77 minutes late. Not a great showing,
but I honestly couldn’t care less. I was just excited for Apex Suites.
Boarding commenced and I quickly found my way to my bulkhead window seat 7 alpha.
Look at all of that room. Let’s take a closer look.
By the way, what do you think of these graphics? Useful? Unnecessary? Ground breaking? Dumb?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Today’s 777-300ER is equipped with two rows of first class with seven rows of business class
behind for a total of 49 business class seats. Note that row five is probably the most desirable
as it’s it’s own mini cabin, but those seats are generally reserved for JAL elite members-
and plus, once you’re in your seat, you have no sense of how big or small the cabin actually is.
Row 5 not available for me, I happily settled for 7A, having changed at the last minute from 8K. In
terms of seats to avoid. 11A and K are missing a window, but each seat has 3-4 windows so it’s
not the end of the world. Otherwise, I’d just be a bit bummed if I got stuck in any E seat.
Going into detail about the seat dimensions. By my own measurements the seat itself is 20” wide
between the armrests and 19” deep which provides for plenty of leg support. At the shoulders, the
boxy seat expands to 20.5”, but when you convert it into a bed, the armrests fold lower giving you
an unobstructed 27.5” of width essentially from head to toe, which spans 74” in length. I’m a
stomach sleeper and so I generally do not sleep lie flat in any Business Class seats- and I don’t
hold that against them, but this was the best six hours of sleep I’ve ever had in business class.
Waiting at each seat was a bottle of water and a sanitizing wipe on the teeny tiny side table,
if you can call it that. This is my only real gripe about this seat. In front we
have the IFE monitor which honestly it doesn’t matter if its touch screen or
not because it’s so far away with the footrest and literature pocket below.
Note that the bulkhead seats give slightly more space in the opening to the aisle,
but in terms of actual space inside your pod, I do not believe there are any other advantages.
In front of you to the right is a universal outlet and standard USB-A connection which was perfectly
located for a bit of an extra breeze as these 777s do not have individual air vents. Just behind is
the remote control for the IFE and then closer to your seat on the same side are the seat controls.
In terms of openness- it’s probably one of the most closed cabins there are, with fairly high
walls and center storage bins, but I never really though open cabins we’re that great of a thing.
The seat itself has an adjustable headrest which can be flush with
the seat- again as for side or stomach sleepers, a huge plus.
Waiting on the seat was an amenity kit, full menu, pillow and a thicker duvet,
which I was shocked to find myself actually using- expecting the cabin to be baking hot.
Over your shoulder you’ll find a reading light which only after
I read the 4 page guide to the seat did I realize were headphone holders.
Those were my headphones which I was
happy to have as the over ear ones provided left a bit to be desired.
Then in the incredibly convenient location of above and behind your
head is a small storage bin with a net over it. Who would actually use this,
I have no idea. Under the storage bin is your seat mate’s peek-a-boo corridor
to the windows which also serves as a much needed storage space for the aisle seats.
Now onto the amenity kit. The pouch was nice, branded Maison Kitsuné. Found it strange though
that there were no branded products inside, just the generic JAL ones. Writing the script
now, just found out it’s a clothing brand not a cosmetic company, so that explains that.
And then there’s the cardigan, the loaned cardigan, the loaned corduroy cardigan. I mean,
I live in Asia, I get it but it’s just weird to me personally and while I don’t
think all cardigans scream “old man”, this one certainly does.
The duvet was thick and warm but definitely could have been a bit softer.
Nice quality slippers also on offer along with the fancy airweave pillow which I’m
still not a fan of- but at least this pillow filled the whole case.
The table popped up from the side panel and in addition to being plenty sturdy and large
could also swivel so you could squeeze out of the seat if needed. Might I also note
just how politely the table pops up on its own.
In reality though that space above the table always had stuff on it so not totally
convenient since the other surface was pretty far away- unless the seat next to you is free
in which case you have plenty of space- so yeah, just buy two seats and you’ll be good.
The IFE remote was much more responsive than on the 787 I was on prior.
And now, please let me show just a couple clips of their safety video
that I think is a true gem of Japanese production- and I’m not being sarcastic,
I really do appreciate the specificity of the video.
So yeah, leave your bag behind, got it. Pushback came and I got to say goodbye
to the 787-9 that brought me here before a wave from the ground crew.
As tired as I was taxiing probably felt longer than it actually was,
but I did catch a cool little engine tornado.
Lining up to take off to the south, the best sound on earth is up next.
And then the 2nd best sound…
So today’s route was very southerly, relatively speaking. The dashed line
above is the great circle route, but of course we were avoiding
Russian airspace which added around an hour to the flight time- fine with me.
So,
after take off if you’d like you can raise the divider to block yourself
off from the rest of the world. Next up is the first meal service.
Tables were set with a table cloth and wet napkins were handed out,
followed by a drink service. If you can tell, I prefer clear stuff. So I
went with a sparkling water and a sake which was served with rice crackers.
And here we have the full menu on offer- a menu that I still think is oddly named.
The print is tiny so feel free to pause and zoom in.
I went with the Japanese menu. For this menu, the meal was titled the Mountain’s Smile. And it
included, get ready, Saikyo Miso flavor grilled black cod, yuba roll, simmered duck meatball,
butterbur stems with carrots, bamboo shoots and japanese pepper buds, simmered abalone and sea
urchin in abalone broth sauce. A prawn cake, an omelette with crab and vegetables and rounding
out the starters was simmered sakura shrimp with potherb mustard, red konjac and deep fried tofu.
All were good except the meatball which had a very unappetizing texture.
Next up, the main course. First of all, how is it even possible that the foil is still so neat.
When you get a foil covered main on United it looks like it’s been through war. Anyway,
it was Braised beef with garland chrysanthemum, udo mountain vegetable and burdock, deep fried
salmon with asparagus and ren’s special curry served with pickles, rice and miso soup.
For dessert I learned a new word and went with the western option, a Berry Savarin.
Next up, a peak at the surprisingly empty bathroom. Literally nothing on offer.
And now, time to get some sleep on that magnificent 27.5” wide bed,
topped with a squishy and comfortable mattress topper.
Around six hours later I woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the making over Montana.
Minutes later a flight attendant stopped by to ask if I wanted anything. I ordered two
types of sandwiches, honestly thinking they would be little bites- but they were pretty
substantial and tasty as well. One being pork katsu and the other a smoked salmon roll up
at which point I started what was around eight cups of fairly decent filter coffee.
A note about the service, it was phenomenal. It was formal and polite but every interaction went
a step beyond what is expected. Case in point, while I was filming the sunrise, out of the corner
of my eye I saw a flight attendant approach and then take a step back. Around 30 seconds later
she came back with a handwritten note reading “Would you like to have some breakfast?” as she
didn’t want to disrupt the recording- which would have been fine anyway, but you see what I mean.
By the way, those sandwiches and the rest of the food on the flight come from the Anytime you wish
menu which is available from the conclusion of the first meal service until 90 minutes before
arrival. Other “snacks” on option were a kelp-marinated olive flounder meal set,
fettuccine in bolognese sauce and a vegetarian ham salad. Quite the random assortment. Also on
the anytime menu was a full japanese and western breakfast set, of which I ordered the Japanese.
Included was Simmered Ginger flavored wagyu beef,
boiled egg with japanese peppercorn, pickled fruit tomato- still don’t know
what that means- and green vegetables along with rice, pickles and soup.
We started our descent near the New York Pennsylvania border before crossing over
North Jersey before making a big old circle on final approach which actually revealed
some turquoise waters south of Long Island, which even after seeing I still don’t really believe.
So, during our very uneventful taxi, I’ll just sum up quickly that an Apex Suite on a 777 is my new
gold standard for sleeping in business class and I very much look forward to my next flight with JAL.
Now on to the Flip Flop Score. Feel free to pause to take a closer look. I really hope
you enjoyed this video today and hope you’ll subscribe for much much more content to come.
I’d love to see you on Wednesday at the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore.