JAL First class review

 

I was very excited to take JAL's first class Sky Suite.  The route I took was from SFO (San Francisco) to HND (Haneda).  It was a blissful 11 hour flight.

Unfortunately, I can't say that about their SFO private lounge area.  The first class lounge is essentially a small room next to the business class lounge with a sliding door separating both areas.  They basically have club chairs line up against walls and that's it.  No amazing designs (which Japanese are known for) and food station is in the business lounge area with just typical nuts and soda.  Going into the room made me feel depressed actually and I should feel opposite!

Luckily my seat on the airplane was fabulous!  The brown leather seat is nice and wide (although not as wide as Cathay Pacific's) and there are plenty of storage compartments where you can store your hand bags and ipads.  Normally your tray is stored in armrest.  But this particular design, your tray is actually butt below your TV and can be slide to you when you want to use it.  I actually don't like this design as I typically wear my seat belt at all times so when I want to use the tray table, I actually have to unbuckle myself to get the tray.... not end of the world but a slight negative with the design imo.

The amenity kit is from Loewe!  Nothing extraordinary inside though... just your typical eye mask, refresh towel, brush, lip balm, etc.  But the bag is cool and I love Loewe so a big plus for me!  Oh, and you also get Shiseido products. I got travel size bottles of cleansing face wash, hydrating toner and total revitalizer face cream.  I actually like the face cream quite a bit.  I need to go to my local mall to pick one up.  You also get a set of PJ.  I have to say, their PJ is the softest one when compare to British Airways and Cathay Pacific) although the top is thicker than the other airlines which may be a plus or minus depending on the person.

Food is good not great.  For my dinner, they give you a nice jar of caviar which is tasty although the jar is smaller than the ones from Cathay.  I thought sushi would be great on JAL.  Well, not so much....  I'll just leave it at that.  I had a lobster salad which was tasty.  Fruit plate was nicely presented.  For breakfast, I had Japanese breakfast which was good.

I usually don't sleep much on international flights regardless if I get lie flat seat or not.  JAL give you option of soft mattress or hard mattress.  I picked the soft one.  I ended up sleeping for 4 hours which is very good for me.... so I definitely like their beds.

The bathroom is your typical airplane bathroom except they have that water spray function you see on many Japanese toilets!  A first I seen on any airplane I've ever been on. 

Overall, I have to say I'm very happy with my flight.  I thought the service was very good, my seat was very good, and food was good.  They can definitely improve with their SFO first class lounge situation and better sushi on board.