We flew Japan Airlines from Boston to Bangkok via Tokyo. Overall, it was a wonderful experience with excellent service and food.

Booking

We transferred Capital One Points into our Cathay Pacific (Airline based in Hong Kong) account and booked our flight through them. Cathay and Japan are partners and often you get better rates booking through a partner website.

Check-in and Boston and British Airways Lounge

Japan Airlines has a desk dedicated to their premier passengers and we were all checked-in within minutes. Our flight was in the early afternoon and since most of Boston’s international flights go to Europe and leave later in the day, the terminal was empty, and security was a breeze.

Japan Airlines is a member of the OneWorld Alliance which means business passengers get access to the British Airways Lounge in Boston. For an out-station lounge, it was quite nice and empty. Boston Logan lounges are notoriously packed, but since British Airways limits their entry to OneWorld premier passengers, it was quite empty. No Priority Pass or credit cards are getting you into this one. The food options were nice, the curry was good. We did not have very much time in the lounge, so we had a quick snack and boarded our plane.

Japan Airlines Lounge Tokyo

We really did not have much time to visit, but we had a coffee and small snack. There was plenty of seating and a separate dining room we did not have a chance to visit. I did want to shower, but there was a line, and our layover was short. The lounge was packed as it was clear we were transiting at peak time in Tokyo.

Boarding and Seats

Boarding was quick and easy. Unlike the USA-based airlines where anyone who has ever been to a doctor can board first, group 1 meant group 1. Japan Airlines has different configurations for their business class seats so I highly recommend looking up your plane and choosing seats ahead of time.

On our flight to Tokyo, we had the JAP Sky Suite seats which were great. All are lie-flat and provide aisle access. Be sure to pick the window seat (which I chose for Matt since I am nice) because it is very private, but still provides aisle access.

For our shorter flight to Bangkok, we had the JAL Shell Flat Neo which was meh. Still lie-flat, but not all seats have aisle access and not much privacy. This is the one area I will ding the airline on as the lack of consistency with their seats is a problem and the Shell Flat Neo are out of date.

Amenities

Japan Airlines had the standard long-haul business class amenities of an amenity kit with lotions, dental kits, and eye masks; there were also pillows and blankets and a cardigan that you had to return at the of the flight which is a little cheap if you ask me. The amenity kit was great, but the pillow and blanket were fine.

Service

Okay, this is where Japan Airlines just hit it out of the park on both of our flights. The service and food were excellent, and not just excellent for a plane, but restaurant excellent. The moment we got to our seats on both flights, a business class flight attendant greeted us by name with huge smiles welcoming us on the flight. The flight attendants made their presence known throughout the journey and were always delighted to get you another drink or snack. This introvert was thrilled that you can even order more food or beverages with the touch screen, so you did not even have to either hit the call button, flag an attendant down or walk into the galley. Anything you ordered on the touchscreen was delivered with a big smile within 5 minutes.

The restrooms were constantly cleaned and kept fresh. Imagine not having a urine soaked floor like on a US-based airline!  After the meal, the flight attendant even turned down our seats and made a bed with a mattress pad and blanket. Does this remind you of United/Delta/American? 😊

Food

Japan Airlines offers 3 choices (of course they also have Kosher, Vegetarian, etc.) options for their meals.

• Japanese Meal

• Western Beef Meal
• Western Fish Meal

If you like seafood I HIGHLY recommend you get the Japanese meal as it was wonderful. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Matt got the western beef meal which was also excellent compared to the competitors.

Overall

My favorite part of flying Japan Airlines is the sense of pride all the staff have for their national carrier. They did an excellent job showing off Japanese service and cuisines and it was a delight experiencing just a hint of what it would be like visiting Japan. I would be thrilled to fly them again as despite a meh pillow and transit lounge, the 22-hour journey was such a thrill. It is amazing how friendly attitudes and service from an airline can take all the edge off a long flight.

5/5 *****