ZIPAIR Introduces World's Most Basic Business Class

Isn’t this just big front seat?

Sounds like BA first now they serve your dinner in a box Lol.

LCCs in East Asia has been selling fares like these for years (e.g. Air Asia X’s “Premium Flatbed”). The degree of unbundling varies by airline, but usually you get a real business class hard product and LCC service (with maybe a free economy class meal thrown in), for not much more than economy fares on a full service airline.
Really great for mid-haul flights where you don’t care about getting a full biz meal and just want to extra space to stretch out~

@Jamie they've been doing that for several months now

This seems very smart.

I pay for business or first for any long haul flight. But I also skip the meal, as I just want to sleep.

So, not paying for that is a great option. Wonder if other airlines will follow suit?

You know, I just sleep on flights or watch movies. All I need is a big seat and I'm very happy.

I like that idea: on flights less than 8 hours I don’t care for fancy food, all I need is a lie-flat seat and I’m all good.

How much cheaper does this makes biz compared to the full service flights on this route? Without that context it's hard to know if it's a good deal and attractive concept.

1. I’m guessing this will spread to other carriers when they will try to generate additional revenue post-covid. (And that miles will only cover ”basic business”...)

2. Personally, I wouldn’t mind unbundling food for eastbound flights (since I always go straight to sleep after take-off), but otherwise I enjoy not being nickle-and-dimed when flying business class. Seems like a less positive development, as most other ”enhancements” we’ve gotten over the last 10 years 🙂

I’d probably just want the value package and be done with it. It would still represent about a 30% discount off regular business class, which is around $700. My question is: would I be able to get a Zipcar after I zipped across to Japan on Zipair?

Sounds good to me, just like Spirits Big Front Seat, but getting layflats. I'd be happy to see this on transatlantic red-eyes, where I don't eat anyway, just sleep.

Surely the vast majority of business class fares are purchased for corporate travelers on expense account, i.e. customers don't care how much the product costs.

Zipair seems to target "customers who spend OPM and therefore don't care what it costs" and at the same time "customers who want a cheap bargain product".

I truly wonder how big that market space actually is.

Conclusion: It's probably a great idea to short-sell their stock.

To be honest, I’m not sure what the point of a fully flat seat is on a 2.5 hour flight...

I would have thought that intraeurope business class flights would have been considered the most basic business class flights. At least here you get a lay flat seat.

I like it.

BA has usually awful and tasteless food and very cheap alcohol so I wouldn’t mind the cheapest option. In Covid time it would be a real blessing.

lie flat seat for a 2.5 hours flight seems too much for me. I rather get a larger seat with better meal/services/movies for a flight that long.

I disagree with many here, I think a lie-flat seat for a 2+ hour flight is kinda mandatory if I want to pay a premium over economy 😉

Looks good to me.

My only concern is the actual name of the airline.

People my age (old) remember derogatory names for those of Asian cultures.

The airline name is unfortunate.

May I use the bathroom for the basic price, or is that extra ?

The color of the seat and the overall tone related me to someone sleeping in a coffin or a morgue

Widebody business.. Jetstar A330/787. That was a ripper of a business... Had literally nothing but a wooden board that was a tad wider than the standard econoclass seat.

For me it wouldn't be a surprise if this is where most legacy airlines will go in a couple of years...

But man, that cabin design is depressing (especially in Eco)! I'd commit harakiri having to fly in that cabin...

Amenity kit A (2500JPY) includes
Earplugs
Eyemask
Neckpillow
Blankets
Slippers

Amenity kit B (3000JPY) includes all of kit A plus a cool looking Tote bag

Agreed. I bought BA and Finnair business to Europe from the west coast a few months ago and did not enjoy paying $300 each way to pick window seats. I'd think twice about rebooking with those carriers.

This is the worst airline. Wouldn't let me check in because I did not have a connecting zip flight. My connecting flight was with a different carrier. Said I needed a visa for Japan even though the visa is available on arrival. Stole $700. No customer service with any legitimate answers....

Totally suck as an airline. Spent $10K on five tickets six months ago. Now I need to postpone the flights for health reasons - first it is almost impossible to get hold of them. Second the call center barely spoke English and was extremely rude. Naturally they refused to do anything to help. So we just set fire to 10K - avoid these crooks like the plague.

Fishy comment. Back in May 2022, all travel to Japan required a visa issued in advance (obviously with the exception of residents). Tourism was not allowed, and you had to be pre-vetted to enter, e.g., if it was for business reasons, you would need documentation from the company you were doing business with.

When you select the type of seat, there’s a message right beneath the options that says “There are restrictions on changing fares and charges and refunds. Please check the fare rules” and a link to the rules. Per their fare rules, you can’t make any changes to your reservation; postponing is a change. Also no refunds. Kind of harsh, but they’re an LCC; there’s always a string attached.

Just flew in their business class. Nice comfortable seats that provide lots of space. And of course, they lie flat.

Service (in any voluntarily sense) was basically non-existent, but they do come when you push the "call flight attendant" button.

You pay for water. I knew this ahead of time, so I just bought some at the airport beforehand. Also, I tried one of their meals. It was chirashi but without any fish whatsoever. Just two pieces of shrimp. Lol. But it did come with a small bottle of water!

I would do it again. But not pay for the meal.