Hello from New York, as I’ve wrap up my review trip to South Korea and Japan! I just flew Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 business class, on the 12 hour flight from Tokyo (HND) to New York (JFK). I’m happy to report that I’ve saved the best for last.
Continue reading: Japan Airlines A350 Business Class: It’s A Winner!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Sounds like they’ve taken on board the issues with storage on their other planes! Seems like such a benign issue but it really was frustrating!! Literally nowhere to put anything!
With regards to wear & tear, that would be more on Safran and their quality control issues going back years. When CX took delivery of their A359 which seems like a lifetime ago, they already had issues with their business class seats which is also a Safran product. Not just seats, but galleys, lavatories, even ovens.
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/12/cathay-still-fixing-safran-seats-lavatories-on-even-new-a350s/
Agreed, Safran's QC seems to be pretty off in recent years. Condor A330neo business class seats (Safran's SkyLounge Core III) have the same problem.
Question Lucky. I've noticed on promotional pictures of Unity, that the seat doesn't have a leg rest so to speak. Yes there's an ottoman, but there isn't a swing up section of the actual seat that can support your lower legs / calves.
I'm wondering if this is actually the case with the Safran seat and whether this made a difference in comfort? I've noticed on long haul flights that seats without this leg rest are less comfortable to me, the longer a flight goes on.
Ben - what would be top three differences between this product and ANA’s The Room in your view?
I flew economy on JAL 4 Saturday (I did glance at the biz class line to see if you were on same flight!). I did notice that the wear and tear was evident in economy as well — a lot of wear of carpeting, lav walls, galleys. I was a little surprised because the A350-1000 I was on was only 10 months old.
I think you ought to do a 1v1 comparison like you did with The Room and QSuites. Except with ANA vs JAL, especially because they complete on so many routes
Hey Ben, I have a trip to Japan next year and I was considering flying this product on the way back home with a 3 year old, assuming I can find availability. Would you say the 2 middle seats are close enough to be able to reach him during the flight to help him with eating, buckling his seatbelt, etc? Or are the seats too far apart from each other? Thanks!
@ nohohon -- Interesting question. You're right that there's no true leg rest, though to be honest, it's not something I even really noticed. That's because the seat slides forward quite a bit, so I found it comfortable to just rest my feet on the ottoman, much more so than with some other comparable products.
Personally I rarely use those leg rests without using the ottoman. I'm not that tall, but I find that my feet just awkwardly dangle off the end in those situations. I realize how this could be more valuable for those who are shorter, though.
It goes back years when one of their manufacturing plants suffered an explosion in 2015. Unfortunately they've struggled to get their bearing straight since. Supply chain constraints just adds to their troubles.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jul/15/explosion-rips-through-newport-aerospace-company/
@ Wendy -- I'll address this in more detail in a direct comparison between the two seats. The way I view it, the advantages of JAL are better tech, flying an A350 (which is quieter and more comfortable), a softer bed, and more storage. Meanwhile on ANA the seat is no doubt wider, and I like how you can get a "honeymoon seat" setup in the center section.
@ Flow -- Great question! So one downside to this configuration is that the center seats are equally far apart in all rows, so there's not a honeymoon seat configuration in every other row. I think you can probably make it work, but it's not ideal. Here's a picture that shows you the distance between the center seats:
Love to hear it. Also, I believe you had a falafel salad not a sandwich.
Otherwise, the catering on JAL looks very nice.
Yes, I'll add the Condor Prime seats in particular seem to be having serious maintenance issues.
The window seats were broken on both of my flights and I had to be moved into the less desirable middle seats.
I have flown by JAL 350-1000 at least ten times now, and I love it!
The only downside is there is no air nozzle 🙁 I sleep better at cooler temperatures; it’d have been nice to be able to control the temp. Other than that, everything is perfect, from boarding to comfort, food, drinks, ambiance…
Not a particularly attractive cabin. And those lights look like bathroom soap dispensers.
The wear and tear is definitely surprising. I flew the other side of this route, JFK to HND, this past July and my partner's IFE (I think it was row 11 or 12 in the middle area) had the bottom third with no working touch functionality and was noticeably dimmer than the rest of the screen
Not to say 'called it' but this is what I said you were going to experience when you mentioned you were doing a review. Haha. It's truly a stellar product, and as a Oneworld frequent flyer it certainly is right up there with Q Suites (frankly choosing between the two is quite a challenge). The tech and storage space are certainly superior.
I think we all "called it", this review isn't really a surprise. It just reaffirmed what many of us knew and/or expected.
I flew it last month from jfk to hnd. Crew was mediocre (constantly forgetting things) as was the food (beef was cold). Perhaps the US based crew has already that certain attitude.To me the cabin is over hyped. Yes I'm spoiled, yes I had high expectations. Still, I think this product is not comparable to others. It is by far not as glamourus as advertised.
Not comparable to which other products, exactly? And spoiled how, are you flying private most of the time?
I'm guessing there is no advantage to choosing a bulkhed seat in this cabin? The footwells look large no matter where you sit, it seems.
I’ve been booked on a business class flight out of JFK for months now, and waiting in the lounge as I write this. It was a treat to read your report on the day of my departure!
so if you're in a middle J seat, can you just not see out any windows whatsoever if a door is shut at the window? That seems a little claustrophobic
Ben,I wonder if there's any possibility to fit a real legrest on the Unity platform, since I'm fond of cabin products
@Ben, are there particular rows where the two center seats are positioned as "honeymoon" seats?
Hi Ben,
Did you try the built-in headrest speakers?
I love the idea of them as don't really enjoy having bulky Bose noise cancelling phones on for more than an hour or so?
I cannot wait for these to be available from the west coast. Thank you for sharing - something to look forward to!
Which cabin is better? Front or the middle? We are flying on 6,7a and 10,11k back. Should we move to 10,11 on the outbound as well?
Going by the Aerolopa seatmap, 6a only has one window. 7a has 2 windows, though it seems the second one might be behind your head. 10k has one full window and half of 2 windows, while 11k has one and a half windows.
https://www.aerolopa.com/jl-351
Ben reviewed the in-seat speakers when he flew first class on this product some months ago. There's a link somewhere in the story.
I flew the same route at the end of July and sat in the bulkhead of Business Class in 3D. Overall it was a good experience. There were two things that I found to be issues. First, it was rather warm with the door closed when I tried to sleep. Once I open the door it seemed to be a bit cooler. This could be because of the bulkhead and being in the center! Secondly, the space under the ottoman was spacious and very handy to store my carry-on. The only issue was that on take-off the bag slid out toward me since there is no ledge stoppage or strap to hold the bag from sliding.
I am booked with my husband from Hanada to JFK next November on the 350-1000 so there are a lot of seat choices available in Business. Besides the bulkhead which is already taken, which seats are the best for 2 people traveling together. We don't need to be in the middle. Thanks.
Realize I am commenting on a dead post, but I type this sitting next to my 4-yo in 15d/g on JL3. I was more than able to help him throughout the flight. Ditto with my wife and other son in 16. This is by far the best of the ~dozen business class flights I’ve taken.