After an amazing time in Japan, it was time to start our pretty direct journey home, as we flew Japan Airlines’ 787 business class from Kansai-Osaka to Los Angeles, and American’s 787 business class from Los Angeles to Miami.
Continue reading: Review: Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Kansai Osaka Airport (KIX)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Thanks for helpful review. This lounge was last renovated in 2015 but I guess some items like the chair you mentioned could be used from 90s, when the lounge was opened.
Sakura lounge in Haneda is equipped with much better food and facilities but also quite crowded - at least at late night peak time. I try to use shower there but it did not clear before boarding time in 2 hours, with 90ish in queue.
Now JAL sells access to Sakura lounge for all JAL passengers, so it would make the situation even worse.
And huge smoking lounge within the lounge is clearly out of touch for ordinary passenger in 2023. They should remove it as they did in Bangkok.
The signs for American Airlines are meant to welcome their passengers who are One world as I am sure there are many AA elites that use the lounge. It has nothing to do with whether they serve the airport.
I was there in 2019 and it was crowded, loud and messy. The public seating area outside the lounge was more relaxing.
"Drinking water was provided out of a reusable container, which I appreciated as part of a sustainability initiative."
"Better than what you'd find in most US lounges" ... that assessment might need to be updated? Because I'd say Delta Sky Clubs, Centurion Lounges, Polaris Lounges, Flagship Lounges, and arguably even United Clubs have a better food lineup than that.
This is a controversial take, but I don't think a single Japanese lounge is worth anyone's time. They are chalked full for every visit I've made in the last year+, the most exciting thing in the *A lounges is curry with pickles, even the first OW lounges are teeming with status attendees so it's low-grade sushi to sate the numbers who show up.
I'm a fan of Japan as a tourist destination and definitely appreciate their in-flight experiences in premium cabins. Just... the lounges are not it. Doesn't matter if the airport calls itself "5-star" (looking at you, HND), and KIX is not even that.
(Also, I haven't been to every remote outpost, but my "ex-Japan" perspective is based on HNL and the Sakura Lounge at SFO. The latter was so bad that I didn't even notice it closed in June 2023, because it wasn't worth getting on the escalator for...)
I must have visited the JAL lounge in another terminal in august because the only food they had was packaged crackers!!! We were flying domestically to Tokyo and onwards to Sydney. No alcoholic beverages either.
You are so lucky that time for security check would be more than 90mins after 10am in these day
I am sitting in the Kansai Sakura Lounge as we speak waiting for my Honolulu flight and it is basically empty. Seven people including me, plus a staff of three it seems. I am completely satisfied! Drinks, food, space, quiet - sorry for the people who have had to experience it when crowded, but it is a joy right now. No, there are not 20 different chef-prepared mini-bites of all shapes and sizes. Do some people need that? I suppose. Do I need that? No. I want a place that is quiet and clean prior to my long trip, and this is it. Happy happy!
Andrew, Regarding HND, have you visited Japan Airlines' First Class lounge? It's stunning. And the food!
Sorry about the slow response. Yes! I agree JAL first lounges in both HND and NRT is an exception. Most of my first lounge experience at those airports previously was ANA, and that's a Star Alliance Zerg rush on a good day.