Questions and Answers

Hi All,

I am flying to Japan and Hong Kong in December/ January (returning in may) and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on flying American or Japan airlines to Tokyo? I’ll be flying JAL PE from HND- HKG and AA PE from HKG-DFW, but I’m able to choose between the two on the outbound.

I am leaning towards AA because I do not believe that the shell seat on JAL will be comfortable for someone like me who is 6’3 and has broad shoulders. Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts. Just a heads up, I am booking these flights in the next 2 days!!

I’ve flown AA Premium Economy, but not Japan. But, I have flown other Premium Economy cabins that have shell seats like Japan.

I’m not 6’3″, so I can’t say for sure… but personally I would prefer a shell seat because it means the seat reclines into itself. On American, if the person in front of you reclines, you will know it. Not near as bad as economy, of course, but it could be an issue if you are that tall.

I also read somewhere that Japan doesn’t differentiate meal service on Premium Economy vs regular Economy. Not sure if that’s current info, or not, or important to you.

JAL for the win.

Better seat. Better catering. Much better crew.

[QUOTE=”rickyw, post: 65279, member: 1436″]I’ve flown AA Premium Economy, but not Japan. But, I have flown other Premium Economy cabins that have shell seats like Japan.

I’m not 6’3″, so I can’t say for sure… but personally I would prefer a shell seat because it means the seat reclines into itself. On American, if the person in front of you reclines, you will know it. Not near as bad as economy, of course, but it could be an issue if you are that tall.

I also read somewhere that Japan doesn’t differentiate meal service on Premium Economy vs regular Economy. Not sure if that’s current info, or not, or important to you.[/QUOTE]

If OP can grab a bulkhead PE seat then reclining isn’t an issue. I’d still prefer JAL PE over AA PE, just for service. AA’s PE service is better than BA’s PE service, but that is about it.

Tough call. As someone who is 6′, I just flew AA PE LHR-JFK and found I had plenty of room, even when the person in front of me reclined, and was quite comfortable. The biggest difference to my mind is service. Crew and catering is likely to be better on JAL. I cant speak to JAL seat comfort as I have not flown their PE, but if service is important to you, I would go with JAL.