Review: Japan Airlines Domestic Class J Airbus A350 (HND-CTS)

A Winter Trip to Tokyo & Niseko

More from this series:

• Introduction: A Winter Trip To Tokyo & Niseko
• Review: British Airways Lounge San Francisco Airport (SFO)
• Review: Japan Airlines First Class Boeing 777 (SFO-HND)
• Review: The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon, Japan (Great Views, But…)
• Review: The Tokyo EDITION Ginza, Japan (Exceptional Service)
• Review: Japan Airlines Domestic Class J Airbus A350 (HND-CTS)

For the next portion of our winter ski trip to Niseko, we flew Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 Class J on the 1hr10min flight from Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Sapporo (CTS). Domestic aviation in Japan is absolutely fascinating, since both All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have dedicated domestic fleets, with high density layouts and different onboard products.

A while back, I reviewed Japan Airlines’ A350-900 first class on a domestic flight, and this time around, I got the chance to fly the carrier’s Class J. Note that while “J” often refers to business class, Class J is not business class. Instead, it offers the same service as economy, but with much more spacious seats, somewhat comparable to what you’d find in long haul premium economy.

Flying Japan Airlines’ A350-900s domestically is such a treat, given the general attributes of the A350, plus the seat back entertainment (including tail camera), free Wi-Fi, and friendly service. While I very much enjoyed the Class J experience, I do think first class is worth the premium, especially if you can score an upgrade for cash on the day of departure.

How I booked my Japan Airlines Class J ticket

We booked our flights from Tokyo Sapporo with cash. Specifically, we booked the following for the per person cost of $168.14, directly in Class J:

3/04 JL513 Tokyo to Sapporo departing 11:30AM arriving 1:10PM

I should mention that we ended up booking this pretty last minute, so the fare was a bit higher than usual. Class J is such a good value compared to economy, as it only cost an extra $20 for our itinerary. For what it’s worth, often pricing in this market is even cheaper. It’s not unusual to see economy for under $80, and Class J for under $100.

Japan Airlines Class J lounge & boarding

Japan Airlines Class J tickets don’t include any sort of premium ground services, so you don’t get premium check-in or lounge access. However, this is where elite status really comes in handy. Thanks to my oneworld Emerald status, we got the same ground experience that you’d get if flying domestic first class.

Japan Airlines has a dedicated domestic first class check-in area, separate from the rest of the terminal. You can get your boarding passes and check your bags there. Then there’s a private security channel you can go through.

We then took the escalator up to the lounge.

First class passengers and oneworld Emerald members get access to the Japan Airlines Diamond Premier Lounge. This is nothing like Japan Airlines’ international first class lounges, but it’s still a comfortable, quiet place to hang out, with great airport views.

As someone who lives in Miami, I just adore the culture of complete silence in lounges, where there are private rooms specifically for those who need to take phone calls. It’s quite a contrast to the speakerphone conversations we see in lounges in Miami.

Our flight was scheduled to depart from gate 17, roughly a five minute walk from the lounge. Upon walking to the gate, we had a great view of JA14XJ, the three-year-old stunner that would be flying us.

Boarding was scheduled to start 20 minutes before departure (you’ve gotta love Japan!), at 11:10AM. First class passengers and elite members are invited to board first. Ordinarily, Class J passengers board last, since Class J doesn’t come with priority boarding, and general boarding happens back to front. Still, on account of elite status, we could board at the start of the process.

Boarding started right on schedule, and was done via automated gates, so there was no human interaction. Despite that, the gate was ridiculously well staffed.

Japan Airlines A350-900 Class J cabin & seats

We boarded through the forward left door, where were greeted by the friendly crew, and first walked through the 12-seat first class cabin. We then found ourselves in the 56-seat Class J cabin (there’s also a version of the plane with a 94-seat Class J cabin).

Japan Airlines’ Class J seats are based on the Recaro PL3530 platform, with seats arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration. The first class and Class J cabin take up the entire space between doors one and two.

We assigned ourselves seats 11A and 11C, the window and aisle seat on the left side in the last row of Class J. Class J seats have 38″ of pitch, 19″ of width, and 8″ of recline, with a four-way adjustable head rest. So the seats are comparable to what you’d find in premium economy on long haul flights on many airlines, and are more than sufficient for the short missions this aircraft operates.

Each seat features an 11.6″ high definition touchscreen seat back monitor. There’s also a seat back pocket, with a couple of different compartments.

The armrest between seats has a space for drinks, and also has buttons for reclining the seat and raising the leg rest. There’s also an entertainment controller, though that seems largely unnecessary, given that the monitor is touchscreen.

You’ll also find a couple of universal AC power outlets underneath the center console, for keeping electronics charged.

The tray table also folds out from the center armrest. When stored, it’s folded in half, so you just have to flip it over to make it the full size.

The far armrest has an additional storage pocket, though it’s not very deep.

The overhead consoles were modern, as you’d expect on an A350, though they didn’t have any individual air nozzles.

As far as amenities go, the only thing worth mentioning is that there were a pair of basic headphones that could be used during the flight.

Japan Airlines A350-900 Class J entertainment & Wi-Fi

Japan Airlines’ domestic A350s have a different entertainment system than you’ll find on many long haul jets, but it’s still quite good. There are a variety of movies, TV shows, audio, and of course the map feature. There were around 25 movies and around 100 TV shows in the library, so it’s not a huge selection, but it should be easy enough to stay entertained for a short flight.

My favorite part of the entertainment system was the tail camera, which is something that I love about the A350 (for the airlines that choose to offer it).

Japan Airlines even offers free Panasonic Wi-Fi on its domestic A350s, so all passengers can connect with just one click. I found the Wi-Fi speeds to be excellent, and it’s nice to be able to connect all your devices so easily, with no data caps.

Between a modest movie and TV selection, the map, the tail camera, and free Wi-Fi, you shouldn’t be bored on Japan Airlines’ A350.

Japan Airlines A350-900 departure from Tokyo

Despite the 391-seat jet being completely full, boarding was efficient, and wrapped up within about 20 minutes. Even though Japan has a reputation for punctuality, we didn’t actually push back on-time. At 11:30AM — our departure time — the crew made an announcement apologizing for the delay, due to cargo being loaded. Five minutes later, they issued another apology. Five minutes later, there was another apology.

At 11:40AM the main cabin door closed, at which point the jet bridge was pulled back, and the safety video was screened. It still took some time for us to push back, though.

At 11:50AM we started our pushback, and at 11:55AM we started our taxi, as the ramp agents waved goodbye.

We had a long but fast taxi out to runway 34R, where we were cleared for takeoff at 12:05PM.

Our takeoff roll was powerful, and we had a smooth climb out of Tokyo, with some awesome city views on departure. Departing from Haneda really is a treat, in terms of the views.

I couldn’t decide whether to focus on the tail camera…

…or just look out the window and take in the engine and city views.

The seatbelt sign stayed on longer than usual, and was turned off around 10 minutes after takeoff.

Japan Airlines Class J inflight service

Once airborne, the crew passed through the cabin with the typical inflight service. Service is identical in Class J and economy, and is also identical across the domestic network. We were served within about 10 minutes of the seatbelt sign being turned off.

With the inflight service, the crew holds a drink menu in front of you, and then you can state which option you’d like. The choices included Japan Airlines’ signature Sky Time juice (currently a peach and grape mix), beef consommé soup, coffee, apple juice, hot green tea, cold green tea, or water.

I selected the signature Sky Time juice, while Ford had the beef consommé, both served in paper cups.

Japan Airlines A350-900 Class J lavatory

During the flight, I checked out the lavatory immediately behind our seat. There are two sets of lavatories by the second set of doors. Since there’s no curtain between Class J and economy, anyone is welcome to use the lavatories.

While there was no bidet feature, how nice (and big) is this lavatory?!?

Japan Airlines Class J service

Japan Airlines consistently offers warm hospitality, and this flight was no exception, despite the short duration. As you’d expect, the crew was polite, efficient, and friendly. Of course the service is a bit assembly line-esque, but that’s exactly what you’d expect, given that they have such a short period in which to serve nearly 400 people.

Perhaps what impressed me most is how the crew went above and beyond to embrace me being an aviation geek. Obviously when I review flights, I take a lot of pictures onboard. On most airlines, the crews either look at me suspiciously, or at best, are indifferent. Well, not on Japan Airlines.

For example, at the end of boarding, one of the flight attendants came up to my seat and brought me two postcards about the Japan Airlines A350-1000, saying “I hope you enjoy your flight with us.” To be clear, they had no clue who I am (I mean, I am nobody, but you know what I mean), but rather they just sensed my passion and interest.

Then at the end of the flight, she brought even more gifts, in the form of Japan Airlines keychains, saying “it looks like you enjoy your flight with us, so here is a small gift.” 10/10!

Japan Airlines A350-900 arrival in Sapporo

I spent most of the remainder of the flight just gazing out the window, given the stunning views.

At 12:45PM, 40 minutes after takeoff, we started our gradual descent toward Sapporo. 15 minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned on, and the crew was told to prepare the cabin for landing.

I remembered the approach view from a Korean Air 321neo flight I took to Sapporo several months back, though of course everything looked a bit colder this time around.

We ended up touching down on runway 1R at 1:15PM.

From there we had a five minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 1:20PM, around 10 minutes behind schedule (as you’d expect, the delay caused several more apologies from the crew).

How cute are those pink Fuji Dream Airlines Embraers?!

Once off the aircraft, we collected our checked bags, and then around an hour later got onto a bus to drive to the Park Hyatt Niseko, where we’d be spending the next five nights.

Bottom line

Japan Airlines’ Class J on the A350-900 is a lovely, elevated, no frills experience. For a very modest premium, you can enjoy a much more comfortable seat than you’d find in economy, and I think it’s money well spent. The carrier’s A350-900s are an absolute pleasure to fly, thanks to the quiet and comfortable cabin, tail camera, seat back entertainment, free Wi-Fi, friendly service, and reliability.

I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Class J again. However, if you can upgrade to first class, it’s one of the best value premium experiences in the world, if you ask me.

What’s your take on Japan Airlines’ A350-900 Class J?