- Singapore for the Weekend: Introduction
- Singapore for the Weekend: Lufthansa First Class Lounge New York JFK
- Singapore for the Weekend: Lufthansa First Class New York JFK to Frankfurt
- Singapore for the Weekend: A day in the Lufthansa First Class Lounges/Terminal Frankfurt
- Singapore for the Weekend: Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Singapore
- Singapore for the Weekend: InterContinental Singapore
- Finally a bit of life in Singapore!
- Singapore for the Weekend: The Singapore Airlines Private Room
- Singapore for the Weekend: Singapore Airlines First Class Singapore to Tokyo Narita
- Singapore for the Weekend: Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
- Singapore for the Weekend: Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo Narita to New York JFK
After landing in terminal 1 I needed to make my way over to terminal 2, which is where JAL flies out of. First I had to clear transit security, for which there’s not usually a long queue, though this morning it was close to 30 minutes. The good news is that I got a signal for the airport’s free Wi-Fi, so was at least able to start to get caught up on my iPhone.
The only odd part was that the guy behind me in line asked if he could use my iPhone to check his email. I’m sorry, I try to be helpful when I can, but that’s just taking it one step too far, in my opinion.
Once through security I took the tunnel to the far end of the terminal, where I hopped on a bus to terminal 2. The bus only runs every 30 minutes so I lucked out in terms of the timing since I only had to wait about 10 minutes.
Bus transfer point
Once in terminal 2 I headed over to the JAL transit desk to get my boarding passes.
Usually printing boarding passes takes a minute, though in this instance the agent had a confused look on her face, communicated with the other agent in Japanese, and then made a phone call. In my experience the Japanese service culture is typically such that they won’t tell you there might be a problem unless they are positive there is, so I took the first step and asked if there was a problem with my ticket. In a very unconvincing way she responded with “nooo.”
I stood there for another 10 minutes or so, at which point she finally managed to print my boarding passes. Whew.
I headed over to the Japan Airlines first class lounge, which I also visited several years ago, so you can read my previous review here. That review is much more detailed, as I had a lot more time to enjoy the lounge then.
Neither ANA nor JAL have any spectacular lounges, in my opinion, though this one is about as good as they get. The thing to keep in mind is that OneWorld Emerald members get access to the lounge even if they’re not traveling in first class, so they tend to get pretty crowded. Still, I was most interested in catching up on email for an hour while waiting for my connecting flight, so a stable internet connection was all I could ask for.
JAL lounge entrance
JAL lounge entrance
787 model by entrance
JAL first class lounge
JAL first class lounge
The lounge does have a decent buffet, a bit better than what ANA offers, though I can’t say I paid much attention to it aside from snapping a few pictures.
Buffet
Buffet
Buffet
Buffet
Buffet
At 10:45AM I left for the gate, which was only a few minutes away, for a 10:50AM boarding time.
Ben - My wife is doing the same transit as this Singapore Air to NRT then changing to JAL. If she has checked luggage do you need to pick it up at the transfer point or will they be able to check it through?
Ben if I'm arriving to nrt on jal f but connecting onward in business on cx can I still use the jal first lounge?
@ Mike -- Yes, if you're connecting on oneworld.
@ Tom -- Hah, I told him I wasn't getting a signal.
Just curious - what excuse did you give? LOL
@ TheBeerHunter -- Hah, it was breakfast time and I wasn't hungry, though I'll give it a try next time!
OMG, you went to the NRT F lounge and didn't have the beef curry??
The curry rice in the JAL First Class lounge is always nice. The lounge also has a masseur on duty, but I like the massage chair in the lounge better.
@ Mike S. -- It's typically VERY tough to come by. I occasionally see space from LAX to NRT, but the other routes have even less space. Typically the only way to find space is to book last minute, and even then it's no guarantee.
@ David -- Absolutely!
As AA exec platinum, can u fly ecomomy n still access F lounge of any Oneworlc?
Lucky: How is JL F award inventory like using AA miles? It seems you booked this segment on fairly short notice.
@ elsie -- Hah, it was so outrageous to me that I decided to come up with another excuse.
@ RakSiam -- Given that all OneWorld Emerald members get access it's not only a bigger lounge, but a lot more crowded than any ANA lounge I've seen.
I agree. For me pens are the other thing. All my pens are fancy (fountain or expensive ballpoint) and the damage can be important to their value. :(
that looks really big for an F lounge. I spent a few minutes in the ANA F lounge a couple of years ago and it was pretty tiny.
I would have loved to see you say, "HECK NO!" to him.;-)
@ elsie -- Heck no!
So did you let him check his email on your phone or not?
I agree that asking too much...