Awful+Amazing: Japan Airlines A350-1000 Business Class
- Konrad Tillman
- Aug 10
- 7 min read
Intro
Hello from Beijing, as I am currently on my way to Russia for my next grand adventure! Well, a couple of days ago, I had the chance to fly Japan Airlines on their A350-1000 in Business Class from Los Angeles to Tokyo, and my oh my, do I have a lot to say.
For now, these are just my initial thoughts, but stay tuned for a full review in the future.
Lounge Situation
As someone who has been on the Star Alliance grind the past few years, I hadn’t had the opportunity to check out the OW Lounge at LAX for a while, where Japan Airlines sends its customers.
While the lounge is undergoing desperate refurbishment, this has left a much smaller space, and during this peak departure period, meant that there was barely a place to sit. Very “premium” for such a nice product, huh?
Thankfully, the American Flagship Lounge isn’t too far away. All things considered, I quite like this lounge and will be having an updated review of it very soon. It was quite busy until about 12:00, due to a flight to London from the day before getting delayed overnight (whoops).
The Seat/Cabin
My oh my, is the entirety of this cabin beautiful? I had only booked this ticket 2 days prior, and thus, the last “true window” seat was only available in the second cabin. Laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration, you will find similar fundamentals to Delta One on their A350.
However, each seat is truly equipped with some outstanding amenities. We are talking a mini-closet to hang a sweater, built-in speakers to the headrest (work really well), plenty of space to stretch out in the footwell, and plenty of storage all around.
Looking at these pictures, they seem beautiful, right?
My gosh, there was so much wrong. This plane is falling apart…
Considering this aircraft is about 18 months old, 4 seats had to fly empty due to maintenance issues. Unfortunately, my seat was broken, and the crew had no idea how to manually put it down. They figured it out eventually for sleeping, but it took 30 minutes of me standing around doing nothing. Upon landing, they tried, but eventually gave up.
Okay, but 4 seats? Even American who have flown seats for about 10 years don’t have the same number of issues.
There were no overhead air vents, which is a big turn off for me, as someone who sleeps at 65 F. Their 788s have air vents, and I ended up sleeping more on a 4.5 hour flight to Osaka than an 11 hour flight to Tokyo lol.
Scratches were all around the cabin, most notably from the tray table and how it extends.
I’ll stop going further for now, but the funny part is that at first glance, after settling in, I wrote in my notes: “cabin is stunning, zero complaints whatsoever”. Oh, how wrong I was.
To make matters worse, the cabin crew came around at the end of the flight offering me 2000 Yen for my broken seat. I don’t care about compensation at all, but that is just insulting 😅.
IFE+Wifi
I was both impressed and disappointed in this aspect of JAL. In terms of the wifi, I was pleased to see half reasonable prices, and the fact that Business/First Class passengers receive free wifi.
However, when it came to the IFE, it just didn’t make sense. JAL invested so much into these seats, and then proceeds to put a whopping 150 movies onboard? Yes, the bells and whistles are fancy, featuring:
Touchscreen usage
A fancy remote
Actual noise-cancelling headphones
Bluetooth connectivity
Speakers in the headrest, which worked well if you are lazy like me.
Adding favorite movies to a list
But really? For such a staple piece carrier, I would have loved to see a broader selection of movies.
Amenities
Once again, in terms of amenities, I was both pleased and disappointed. Each passenger in business class receives:
A cardigan for sleeping (very warm)
1 pillow
1 blanket (relatively thin)
1 mattress topper
1 mattress pad (above seat)
Amenity kit with essentials (toothbrush in bathroom)
Yes, this is certainly acceptable, but the level of bedding is nowhere near the likes of Air Canada or United on these routes, even American, honestly. Perhaps that is because the cabin is so warm, but I was wishing I was napping in Polaris over to Haneda instead, midway through the flight.
Onboard Dining
Now this is about where I lost it. Aside from the warm cabin and broken seats, this was the part that pushed me over the edge.
Prior to departure, the FA working my aisle came around to offer me an orange juice and to take my meal order. I had informed her that I would like the meal as quickly as possible, as I was trying to get as much sleep as possible. She said, “Certainly”.
About an hour and 10 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around offering drinks.
“Do you have Charles Heidsieck (pointing to menu)?”
She responded, “Yes, we do”, as she proceeded to pour a different champagne. End of the world? Not at all, but considering JAL markets this champagne, and the FA in front of me said they had it, it’s a little tedious.
I then inquired about my meal, at which point they said they would heat it up now. Fantastic, I thought!
10 minutes later, a different FA returns saying, “Would you like to have your meal now?”. I mean, are you serious?
30 minutes later, my steak comes out with all of the other stuff to accompany it. It was all pretty good in the end, and I finished it off with a cheese plate and ice cream.
2.5 hours from wheels up to when I was done. Better than competitors? Sure. But I would have rather had a very mediocre short rib on United and been asleep within 40 minutes after takeoff…
To each their own, of course, but the way the flight is designed, it is better to sleep right after takeoff to beat jet lag.
Throughout the flight, I also had two portions of their roasted garlic tomato pasta, which was really delicious. Now this was delivered with efficiency, so I do appreciate this!
Service
Look, I completely understand that there is a language difference, and please do not think I am saying the crew were not kind. They were very kind in fact, always speaking at eye level and with smiles on their faces, but it seemed assembly line fashion for service. Unlike Garuda, Thai Airways, and sometimes Singapore, which feel more personal. Please never take criticism as a complaint, though, ever, simply sharing observations…
Here were some things that stood out to me:
The whole meal debacle was quite something. Not necessarily annoying, but just “are you serious” type of moment.
When asking for a top-up of my sparkling water mid-flight, it took 16 minutes… Not sure why, so I headed up to the galley where they were preparing it on a tray.
On the good side of things:
Always came within 10 seconds, the three times I pressed the call button. Few airlines have such a good reaction time.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps I have aged, and with aging comes efficiency instead of enjoyment. Going into this flight, I was extremely excited to fly this product, as it is one of the few airlines I have yet to fly across the Atlantic. However, I’ve gotta be honest, I am super disappointed by Japan Airlines, and not becasue of what they have offered, but because of what they could have offered.
The seats are in dire condition already, for a plane that is 18 months out. About 1/10th of the business class cabin had to fly empty due to the seats needing “maintenance”. If it’s like this now, I could only imagine what it will be like in 10 years time.
While the food was good, the service left a lot to be desired. It was in no way poor service, but for business travelers on this route who prioritize sleep, it could be a touch infuriating. Although I have got to be honest, most were leisure travelers with family on this flight. Lastly, the IFE, JAL clearly invested so much into the soft product of the IFE, but the selection could use quite a bit of expanding.
Would I fly this product again? That’s a tough question. Personally, I wouldn’t seek out this product at all, and I know I will be in the minority here. Now First Class? That’s a different story, but with a lackluster lounge (OW) for the time being, broken seats, slow service, no overhead air vents, and not a lot of content, I don’t care how nice the seats are on paper…
