villox

Came back on NRT-BOS today on the 787 in C class (flight was just over 12 hours). Here are my impressions:

- Aircraft is of course beautiful. Plane is noticeably smaller than a 777 or 747 which you'd normally fly on for a flight this long
- Cabin lighting is subtle and nice but not all that impressive after you get over the initial impression of it
- Bathrooms seem larger than a normal airplane bathroom. They are pretty cool - in addition to the washlet, there is this electronic arm that pushes the seat down when you flush so it's won't be left up, and the door swings in such a way that it doesn't go into the cabin much
- Windows are amazing, and probably the best feature of the new aircraft. It's just really amazing to be able to block out direct sunlight somewhat but still be able to see outside. Equivalent of putting on sunglasses.
- The air vents can be operated with one finger. Kinda hard to explain but they look like a little fan and because they're pretty high up you get enough reach to use one finger without having to stretch so you can twist the nozzel
- It could just be my imagination but I did actually feel pretty good after the flight - not quite as bloated and dried out as I usually would.

Now for the TERRIBLY disappointing experience on today's particular flight. About an hour into the flight, the entire IFE system completely froze up. This affected the overhead lights, the flight attendant call button, and of course the screen - everyone's picture was stuck on whatever they were watching. They made an announcement about it and for about an hour they claimed they were working on it. Eventually they managed to shut off all the displays and they made an announcement saying it would be UNAVAILABLE for the entire flight. It also took the seat power outlets with it, which means even if you had an iPad you were stuck with whatever battery you had left. Main screen was down too so no moving map.

Even worse, anyone who had turned on their overhead light before the crash had it stuck ON the entire flight. Luckily there was only one of them on in our section of the cabin (I was in row 3) so it didn't cause too much extra light, but if it had frozen up after it got dark it could have been worse.

Since the flight attendent call button was also disabled it was a bit of a chore to get attention - you pretty much had to go find someone in the middle of the flight when they weren't walking up and down as much. And for the midflight meal when the cabin was dark you had to use your reading light to see what you were eating (can't imagine what they did in economy).

This was my first time on JL but I have to say it was a pretty poor experience with service in general. Service got almost non-existent after main dinner was done, and the aforementioned call button issue made it worse. The in-flight bar ran out about soon after they set it up (there were only 2 bottles of wine) and they didn't refill it until I asked - I waited quite a while before doing so. My companion ordered a drink and it took over 45 minutes before they finally brought it. I was impressed with the food though - a ton of choices for the midflight meal (when I finally got them to take an order) and the wagyu steak was probably the best steak I've had on a plane.

On this trip I flew over to NRT on UA in F and their service was light years beyond. I have also flown in C on OZ and F in CX so was expecting a little closer to the famous asian carrier service - this was probably the worst C class service I've had on any carrier. It was very polite but just not attentive at all.

At the end, as an apology for the IFE debacle, they did give us vouchers good toward $300 each or 15,000 miles on JL but as this was my first (and possibly the last) time on JL I'm not sure how useful this will be. I just can't believe there isn't a way they could have reset the system - I wonder if it must have had some sort of hardware failure.