JAL Mileage Bank - Survived JL047 in F without any racism

All - I've been reluctant to throw my hat into the ring in regards to the "racism" thread. But I figured I'd chime in with a mini trip report and let others draw whatever conclusions they choose. In a nutshell:

JL047 JFKNRT, four award seats in F. Two adults, two children and 6 and 8.

One adult (me) lived in Tokyo for a year as an exchange student. By no means fluent, though certainly can exchange a greeting or two.

So, now that we've set that stage, on to the report. Arrived early at JFK, no wait at F check-in podium, no escort to security (not that I was expecting one), disappointed that at that hour there was no separate F/J security line so it took maybe 20 minutes to get through. As widely reported, nothing special about F lounge, and to my disappointment (and contrary to other trip reports), there was no champagne, even when requested. J lounge much airier and bright, but kids were happy reading so no need to move around.

We were originally seated rows 1, 2, 3, 4 along the right side (skysleeper solo). I asked at the lounge whether they could approach passengers in 1 & 2 on the left and see if they'd be willing to switch to 3 and 4. Obviously, I played up the "we are going to need to tend to our kids, so don't want to run the risk of annoying the other passengers by constantly passing by them." Not surprisingly, right before the flight was called, agent brought over BPs for the first four seats in the nose.

Boarded a bit late, were immediately set upon by our flight attendant (3 FAs in F for 11 seats, so we essentially had our own dedicated FA for the first half of the flight), she brought some amenity kits for the kids, asked them if they were excited about their trip, and generally made us feel welcome (which, on other airlines, has not always been the case with kids in F). I spoke a few words of Japanese to break the ice, and from there we proceeded to have fabulous service.

For what it is worth, at no point did we feel neglected, and yes, we were the only gaijin up front. True, FAs don't circulate the cabin as often as on SQ, so on one or two occasions I may have used the call button to summon more water, but that was it. On one occasion one of my kids was done with his meal so I just instinctively grabbed his tray and started walking back to the galley (I'm used to cleaning up at home). It was almost comical to see how aghast and apologetic the FA was, I realized I really had goofed.

To the credit of JL F (my first experience), best fact was the multitude of snacks. The formal Japanese meal was fine, but having the option of Lobster Rolls, Curry Beef, Cheeseburgers and so forth was fabulous, especially with the kids.

Only odd thing was that amenity kits were handed out at the END of the flight. That was fine - masks and toothbrushes were of course available throughout - but I don't recall on other airlines getting the his and her kits so shortly before landing.

Smallish immigration queue, and bags were delivered asap. I think we boarded the NEX that departed only 45 minutes from blocking in, which is fabulous.

So there you have it. We gave the airline every opportunity to treat us, well, perhaps indifferently; award tickets, kids in F, gaijin (depending what you believe), needed seats moved around. Instead, we received excellent, attentive service. Kids were addressed directly by name, they struggled with their "diet-o coku onegai shimasu" and "domo arigatoos" but maybe that made some difference. In any event, others can chime in on their perception of difficulties others may have encountered on JL, I most certainly did not.

Best to all - JNB

Thanks JNB for your report.

I have a similar trip (using AA award) coming up in couple of weeks with my spouse and 2 children on JAL from NRT to ORD in F. Outbound is on CX from SFO.

I am hoping that the post by another user on this forum about racism on JAL was a rare incident. I have been on JAL in C (paid tkt) couple of times in the past and did not have issues. Crossing my fingers!

Thanks for a great report, jamienbaker!

I think the cabin attendants probably forgot to hand out the amenity kits (unless they expect you to use the eyemask during landing :p). This things do happen sometimes. On my last NRT-LAX flight in C, the cabin attendants didn't hand out the amenities until long after they have dimmed the light. They were so apologetic when the passengers asked for the eye masks and had to rush to the storage area to get the goodies out :D

Thanks JNB for your report.

I have a similar trip (using AA award) coming up in couple of weeks with my spouse and 2 children on JAL from NRT to ORD in F.

I am hoping that the post by another user on this forum about racism on JAL was a rare incident. I have been on JAL in C (paid tkt) couple of times in the past and did not have issues. Crossing my fingers!

I spoke a few words of Japanese to break the ice, and from there we proceeded to have fabulous service.

Kids were addressed directly by name, they struggled with their "diet-o coku onegai shimasu" and "domo arigatoos" but maybe that made some difference.


Not that it should matter in terms of the service offered, but these couple little things I'd guess made all the difference.

I am only at a level 4 fluency, but being able to exchange these basic phrases certainly broke the ice as you said, and made the FA's much more comfortable I suspect.

Not that it should matter in terms of the service offered, but these couple little things I'd guess made all the difference.

I am only at a level 4 fluency, but being able to exchange these basic phrases certainly broke the ice as you said, and made the FA's much more comfortable I suspect.

I think you are probably right. And while I realize that shouting out a greeting or two should not be a prerequisite for good service in any culture - and that not every traveler has been blessed to have been an exchange student or engage in significant international travel as I do - I think it is almost a basic courtesy if traveling in somebody else's land to at least pick up a single phrase or two. If for no better reason than breaking the ice. Maybe this will get me flamed, but it just seems like basic politeness, no matter how quick your trip or harried you might feel. Even asking a bartender or taxi driver for a phrase or two can't possibly hurt (and that is by no means a slight against taxi drivers or bartenders...two groups of people I spend significant time with!!)

dunno, but from my latest (and one and only) trip on JL C on award I wonder if the lack of english ability was one of the reason for gaijin to sometimes feel negleted. i was on NRT-AMS 2 days ago and found myself almost repeatedly served by 1 specific FA. While stretching my legs i found out i wasa the only seemingly non jap speaker on my side of the cabin. so i guess taht's partly why sometimes gaijin do get neglected if the crews arent too comfortable with english.

as a comparasion when i rang the bell while that FA wasnt there, it was a bit of a mess, despite it was sth very minor. :S...:(

i was on NRT-AMS 2 days ago and found myself almost repeatedly served by 1 specific FA.


That's intentional. They call it the new personal style of business class service. To me it wasn't a bad thing. On my last LAX-NRT in C, when I ordered from the a la carte menu, the cabin attendant knew I want it with green tea because that's what I asked for during my first meal. This is a nice personal touch. :)

http://press.jal.co.jp/en/release/200712/000796.html

To increase the level of customer care and attention on board, each passenger will also be looked after as much as possible by the same cabin attendant from the time of boarding to disembarkation. In the past more than one cabin attendant may have tended to the needs of an individual passenger.

That's intentional. They call it the new personal style of business class service. To me it wasn't a bad thing. On my last LAX-NRT in C, when I ordered from the a la carte menu, the cabin attendant knew I want it with green tea because that's what I asked for during my first meal. This is a nice personal touch. :)

well, i dont mind that at all as she was the few who speaks better english than the others so... but i'd thought it would make sense to offer some service base on sense and previous orders. Like even if I had alcohol for my first meal, i wouldnt have more on my second meal with curry/beef stew + have just woken up. and yes, i was asked if i wanted tea and i said yes.:D:D
Anyway, I wonder if it is possible to have a magic3 description card and magic 4 system? i'm pretty sure its the new system (perhaps the new seat as well?) Find it a bit too slopy. maybe it was the flat BA bed that spoiled me...

I'm a gaijin who has flown JAL many times in Y, J, and F, usually on paid tickets but sometimes on awards. (My F flights were all upgraded.) I've always received very gracious, courteous service on all flights. Never personally experienced racism that I was aware of.

dunno, but from my latest (and one and only) trip on JL C on award I wonder if the lack of english ability was one of the reason for gaijin to sometimes feel negleted. i was on NRT-AMS 2 days ago and found myself almost repeatedly served by 1 specific FA. While stretching my legs i found out i wasa the only seemingly non jap speaker on my side of the cabin. so i guess taht's partly why sometimes gaijin do get neglected if the crews arent too comfortable with english.

I do feel that many CC members' English isn't that great, and you are probably right in that their lack of English ability is contributing to the feeling of neglect.

In Japan, it's deemed to be a little rude to ask the customer to repeat what they've just said, so it could well be making them more reluctant to communicate with non-Japanese speakers, in case they are deemed to be rude if they need to ask them to repeat themselves. Unfortunately this in itself can be deemed to be rude as well - in a way, they have a difficult job, although you could say that all international CC members should be fluent English speakers (but that's not as realistic or easy as it may seem).

While I am a fluent Japanese speaker, I tend to be lazy (especially when I am tired) and end up mostly speaking English. On some flights, I don't speak any Japanese except 'hello' and 'thank you' (just to be polite) but I find JAL service to be superb. I also feel, however, that I know at the back of my mind that I can speak to someone in Japanese if necessary, and I suspect they know it too, because I speak Japanese without any foreign accent. So maybe my experience is not so representative of other people's experience.

I do feel that many CC members' English isn't that great, and you are probably right in that their lack of English ability is contributing to the feeling of neglect.

In Japan, it's deemed to be a little rude to ask the customer to repeat what they've just said, so it could well be making them more reluctant to communicate with non-Japanese speakers, in case they are deemed to be rude if they need to ask them to repeat themselves. Unfortunately this in itself can be deemed to be rude as well - in a way, they have a difficult job, although you could say that all international CC members should be fluent English speakers (but that's not as realistic or easy as it may seem).

While I am a fluent Japanese speaker, I tend to be lazy (especially when I am tired) and end up mostly speaking English. On some flights, I don't speak any Japanese except 'hello' and 'thank you' (just to be polite) but I find JAL service to be superb. I also feel, however, that I know at the back of my mind that I can speak to someone in Japanese if necessary, and I suspect they know it too, because I speak Japanese without any foreign accent. So maybe my experience is not so representative of other people's experience.

Then again- i didnt feel neglected when I dont speak a word of japanese. thinking about it again i didnt even say the basics in japanese. (Maybe i did, saying sorry to catch attention. I just find it easier to catch attention using the local language in any languages. For anything else, it depends on how dysfunctional my brain was at the moment. Before my flight I was stuck in the train for 1 extra hour and had a mad dash in the airport!)

I would think among this crowd of world travelers you shouldn't get flamed. It does make a world of difference even if you only know just the basics (please, thank you, etc.) Is it really that hard to learn even one or two phrases in the language of the destination country? Hopefully a few phrases here and there lets the world know that we're not all Ugly Americans who expects everyone to know English (let the flames begin).

I've flown JAL about ten times (and ANA about 40) and have never experienced overt discrimination. I may have had a Japanese passenger or two ask to be moved from my row to a row with more seats available, but I would have done the same thing. I may have had an FA or two that didn't like serving non-Japanese, but the FAs in question brought out Kirin upon request and were as attentive as any - because that was their job.

Overall, JL and NH are two of the best airlines I've ever flown on and take care of their passengers - even in Y. I've only flown NH a few times in J and all of my JL experience has been in Y. I'm usually on a budget and choose the Japanese carriers specifically because of their Y service. No complaints here.

FWIW, I speak enough Japanese for short conversations.

You want disdain for passengers, I could point out a few UA and NW FAs (though to be honest most of them aren't bad).;)

Seriously, I'll keep flying JL and NH when they fit my plans until they convince me not to. I'll be trying FCO-NRT-FCO on JL next month - perhaps I'll write a trip report.

Not strictly on topic, but I just noticed that JAL seem to be offering Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque on some routes in F (including one of my upcoming flights). So, my view is that as long as the FAs keep the PJ flowing (and as long I as am possessed of the power of speech, or even just the ability to point and grunt, it should continue to flow...), I really won't care how awful or just plain inattentive (which, in any event, I struggle to believe is possible with JAL FAs) the service might be!