jbb

Thanks very much for the summary! Much appreciated.

tya

So I have done BR J JFK->TPE and NH J FRA->HND

A short answer is I liked my NH experience better.

The crew I had on NH were much more friendly than on BR, but it could've just been my bad luck to have an inexperienced FA. One incident was that a young BR FA asked me what to drink to compliment my meal, so I asked her what would she recommend. She looked at me in a dead-fish eye saying "I don't know. Depending on what you like? Orange juice?" I ended up taking Baileys... On the contrary, the NH staff only only recommend what to drink (Umeshu) and told me how Japanese typically drink Umeshu when I seemed a little lost whether or not to go on the rock. There were a few more things later during the flight that really impressed me, so impressed that I couldn't leave the plane without filling a lengthy complimentary form for the crew. NH FAs on J were simply much much nicer than BR.

Yet again I have to note that it could've been my bad luck to have inexperienced FAs on BR, as my friend from LAX told me he always have great experiences on BR J, and he liked it better than NH.

As for the seat, I prefer NH staggered window seat to BR, though I really have nothing to complain about BR J. I have tried LH and UA Business and I found their leg-rooms in sleeping position to be reduced. It's a problem for tall guys who can't straighten legs while trying to get a good sleep. It's much better on BR J, and I don't feel my legs that cramped as on UA or LH, but I still found the NH staggered to be the most roomie.

Another thing to note is that BR tends to have reduced meal service on midnight departure (and so does NH in fact). Your return flight JFK-TPE* will give you reduced meal service. For NH, they publish their menus online so it's good that you can reference it before journey.

(* Sorry I didn't notice you mentioned it's going to be an one-way flight. I can't speak for BR TPE-JFK food as the last time I had it in J was 7 years ago and I believe, for better or worse, it's been different now. My bet is it would be a regular full service meal since it's leaving Taipei 7pm-ish.)

One advantage for BR is that they use 77W (and therefore the herringbone RLC products) on both JFK-TPE vv. and TPE-SIN vv. Not sure what NH uses on Toyko-Singapore, but you may want to check.

If you end up taking BR and have star gold, go to SQ lounge in Taipei. I like it slightly better than BR, in terms of food offering.

IluvSQ

I don't want to debate your post, but just to correct incorrect assertions.
If travelling in J class, one does not need Star Gold to enter the SQ lounge.
Any Business Class passenger on any Star Alliance airline can enter any
Alliance Business Class lounge.

tya

No worries. I always show my *G card regardless, but it's good to know. Thanks for the info.

jbb

I was totally not aware of this. I always assumed that if you were a non-Star Gold, Star Alliance business class passenger you had to go to whatever lounge the airline you're flying directed you toward.

A while back, before I had my most recent *Gold status, I was flying SQ J hubbing through FRA and just went to the LH business lounge closest to the gate, though I was interested in checking out the new AC lounge, so this could have been useful to try.

jbb

Thank you very much for the feedback on NH J @TYA. NH is one of my favourite airlines to fly in Y though I have never flown them in J. I really like the Japanese food, drinks, and the soft product has been great.

I think NH is flying their 788s with the new staggered J product on SIN-NRT...

tya

Interestingly I personally love BR Y a lot, and their lavatories are probably the cleanest in the air I would say, at least according to my personal experiences

jbb

In summary, the consensus of the posters seems to be for Asian long-haul * J-class options:

1) SQ
2) BR and NH tie
4) OZ
*TG, CA bottom of the pack

LAX/HKG

I would say TG>>CA. CA's hard product is OK but everything else is really bad. Also transiting in PEK is much less desirable than other *A Asian hubs.

Kacee

I think it's a little more complicated. BR is generally viewed as having the best seat and best J perks (amenity kit, champagne, pjs), while NH has better food and Japanese precision. OZ has a soft product just below SQ's but a poor regional hard product and a long-haul fleet that is still not 100% lie-flat. TG is inconsistent . . . when they're on their game, and you get one of their lie-flat aircraft, it's in the ballpark of BR/OZ, but soft product is hit or miss and they swap aircraft way too often.

jbb

Unfortunately, after all that it looks like we'll be flying Lufthansa J. We're moving with our dog and all the pet transport people say that one should only travel with KLM or Lufthansa if going inter-continentally between Europe/NA and Asia as they are the only carriers with high quality dedicated pet care facilities at their hub. I did debate about going SQ or NH on my own and having the misses take the dog on LH, but figured that wouldn't win me any favours! I haven't flown LH J in a few years, but even their new J product on the A380s doesn't look comparable to the best Asian airlines.