Originally Posted by
tkelvin69
As one who has just done 3 DFW-NRT-SIN on AA/JL all 777 I would take JL on all considerations, including leg room. I was in exit rows most of the time but did have one seg each on JL/AA in a standard aisle seat in Y. JL was much more comfortable and I think the leg room was more or seems that way due to the type of seat recline. The IFE seemed to have all the AA selections of movies plus some additional and a greater selection of games. Lavs on JL are miles ahead of AA, especially the L side mid-cabin that is larger and they seem to be kept cleaner.
Funny, my experience with the regular Y JAL seats themselves on the 777 was the opposite (I think a few days ago we may have even been on the same flight SIN-NRT).
The legroom seemed to either be equal or slightly reduced, definately not more. The footrests eat up a few inches of legroom and hit my shin if i try to extend my legs all the way under the seat in front of me (which I can do on the AA 777) and force me to angle my legs oddly in order to compensate. I'm only 5'7" but I sort of felt like a borderline giant in those seats.
The IFE seemed a little outdated compared to AA 777, but it doesn't bother me at all because I use my netbook for IFE. Thankfully my netbook gets 5 hours of battery life, because the JAL economy seats don't have power plugs on the 777.
Fortunately, the NRT-SIN and SIN-NRT flights had light enough loads that there were plenty of completely open rows available, so I was able to lie across an entire 3-seat row, basically nullifying my earlier points about seat comfort. Far better than having to deal with completely packed 777s (as was the case AA DFW-NRT and NRT-DFW).
Food was slightly better aboard JAL, though still mediocre (as I was expecting). I loaded up before hand at the NRT T2 Sakura lounge upstairs buffet, which I found quite delightful.
So overall I agree that the JAL experience is better, though most attributable to their far lower flight loads on the routes I have flown with them when comparing Y to Y. Premium Economy over AA Y is a no brainer though.