FLIGHT#27
Japan Airlines #719
Tokyo, Japan (NRT) – Singapore (SIN)
Date: Feb. 5, 2011
Departure: 10:55
Arrival: 017:35
Length: 07:40
Miles flown since start of trip: 50,552 mi.
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Seats: BUSINESS 3ACD
The whole point of visiting an airline lounge is to relax in a quiet place while you wait for your flight. So why would I chose to run around the whole terminal visiting every possible lounge before my flight? The answer is because I’m a Flyertalker. And it’s about sampling the best of all the lounges. Narita is a great place to crawl because there are FIVE Oneworld lounges to visit. LOVE THAT! My family just rolled their eyes and said that they would see me at the gate. So this report will comment briefly on the five lounges, name a winner and then report on our great flight in business class down to Singapore on Japan Airlines.
We spent 72 hours in Tokyo visiting with friends and spending two days at the Disney parks: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. We have been to all the other nine Disney parks worldwide. These two parks made the complete set. Yes, we’re Disney geeks too, not just travel geeks.
Tokyo Disney Sea was incredible. Disney is a 49% stakeholder in the Japanese parks with a private Japanese company owning 51%. Because of this it is the local company that has final say on many of the decisions. The best part is that the budgets are much bigger than the US parks. You can really notice that they spend a lot more money on the rides and restaurants. When Disney’s California Adventure opened, it looked cheap, lots of flat painted walls filling up space. Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) had amazing rides and incredible restaurants/bars. My favorite was the Teddy Roosevelt bar and restaurant on the US Constitution ship. It has dark wood walls with carved scenes of Teddy’s life. We sat in some cushy, leather couches. I had trouble remembering that I was in a Disney theme park.
Tokyo Disneyland was also wonderful. They have a great Winnie the Pooh Hunny Pot ride that is unlike any other worldwide. We had a great time a both parks.
In Tokyo we stayed with our friends who live about 20 minutes from the parks. They also happen to live near the Tokyo City Air Terminal where you can catch a bus to either airport for about $25.
We arrived at Terminal 2 and quickly found the JAL Business Class check in desks. We were greeted at the entrance and directed to one of the many waiting agents. I had tried to check us all in online but only managed to check me in. One this trip, I haven’t great luck with online check in with our around the around the world ticket on Oneworld.
The check in agent was friendly and efficient. My guard was up after being hit up for additional taxes on the last leg from Delhi. Luckily not a word was mentioned and soon our bags were tagged and he gave me our boarding passes.
We went through the south security and passport control. There was a priority line but only for First Class passengers. I sure wish that all airlines offered Fast Track security for all premium passengers.
Being a travel geek, I knew that Narita Terminal 2 offered FIVE Oneworld lounges. I was looking forward to visiting all of lounges and sampling the best they had to offer.
JAL SAKURA BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE (Main Terminal)
We found the JAL Sakura Lounge almost immediately. It was very crowed as we entered but finally found some seating near an electrical plug. 80% of the seating did not have access to plug. Some lounges have figured this out. BA and QF do well.
A view of a seating area
More seating
My favorite part about this lounge was the great food. I love savory food for breakfast. This lounge had many delicious offerings. I started with the Miso Soup which was fantastic. I also tried two pickled salads, fish roe and some grilled fish. My husband had a nice plate of eggs, sausage and croissant.
In the middle of the lounge, a tall tower Travel Station offered information about Oneworld airlines and their destinations. I’m really not sure what premium class traveler would ever stop by and use this. But what do I know?
The Oneworld Tower
The main disadvantage of this lounge is once you enter, you descend the staircase to get to the Business Class area. Then if you want to eat, you must ascend a different set of stairs to the eating area. It’s very crowded because they don’t let you take the food back to the downstairs area. I’m sure the issue is that they don’t want you walking down stairs with trays of food. Considering this is their home base, this is not acceptable.
Blurry eggs and bacon
Blurry Miso Soup (have I mentioned that my good camera broke?)
Drinks area downstairs
My breakfast of miso soup, pickled salads, cod roe and grilled fish
Hubby’s more traditional breakfast
Japanese Breakfast bar: salad, rolled eggs, fish eggs and grilled fish
CATHAY PACIFIC BUSINESS/FIRST LOUNGE:
None of the lounges in T2 are well signed. I finally found the Cathay lounge which had a dedicated elevator to go up one level to the fourth floor. I walked in and asked if I could use the lounge. She looked at my ticket which showed my Oneworld Sapphire status and then told me I should use the JAL Sakura Lounge. I smiled and asked again if I could still use CX lounge. She said of course. I’m not sure why she tried to direct me away but my polite persistence paid off! She warned me that she wouldn’t be announcing my flight.
At the elevator to go up to the CX lounge
Entrance
Typical seating of a CX lounge
Blurry computers
Long bar with no bar
Tea and fruit
Name brand spirits
Drinks and cereals
Tasty sushi even though it’s fake crab
Yummy blurry sandwiches
My CX breakfast
A CX flight had just left so the lounge was almost empty. The seating areas were pretty standard for the CX lounge throughout their system. I was mainly there to sample the buffet and was very pleased. In addition to fresh fruit and cereal, they had a number of open faced sandwiches which were very nice. I tried a nice chicken sandwich with a great sauce drizzled on top. The sushi was also surprisingly tasty. I tried the wifi and it worked well.
I was surprised that they didn’t serve any dim sum. That is often the reason I swing by a CX lounge! The good sushi was a fine replacement! Dim sum Tokyo style.