I just got back from a trip to the Maldives and had the opportunity to fly Cathay Pacific outbound and JAL inbound over the Pacific from SFO in First Class. There was quite a difference. Cathay's new bed suite is wonderful. The tray table is more like a large desktop. I had room to use my laptop and "dine" at the same time. My companion was able to be next to me and we had middle seats with privacy screens up on both aisles where as on JAL we had to request row 1 or else we couldn't be next to each other. CX--food was served from the cart and much more elegant. JAL gave excellent service and the food was delicious but not the elegance or flair of CX. Cathay offers more....JAL waits for you to ask for things like pajamas, amemity kits, etc. and the JAL interior was drab. The ventilation on the CX AIRBUS 340 was very stuffy--my only complaint. The JAL 744 was well ventilated. If there was no price diff Id choose CX next time.