I just did HK on CX in 1st Class award ticket and it is definitely a better hard product than JAL since JAL 787s only offer Biz class even if you just compare Biz classes CX is way better. If your using AA miles you need to book before March for any miles tickets as the rate jumps 40% after that. Example my flight from DFW-LAX-HKG-SYA was 67500 miles in First, but after march that same itinerary would be 110K miles. Another plus is the clubs at HKG. CX has something like 7 clubs at HKG and one of them even offers foots messages, but when I went the wait was 2 hours, so try to book ahead. Also they have crazy cabana shower/bathrooms with sofas.