Originally Posted by capedreamer

Given the length of this post and since I experienced them less than 12 hours apart, I thought I'd prepare a quick summary comparing LH and AC's J products. Given that both flights were 1) late-night departures, 2) international red-eyes, 3) roughly equivalent in length, and 4) on each carrier's newest aircraft and in each carrier's newest J cabin, I believe the comparison is quite relevant and fair.

Seat: AC
IFE: AC
Food: LH
Crew/Service: LH
Overall Experience: LH

While some may argue that at the end of the day, the most important element of a business class product is the sleep it provides (i.e., the seat), I would take LH over AC in J any day based on this flight (admittedly a very small sample size). My general takeaway is that like many Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, LH still strives to make flying J a "special" experience — a small but illustrative example being the bright yellow sunflowers that adorn each breakfast cart — whereas AC (and its North American peers) seem to take a much more pragmatic and transactional approach.