Disclaimer, I seldom, seldom, seldom if ever rarely fly F, if just because I find the differential between J and F on CX to be not very big, and revenue J is too cheap which makes J-F (if using AM) too expensive. And since revenue J is cheap and I need to gain status so there is no incentive to use AA/AS whatever cheap currency to grab award F either for me.

But recently (a few days ago) I flew JL F and OMG, I can't think of any experience that will surpass it. It's truly an 'experience' per se, I don't know how to accurately explain in words but there is this element of class that ME3 (or CX) cannot match even with all the bling they have. Both hard (not as much) and soft (by far) product wise.

It's not just their over-the-top catering but also the service, I felt that every single FA respected their jobs and treated it as their career that they are proud of (at least to the pax). Whereas on CX, the crew are more like your family members which is warm but not proper for F (or this may be distorted since I speak Cantonese with them, and I am too young.) And to be honest there are many SPs nowadays that really need to check with their grooming guidelines again, but they are probably too high up to care.

They also hit some of the points you mentioned, as an award pax I was not allowed to choose window seat until airport control. Food/drinks nuff said. At NRT F lounge, with the elite heaviness in Japan the lounge was more crowded than any time I've been at Pier/Wing with every single seat taken, but one lounge attendant discreetly (in a non-obtrusive/non-creepy way) took care of any needs I had whenever, including prioritization for massage and shower and also boarding reminder. Now I don't want to think of the blank faces at HKG F check-in/F lounges...

Now, even less incentive to go for CX F......