Originally Posted by
AlwaysSunnyInORD
All good points listed above. I’d add that the plane type may matter to you as well. The Dreamliner is on the ORD route. The other two are on the A330. Personally I prefer the 787. If it were me I’d choose the route through ORD. It also takes off and lands later giving you a better chance for sleep (in addition to the longer flight).
You may want to review the 787 seat options since there are some known seat movement issues in J.
Bolded was exactly my reasoning for going through ORD vs. CLT flying to BCN. Figured I would get around 1.5 hours more sleep because of 10 PM (11 PM Eastern ) departure vs. 8:20 PM eastern departure out of CLT. I'd rather lose 2.5 hours of sleep-deprived time on the ground on the first day and get better sleep and enjoy the majority of that first day better.
I don't normally care much about lounges, but your timing would be almost exactly the same as mine, with an arrival into ORD around 7:30 PM and the long haul departure at 10 PM, so lines up nicely with dinner time. Allows you to eat a solid, unrushed meal on the ground, and then get on the plane ready to hopefully sleep shortly after takeoff. Personally I enjoy eating on the ground quite a bit more, especially if it will lead to (hopefully) more sleep on the plane.