Conclusion

Comparing ANA and JAL F is highly subjective and, in my opinion, largely comes down to the individual crew interactions of each particular flight. From a hard product perspective, the new ANA The Suite product is significantly better than JAL’s F seat, but I still prefer the decade-old JAL F suite over the Square F product that’s currently on majority of ANA’s long-haul 777 fleet.

Catering wise, I feel ANA does a slightly better job with the presentation of the western options. Unsurprisingly, both carriers feature amazing Japanese cuisine, and I’m not near skilled enough to make an informed over which one is better. Generally, I favor ANA’s wine and liquor selection (particularly the Hibiki 17 and 21!), but JAL’s Champagne options are truly best-in-world. At the end of the day, again, it’s a toss-up!

From a service perspective, I’ve never had a bad crew on either airline, but sometimes the crew’s natural timidity given the language barrier can detract from the overall experience. Typically, I’ve found ANA’s crews to be a little more outgoing while JAL crews tend to be more conservative. But, as this trip report demonstrates, it really is crew-dependent as the three amazing flight attendants I had on JL5 were the best I've experienced on either Japanese carrier.

In the end, you cannot go wrong flying on either ANA or JAL in first class. I’m truly unable to rank one above the other as they both shine and the nuances are so minuscule that one is splitting hairs and otherwise detracting from the absolutely incredible in-flight experience you’ll enjoy on either airline.

Here's hoping you enjoyed this trip report and hopefully Japan's borders will reopen soon for tourist tavel!

-FlyerBeek