Originally Posted by
cruise4u
My husband and I will be flying to Tokyo (I hope) in April 2022 for a cruise that departs from Tokyo/Yokohama. We are planning to arrive a few days prior to sail date.
We need to fly American Airlines or JAL (booked through AA) in order to use funds from canceled tickets. I am trying to decide whether to fly SAN - NRT NS on AA/JAL codeshare flight operated by JAL or fly out of LAX on AA/JAL flights LAX - HND. All AA flights shown for SAN - HND require bizarre routing: SAN-PHX --> PHX-LAX --> LAX-HND (18 hr total) or SAN-DFW --> DFW-HND with only 40 min layover. Those flights don't make any sense to me.
I am not familiar with either JAL business class or AA Flagship Business. How do these choices compare to AA business class?
For those who are knowledgeable about the two airports, which is the better option for arrival in Tokyo - Haneda or Narita?
I'd say JAL trumps AA in terms of service offering. Both will give you full flat beds, but the soft product on JAL wins in terms of food and beverages. FAs will be consistently perfect on JAL, but formal. FAs on AA can be a mixed bag but if you get a great crew they are equal to the best in the world. If the flight timings on JAL are better you can't really go wrong there.
In terms of arrival airports - that's tricky. Both airports are well served by public transport. Haneda is closer to the city, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be quicker to get to your accommodation... it could depend on where you are planning to stay.