Originally Posted by Rampo
Although AA's FAs are nothing like JAL's, for economy seat comfort I would suggest going with AA's flight 154 for ORD-NRT, which is a 777 with a 2-5-2 seat configuration. Those 2 seats on the sides make things a lot easier, especially if you get a college-age Japanese kid in the window seat who eats the meal, watches the first movie, then falls asleep for the next 8 hours. (This has happened to me more often than not.) Economy in a 747 for 12 or 13 hours simply is not very pleasant; on the AA 777 I found it tolerable.
Well, if AA still had More Leg Room, I'd go with that option, but my understanding is that they're phasing it out, and I'd hate to get stuck with 31" seat pitch for 12 hours, even in a 2-5-2 configuration. (I'm tall, somewhat arthritic, and somewhat claustrophobic.)
What I'm looking at now is UL's $299/year for E+ option. Since I have to go to Japan again in the summer of 2006, it may be worth it.