yamanote8

Okay, am now at the NRT F lounge. Pictures will come later... probably not until I arrive in HKG though.

My newly minted Emerald status was reflected correctly! I hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing the Cathay YVR F lounge (really, it's just a room)... nope, still nothing special

Seat is narrow, no question about it. Like CX herringbone/'coffin class' in terms of width from what I remember. It's narrower than CX Cirrus / NH Staggered or even AC's herringbone product. (note that it's been a while since I've flown Olympus, so my observations may not be entirely accurate)

When the seat is in the lie flat position, unless you're thin you probably won't be able to toss & turn when sleeping, as the shoulder room is rather tight.

In terms of seat comfort, pretty good when in the relaxed/reclined position. The additional storage bins and large side table is great for putting small stuff in, but again, that contributes to the restricted shoulder room.

Try to select a seat with the side table toward the aisle. The armrest bit is quite thin and I imagine it would be bothersome with people walking past if you had an 'outside' seat.

I know I sound really critical here but it's not too bad, considering the limitations of the 767's width. Just don't go in expecting the same hard product as you'd see on, say, a 777.

The meal, by the way, appeared unchanged. BEDD (at least the 'bed' part is true now ), Western/Japanese/Chinese choices, single-tray service.

Time to board 735... back to reality with the old and tatty Skyluxe

JALPak

Thanks for the report As expected, the seat width is a bit tight. Now the question is whether they will install the SKY SUITE II or the better SKY SUITE on the 787s. If JAL installs SKY SUITE on 787, those will be even wider than those on 777s.

And please, don't remind me that I have to switch from SKY SUITE to SKYLUXE in a week too LOL But at least I will have the better meal service and seat on my first leg

yerffej201

YAY TR! At least the bed is flat that is a plus.

yamanote8

CX F lounge at YVR







Second picture shows how narrow the seat really is. You can get a decent idea of how the controls, magazine holders etc are laid out as well. The little bin under the TV is a nice touch. Not sure how often that video input will be used though...

Have a few other pictures but doesn't show much else really. The catering as stated above is as per Skyrecliner service.

If anyone has any particular questions feel free to ask. Have family flying the same a/c in about two weeks so if there's any other picture requests I'll try to get them to take it for you.

dpolites

So would you take Air Canada business or JAL Business when going to Tokyo from Vancouver?

dpolites

BTW how does the new Economy Sky Wider seats look? I am going next month to Tokyo and don't want to be squashed so was considering economy or business, with business costing 3x the economy price.

yamanote8

JAL's New Sky site has a decent overview of the Sky Wider product.

http://www.jal.co.jp/en/newsky/ss6/economy/seat/

I didn't look down the back on my flight, I'll see if I can get some pictures of the economy section for you in a couple days.

AC J v JL J really depends on what you primarily fly- *A or oneworld?
SS6 - in terms of width- is lacking. If you're on the larger side and want to sleep on the plane, then that's something to consider.
But AC's herringbone is getting very worn and, personally, I don't like the lack of storage space. I work on flights so being able to have both laptop and files spread out (on the side table) is useful.
JAL's catering [quality-wise] is better IMO but AC offer multi-course service with proper a la carte / 'anytime' snacks, not just the de-sky cup noodles that JAL offers.

dpolites

On JAL with their New Sky 767 from Vancouver, in Business there is just a single course meal and no other food other than cup o noodles? If true, that sucks and seems like with narrow seats and sub par food service, why would anyone take them?

I am thinking of catching ANA 787 out of Seattle instead then. I have taken them for Business and it was great. Would be nice to have good service out of Vancouver.

Good thing, I found out today that ANA is starting service from Vancouver starting end of March 2014 again with 767 service.

Hopefully that will drive down prices and up service...

Even United 787 out of Denver would be better than JAL then.... Seems even their seats and food choice is better...

Comments?

yamanote8

The meal service is still the full BEDD multi-course meal, simply placed on a single tray due to time constraints. Appetizer - soup - bread - steamed rice - main. The cheese course and dessert still comes separately.

The de-sky noodles (Soba, Udon, Ramen) are the only a-la-carte hot snacks available. Premium Japanese cheese, Jean-Paul Hevin chocolates, packaged Japanese snacks (e.g. combini style squid, red bean dorayaki, etc.), and sandwiches are also available.

Whether or not you perceive the seat to be narrow depends on your build. It's a limitation of the width of the 767 aircraft. I'd much rather have a large side table as opposed to AC's (slightly) wider seat.

ANA's J product is fantastic, I agree. Is it so much better than SS6 that I would go out of my way to deal with an unnecessary connection? Not unless it were cheaper.

I am really happy to see ANA entering the YVR market, competition is nothing but good for the customer. That's the flight I'll be taking in the future if I don't have any onward connections simply because it flies into HND. But it's on a 767-300ER as well, likely to be fitted with the regional Business Cradle product. It's more akin to Skyrecliner than SS6.

United... hah... you can't be serious. Flat bed? Sure, but it's even worse privacy-wise than AC. I hope you like climbing over the person next to you (or having a seat mate at the very minimum). They could have a huge list of food and none of it'd be edible anyways. And as for the quality of service...

yerffej201

I don't know how ANA can compete here especially when you have both AC and JL operating with full flats.

yamanote8

They're banking on the fact that they will be flying into HND. They have a similar strategy ex-LAX- 772s with the old Club ANA angled lie-flat seating fly to HND while the other flight to NRT operates with Business Staggered.

Here's hoping they adapt some sort of flatbed product in the future out of YVR though.

jmj9905

Sort of OT but did you say you were in the NRT jal f lounge? I thought that was closed for refurbishment?

yamanote8

The HND F lounge is closed for refurb (due to airport expansion), not NRT.

jmj9905

Thanks for the clarification yamanote8.

jamar

Well, having been on UA's SEA-NRT (and on to CTS and TPE, which is another story entirely) in C last week, I agree with most of this assessment, except that the main meal wasn't that bad on my flight. Breakfast and snacks still sucked.