Unimatrix One

So I finally had the chance to fly in the Sky Suite on the 777-300ER last week. JAL wasn't kidding when they said they were aiming for a business seat that feels like first class. They really hit a home run with this seat! Best J seat ever.

The good: The flat bed is great. And the mattress pad makes it even better. The seat is very private. It really feels like a first class seat. Storage space is great. (I had an aisle seat which has the side table, unlike the window and middle seats. But the window and middle seats have bigger tables under the TV monitor and a shelf above the seat.) My 20" rollaboard bag fits under the ottoman. The video screen is HUGE.

The seat is also very comfortable just for lounging in a reclined position. I was concerned that the lack of a foot stopper at the end (like the ones on the old Shell Flat seats) would be a shortcoming, but it's easy to put my feet on the ottoman and feel perfectly comfortable.

The seat also has lots of room for my feet in the bed position. My biggest complaint about other airlines' flat J seats is that the foot space is usually very narrow and I can't spread my feet without banging against the walls. This was not the case with the JL seat.

Another great thing about this seat is the ability to lower the partitions so you can talk to your seat mate. My son sat next to me, and we had no trouble communicating during the flight.

One of my worries when JL first announced this seat was that all the walls around the seats would prevent views out the windows of everyone but window seat passengers. Well, it turns out that JAL requires all the seat dividers to be lowered during take off and landing (presumably for safety reasons), so you can still catch views out the window during these most interesting phases of flight.

The bad: The pillow is weird -- very thin and hard, even by Japanese standards. JAL should get thicker pillows. The bed was also a bit too narrow around the waist (and I'm skinny with a 32-inch waist). Head and shoulder room is good, but the seat compartment tapers by the waist, because the table has to fit in the side wall. This means there was no room to lay my arms by my side. My right arm was squashed by the side wall, and my left arm fell off the other side of the bed because the seat was too narrow. So I had to rest my hands on top of my body or clasp them together.

Overall, though, this is by far the best J seat I've ever tried and even beats the last generation of JAL first class seats (the Skysleeper Solo). Combined with the first-rate service and food, JAL has an industry-leading business class.

JALPak

Just J seats? Some airlines' F seats have the same problem

Ceasy

Yep totally agree - flies under the radar, but probably the best J class in the sky

JALPak

Just curious, did you attempt to bring your rollaboard into the window seat. I recall you PM me regarding that ~1 yr ago

Unimatrix One

Nope, couldn't try the window seat. But I assume it has the same space under the ottoman?

hamburglar

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Thanks for the review!

musashino22

I'm also amazed by JL's new Biz class when I flew with them as I can't remember the last time I had a good sleep on the plane. As for the airweave pillow, I initially had the same impression as you but then again I slept well so all is ok with me. ;-)

kaka

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I hv a hkia-challenging rollerboard (just under 55x45x28 cm) with no much room to spare (think <2cm in all dimensions). Fits under the window seat ottoman w no problems. W space to spare so i can unzip it and grab sth without needing to move it.

JALPak

My concern wasn't the space under the ottoman remember? It was how easy to get in and get out for both the rollaboard and you

kaka

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No problem for rollerboard. You and ur bag has to go in sideways, but once in theres plenty of space for maneuvering

JALPak

Having tried multiple seats, i stand by my concerns and wouldn't recommend a window seat if you plan to store rollerblades in a standard seat. If you really have to, then go for the bulkhead for easier access.

armagebedar

Something like this, perhaps?

Unimatrix One

I kept meaning to come back here to post an update. In my first post I said that the bed was too narrow and my left arm kept falling off the bed. Well, on my return flight I managed to position myself so that my arm was not falling off the bed. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong on the first flight. I had the same seat assignment on both flights.

Also, I have come to realize that seats 5D and 5E are the seats to avoid on the 777-300ER. This row is closer to the bulkhead than the other bulkhead row in J, which means that in order to give the middle passenger enough room to get in and out of the seat, the middle seat ottoman is set off to the right side, i.e. not directly in front of the seat. So the middle passenger has a strangely shaped bed and can only get in and out via the passageway in front of 5D. And in order to make that passageway wide enough, the right corner of the footspace for 5D is "clipped," meaning the footspace tapers on the right side and scrunches the feet of the person in 5D.

I took a look at the bulkhead row in the aft section of J class and it didn't seem to have this problem, i.e. the seats were sufficiently far from the bulkhead that everyone had the same space as any other row.

90210Flyer

We're taking the 777-300ER LAX-NRT next week. Do you have the same concerns about 5H & 5K? Also, does the single J class row feel squeezed? Thanks!

Unimatrix One

As I recall, 5H and K seemed to have plenty of space, so I don't think they are scrunched in the same way as 5D and E. I also thought the mini cabin seemed fine. I was worried it would feel claustrophobic, but the seat pitch is so large and the seats so spacious that it felt fine.