JL First Class worth it over Business?
 

I'm considering a flight back from HND-SFO on first or business. I see that the business class is fairly private and now fully flat. Considering this is a nighttime flight, is there any advantage of riding first? I've ridden CX first and it's a big improvement over business (not that business isn't good at all). Just want to hear your opinions; I know it's all subjective. Thanks!

Pointers:
I am using AA miles so 55k vs 67.5k miles. I also have a 3.5 hour layover in HND.

I also debated this myself with the points you already have mentioned. I find the business class seats quite comfortable on their 777's and personally don't have any issues with it. The deciding factor for me is that I have a long layover at HND, so being able to use one of their dedicated flagship first lounge was it, with less emphasis on the in flight experience.

Well, with an F ticket you get access to the F lounge in HND, so that alone might be worth it with the 3.5 hr layover you have.

What's so special about the F lounge at HND? I can't find much information on the JL website.

This is in Japanese but it should give you an idea: https://www.jal.co.jp/inter/lounge/hnd_first/

If it is that little of a difference using miles just go for first

How quickly do you earn 12,500 AA miles?

I personally would spring for F, since I earn at a brisk pace so don't see 12.5K as a huge extra cost for the step up to F. You may see things differently, and C is quite nice as well.

You can't go wrong either way.

+1

It hinges on how quickly you earn and what else you might burn the miles on. My wife and I are flying HND-SFO next month in F, but like VNA we have lots of miles to burn.

FWIW, it sounds like the HND F lounge is quite nice, though not in the stellar league of top F lounges in the world. OTOH, be aware that on this midnight HND-SFO-HND route you just get light meals with limited options for dinner from JL rather than the full-fledged F meal service that most other good Asian airlines provide for transpacific (including late night) flights.

Some people disagree. HND F lounge is rated 6th best lounge in the world, only 3 points behind CX's and 8 behind the top ones.

http://thedesignair.net/2015/01/29/t...-lounges-2015/

But are there any substantial differences in terms of offerings between C and F lounge? I though the beverages and foods are somewhat similar between the two.

https://www.jal.co.jp/inter/lounge/pdf/first/food.pdf
https://www.jal.co.jp/inter/lounge/pdf/sakura/food.pdf

https://www.jal.co.jp/inter/lounge/pdf/first/drink.pdf
https://www.jal.co.jp/inter/lounge/pdf/sakura/drink.pdf

Thanks for the input. AA miles are relatively easy to acquire (2 tickets are half of a new CC signup) so I'll try it once for the novelty. I'll probably go back to business unless it's superb.

Sounds good to me! But isn't that ranking more oriented toward design and aesthetics, rather than overall experience?

But it doesn't mean the overall experience was not taken into account.

Well, whether #6 or not, I'm looking forward to checking it out in a few weeks.