astuteflyer

My wife and I are going to Japan next winter for a snowboarding trip, and I've booked us round-trip F from HND to CTS for an early afternoon flight (so we have time to travel 3 hours more to the hotel before it gets too late). Redemption cost was using 96,000 all-in with minimal taxes.

On the one hand, we've never flown proper F before, definitely not on an East Asian airline, and I have a ton of BA Avios and not many good uses for them. The taxes/surcharges from NA to Japan on JAL using BA Avios went up way too much during COVID.

On the other hand, it's only a 90 minute flight, and not sure if it's enough time to really enjoy the F experience.

I booked us at a hotel right near HND, so we should have plenty of time at the lounge even if we stroll over leisurely, and get the most of the lounge experience at HND. Is JAL's HND lounge experience pretty special? And how much worse is the F experience on domestic vs international flights with JAL?

Agneisse

Keep in mind that most of what you have read about JAL F is the intercontinental experience, domestic hard product and especially the lounges are vastly inferior and definitely not worth showing up early for (and this is coming from a lounge enjoyer).

If you are swimming in points or passengers of size fine, otherwise for such a short flight I'd sit in Economy for $80 (via JAL Explorer Pass) rather than pay 24k points each way.

In fact HND/CTS terminals have some pretty interesting shops for foreigners and domestic flying in Japan is very civilised, so you may actually not want to feel 'obligated' to use the lounge (to get your money's worth) but rather show up closer to departure and browse some shops while waiting. Service is of course excellent but how much service can one receive in an hour.

Lounge description: https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/dom/serv...d/diamond.html
Seat description: https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/dom/service/f/seat

CPH-Flyer

I regularly fly F on JAL domestic. One good option is to try to secure a cash upgrade on the day of departure, though there is usually quite a rush to get them. Upgrades are not as cheap as they used to be, but I think generally worth it.

As long as you temper your expectations, as to the difference between long haul F and domestic F. On the A350 that typically serves CTS, there will be 3 flight attendants to manage the 12 seat cabin. The food is a bit up and down, all quite nicely arranged and nit bad, but some of the meals rather light. Drinks is a quite nice selection, usually champagne served from full sized bottles (except ITM that is minis) though sometimes it is sparkling. They also have some good sake and shochu (usually Mori Izo). It is not a bad experience, but not the full proper F you see the bloggers posting about.



This is from Haneda Itami, a 251 mile route.

Is it worth 24K avois per flight, open question. But isn't that really what points are for, spending on the bit crazy because it does not have a direct cash out for it?

JALPak

The Diamond Premier Lounge is pretty basic with very limited snack items. I wouldn't go to the airport early just to enjoy the lounge. In my past few F trips, I barely spent time at any of the domestic lounges.

astuteflyer

We're both fairly slim, and neither of us would be uncomfortable in Y seats. Despite swimming in points, I still tend to fly Y domestically within North America and only fly J for longer, transoceanic flights to Asia or Europe. Probably need to burn more and stop hoarding so much, but not sure if this is the right case to do it.

I've always loved JAL's J experience, and used to take YVR <->NRT once or twice a year when I had close family living in Asia at the time. My wife loved it too when I took her for her first time in early 2020, and I couldn't help but have a good laugh about her double-fisting drinks most of the flight. Would like to try the F experience, but there isn't any JAL F flights from YVR. With snowboards in tow, making an extra connection in SFO or LAX is less appealing, as are the $1K ea on taxes/surcharges.

We've flown from HND to CTS once before, and love all the food options there, and would be perfectly happy without any lounge. I just thought it would be nice to experience one of JAL's F lounges within Japan for once. But if the lounge service is not even worth showing up early for, and the hard product is not comparable, it's probably not worth it to us to to be splurging that many points, even if I have a 10x that sitting around and 20x that in flexible rewards. I can still hope that some JAL F availability will open up from SFO or LAX around our dates 2 weeks before we leave. But if not, I think I can just tag on an extra connection to CTS on our ANA YVR<->HND J flights for 5K AP points each instead.

CPH-Flyer

The coffee is free and pretty good. The curry buns that some lounge have are pretty nice (for curry buns), but yeah it is a nice waiting room that you stop by for 10-15 minutes if you came to the airport early.

Though the draft beer machines seem very popular even at 6am....

Buster CT1K

Do it. If you liked JL J, this is a fun way to go snowboarding in Niseko or wherever you’re headed!

Mizunara

You can’t drink all day unless you start in the morning.

burg_rtw

As far as domestic F goes, certainly worth it. Service on these 90 minute flights is impeccable and I always feel that the flight attendants go the extra mile to make sure we gaijin are comfortable and enjoy the experience.

While I agree the Diamond lounge is not all that much, I confess I have a soft spot for it. I usually fly out of HND in the morning and it is entertaining to see folks star the day early with the draft beer machine.

Agneisse

We're pretty similar in mileage spending habits then Go with what 'feels' right in your situation, either way it will be a pleasant ride, btw there is also a risk that domestic/intra-NA F will now forever pale in comparison to this experience XD

joejones

Would I pay that many miles for JAL domestic F? Probably not, but if you may never have the chance to fly it again, it's worth a try. The only rival experience I have had on a short flight was QR F class from DXB to DOH, where I effectively drank a full-sized bottle of champagne during a 30-minute flight because they kept filling my glass. JL domestic F is not quite this crazy but it's still a very nice experience. It certainly puts anything in North America to shame.

FWIW, domestic cash upgrades are pretty cheap -- Class J is +2,000 yen and F is +11,000 yen on most routes, and you can upgrade most cash fares (but I believe you can't upgrade partner award tickets or add-on fares). Note that Class J is just a larger seat and doesn't come with any extra service.

CPH-Flyer

You can uograde partner award tickets day of departure. I have seen it done.

On quite efficient day I managed to go through 3 miniature champagnes so 3/4 of a full bottle between Osaka and Haneda. It was kind of hard work. I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed. But there we are....

dvs7310

If you have the points to burn, why not. Personally I buy Class J (domestic business class) on all of my domestic flights. There's no special service and if you want beer you have to buy it yourself in the airport convenience store, but the seats are nice especially the 787 and A350s. For the short flight I can do without the F meal but if you didn't get a chance to eat beforehand it would be nice.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I enjoyed my JAL F flight from HND to Hiroshima in May ( 767 which was nice- with the white seats) .Crew were excellent and the Sake was excellent also ( made me wish i had tried the sake on the Intl F flight from london). Scheduled tine was 1hr 20 with flight time about 1 hr. Usual JAL F efficiency with luggage at HND ( cases off first about 5mins after getting to baggage reclaim which enabled me to get the earlier limousine bus)

This was my first domestic flight so knew what to expect and loved how efficient and civilised the boarding process works compared to elsewhere ( ie boarding started at the time mentioned on the boarding pass ( t-15) and quick boarding on the 767s )

Meal was a little light but tasty and was fine given the meals I had into HND and the HND domestic lounge and filled me up until I got to the Hilton Hiroshima ( about 1 hour from the airport -50min by bus to Hiroshima JR station them 10 min taxi)

The curry bun in the HND lounge was good. They had a number of different flavour soft drinks . I loved the white grape coca cola from the machine. Some tarmac views from the HND lounge windows

The lounge at HIJ was enclosed and very limited snacks so would not turn up very early ( I did but went to the garden nearby which was beautiful and spend 1hour there ) so only had a coffee in the lounge prior to boarding. Hiroshima also had a landside outdoor observation deck ( limited air traffic though until the ANA/JAL flight times)

A photo of the meal ( 1950 departure)


Meal on 1950 JL F HND- HIJ

Regards

TBS

Unimatrix One

The Diamond Premier lounge at HND is nothing special, but the inflight experience in JL domestic F is wonderful. Probably the best domestic F service in the world except for certain transcon US flights. If you like premium alcohol, try the shochu which is the Mori Izo brand that retails for JPY 20,000 (USD 140) per bottle.

Personally I enjoy JL domestic F and am fine to spend 23,000 miles per segment for it (the rate on most HND-ITM flights), but only you can decide if it is worth it for you.