SYD-ORD which airline JAL or ANZ?
Mar 12, 2019, 11:27 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 333
SYD-ORD which airline JAL or ANZ?
I will be in Sydney this summer and want to fly business class on my return to ORD.
I am looking for advice between these two airlines. No layover possibility in TYO or AKL so that is not a factor.
Pure flight experience. Thanks!
I am looking for advice between these two airlines. No layover possibility in TYO or AKL so that is not a factor.
Pure flight experience. Thanks!
Mar 12, 2019, 11:53 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,024
SYD-ORD which airline JAL or ANZ?
What are the arrival & departure times?
Via AKL is shorter. Great Circle Mapper
Other airlines fly SYD-LAX/SFO-ORD
Mar 12, 2019, 7:39 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,024
Short-long flight vs 2 ~ medium flights on JL
Air NZ AKL-ORD 20:10 17:15 (based on current time table: will be different with day light saving changes)
Mar 12, 2019, 9:07 pm
#6
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
The catch with JAL is they are notorious for having few planes with suites in the past and last-minute substitution of older seat config which is far worse than NZ. Not sure of current JAL situation but for secondary markets such as ORD they would tend to use worse seat config. Air NZ is a more reliable choice and has quite good J service. Combined with the better flight breakdown it seems better to me.
Mar 13, 2019, 3:15 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Tampere
Programs: BA EC Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,237
NZ is fine too. One thing I especially like about them that I have never seen anywhere else is their take-off / landing instructions. 'Please make sure your tray table is folded away blah blah blah and your seat is in the full upright position -- unless you are in business class, in which case you can have your seat however you want it'.
Another factor you haven't mentioned: a trans-Pac in J is / can be worth a good chunk of frequent flyer points. Which programme(s) are you in? JL and CX are in OneWorld whilst NZ is in *A.
Mar 13, 2019, 11:10 pm
#8
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
That's because NZ has special J seats certified to takeoff while reclined (a few other airlines do too). A nice perk.
Mar 15, 2019, 6:39 pm
#10
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Frensham, Lincolnshire
Programs: RFC
Posts: 5,093
The catch with JAL is they are notorious for having few planes with suites in the past and last-minute substitution of older seat config which is far worse than NZ. Not sure of current JAL situation but for secondary markets such as ORD they would tend to use worse seat config. Air NZ is a more reliable choice and has quite good J service. Combined with the better flight breakdown it seems better to me.
The new JAL J hard product easily beats NZ, and the soft product is so far ahead and so consistent that NZ isn't even in the running on that front IMO.
ut JAL don't fly the new suites in the ORD route - or at least, they didn't when I looked ~4 months ago. No idea if it's new or old in the AKL part. I'd take NZ over the old JAL J product and simply throw the dice with the NZ variable soft service.