AA or JAL F class
 

I'll soon be traveling to CGK from BOS... I have some miles to use, so of course, I had to go for F or J class. I got F both ways!
BOS>DFW (AA) >NRT (AA) >(overnite)>CGK (JL)
CGK>HKG (CX/J) >JFK (CX) >BOS (AA)

I don't mind the overnight, I've never been to Tokyo, so it would be exciting to see it. The question is: should I try to re-route me through JFK or ORD and take JL F all the way? Or is it worth it to do AA and be able to compare them all? - a TR is promised!

Note that - luckily - NRT>CGK uses first class suites!! :)

Wrong place to ask...

As this is not a TR I will move it on to the oneworld forum.

Moomba
Moderator: Trip Reports

While JL F is much worse than it used to be, it is still quite a bit better than AA F -- makes it look like J by comparison. JFK-NRT JL service used to be quite a bit superior to the ORD-NRT JL service, fwiw ... part of what I dislike about JL is their service discrepancies with high-status routes getting much better service in both hard and soft product. But award availability on JL is much harder than on AA.

Seats: The AA F seat is inferior to the F seats of most asian carriers (CX is lightyears ahead, JL is much better). The AA F seat is just a tad better than the new CX business seat.

Food and Service: AA is more like business class with service between horrible and ok, JL and CX are consistent and typically better.

My ranking of OW carriers transpac is

CX F > JL F > CX C > AA F > JL C > AA C

I agree the ranking but not the verbiage. AA's F seat provides a lot of private space, and with the right crew you can have better than OK service. [For me the most inconsistent of the OW TPAC carriers is JL C (hugely dependent on airplane and route).]

Sounds like Delta. :td:

Take CX both ways, regardless of whether you're in F or J. New J is almost as good as F, particularly with newly upgraded J food service.

Really?!?
I have a J ticket on CX later this year and am thrilled!

Well, I would take AA F both ways - I HATE JL F seat. No privacy and the whole cabin design came out from bad 60's Japanese space movie.

I must admit that I have not flown JL F in a while, and they got some new seats in meantime - but not on all planes, I believe.

AA F is not anyhow fantastic, but more private. And I actually quite like the food.

Regards,

El Puerco Volante.

ALL flights to the US with F service have the current generation of F seats, JAL Suite

Except Boston I think... last I checked BOS<>NRT was 2 class service.


Also, I think NRT>CGK is new F class suite! So I'm psyched there!

What flight? Of course this doesn't apply to regional J.


I don't like AA F service at all; but the AA 777 F seat is one of the best out there.


Correct, it's a 787. I've flown that flight twice, now, both times in Y. It was quite comfortable; and the cabin was nicely outfitted. I'd give JL an 'Atta Boy for this one. Well done!!

BOS, SFO and HNL actually (and soon SAN will be added to the list). That's why I said all flights with F service not just all flights.

NRT-CGK is always the one to be downgraded to Solo seats when they have to do aircraft maintenance on the fleet with JAL Suite. Currently they are installing inflight wi-fi on their fleet. So CGK flights will be operated with Solo seats till end of Oct. And of course when the next generation seats are rolled out in Jan 2013, the JAL Suite won't be called the new JAL Suite anymore :p

FYI, pictures and details of the new cabins and services have been "announced" (or should I say "leaked" since JAL has removed the press release from their site now). The new catering service will definitely come to the NRT-ORD and NRT-CGK flights because they are rolling that out in Jan 2013. You will get that even without the new SKY SUITE 777 on those flights. You can find more details on this thread from the JAL forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jal-m...an-2013-a.html

Not much catering info other than they have recruited 4 famous chefs from Japan to be in charge of the menus and some pictures