JL J and RJ J comparo question
Dec 5, 2007 | 4:33 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: CA, AA EXP, MR Gold, SPG PLT
Posts: 1,850
Here's a quick summary of my RJ experience.
ORD-AMM
Check-in:
There was some sort of additional passport check with one GA devoted to the task of checking passports for all pax. Once the BPs were printed, I realized that my wife's seat had been moved. Of course the GA and airport manager claimed that there was no record of her seat ever being anything other than what it now was! There were also not able to get us seated together as there were no adjacent seats left
Managed to switch seats on board. The girl sitting next to my wife wanted a window, which I had and was happy to trade for.
Lounge:
Shared lounge with Alitalia. Very minimal (dismal) selection of drinks, food, entertainment, internet connectivity. Should have hit the BA lounge next door, but did not have the time to.
Boarding:
Not sure whether J was boarded separately, but by the time I got to the gate most pax were already on. At the plane door we were told that we could not carry all our carry ons on board as they were too big / there was no space left. Apologies followed immediately on finding out that we were in J, and of course there was no problem with the bags.
Departure:
About 20 mins late
Load:
Not full
Seats:
Flat seats (seemed almost 180 degrees to me) with red leather and an 80+" pitch. Pillow and blanket not really impressive. The seat was comfortable and I was able to sleep on my back and side with ease. The seats have no shell so there is no privacy when flat - i.e. people seated behind you (or in front of you, if they turn around) can see you, and you them. It's almost like sleeping on basic cots in a large room. The leg rest portion of the seat when raised flopped part way down when any degree of pressure was exerted on it (e.g. when trying to sit up).
The PTV was large and placed on a long aluminum arm that makes the seats look very high tech, especially when fully reclined.
No power ports.
Entertainment:
Limited choice of content. No AVOD. NC headphones provided were average
Amenity Kit:
Very nice black Bvlgari kit, which a bunch of my family members fought over later!
Food and drink:
Dinner: drinks and nuts, salad and appetizer, entree, cheese, dessert and coffee. Food was very good with service from a cart. The four entrees and three sides (in their serving dishes) along with a bread basket were placed on a cart. When the cart reached your seat, you were asked what you would like to have. The selected choice(s) was then served onto a dish that was then placed onto the tray table. Very cool. Drink refills were brought around only once, but requests for additional refills were executed pleasantly and swiftly. My main gripes were the long delay post take off to bring the food out and the slow dinner service. It was three hours after take off that dinner was done. My wife's main issue was that they did not load her special meal. Luckily she was able to make a meal of the sides! I don't remember the specific wines they had on board, but I liked the Burgundy (IIRC) they had that day.
Arrival Snack: Fruit and bread followed by another cart based selection that consisted of pancakes, omlettes and a few other items with sides of potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Parting Gift:
A calculator with the RJ logo on it. The curious thing was that there were no words of thanks said. The lead FA just went around the cabin leaving them by the seats.
Arrival:
On time
Amman Airport
Lounge: We were allowed into only the Petra lounge, which was in the terminal that our DEL flight was going to depart from. The other lounge was accessible by crossing through the duty free shopping area, but we were not allowed in as our flight was not leaving from that terminal. As it turned out, our flight finally had a gate change and left from the other terminal!
The Petra lounge had 4 computers with internet access, a small selection of food and booze, and minimal English magazines / news papers. There were no smokers in the lounge when I was there (not sure whether the lounge is a no-smoking zone)
Shopping: Decent selection of overpriced Jordanian curios. The rest of the shopping (booze, cosmetics, electronics, etc.) seemed to be the same as anywhere else in the world.
AMM-DEL was the same as ORD-AMM except:
Departure:
On time
Seats:
Same seats but clad in whitish grey rather than red leather.
Amenity Kit:
No Bvlgari this time. Just a small zippered pouch with (iirc) toothpaste, a brush and flight socks.
Food and drink:
Pre arrival snack was minimal. I dont remember much about it as I passed on this round of food.
Arrival:
On time
ORD-AMM
Check-in:
There was some sort of additional passport check with one GA devoted to the task of checking passports for all pax. Once the BPs were printed, I realized that my wife's seat had been moved. Of course the GA and airport manager claimed that there was no record of her seat ever being anything other than what it now was! There were also not able to get us seated together as there were no adjacent seats left
Managed to switch seats on board. The girl sitting next to my wife wanted a window, which I had and was happy to trade for.
Lounge:
Shared lounge with Alitalia. Very minimal (dismal) selection of drinks, food, entertainment, internet connectivity. Should have hit the BA lounge next door, but did not have the time to.
Boarding:
Not sure whether J was boarded separately, but by the time I got to the gate most pax were already on. At the plane door we were told that we could not carry all our carry ons on board as they were too big / there was no space left. Apologies followed immediately on finding out that we were in J, and of course there was no problem with the bags.
Departure:
About 20 mins late
Load:
Not full
Seats:
Flat seats (seemed almost 180 degrees to me) with red leather and an 80+" pitch. Pillow and blanket not really impressive. The seat was comfortable and I was able to sleep on my back and side with ease. The seats have no shell so there is no privacy when flat - i.e. people seated behind you (or in front of you, if they turn around) can see you, and you them. It's almost like sleeping on basic cots in a large room. The leg rest portion of the seat when raised flopped part way down when any degree of pressure was exerted on it (e.g. when trying to sit up).
The PTV was large and placed on a long aluminum arm that makes the seats look very high tech, especially when fully reclined.
No power ports.
Entertainment:
Limited choice of content. No AVOD. NC headphones provided were average
Amenity Kit:
Very nice black Bvlgari kit, which a bunch of my family members fought over later!
Food and drink:
Dinner: drinks and nuts, salad and appetizer, entree, cheese, dessert and coffee. Food was very good with service from a cart. The four entrees and three sides (in their serving dishes) along with a bread basket were placed on a cart. When the cart reached your seat, you were asked what you would like to have. The selected choice(s) was then served onto a dish that was then placed onto the tray table. Very cool. Drink refills were brought around only once, but requests for additional refills were executed pleasantly and swiftly. My main gripes were the long delay post take off to bring the food out and the slow dinner service. It was three hours after take off that dinner was done. My wife's main issue was that they did not load her special meal. Luckily she was able to make a meal of the sides! I don't remember the specific wines they had on board, but I liked the Burgundy (IIRC) they had that day.
Arrival Snack: Fruit and bread followed by another cart based selection that consisted of pancakes, omlettes and a few other items with sides of potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Parting Gift:
A calculator with the RJ logo on it. The curious thing was that there were no words of thanks said. The lead FA just went around the cabin leaving them by the seats.
Arrival:
On time
Amman Airport
Lounge: We were allowed into only the Petra lounge, which was in the terminal that our DEL flight was going to depart from. The other lounge was accessible by crossing through the duty free shopping area, but we were not allowed in as our flight was not leaving from that terminal. As it turned out, our flight finally had a gate change and left from the other terminal!
The Petra lounge had 4 computers with internet access, a small selection of food and booze, and minimal English magazines / news papers. There were no smokers in the lounge when I was there (not sure whether the lounge is a no-smoking zone)
Shopping: Decent selection of overpriced Jordanian curios. The rest of the shopping (booze, cosmetics, electronics, etc.) seemed to be the same as anywhere else in the world.
AMM-DEL was the same as ORD-AMM except:
Departure:
On time
Seats:
Same seats but clad in whitish grey rather than red leather.
Amenity Kit:
No Bvlgari this time. Just a small zippered pouch with (iirc) toothpaste, a brush and flight socks.
Food and drink:
Pre arrival snack was minimal. I dont remember much about it as I passed on this round of food.
Arrival:
On time
Last edited by ajacpril; Dec 6, 2007 at 1:30 pm Reason: Added comments about seats
Dec 5, 2007 | 5:01 pm
#17
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 949
Dec 5, 2007 | 5:15 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: CA, AA EXP, MR Gold, SPG PLT
Posts: 1,850
Dec 11, 2007 | 10:40 am
#20
formerly gemini573
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: LAX, HKG, and BKK
Programs: CX Emerald, WOH Globalist, Marriott Platinum, AA Lifetime Platinum, Virtuoso, Prive, STEPS, STARS
Posts: 2,233
Speaking about RJ, I definitely want to try their product. I know they're flying in Jan. Would be interested in doing HKG-BKK, but can't seem to book the ticket through their website. Anyone know when these flights are bookable?