[TR] Eat is all we do! A taste of First Class with JAL
 

Eat is all we DO! Especially Kani! (Crab)

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Well for the starter, on JAL forum we organized a Hokkai-DO, a meet-up among frequenter over there at Sapporo, on 11 Dec to 12 Dec, the DO is a fun one, with people from HK, Kobe, LA, and Niseko!!! We have lots of crab, visit the Sapporo Beer Factory, Went for Onsen, and more importantly, a Snow Ball Fight!!!

So after the DO, when I head back to Tokyo for my geeky train trip, I decide to spend some money to go for the luxury way, the JAL Domestic F

The JAL Domestic service is divide into 3 class, the whY, Class J and First Class. When translate to International service, it's more like Y, Y+ and J

For the 5 times I ever flown JAL domestic flight, I always fly Class J, getting a better seat at a little premium at 1,000 JPY (12 USD) which is a no-brainer for me.

When I set off the trip I always have the idea of getting F, not only to get better service, also get a taste of First Class service when I won't have a chance having it in near future....

Check-in and Lounge Service
 

First, sorry for lack of photo....

When I arrive at New Chitose Airport after some crazy driving to return the car, I came off the Toyota feeder service and head to JAL counter. JAL counter @ CTS kind of split into 2 part, 1 for the general public, and the other for the First Class passenger (and JMB / JGC Elites).

As I am holding a Y ticket and need to have paid upgrade, I head to their ticketing counter with my e-ticket and request upgrade. After signing my card and give JAL 8,000 JPY (96 USD) I got a First Class ticket and bunch of invoices.
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I head to the normal baggage check-in counter as I am lazy to walk and there's no queue anyway, checked my luggage and I am ready to go. The luggage agent actually odd that a First class passenger check luggage there and do the priority tag right after seeing the First class tag.

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So after wandering in the CTS landside a while (man they have the best shopping area in all Japan's airport I guess, all you can buy seafood and souvenir) I go to the First Class security. Yes, they actually have dedicated security channel for their F passenger, and it directly connects to their lounge. The security was a breeze as I am the only guy there (and it was a low day), after like 5 minutes I am already in lounge enjoying the Sapporo Classic Beer

The lounge let me down a bit though. There's only drink service and some rice crackers, and that's all, no even biscuits! So after a few beer I decide to go back to landside for some food. The agent is pretty helpful and as it's domestic, no annoying immigration and I am there in 2 minutes.

The good thing of Chitose is you can get pretty much any food you want, and I got a melon icecream and kani benton (crab lunch box) from the shop there. price is OK for Japan standard but on the expensive for me as HK-er

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After buying the food I go though the security again, which only takes 2 minutes as I left all my stuff @ lounge reception, and enjoy my late lunch.

Getting Ready.....
 

When I finish the crab lunchbox it's already boarding time. so I just went outside and the B777-200 is already waiting and everyone already start boarding. As a F passenger, I just go though the empty lane and get on board.

When on board, I am first greet by the Senior Cabin Attendant, and was directed to my 1D seat, bulkhead on left aisle. The seat allows me to see outside and check if anyone running downhill to catch the flight.

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The seat is quite comfortable, and much better than the CX Regional J I did before for NRT-HKG, It has a full size table, LED light and comes with a Panasonic noise canceling headphone. When on board I was told a bunch of Japanese that I simply don't understand, and then they get another FA over which speaks fluent mandarin! I don't expect that at all (honestly it's better for them to speak English to me as my mandarin is not any better :p )!

As the JAL First Class is on their 3rd anniversary, I was given a small (well real small) present of Suntory Single Malt Whisky as a souvenir
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That's the 2nd last flight of the day with First service and we have a load factor of 3/14, not that bad as it's a Monday afterall

Another miss for me is they don't have any TV for this flight, though not an issue for me with my iPad :D

Take off!
 

As we close the door on time (really on time, sharp at 16:00) and the FA-dance begin to check things, and roll onto the sky!

As it's pretty much an empty flight, the other 2 passengers took both window side so I decide to move back one row to 2D, which give me some space to store my shoes in front of me and more room for my leg. In the pocket they come with a pair of slipper. The seat is really good for any length of air travel.
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When we are up in the air, the FA approach each of the passenger for their drink and food preference. On the drink menu we have

[Champagne]
Louis Roederer Brut Premier

[Whisky]
Suntory Yamazaki Puncheon / Suntory Yamazaki 12 years

[Beer]
Suntory Premium Malt / Sapporo Yebisu
Kirin Ichiban Shibori / Asahi Super Dry

[Shochu]
Moriizo

[Wine]
Red Fortant Cabernet Sauvignon

[Cold Drinks]
Tomato Juice with Aple Vinegar
All the other standard drinks

[Hot Drink]
Coffee / Jap Green Tea / Jap Roasted Tea / Consomme Soup

And here comes the meal. As it is a "Lunch" service flight, it comes with the "Boxed Bento" which is designed to have small portion of each food and come with Hokkaido farmed rice, you can also select from other snacks such as finger sandwich or Hot Somen Noodle (not applicable on HND-ITM). I opt for the bento.
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It's taste great and truly fulfilling.

After meal service I was invited to have my desert, which I ask to be served with coffee.
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Well I got somewhat not as expected by this as it's kind of not sweet enough for me :p

After that I keep drinking the Japanese Green Tea and I think I actually had 5 (as I was pretty much dehydrated by all those heaters), and we arrive safety at HND after almost 2 hours of flight.

And of course you can rely on JAL to get your priority tagged baggage first!

Afterthough
 

While someone may say paying 96 USD for about 1.5 hour of Domestic F doesn't make sense, let me list out what you get

1. Priority Check-in, Dedicated Security
2. Lounge Access, even no food @ CTS (Important for me as a OW nobody)
3. Nicer seat
4. Way better service
5. Serve with good quality food (JAL domestic is drink service only, on ANA you have to pay!)
6. Get you luggage faster
7. 50% more points / sector to help me qualify as MPC SL
8. Probably the most reachable First Class in the world

Overall I don't think I will take JAL Dom F in near future, but I will, for sure, treat my parents if we are flying JAL domestic again later, as it will probably the only occasion they will have the chance to sit in the front.

oh: never gotten around to ask- the car went back to the depot ok yea? I just assumed it was ok :p
o/wise thx for the trip report!
did you talk about the whisky gift u got?

That's all? That seems like a steal to me.

$96 :eek: thats cheap compared to domestic UK flights!

Thanks for the report.

FYI, you are posting your full name plus AM number in one of your photos.

Class J has snack service on selected routes too (those that are long enough)

I assume so as ChrisLi only asked me more money for gas as it costs more expected when we met at the CTS lounge again :D

You get the 50% status miles bonus with an upgrade? Hell, that alone might make it worth it.

As one who looks forward to and generally enjoys inflight dining, I also enjoyed this trip report. Good job!

Love the pictures! ^^

The car went back ok and the return processs is like 10 minutes. The whisky is too mini I guess
Well, the all in cost for that flight is more like 216 USD (assuming Yokoso ticket for Y, cost 120 USD)
ya, kaka you owe me 500 JPY
Ya, pretty sweet, but when consider it cost marginally more for a Y tix, it makes the upgrade less sense for the sake of EQM / EQS