Booking the Trip: A Southeast Asian Path to India
Review: American Airlines Admiral’s Club LAX
Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge LAX
Review: American Airlines 787-9 Main Cabin Extra Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita
Review: Japan Airlines Sakura Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
Review: Japan Airlines 777-200ER Economy Class Tokyo Narita to Singapore
Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge Terminal 3 Singapore
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Singapore
Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge Terminal 2 Singapore
Review: Thai Airways A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class Singapore to Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse E Bangkok
Review: Eva Air Infinity Lounge Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways 747-400 Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Mumbai
Review: GVK Domestic Lounge Mumbai
Review: Jet Airways 737-800 Economy Class Mumbai to Pune
Review: GVK International Business Class Lounge East Wing Mumbai
Review: Thai Airways 747-400 Royal Silk Business Class Mumbai to Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse D Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse C gate C1 Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse C gate C2 Bangkok
Review: Singapore SilverKris Business Class Lounge Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Singapore
Review: Qantas Business Class Lounge Singapore
Review: Qantas A330-200 Economy Class Singapore to Sydney
Review: Qantas International Business Class Lounge Sydney
Review: American Airlines 787-9 Main Cabin Extra Sydney to Los Angeles
YOUTUBE: American Airlines: Los Angeles to Tokyo
YOUTUBE: Japan Airlines: Tokyo to Singapore
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Singapore to Bangkok
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Bangkok to Mumbai
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Mumbai to Bangkok
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Bangkok to Singapore
YOUTUBE: Qantas Airways: Singapore to Sydney
YOUTUBE: American Airlines: Sydney to Los Angeles
After spending about an hour and a half in the Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge, I headed to board my flight to Singapore.
Finally boarding started. First, the One World Emeralds were invited to board since they are basically the equivalent of “first class” travelers. Surprisingly there were way more than I’d have expected. Either some normal people jumped to that line, or this was really a premium heavy route.
Anyways shortly after, business class boarding started and One World Sapphires can also board at this time, and I was already at the front of the business class line, so I boarded.
I entered the aircraft proceeded forward and turned right into the back business class cabin and through premium economy to my seat. Upon walking through the aircraft, I noted that this was one of Japan Airline’s newly configured 777-200ERs with the reverse herringbone seats in business class and the SkyWide economy seats.
Another awesome feature about this aircraft is that economy is in an odd, but spacious, 3-4-2 configuration. The left side has 3 seats, 4 in the middle, and 2 on the right. I of course chose a window seat on a right side. This had another benefit I foresaw before the flight that you will see soon.
Now to the seat itself, The seat cushion was really good and soft. Not many airlines do a good job on this in economy so it was good to see this from Japan Airlines. However the back padding was thin and hard. The headrest was hard as well.
At each seat,you’ll find a touch screen TV, a coat hanger, two mini pockets with enough space to store small trash items. Each seat also came with a pillow and blanket which would not be useful at all and you’ll see in a few moments why. Under the TV was a USB port to charge devices via USB. Under your seat and to the right was an international power port to charge devices.
The one stunning defining feature of this seat, however, was the legroom. At 34″ of pitch, this seat is the most roomy in the sky in economy class and I could certainly tell, even being 5′ 10″.
There’s a reason this seat being voted 2018 Skytrax best economy seat.
However the one major issue I had was the lack of individual air nozzles. The cabin was unfortunately very warm throughout the flight, which made the flight warm throughout. I definitely wouldn’t need a blanket.
This flight had a lot of great views and I was enjoying just those throughout.
Headphones were given at each seat as well.
We pushed back and started engines, and began our taxi.
Soon after we turned onto our departure runway and began our takeoff roll.
As we climb out, I hope you are slowly starting to get a glimpse of why I chose the right side to fly on 🙂
As we turned south, we also flew over Mount Fuji.
Service started with an actual hot towel for everyone which was warm.
Then the crew came around with beverage service. By this time, the plane was getting fairly hot so I definitely needed a cool down. I asked for some sparkling water with ice. All drinks came with rice crackers.
The vies just kept getting better.
At this point dinner was served.
So now for our main course: It was nice and flavorful and everything was nicely cooked.The chicken was dipped in a lovely soy and citrus sauce. The rice was delicious too.
This was a chilled winter lemon but I didn’t eat this.
I did eat the Okara soy pulp which had a nice texture but not too much flavor otherwise.
For dessert, there was a silk lychee pudding and it was nice, light, jello like, and tasty. I get this a lot in Los Angeles, and I quite enjoyed it.
I omitted eating the salad.
The sky was a nice color at this point.
The crew came around with the menu for the flight….after the meal service.
And we were served a second dessert of custard pudding ice cream which basically tasted of a flan flavor.
By this time we were coming right upon Taipei, Taiwan. Might I emphasize the word Taiwan because lately there’s been a stream of airlines removing the association of Taiwan from their website upon pressure from China to do so. So, I say we flew over the northern end of the *country* of Taiwan and below is a picture of Taipei. We made a sharp turn to the right to avoid the storm clouds that loom in the distance which you can also see in the photo. Sorry for the glare, the lights were still on in the cabin.
I actually fell asleep despite the warm cabin, but woke up to strong turbulence. I open my window and see that the strobe lights are illuminating the entire surrounding area which meant we were in a cloud at 38,000 feet. However twice I did see another flash between the intervals of strobe lighting so I was thinking lightning. At this point I knew we had hit the southeast Asian area where Monsoon season was in full swing. While most don’t prefer turbulence (neither do I and especially during meal service), I quite enjoy a good strong monsoon turbulence because there’s simply nothing like it. So between my eyes being glued to the flying between clouds and the heavy shake of the aircraft, I didn’t sleep anymore.
After about another 30 minutes, the turbulence calmed down and we were served a pre arrival snack which consisted of some kind of sesame seed bread and bun and I wasn’t too sure how it tasted because I didn’t have it because I was too full from dinner.
After a short while more, we were reaching Singapore and had a smooth descent and touchdown into SIN, my favorite airport in the world.
We parked at terminal 1 next to a stunning Emirates 777-300ER that was loading up for Colombo.
Overall, I had a fantastic Japan Airlines experience. From the seat, to the warm service from the crew, to the mostly good food, and the views, this was an awesome flight. The only downside was the fact that the cabin was pretty warm and no individual air nozzles. Otherwise, a great flight and I would not hesitate to fly with Japan Airlines again. What a great airline and well deserving of their Skytrax best economy seat award and 5 star airline recognition for this year’s (2018) Skytrax awards. Now to a 12 hour layover in Singapore.Stay tuned for the Star Alliance Lounge reviews. Cheers!