Flying JAL J class next week and am slightly nervous about it

[Berlin]

I'm due to fly to Europe next week for my long awaited month-long holiday and am getting excited!

Of course, as ever so often, the most exciting bit of my entire trip will be the flight itself :shock: Actually, that's not true. Mom's cooking will top any flight experience

Anyway- back to topic: I've scored a super good deal on JAL, flying business class all the way (in to CDG, out of LHR) and stopping over for a few days in Tokyo (first time ever to Japan!) on the way out. Now that the time comes, I am getting a bit scared of JAL though I mostly see and hear only positives. Just a few questions I'm sure you guys can help with:

• The flight leaves Sydney a bit after 8am in the morning and of course, I want to start my trip in style with a few breakkie Bollingers in the Qantas Flounge Does any one know when the JAL check in at Sydney airport opens and when the Qantas F lounge opens its doors? Just trying to maximize my time there and, contrary to my usual self, somehow don't mind getting up early at all on this occasion
• I'm intolerant to anything from the sea- yes, I know, it's a real shame, especially as I like the taste of certain fish and seafood. Only developed during adulthood and one of the things I miss the most is the typical British Fish and Chips Obviously, this food issue for me is the main thing I am worried about on JAL- I bet they will have seafood on their crackers even! Am I wrong? Is their service in J good enough (and speaks English well enough) to cater for this? I had my otherwise perfect meal service messed up with some little anchovies on top of my steak before and non-SQ Asian carriers have proven to be masters at that so just wondering...
• Anything else I should be wary of? I've gathered so far that the planes seem to be overheated and that you get a thick "cardigan" to wear so I better take some Qantas bedtime clothes. I also understand that you have to be careful to score eye shades and the likes as they get served from some type of basket rather than in a neat little pouch. All that sounds "weird but somehow fun" which is, admittedly, my rather naive image of Japan in general. Anything else?
• Any other feedback on JAL's business class? The seats looks like the old Qantas sky beds to me, is that a fair comparison? If so, I have nothing to fear but the infamous slide but I know I can sleep fairly well in those. How's the service in general? The food? The sake? Any comments of recent experiences would enhance my last week in the office before my holiday immensely

Looking forward to all your comments and answers to my 1st world problems!

 

[pshepvic]

Here's my experience, although it was a couple of years ago:
- My flight didn't leave until 9:20am so they must have changed the flight time, but I think the Flounge may open even as early as 5am, so you should be fine
- There was a bit of seafood on the flights (particularly for those that departed from Japan) but there is always both a Japanese and Western menu option, and both were very good. The food ex-Sydney and ex-LA was good, but ex-Japan was excellent. On QF I generally find the food ex-Australian ports is the best, and from overseas not quite as good.
- English is fine. The crew between Australia and Japan are generally the ex-JALways crew who are Thai rather than Japanese, so not quite as polished and also don't really like to think outside the square for specific requests. The crew in and out of Japan to Europe are most likely going to be Japanese, and will be extremely polite, polished, and display the usual immaculate Japanese hospitality.
- Yes the amenities "kit" is actually a crew member bringing around baskets of things - you can definitely get most things that you get in a QF kit. I found the best thing though are the "moisture mask". It is basically like wearing a surgical mask while sleeping (very Japanese!), however it works brilliantly to stop your mouth and nose from drying out and helps sleep. I wish all airlines had them, and I've even thought about buying some masks from the chemist but never remember until I'm on the plane!
- The seats between Australia and Japan will likely be their "old" seats - they are similar to the old SkyBeds, although even firmer plus shorter and a bigger angle. I found it difficult to sleep as I'm 6'2" and could not lie straight, plus you tend to slide down. Hopefully from Japan to Europe you will get the new seats (which I had from NRT-LAX) - they are softer, more comfortably, longer and go flatter, although I think they are still slightly angled from memory (was a while ago).
- The Sake was awesome!

 

[Sprucegoose]

there will be no issues with JAL.

What are your plans for Tokyo? very interesting city. I would recommend a tour there. their trains are supurb.

i am sure you will enjoy it.

 

[drron]

There is always an English speaker amongst the FAs-I have had a Japanese woman born in Hawaii,Chinese woman from Hong Kong,an American woman and a British fellow.They might not be in the J cabin but if you are having problems you can always ask.Most of the Japanese FAs can understand English and I had no problems when there was a medical emergency on 1 flight.The pax was Japanese so I had an FA allocated to me to be the translator.
Food-well I generally have the Japanese menu which always has some seafood but mrsdrron usually has the Western selection and you can certainly have seafood free.On one occasion we were travelling with our surrogate grandchildren.One is very allergic to nuts,seafood and eggs.For some reason a special meal could not be organised pre flight but the FAs went through all 3 cabins to find her a suitable meal.So you should not have problems.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If you do not eat seafood or fish then you should call JAL and request a SPML: no fish (special meal, no fish)

This has to be manually processed and manually entered in to your booking.

You will then end up with a specific alternative to any course which contains seafood or fish. There may be some confusion with ordering your meal, but just tell them to enter those exact words and you'll be fine.

All japanese airlines can be heavy on the fish, even for the western appetizers.

 

[Berlin]

Thank you all for the feedback, you guys on here are always awesome!

What are your plans for Tokyo? very interesting city. I would recommend a tour there. their trains are supurb.
i am sure you will enjoy it.

Thank you! I got four days, two of which I will spend at Disneyland and two which I am staying in the city. No ideas at all what I will do which I think is not a bad thing on holidays. I always wanted to go so cannot wait!

If you do not eat seafood or fish then you should call JAL and request a SPML: no fish (special meal, no fish)

This has to be manually processed and manually entered in to your booking.

You will then end up with a specific alternative to any course which contains seafood or fish. There may be some confusion with ordering your meal, but just tell them to enter those exact words and you'll be fine.

All japanese airlines can be heavy on the fish, even for the western appetizers.

This is good advice! SQ so far had been the only airline ever paying attention to a request like that so good to know that JAL will do it. Thanks a lot!

 

[pshepvic]

I'll give you some totally honest feedback about Tokyo Disney. It's the only one in the world not actually owned or run by Disney. If you've been to the original or to Disneyworld before, it's likely you'll be disappointed - I certainly was. The lines are long, attractions not as good, and overall it's not the typical Disney experience. There are so many good things to do in Tokyo, I'd seriously recommend dropping Disney from the list (or at least just make it one day instead of two).


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[SeatBackForward]

Day trip ideas from Tokyo:
1) Go see mt Fuji, the trip from Tokyo there and back in one day is a very touristy thing to do , but quite doable.
2) Get a shinkansen out to Nagano and back

Actually you could pretty much get a Shinkansen to anywhere and back in one day if you really wanted to, except perhaps Sapporo.

 

[pshepvic]

I'd definitely suggest a Shinkansen day trip to Osaka for the food. Some okonomiyaki and takoyaki is a must - not to mention a visit to Japan's first conveyor belt sushi (they don't call it sushi train there because it's not a train! Very logical!)


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[smit0847]

I loved Tokyo Disney, but I havent been to any others so nothing to compare it to. Though most staff speak some English every single ride announcement if in Japanese only so dont expect to understand the story/intros. Space Mountain scared the cough out of me but otherwise the rides are fairly short and not overly scary.

There are 2 parks - Disneyland and DisneySea. If you are doing 2 days do 1 day at each as you can't transfer between parks during the day. DisneySea is more 'adult' orientated with aquatic based rides but I probably enjoyed Disneyland slightly more. The night-time parade at Disneyland was stunning (and I'm a 28 year old male!) - I wont give anything away.

Do your homework with a map and understand the fast passes system before you go and plan your day - you wont have time to do everything so prioritise - its not the place to just wander around aimlessly all day.

DO NOT go to Tokyo Disney on a weekend under any circumstances. TRUST ME. If this is the only time you have to go, do NOT go.

If you don't like seafood you are not going to find a lot of native food you can eat. Japan is a small island surrounded by sea - I ate seafood with almost every single meal (breakfast included). You may need to stick to more Western food to be safe.

There's plenty of tourists and English in Tokyo. There is very little of either in Osaka, and that was one of the reasons I loved it (I would go hours without seeing a non-Japanese person). Food in Osaka is excellent but again, if you dont like seafood you will have to skip most of it (both the Osaka specialities mentioned above are seafood).

Japan is a weird and crazy place - if you are overwhelmed by this stay in Tokyo and stick with what you know - if you embrace the craziness get out of Tokyo and explore!

Have fun.

 

[jb747]

JAL pilots are fine by any standard.

 

[drron]

There are plenty of places you can get non seafood-eg a Tonkatsu restaurant-pork schnitzels.Yakitori restaurants-chicken on a stick but veggies usually available.Also a lot of spaghetti restaurants.You will have no problem finding non seafood food.

 

[BVT]

This is a very timely thread, as like the OP, I am off to the land of the rising sun, very soon and on JAL.

Many thnaks AFF'ers!

 

[Cynicor]

I'll give you some totally honest feedback about Tokyo Disney. It's the only one in the world not actually owned or run by Disney. If you've been to the original or to Disneyworld before, it's likely you'll be disappointed - I certainly was. The lines are long, attractions not as good, and overall it's not the typical Disney experience. There are so many good things to do in Tokyo, I'd seriously recommend dropping Disney from the list (or at least just make it one day instead of two).


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Have to disagree with this recommendation. The queues are longer at some times in the year, but not always, and the park being run by an external company does not make it worse in any way that I could see.

Have be 3 times to Tokyo Disney and DisneySea, and 3 times to Anaheim. In fact Tokyo Disney had rides that are not at the others and based on some very cool technology such as the Pooh's Hunny Hunt using a local positioning system (trackless ride). The staff and visitors are polite and the parks are clean. I can't think of many attractions which are not as good, but definitely recommend doing 1 day at each park as there is no other DisneySea in the world.

Learn about the fastpasses before you go and maximise your use of them. PM me for more detail.

 

[Berlin]

Thanks everyone, really helpful and insightful people on here as always!

Might give that sushi thing a miss for obvious reasons but will definitely have a good time at Disney. I've probably been to more theme parks than most people and any Disney park besides the Tokyo one so it's a must for me. Huny Hunt alone and all the usual favorites like the Haunted Mansion in Japan will be more than worth it. And no problems about not understanding the stuff- I know most of it by heart ;-)

 

[Berlin]

If you do not eat seafood or fish then you should call JAL and request a SPML: no fish (special meal, no fish)

This has to be manually processed and manually entered in to your booking.

You will then end up with a specific alternative to any course which contains seafood or fish. There may be some confusion with ordering your meal, but just tell them to enter those exact words and you'll be fine.

All japanese airlines can be heavy on the fish, even for the western appetizers.

Thanks again for the advice. Just called them and they were a bit confused at first indeed. After talking to a supervisor, the lady on the phone made a request but told me it needs to be confirmed through Japan and promised to give me a call back next week to let me know. Sounds complicated! :shock:

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks again for the advice. Just called them and they were a bit confused at first indeed. After talking to a supervisor, the lady on the phone made a request but told me it needs to be confirmed through Japan and promised to give me a call back next week to let me know. Sounds complicated! :shock:

yeah - I should have mentioned that... you may or may not get a call back (I have about 50% of the time). They may also speak to you at check-in to point out that they cannot guarantee there is no fish by-product in your meal... (them being ultra cautious - I guess it depends if your fish allergy is the same as a peanut allergy... I don't like fish, but if they have 'hidden' it in a sauce (say a melted anchovy) and I can't detect it then I am fine. If your allergy is similar to a peanut one then you may need to be cautious).

 

[11sjw]

It was a while ago but I flew JFK-Narita and Narita - SYD with mrs 11 and near two year old 11 jnr in '08 (J). Was a skybed Mk1 type seat. No dramas at all except Jnr wouldn't sleep on the JFK-Narita leg (crashed just as we took off for SYD and slept for 7 of the 9.5 hrs). Would recommend unless a totally horizontal bed is on offer for similar $.

 

[Berlin]

yeah - I should have mentioned that... you may or may not get a call back (I have about 50% of the time). They may also speak to you at check-in to point out that they cannot guarantee there is no fish by-product in your meal... (them being ultra cautious - I guess it depends if your fish allergy is the same as a peanut allergy... I don't like fish, but if they have 'hidden' it in a sauce (say a melted anchovy) and I can't detect it then I am fine. If your allergy is similar to a peanut one then you may need to be cautious).

No, it's not that bad. A doctor at work explained to me that technically it would be called an "intolerance" rather than an "allergy". I throw up and get fever, the more I eat the worse it gets: A bite of fish and I only feel sick in the stomach. If I accidentally have an entire soup which was made using shellfish (really only happens in Asia, that's why I'm so cautious), then I'm in bed for three days with high fever. Nothing life-threatening but still to be avoided on a flight to Europe :shock:

 

[Berlin]

Would recommend unless a totally horizontal bed is on offer for similar $.

5k return J class into Paris and out of London- I don't think so!