Japan Airlines

Not happy with this airline at all. They broke our hard shell luggage and would only offer to compensate $70 for it. Cost us $200-300 for it and we've only used it a few times. Really upsetting that they would not compensate more unless we had a receipt. Samsonite also would not do repairs on a cracked luggage.

Was super excited for my first trip to Tokyo on Japan Airlines. Had a horrendous experience with their reservation system. Online meal and seat selection does not work!!!

I am vegan so always make sure I have selected the correct meals.

One of the worst websites I have ever seen. Don't bother calling them. Tried calling them multiple times for 3 days before the flight. Was on-hold for 30-45mins. At last when the call connected it would just disconnect. There was no way to confirm the seat and meal selection I did when booking my flight.
I got to the airport early to confirm this. But of course they did not have any information. Now I am stuck on a 10hrs 50mins flight without any food!!!

We were using American miles for our flight to Tokyo. American wanted 120K for business class but we could get First class on JAL for only 80K so that is what we did.

Check in was quick and efficient and we headed for the lounge. I reviewed it separately but will agree that the first class lounge is an embarrassment to JAL. It is literally a small coat closet with 8 seats that is separate from the main lounge. This really needs to be improved.

Once on board however the service was excellent. We were warmly greeted by the flight attendants and escorted to our seats being offered champagne or juice. The seats although dated are extremely spacious and comfortable. There is tons of storage as well as a very nice amenity kit and Bose noise cancelling headphones. The entertainment screens are huge at 23" although movies were limited. We were also given free Wifi to use during the fight but it hardly worked at all and when it did it was super slow.

Now for the food. Unfortunately It was really disappointing. The portions were quite small and the quality for international first class was really lacking. My lamb was served almost raw and was missing components listed in the menu. Luckily we ordered some snacks and Udon that kept us satisfied until we landed. The champagne and wine selection however was fantastic, the best I have seen on an airline (and many restaurants). I started with the 2009 Cristal champagne which is sold in stores for around $150-200/bottle. I also tried a russian river Chardonnay and a French red that were both incredibly good.

After dinner the flight attendants offered to turn down the bed for me. They gave me pajamas to change in to while they made up the bed. They put down a thick mattress and pillows and blankets and made sure I had a bottled water. Really nice service. Throughout the flight they were friendly, polite and always visible. There were 2 bathrooms for the 8 passengers up front. The bathrooms were checked and cleaned after every passenger used them.

Overall a really nice flight. Besides the lounge at SFO and the disappointing food on board JAL was really nice to fly.

Flew with my family from SFO to HND (Tokyo) and had such a pleasant flight on JAL! We just sat in coach, but it was probably the best coach experience I've ever had.

I typically dread international flights because my legs get really cramped up from sitting in the small seats, but the seats on the JAL had a ton of extra leg room! They also provided neck pillows instead of the standard, square shaped pillows which I found to be a lot more comfortable :)

Airplane food is also never something I get excited about, but JAL really surprised me with airplane food that taste way better than stuff I've tried on China Eastern, AA, and other airlines. For dessert, they even gave us Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream! Additionally, they provided a tray of yummy Japanese snacks in the back of the cabin if you were ever hungry between meals. In the bathrooms, they also had complementary toothbrushes w/ toothpaste packs that you could use to freshen up!

The stewardesses on JAL were exceptionally polite...despite the fact that some of them spoke minimal English, they still really made an effort to provide great service. In flight entertainment also provided a wide selection of newly released movies. My family will definitely be booking with JAL again!

Rode first class from Japan to SFO which we bought using airline miles (only 70,000! Compared to paying $15,000). The cabin was large, lays flat into a bed, and very comfortable. You are given pajamas to change into and the flight attendants make your bed when you are ready to sleep. The service was exceptional and the food was very very good, like what you would get at a 5 star restaurant. They serve Champagne Salon 2007, which is a nearly $400 bottle of champagne.

If I gather more miles again, will definitely like to experience this kind of flying!

Flow JAL roundtrip from SFO to Haneda via Expedia. Friendly service throughout the whole process from the ticketing group to the flight attendents.

What I liked was for the 10 hour flight they kept you well fed. All sorts of snacks, two hot meals each way, constant tea service, etc. They finish the meals with haagan dazs ice cream. On JAL, alcholic beverages are complimentary; sake, beer, ordered a plum wine which was interesting.

The flight there was light so I had a whole middle row of 3 seats to myself to completely lay down.

Solid amenities with toothbrushers in the bathroom, neck pillow and blanket, headphones, etc. Would definitely fly with them again.

~~~Booked Through Expedia~~~

I am not sure why Japan Airline has such low ratings, overall on Yelp. Granted, we almost missed our connecting flight to JAL but that was due to American Airline delaying our flight. I suppose it's better to be safe as weather condition changes frequently. The staff members at JAL tried to expedite our entry through customs with no luck. Them customs people in SFO didn't care who's fault it was for the delay. They would not expedite us through as a group with my 86 year old grandmother with cane, using wheelchair service. TSA in LAX expedited the whole group. We heard my name called over the intercom, as we ran and were the last ones to luckily board.

I was able to reserve our seats, in advance, during booking. I highly recommend, especially when booking for a decent sized group. The flight attendants were busy bodies throughout the whole duration. We we offered a snack, two full tasty meals which even included Haagen Daz ice cream, and plenty of complimentary beverages.

We were each provided with a pillow, blanket, monitor and headphone with a good selection of movies and games for economy class. The bathrooms were clean with complimentary toothbrushes and toothpastes. I would say this was the best overall experience I've ever had with long flights, and considering economy class.

My wife and I are still furious with JAL for pulling a dirty bait and switch on us.

We booked a round trip flight for her from Las Vegas to Tokyo in April.

After we made the reservation and paid the fee, we were informed that the flights would not be on JAL planes but operated by American Airlines.

The service on American is pure crap compared to JAL. If they told us in advance we would have booked another airline.

Instead of the great Japanese food and drinks you get on a JAL flight, the American flight had typical American airline dogfood and limited drinks.

This is a mistake we will never make again.

Actively discriminates against Americans, especially within Japan. We were treated like absolute trash by their agents, and customer service was non-existent. They are not friendly to non Japanese at all. Will never fly them or any affiliates, including American Airlines, again.

Why can't JAL put a better first class lounge in San Francisco? its a huge market, and the only thing special about the first class lounge, is that its in A COAT CLOSET!

Da fuq.

Besides that, I love JAL. IN THE AIR.

Not on the ground.

Luckily, there are better lounges in San Francisco. That don't involve sitting in a COAT CLOSET.