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I flew from San Jose to Tokyo Narita with ZIPAIR, the budget subsidiary of Japan Air Lines (JAL). This quirky budget airline offers lie flat business class seats, but with no service. Everything is sold in bundles and you’ve got to pay for everything. So, what’s it really like?

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0:00 Intro
0:50 SJC Airport
1:45 Arrival of our 787-8 Dreamliner
2:51 The Club @ SJC Lounge (PriorityPass access)
3:55 Betterhelp advert sponsor segment
5:58 Boarding ZIPAIR “business class” flat beds
6:52 Taxi and Takeoff
8:08 FREE wifi!
8:30 Fares and how to book (and how almost nothing is included!)
9:30 Seat review
10:23 ZIPAIR paid meal service
11:00 Buy on board overview
11:29 Loo review
12:12 Bed time plus amenities
13:13 Optional, paid-for second meal
14:04 Approach and landing into Tokyo Narita
14:48 Conclusions, thank you and goodbye!

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Date of Travel: 7 SEP 2023
Airline: Zipair
Livery: Zipair standard livery
Route: SJC-NRT
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Flight Number: ZG 29
Miles: 5,154
Airborne time: 11h 27m

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44 Comments

  1. Go to https://betterhelp.com/wingingit for 10% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #advert

    I flew from San Jose to Tokyo Narita with ZIPAIR, the budget subsidiary of Japan Air Lines (JAL). This quirky budget airline offers lie flat business class seats, but with no service. Everything is sold in bundles and you've got to pay for everything. So, what's it really like? (And yes – you've already seen the Shinkansen one – I released this a bit earlier for a few reasons! Go check it out if you haven't yet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov-9tKkjCy8)

    Follow me on Twitter: @paul_winginit ¦ https://twitter.com/paul_winginit
    Follow me on Instagram/Threads: paul_winginit ¦ https://www.instagram.com/paul_winginit
    Merch store: https://wingin-it.teemill.com/collection/all-products/

  2. Welcome to Japan, Paul! I flew ZipAir October of last year with end-of-pandemic happenings. I flew the regular seat but I got the entire row to myself. Passengers who didn't could get up and move (they had to be in their assigned seats for meals and head-count though). Luckily, my empty row was natural. First thing – the seat pitch was AMAZING for a "back of the bus" seat. Also, because i was alone in my row, I got lie-flat for no extra charge! The crews on both flights were amazing and I most certainly will fly them on the regular on my next trip back to the States! A truly 8/10 experience! Great vid, Paul!

  3. Thanks for the review Paul. I visit Japan often and since Zipair have plans to start a route from Vancouver next year, I'm keen to give this one a try.

  4. Thank you for posting this vid! I am doing SJC to Narita next month via Zipair's lie flats. Honestly looking forward to the flight experience.

  5. I really like idea of being able to properly recline and not having to pay business class prices. I'd definitely pay to be able to sleep properly. For me that's the only thing I think makes business class so desirable.

  6. Love seeing the appearance of SJC! My home airport and though SFO isn’t far away either, I always find SJC to be super convenient and pleasant to fly out of. Loved this review and it’s certainly making me think about flying with zipair soon!

  7. An interesting perspective on a low-cost(ish) airline. The product looks solid and on-board service better than most European airlines (BA are you paying attention?). Paul always provides an honest and objective review but tagging the airports and features on the ground would enhance it. Just wondering, is there a way of opting out of the train content so that it doesn't get served to me? Also glad that they painted-out the "Z".

  8. This looks like a lot of
    Fun. I would consider flying with them out Washington, DC. I hope this works out and they can expand.

  9. I'm pretty excited about this airline now. I live in Korea so it would be easy to get to Tokyo to try out a long haul flight on Zip. I fly business class but I often find myself never using the entertainment because I always have my very nice tablet and I generally like, but don't really care about the food. This airline is perfect for me.

  10. 10:08 that first one is Lot's Wife International Airport in Sodom (SFO/KSFO) and the one across the bay is Gomorrah International Airport (OAK/KOAK).

  11. When you are in Australia next check out the new airline Bonza, the are based in my home town and fly to most major towns in Queensland and a few other places.
    Love from the sunny Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia 🇦🇺

  12. Thanks for another great video. Can't wait for the rest from your trip to the land of the rising sun. Hope you sampled all the different flavours of KitKat while you were in there. There is a few of them plus the seasionals.

  13. Love your videos and presenting style. So glad you haven't gone down the negative route of some other vloggers. Even when things go wrong you make positive videos. The trend with some of " things going wrong" or "worlds worst " or just negative feel reports I find hard. I appreciate all travel channels and the huge efforts they make but especially negative content is sometimes hard to watch. Am I being unfair Paul ????

  14. In my opinion.. a economy lay flat seat with good wifi and at least one hot food opinion even its by on bord. I'd be happy. No need for IFE screen if I can stream on my phone or tablet.. if not I'll just sleep

  15. Excellent video Paul! I’m flying ZIPAIR out of LAX next month and now I’m looking forward to it even more. Keep up the great work!

  16. I'm for sure attending the Expo 2025 in Osaka. Hopefully ZIPAIR is still around by then and I can get a cheap off-peak fare. And I don't mind paying for the extras, plus they offer bundles/packages online. Aisle seat is my preference for long haul since I like to drink water and alcohol…no bothering the neighbors to get up

  17. You have a great narration voice and positive nature. Great videos. Keep up the cracking work, mate.

  18. You helped me make up my mind about ZIPAir. I will save money and use their lie flat seat on my upcoming trip to Japan, instead of paying for business on another airline. Thanks; I really enjoy your content!

  19. For that seat and length of flight, around $1000 ($1150 including the package) is really great value. No TV is a bit of a disappointment so I guess it's best to take an iPad or equivalent. Very interesting concept. Japan is a wonderful country to visit.

  20. There is a massive difference between business class and standard class. Business class was $1800 return and standard was $800.00. Seats in standard class are very tight and if you are normal size you will struggle

  21. Flew that exact route last December on Zipair and loved it! Great price for flying out of SJC for sure.

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