Japan Airlines A350 First Class | Tokyo to Sapporo Domestic Flight

Japan Airlines A350 First Class | Tokyo to Sapporo Domestic Flight

Good day guys and welcome back to another video. And today we’re going to be flying with Japan Airlines on their A350 in first class on the domestic route here with the A350 from here in Tokyo up to Saparo. This is actually a very unique um sort of situation. Uh, I don’t believe there’s too many A350s running domestic routes, at least at the scale that Japan Airlines does, uh, within the country. So, it’s going to be interesting to see what the first class is like. I’m really looking forward to this one. Um, I don’t have a window seat today, but aside from this, I’m sure we’ll make a video and, uh, have some fun. Anyways, guys, about time for me to check out. Let’s get going. [Music] So, after spending an amazing 5 days in Tokyo, staying in the Shinjjuku area last night, I ended my time in the city by going back to a personal favorite in the Golden Guy area, checking out some cool bars. So, although my energy might be low today, I’m definitely excited to see what the Japan Airlines A350 domestic first class has to offer. So, before we arrive at the airport, let’s talk costs for today’s flight. Now, usually if you’re hopping on the Japan Airlines website and looked about 3 months out from today’s video, it would set you back around $49,000 yen or about $500 for a first class flight from Tokyo to Saparo. Now, believe it or not, I spent $0 on today’s flight as Japan Airlines are partners of the Quantis frequent flight program. Only used 28,800 points and yep, $0 in total as generally I at least have to pay for taxes when booking classic rewards. [Music] So, after arriving at the airport, I made my way to a check-in kiosk where it didn’t have any luck. So, I opted for the human option. Now, because we’re flying first class today, we had our own security area, which was super fast and efficient and wouldn’t have been longer than 1 minute. Because of today’s flight, I have access to the Japan Airlines Diamond Premier Lounge here at Hanetta, which is supposed to be their top domestic lounge for first class passengers and top tier frequent flyers. Honestly though, I came in here with higher expectations, and admittingly, I left pretty underwhelmed. The lounge itself felt pretty plain and dull. Yes, there were plenty of seats, charging points, and decent Wi-Fi, but that’s about where the positives ended for me. It was also quite crowded when I visited. Now, in terms of food and drinks, the options were very limited. They mainly had things like bread rolls and rice bowls, none of which I really could eat with ciliacs, plus the standard soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer, and so forth. Now, apparently in the afternoons, they offer a signature curry bread, but overall, it felt quite limited. And it’s definitely possible I’ve come here with higher expectations. Uh although flying domestic today, as I really expected something just a little more. There are some massage chairs which I really enjoyed uh especially nursing this hangover after a big night in Tokyo and even a small library seating area. But I didn’t find these enough to make up for the overall lack of atmosphere. Uh even for a domestic lounge, once again, I found it very bland. And although I didn’t come in expecting an international firstass lounge, I certainly did leave somewhat disappointed. [Music] Now, Hanetta’s domestic operations are massive. In fact, most of the 85.7 million passengers which passed through the airport last year are primarily domestic traveling within Japan. Terminal 1 is Japan Airlines home base here with dozens of flights each hour linking Tokyo to every corner of the country. It’s a real showcase of how seamlessly Japan handles domestic air travel, quick security, efficient boarding, and an on-time performance that puts most other airports to shame. For Japan Airlines, Hanetta isn’t just another hub. It’s their flagship domestic stronghold. From here, their fleet of 737s and Embraa jets shuttle business travelers and holiday makers alike, while their larger wide bodies, like the one I’ll be hopping on today, connect Tokyo to major regional centers like Saporro, Bakuoka, and Okinawa. All right, I’m just outside my boarding gate now. Gate 15. Yeah. Uh, unfortunately, there was much to be desired with that lounge. Maybe my expectations were too high. I’m not too sure. Um, you know, I was thinking, you know, first class, maybe a little bit nicer. Um, wasn’t horrible, but I just found a few things a bit funny. Like, um, wasn’t really any food options whatsoever for myself. are having celiacs. I mean, sure, you’re in Japan, there’s not much options anyway, but just generally in like business class lounges. I was expecting maybe to have a bit of a breakfast or something, but uh yeah, it is what it is. Had a few glasses of water, a massage in the massage chair, and then uh wasn’t really much else to do aside from just sit up there and wait. So, I thought maybe just better off coming down here, do a bit of plane spotting, and then uh yeah, anyways, we have about an hour until boarding and uh yeah, looking forward to it. [Music] So today I’m sitting in seat 2 H for this flight up to Saporro. Now these domestic first class seats are not to be confused for the international layout as today we have two rows in first class in a 222 configuration. So 12 seats in first class as opposed to the six seats with an enclosed suit for the international A350s. Now, don’t get me wrong, they do operate some international flights with the same LA I’m in today, but generally they’ll be on shorter flights, just for example, between Japan and Korea. Now, the seat I’m in today has 53 in of pitch and about 20 in in width and fairly comfortable with lots of padding. [Music] Not long after boarding, I was greeted by a friendly crew member who greeted me in English before giving me the choice between still or sparkling water before we depart. But just on first impressions, I really like the 15.6 in highdeinition screen. And something I always love to check for on the A350s is the outside aircraft cameras. So, for today’s flight, sitting in the aisle seat, I’ll still get a nice view for takeoff. But for now, let’s enjoy the view from the outside of the aircraft as we make our way up north to Saporro. [Music] So for today’s short flight up to Saporro on JL519. We’re expecting a flight time of around 1 hour and 15 minutes, which will cover the distance of about 508 mi or 818 km. Now, today is actually the first time I’ve had people in the cabin have the window shades down on takeoff, as I’ve always thought this was a safety measure so passengers can see outside. Uh, but thankfully, I have my trusty if in front of me with the outside camera views. Speaking of the if, it’s definitely a standout for myself. It’s one of the better flight maps I’ve come across. There’s also plenty of TV shows, movies, and other entertainment available and well and truly good enough for a 1 to 2our flight, which generally this domestic A350 will service So, unfortunately with Celiacs, there were no options available for me today, which was a little strange as I’ve had gluten-free meals on domestic flights within China and plenty of other countries where Celiacs isn’t really a thing. But when I went to enter my dietary requirements, it said it wasn’t available for this particular flight. But for majority of you out there, you can be guaranteed a full meal and friendly service from the cabin crew. Now, once at cruising alt attitude, I tempted to connect to the Wi-Fi. However, this didn’t seem to work. But I’ve had similar issues, not just with Japan Airlines, but other airlines before with the Wi-Fi. Uh, so it’s possible it might just be me. Although, funny enough, whenever I’ve paid for Wi-Fi while flying, I don’t seem to have any issues at all. Uh, just to clarify, that was with Emirates and Vietnam Airlines, uh, among a few others. Now, at this point, I would say as someone who has paid $0 for this flight overall and just spent a limited amount of points for the seat today, I really have no grounds for any complaints or gripes. The food situation is minor as it’s a short flight. There’s plenty of entertainment in the if uh so the Wi-Fi is not a worry and overall these chairs are very very comfortable. Now, I mentioned earlier that the cost of these first class flights, if you were to book direct, would sit around $500, 3 months out from today’s video. However, I do recall when actually flying on the day of this flight, I did see some tickets much more cheaper than this price and even under the $400 mark, some even around $350. So, I would definitely say it’s worth it for the lounge access, priority boarding, uh the overall comfort of the seats, great if the premium service from the Japan Airlines cabin crew. And finally, what a way to make it up to Saporro. But as it’s just about time for descent, let’s enjoy the landing into Saparo. And once we’re at the hotel, we’ll wrap this video up and I’ll give my final thoughts there. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. All [Music] right, so it’s the following day after hopping off the flight uh with Japan Airlines on their A350 in first class. I mean, look, it’s obviously not so bad considering I didn’t pay a single dollar in taxes. Um, as most of you know, generally like when I like to do these sort of flights, business class, first class, I’m using the Quantis frequent flyer platform or program. And that way I can use frequent fly points, then also pay uh a certain amount in dollars, like taxes, um, which generally is the case. But for this flight, I didn’t actually pay any amount whatsoever. It was $0 and roughly around the 30,000 sort of point mark, which isn’t too bad at all. Uh just for a rough gauge, let’s just say Adelaide to Sydney, business class, domestic about an hour and a half flight, roughly that sort of area. Hour and 40 minutes. I’d say look, it it be at least 28,000 points. That sort of area, I’d say, yeah, 30,000 28,000 points, that sort of area. Um, and yeah, I mean, sure, it’s better than that. Uh, I don’t really recommend anyone flying Just got to adjust my camera here. I don’t really recommend anyone flying uh business class domestically in Australia unless you have a company that’s paying for it for you or you don’t mind churning the points, whatever. Um for me though, I’d rather save those points than use them on international business class flights as you’ll find a lot more value there. So yeah, I mean realistically because I didn’t really pay any amount for it. It was just uh the points. Can’t complain too much. But I will say I have to admit I did have higher expectations of the lounge. I really thought the first class lounge was going to be a bit better. You know, once again, let’s just make an example of like say business class lounge in Australia. Uh even the Adlay one was better um than the first class lounge at Tokyo. Well, then again, it was Hanetta. So, I’m not sure what the situation is over in Narita. However, not I don’t think there’s too many uh domestic flights going from Narita. So yeah, at least for Hanetta anyway, it’s not that great whatsoever. Um, there was really no food that I could eat there. Um, I could just get a bit of drink some water. There was a massage chair and then I just got bored of it and left early and uh spent the rest of the time in the terminal where there’s more places to eat, sit down, look around. Just my personal opinion, I guess. But yeah, was nothing special whatsoever. the actual flight itself, uh, Cobber next to me had the window down, window shade down the whole time, even before takeoff, as soon as he hopped in the seat. Um, maybe that’s just a thing over here that it doesn’t matter if you have the window shades down the whole time. U, however, I thought I thought for um, for safety, at least pretty much every other place I’ve been, for safety, you’re meant to keep them up so you can see what’s going on outside. Um, however, nothing was said to him. Other people were doing it, too, so maybe it’s somewhat normal here. I’m not too sure, but that’s a bit of a pain. I mean, I wasn’t going to see too much uh seated sort of on the aisle side there anyway. So, I’m not too too disappointed. I can still film a little bit on the if all the the cameras on the A350, which isn’t too bad. Um, once again, it comes down to the food options on the flight. There’s there was absolutely nothing for me. And this is one of those flights where usually I can manage it through Quantis. I can select gluten-free meals, but it wouldn’t even allow me to do it for this flight cuz it said not available. And then on the menus, there was really nothing available for that particular flight. Oops, just smashing things here. Um, there was really nothing on that particular flight that was okay for me to eat. There was one thing which was not available that day um for particular routes uh they fly with that aircraft, but there was nothing on that day. So really all I could have was uh water and that’s about it. And I was not interested in alcohol as I’m trying to look after my stomach. So yeah, quite disappointing. Once again, just for perspective, I’ve been on domestic flights in China in economy and had gluten-free meals. So, I really would have thought in first class domestic in Japan, there’ll be the same option, too. The only thing I have to admit, I last year when I was flying up around here, even when you do get um business class flights, I think from where was it? Ta T Taipei, it was an international one, Taipei up to uh Tokyo or Osaka. The gluten-free meal was all like seafood. I’m not a seafood eater anyway. So, who knows? Even if I got one, it may not have been that great. But yeah, that that’s the honest truth, guys. I mean, for me, it wasn’t really that special at all. Um, I think realistically, if you’re going to pay for a ticket, it’s maybe what, $300, maybe US or something. Um, as comparison to maybe $100 for the economy. So, if you got a bit of money to blow, you’re not using any sort of points or like frequent fly programs like myself, you want a bit of extra comfort, get on the plane first, off the plane first, have some lounge access, and I’m sure majority of you don’t have any sort of dietary requirements, you should be fine. You’ll probably enjoy a hell of a lot more than I did. Uh, but for me, uh, if I take that particular flight again, I don’t have a problem going in economy. So, yeah, just my thoughts. wasn’t great, wasn’t horrible, but um yeah, much to be desired really. But uh yeah, that’s just my personal opinion. I’m sure many other people have a different opinion than I do, but uh that’s the beauty of uh you know, individual thought. Anyways guys, I’m going to wrap this one up. As you can see out here, I’m in Saporro. Went out for a little bit of a walk this morning trying to get a bit of exercise. And uh I really love this city. It’s really beautiful. A lot of mountains. And this is where they had the Winter Olympics. I can’t remember when they had it here, but I know they’ve had a winter Olympics here. Um, it’s not overly cold right now. I’d say it’s still about 25 26. It’s always a little bit humid cuz it’s been raining. Uh, but yeah, absolutely beautiful. And I think this is probably going to be one of my favorite cities I’ve visited um in Japan for sure. So, yeah, tomorrow I’ll be flying with uh Jet Star. So, we’ll go back to a bit of a a budget style. be flying Jet Star down to Tokyo Narita and I’ll be staying there overnight before flying Peach Airlines down to Osaka. I’ll be in Osaka for three nights. I’m going to spend two nights in the actual city and then I’ll spend my last night near the airport cuz it’s a pretty early flight the following day after that one where I’ll finally uh get to fly over to Naning China and meet up with Cindy. Those you I’m sure most of you know if you watch my channel enough, Sydney’s my uh partner of eight years and uh she’s been over in China now for the last few weeks. So it’ be good great to see her spend some time with her family and I’ll get it almost about 3 and a half four weeks over there which I’m really looking forward to and uh also get to fly on a Chineseade aircraft u when I get over there too. So yeah guys, once again, thank you very much for watching if you made it this far to the video and uh if you can hit the like button if you have enjoyed it. Also, if you’re not subscribed, you like this sort of content, please consider subscribing. But other than that, I’ll catch you on the next one with my flying jet star down to Tokyo tomorrow. Cheers. [Music]

Join me as I fly with Japan Airlines (JAL) on flight JL519 from Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo New Chitose, aboard the Airbus A350-900 in Domestic First Class. Unlike JAL’s international First Class with enclosed suites, this configuration features just two rows in a 2-2-2 layout — still a very premium way to travel within Japan.

I booked this flight using 28,800 Qantas Frequent Flyer points + $0 in taxes, securing seat 2H for the 1h 15m journey north to Hokkaido. Normally this flight would cost around ¥49,000 (≈A$500), so it was fantastic value — and my first time ever redeeming a reward flight with no additional cash at all.

In this video:

• I’ll share the booking details and how I redeemed this reward seat
• Take you through the departure experience at Haneda Terminal 1
• Review the JAL Diamond Premier Lounge (and why it didn’t quite meet expectations)
• Board the JAL A350-900 Domestic and explore the First Class cabin layout
• Review the seat comfort, inflight entertainment, and service in seat 2H
• Cover the inflight meal situation (and my gluten-free challenge!)
• Arrive into Sapporo — my first time visiting Hokkaido ✈️

📍 Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 (Domestic configuration)
🛫 Flight Time: 1h 15m | Distance: 818 km
🪑 Seat: 2H (First Class, aisle)
📅 Booked: 3 months in advance using points

📌 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoyed the ride!

#JAL #JapanAirlines #A350 #FirstClass #FlightReview #Tokyo #Sapporo #Haneda #Aviation #Tripreport #JapanTravel