Shocking: The DISGUSTING state of Japan Airlines Business Class

Shocking: The DISGUSTING state of Japan Airlines Business Class

In today’s video, I get a nasty surprise on Japan Airlines, and I was shocked at what I found on board their 787 Dreamliner in business class 2. What’s going on at Japan Airlines? In this video, I’m flying from Hong Kong to Tokyo. About 1,800 m and 3 hours and 45 minutes flying time. Let’s go. and welcome to Hong Kong International Airport where I’m pleased to find Japan Airlines check-in is surprisingly open 4 hours early. This is the world’s busiest airport for cargo tonnage, but I’m hoping to be treated a little better than cargo today. I am absolutely delighted to have checked in early. Now, the closest uh business class lounge to the security is the Quantis lounge. And I’ve even got a fancy little invite for it here from the check-in agent, but we’re not going to go there. And there is a reason I wanted to be at the airport early today. The major carrier here is Hong Kong’s very own Cafe Pacific. And if you’re wondering where the cafe part of the name came from, well, it’s a medieval and quite romantic European name for what is now northern China. But more to the point, they operate several excellent lounges here in Hong Kong, and I can use my British Airways Gold member status to get into one of the two outstanding first class lounges above the class of my ticket. We apologize for the Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. This is the pier. It’s a cozy belowground labyrinth of beautiful and tasteful spaces. It’s intimate and exclusive, and it all feels like it could be part of some super luxury apartment complex. The residential flavor of the lounge gives it a feel of a private and welcoming club, which is quite different to the vast and anonymizing spaces you find in some other high-end airport lounges. Cafe has another larger and more garish firstass lounge called the wing at the other end of the airport. But this is more me and a specific highlight is the outstanding restaurant at the end of the lounge. The alakart menu here is superb, but I absolutely recommend the tasting menu, which at the time of recording was provided by famous local Cantonese restaurant Mott 32. This is all accompanied by paired cocktails, although there is an extensive alcoholic drinks menu if you want to go off script or just drink more. Sure, it’s up to you. This is seriously good pre-flight dining. And while Cafe Pacific recently announced they’re in a spot of money trouble, I hope my indulgence in the lounge didn’t put too much of a dent in the finances. I’ve always thought the pier to be a worldclass lounge, worth a special diversion or arriving early, and this visit was no different. It is absolutely superb. [Music] [Music] If you’ve time to kill, you can ask for one of the day suites, which are extremely cool. No booking is required and relaxing here with a view of the apron is an unbeatable experience. And of course, if you’re on a longer connection or just trying to beat a hangover, you can always shut the world out if you like. Of course, in this lounge there are the usual shower suites and even a spa with free 15-minute treatments for all guests. I wled away the last hour sinking a couple more cocktails and wondering when I’d get an excuse to pass through Hong Kong again. Well, that was amazing. It is my favorite lounge in the entire world. And I have to say, if I could afford it, I’d decorate my house like that. [Music] And here she is, the 787-9 that will take us over to Tokyo this afternoon. Our aircraft today is 8 years old, a 787-9 Dreamliner, making it the midsize variant in the Dreamliner range. This particular aircraft can carry just 203 passengers. 116 in economy, 35 in premium economy, and a whopping 52 business class passengers. That’s a very premium heavy aircraft. WestJet puts 320 seats on the same aircraft over 100 more passengers in the same space and I’m really looking forward to getting on board. I’ve got a real soft spot for Japanese airlines. Japan Airlines 787s come with three different sorts of international seat. There’s a regional configuration found often on the Tokyo Narita flight with basic liflat seats. These are excellent JAL Sky Suites. And then there’s our aircraft which comes with two cabins full of Sky Suite 3 reverse herring bone business class seats. And I’ll be in window seat 8K today. Yes, you’re probably wondering what I’m doing sitting here outside Birmingham airport in the UK when we were just in Hong Kong. And this is the part of the episode where I tell you all about today’s sponsor, Surf SharkVPN. Now, usually I’m telling you all about what a great travel tool it is and how useful it is when I travel around the world, taking in dozens of countries at a time. 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You can go to surf sharkark.com/winginit or enter code wingit at checkout for four extra months for free of Surf SharkVPN. Go ahead and check it out. Thank you. All right, here we go. We’re off to Tokyo Haneda on Japan Airlines 787-9 in business class. This is the first time I’ve flown this product and I’m really looking forward to it. About 3 and 1 half hours flying time ahead of us, I think. Don’t forget if you like this video and want more like it, subscribe, like the video, and hit that notification bell to be notified when I release new trip reports on the channel. Hello. Thank you very much. Thank you. My first impressions, it’s not bad. Japanese airlines are very conservative with cabin decor, which can lend them to feeling a bit plain, and that would be a fair criticism here, but it’s otherwise quite cozy. The seats are supplied with pillow, slippers, headphones, and a blanket, which is pretty good going for a flight time of under 4 hours. And also at the seat is a menu. We’re not going to be needing the paper menu, though, and I’ll cover what’s on offer a bit later. But first, I’ve got a first world problem for you. Obviously, Japan Airlines are incredibly efficient at boarding airplanes really quickly, but it does have a downside if you’re in a premium cabin like this. It means that everyone’s going to their seat. There’s a constant flow of passengers coming through the cabin, and it means they also don’t do a pre-eparture beverage service, which is a bit of a miss, I think, uh, even on a route of this length. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Now, today’s business class seat does look like any run-of-the-mill reverse herring bone seat found anywhere, but it has a few things about it which you might not notice. Firstly, the at seat storage is really small. This is the only storage box at the seat. I do like however the sensible placement of the seat controls away from where you would put your elbow and actually in front of you. That is quite an unusual place to find this console. The table however is way behind the times. There is no way to move it and exit the seat if anything’s on the table. So, you’re kept prisoner if the crew take their time to clear up and you need the L. And here’s what’s really unacceptable. This seat was in a terrible state. It’s well due for an overhaul with bits in disrepair and a revolting collection of dust and filth which must have built up over months. This is really not on. There was an array of old stains, grime, bits chipped off the seat, collecting even more dirt. The seat surrounds are full of sweaty grit from where passengers have leaned or put their hands. And if you think that’s bad, just look at this dust on top of the TV screen. This is the worst I’ve seen on an aircraft. And I’m shocked Japan Airlines sends out aircraft like this. Also, and this isn’t readily visible when you step on board, these seats are actually tiny. 20 in wide is just an inch and a half wider than a British Airways economy seat and up to two or three in narrower than much of the business class competition. And I’m no stranger to small lodgings. I was going to Japan to take its last surviving sleeper train. But this seat is the same width as 23-year-old Virgin Atlantic seats, which are criticized by everyone for being horrible and narrow. Actually can’t believe how filthy the seat was. And Japan Airlines is the last place I’d expect to find a seat in such bad condition. The entertainment screen is surprisingly not a touch screen and instead you have to use the inseat remote to navigate which isn’t ideal. Another downside to this seat, and something which is quite common in Asia, there are also no overhead vents. So, you might end up using the oshi to cool down like I did. I used the Wi-Fi to stay in touch with the outside world. It was a little expensive, but worked very well. The entertainment wasn’t that appealing, although it had a few games and interestingly, even live BBC news. I guess sometimes there are occasions where you don’t want to know about the rolling news at your destination. In a future video, I’ve got quite an interesting example of that. The dinner service starts with champagne and rice crackers, and I’d pre-ordered online. Japan Airlines has a very good lookup facility showing a comprehensive menu on your flight and the ability to select your preference too to save ordering on board. The food was absolutely excellent. This is a solid 9 out of 10. I’ve said it before, but salty and umami savory tastes do so well at altitude. and I love Japanese cuisine anyway. So, this was a superb meal. The Firefly squid was the standout dish here. And not to worry if you can’t use chopsticks. Yes, they will bring you a knife and fork. [Music] Dessert was Haren Dar’s ice cream, which was served perfectly, not too hard and not too soft. The last time I flew with Japan Airlines, uh, I flew first class. And I discovered a couple of drinks that I’d never heard of before that I really liked. Uh, Kokuto, which is an Okinawa black sugar spirit, and also Uneshu, which is Japanese plum wine. And today I’m trying something new. Not quite sure I’m going to like this as much. I’m always up for trying something new, especially if it’s local to the airlines country. This is Shu made from fermented sweet potatoes. It’s sort of like a slightly weaker vodka. And to be honest, I think it’s probably better off in a cocktail than drunk neat like this. The lavatories on board are Japanese robo toilets with automated bday functions. And unlike the seat, this was spotlessly clean, which is a bit more like it. There’s also a baby changing table here, but it’s quite small, and I’m not sure I’d want to be changing a baby much bigger than a newborn in here. In the interests of completeness, I did try the bed. This aircraft is sent as far a field as Delhi and DOA, which are 7 and 10 hours overnight. And I have to say, I would not like to sleep here. It’s very tight and feels narrow from the feet to the shoulders. It really is a very small seat. A cup of green tea and fill in the arrival card and I’m just about ready for another trip in Japan. Although this hasn’t been the best introduction and I’ve been quite disappointed with Japan Airlines on this flight. [Music] I paid 19,950 AOS plus taxes and fees of £162.70 for this flight. And it’s a reasonable value redemption, but I was bothered by the filth and disrepair. That’s shocking and inexcusable, even in economy, let alone business class. The food was, as always in Japan, excellent. But the weak seat, so entertainment, and general lack of wow factor, quite aside from the filth, mean I probably wouldn’t do business class on this route again. And there you have it. Thank you so much for watching the video and let me know if you’ve had a dirtier cabin than that on your travels. But for now, cheers and I will see you next week with another video. Bye for now.

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Japan has a well earned reputation as a bastion of civility, cleanliness and efficiency in an increasingly complicated world. And its airlines are no exception – I have been consistently impressed by Japan Airlines (and its competitor ANA) for years. So imagine my surprise and disgust at being confronted with the dirtiest aircraft I’ve ridden in years – in business class too!

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0:00 Intro
0:26 Hong Kong Airport
1:26 The Pier – Cathay F Lounge at HKG
5:00 Our 787-9 aircraft
6:09 Surfshark sponsor segment
7:28 Boarding JAL business class
9:28 Taxi and takeoff
10:40 Business class seat review
12:50 IFE and connectivity on board
13:42 Dinner service
15:36 Loo review (it was clean!)
17:04 Landing, thanks and conclusions

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