What you’re about to read is my full review of JAL 787-8 economy. It was as good as I was expecting, and I stepped off that airplane at NRT feeling as if it was exactly the kind of experience that sets the bar for long-haul economy class.
Nope, it wasn’t perfect. But it was better than most and…
Dang it. I’m getting way ahead of myself here. Let’s just get this review started the way I normally do:
JL65
San Diego, CA (SAN) – Tokyo / Narita, Japan (NRT)
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Aircraft: 787-8
Registration: JA838J
Duration: 11 hours 27 minutes
Seat: 21G (economy class)
Japan Airlines 787-8 side view illustration by Norebbo.comOur route from San Diego to Narita today as JL65
My full review of JAL (Japan Airlines) 787-8 economy class from San Diego to Tokyo Narita
The fact that it’s possible to fly from San Diego to Japan nonstop will never not be amusing to me. The catch: you’ll pay dearly for the privilege of doing so. It’s not a cheap flight – even in economy.
Arrival at the airport
Even though this flight was scheduled to depart at 11:25 AM, I couldn’t resist arriving to the airport a wee bit early. There was no way I was gonna miss out on an opportunity to fly to JAL out of San Diego.
The JAL check in counter. I may not be first in line, but I am ready.I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been this excited about a long haul flight in economy class.“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” This right here is the look of a man on a mission to get a glimpse of the beautiful JAL 787-8. In all honesty, it felt like I was looking cool and collected lol.Konnichiwa! Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Japan Airlines has finally moved over to the GOOD side of the San Diego Airport? No disrespect to Terminal 2 East by the way. I still like it even if it’s small, dark, and…maybe even a little stinky.Whoa. This isn’t what I expected to see. What with all the empty seats here at the gate just before boarding time?If this plays out like I thinks it’s gonna play out…I may be having the most comfortable (and spacious) long haul economy experience ever!
The boarding process
As if things couldn’t get any better, they started the boarding process a few minutes early. Maybe it was because the fact that it was going to be a really light load today. I don’t know.
This poor gate agent. Let’s just say that we had to get a little aggressive here to stake our place in line…Watch out Tokyo. Here I come!Those of you who have been reading my reviews for a while now will know that this is not the first time I’ve flown Japan Airlines out of San Diego.The difference, this time, is that this boarding footage is going to extend well beyond the business class cabin. Woohoo!
Seat overview
JAL 787-8 economy is awfully nice. The leg room is fantastic, and the seats are fully featured with large video screens and convenient pockets and hooks for all your stuff. I much prefer this over ANA 787-8 economy.
My very first look at the Japan Airlines 787-8 economy class seats.They are red, incredibly spacious, and the 2-4-2 layout is a huge “eff you!” to nearly every other airline cramming a 3-4-3 layout into the same space.This looks like a fairly decent place to sit for the next 10 hours. Don’t mind if I do…The Japanese aren’t known for being tall, so how did it happen that this is probably the most spacious regular economy class seat that I’ve ever experienced? I think this is even more legroom then you’ll find in ANA 777-300ER economy!I don’t know and I don’t necessarily care to think about it. I’m just gonna enjoy the heck out of it.Good news and bad news. Starting with the bad news first: these headphones look (basically) worthless.But the *good* news is that you’re likely to find a tasty drink on this menu that will take your mind off the headphones.Just when you thought I was done with the “good news / bad news” stuff…….it’s about a 50% load in here today, and I’ve got two empty seats next to me. My methods for increasing the odds of having an open seat next to me still work!One last bit of good news/ bad news and then I promise I’ll stop: Bad news first: I’m in an aisle seat and I can’t show you any takeoff footage.Good news: here’s some pretty cool takeoff footage!
The first meal service
The meal service on any JAL flight (even in economy class) is usually pretty good. At least compared to US airlines. Check this out:
The pre-meal snack service: Is there nothing quite like the feeling of being able to use the tray table of the seat next to you?Almost. I also quite like the feeling of not wondering what the person sitting next to me is thinking as I’m filming my snack.Interesting! it seems as if row 21 (the row I was in) is the first row to be served by the flight attendant working the back of the meal cart. I didn’t even have time to lower my tray table before she turned to me and asked what I wanted. I don’t normally enjoy being caught off guard like that, but when there’s food involved, I’ll gladly make exceptions.I chose the beef and rice option, which sounded really good. Until I realized that they probably only provide chopsticks in the utensil packages. I’m normally a ninja with chopsticks, but using them to eat rice is not pretty. I hope I can find a fork before things get ugly!Fork acquired. FYI, “conflicted” is officially defined as “having or showing confused and mutually inconsistent feelings.” However, “knowing that ice cream is being served for dessert and I’ll be unable to eat it because it’ll likely be frozen solid (like all airplane ice cream)” is a far better definition I think.
Seat and cabin comfort
Of all the long-haul flights I’ve done in economy class over the years, I have to say that this was one of the most comfortable. Leg room is just bonkers (in a good way), and the cabin crew did a fantastic job of staying active and keeping everyone as comfortable as possible.
Don’t you hate the feeling of thinking that the flight is going by really fast, only to realize that you’ve hardly made *any* progress so far?I swear I fetch a twinge of pain in my lower back once I realized how much ocean we had left to cross.Because I can’t sleep very well on airplanes I might as well head to the back of the plane and work on my loo review game.Hmmmm. Is there anything I *haven’t* showed you in an airplane bathroom yet? Come to think of it, there is…I’m talking abut the ceiling (of course).Even though this was two weeks before the pandemic hit hard, I was still surprised to see this flight as full as it was.Yeah, a 50% load factor isn’t good, but it sure was comfortable. There was so much room to spread out that it almost felt like premium economy.Mid-flight snacks! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Japanese snacks, you’re totally missing out.Not only is it an incredibly adventurous (and curious) feeling to rip open a bag of crunchy stuff from Japan, it’s *always* delicious.Yeah, I’m up and about again since it’s only 5 pm local San Diego time. I’m not sleepy at all.Can’t say that I wasn’t tempted to raise some armrests and spread out a bit.Two hours to go now, I haven’t slept a wink, and the pre-landing meal is just about ready to be served. Still having fun though!
The second meal service
The cabin crew came through the aisles with a pre-landing meal about an hour and 45 minutes prior to landing. I wasn’t all that hungry to be honest, but trust me – skipping out on a meal in JAL economy would be foolish. Seriously!
Breakfast (dinner?) is served!It’s rice again (which I love), but even better, there are no chopsticks in sight, which means there will be *no* footage of me dropping clumps of food everywhere.Just as I expected, the food (and service) here in Japan Airlines long haul economy was very good.The food that I ate during my AirAsia A320 Hot Seat experience is still #1 in my book, but this ain’t bad. This ain’t bad at all.
So what do you think? Does this look like a product you would be comfortable in for more than 10 hours? Do me a favor and let me answer that for you: Yes. You would very much enjoy Japan Airlines long haul economy.
Arrival at Narita Airport
We touched down at NRT 17 minutes early. And you know what? I could’ve gone for another hour or two. Easily. These seats are that comfortable.
Welcome to Narita! Local time is 4:37pm…and the runways here are a bit rougher than I remember. It’s good to be back in Japan though. Tadima!Would you look at that? It seems as if JAL is serving SAN with their amazing Sky Suite business class product (just like I experienced on a flight from Beijing to Tokyo two years ago). It’s a good business class product indeed.“Later dudes!” (or whatever the Japanese equivalent of that is)Our plane from San Diego resting just after arrival. Thanks for the ride good buddy…
Pros and cons of JAL economy class
I’ve known for years that economy class on Japan Airlines is quite good – even though my only experience with this airline up until this point has been four business class segments back in January 2018 (SAN-NRT, NRT-PEK, PEK-HND, NRT-SAN).
All of those segments were all phenomenal, so naturally, I assumed that economy would be fairly swanky as well. A safe assumption, right? Anyway, as much as I would’ve loved to have flown business class this time, I was still really excited to see (first hand) what the economy experience was all about.
Pros
Leg room in JAL long haul economy is nothing short of spectacular. Seat pitch is a very generous 33 inches, which puts it into premium economy category on many other airlines. Heck, even Hawaiian Airlines 787-9 Extra Comfort wasn’t as good as this.
Service from the cabin crew was incredible as expected. Japan prides itself on being a service culture, and it shows through in the character (and actions) of the flight attendants. They were all happy, polite, and extremely patient with needy passengers. They also kept me quite happy with a steady flow of beverages and snacks throughout the flight even though I wasn’t asking for anything.
I really liked the fact that the flight attendants showed each passenger a picture of the meal options to help them make a decision. It certainly helped me!
Cons
As typical with many Asian carriers, I found the cabin temperature to be a bit too warm for my liking. And that says a lot considering that I’m usually the guy wearing sweatshirts in the middle of summer.
Although the food was good, it was far from being the best meal that I’ve ever been served in economy class. FYI, I’m putting this down here in the cons section because I had higher hopes for the meal services.
Thx for posting images of the seat pitch in context. There are too many other reviews (not you) out there who proclaim “Great legroom”, yet never specify how tall they are. I’m a tad under 6’, and feel somewhat disgruntled having to pay extra for PE, just so I don’t suffer.
Congrats Mike! I’ve only experienced the Sky Suites on short haul (PEK-HND), and even that was an incredible experience. I can’t imagine how good it would be on long haul!
I think what he meant was the part where you said that JAL’s 2-4-2 layout was a huge middle finger to the airlines cramming in 3-4-3, when actually most airlines cram in 3-3-3. A 10-across 787 would be unbearable lol.
If I may give my personal opinion, I call JAL’s 787 configuration the proper 787, as 2-4-2 was the config it was supposed to have. I’ve flown on the Dreamliner a few times and found it confortable even with 3-3-3, so it must be amazing with 2-4-2.
Hi Joan – those were actually pillows (which were quite comfortable). All economy passengers get pillows and blankets, which will be at your seat when you board the plane. Hope you enjoy Tokyo! April is the perfect time to go.
Hi Scott,
We are flying JAL in the near future from US to Tokyo and on to Bangkok and I’ve called the airline to ask about blankets and pillows for Economy class. They stated(I talked to 2 different representatives) no blankets or pillows are provided on the flight. We have an 8 year old traveling so we’d like to know if we need to bring our own? Perhaps something has changed with the Pandemic. Thanks for the awesome information on flying JAL!
Hi Chantel – it’s interesting that they would say that. There were blankets and pillows on every seat in economy the last time I flew with them, but that was before the pandemic. Maybe things have changed, but I’m willing to bet that the only reason they told you that was to prevent you from being disappointed if for whatever reason blankets and pillows don’t make it onto your flight.
JAL is a fantastic airline (even in economy class). You can bring your own blankets and pillows if they are an absolute necessity, but I’d be shocked if they didn’t provide them. Anyway, have a great trip – flying JAL is always a treat!
Randy Preising
Thx for posting images of the seat pitch in context. There are too many other reviews (not you) out there who proclaim “Great legroom”, yet never specify how tall they are. I’m a tad under 6’, and feel somewhat disgruntled having to pay extra for PE, just so I don’t suffer.
SANspotter
You’re welcome Randy! At just under 6′, you’d be very comfortable in JAL economy.
Dennis
JAL’s “SkyWider” economy seats are indeed awesome! (That’s the official name of the seat, i didn’t make it up:))
mike murphy
finally upgraded JL 65 and 66 business class to sky suites
Yaaa!
I hope JL707 and 708 are next on the list
SANspotter
Congrats Mike! I’ve only experienced the Sky Suites on short haul (PEK-HND), and even that was an incredible experience. I can’t imagine how good it would be on long haul!
Harry Smith
SANSPOTTER, They don’t fit 3-4-3 into 787s, they put 3-3-3
Scott (SANspotter)
Actually, we are both wrong. Looking at the pics again, it seems as if it’s 2-4-2.
Peter
I think what he meant was the part where you said that JAL’s 2-4-2 layout was a huge middle finger to the airlines cramming in 3-4-3, when actually most airlines cram in 3-3-3. A 10-across 787 would be unbearable lol.
If I may give my personal opinion, I call JAL’s 787 configuration the proper 787, as 2-4-2 was the config it was supposed to have. I’ve flown on the Dreamliner a few times and found it confortable even with 3-3-3, so it must be amazing with 2-4-2.
Joan Potter
Great information for our trip to Tokyo in April. Just wondering what was in the grey bag that was on the seat. Do they give amenity bags or blankets
Scott (SANspotter)
Hi Joan – those were actually pillows (which were quite comfortable). All economy passengers get pillows and blankets, which will be at your seat when you board the plane. Hope you enjoy Tokyo! April is the perfect time to go.
Chantel Heser
Hi Scott,
We are flying JAL in the near future from US to Tokyo and on to Bangkok and I’ve called the airline to ask about blankets and pillows for Economy class. They stated(I talked to 2 different representatives) no blankets or pillows are provided on the flight. We have an 8 year old traveling so we’d like to know if we need to bring our own? Perhaps something has changed with the Pandemic. Thanks for the awesome information on flying JAL!
Scott (SANspotter)
Hi Chantel – it’s interesting that they would say that. There were blankets and pillows on every seat in economy the last time I flew with them, but that was before the pandemic. Maybe things have changed, but I’m willing to bet that the only reason they told you that was to prevent you from being disappointed if for whatever reason blankets and pillows don’t make it onto your flight.
JAL is a fantastic airline (even in economy class). You can bring your own blankets and pillows if they are an absolute necessity, but I’d be shocked if they didn’t provide them. Anyway, have a great trip – flying JAL is always a treat!