I went back home for the summer again. This time, with JAL opening up a lot of award space, I redeemed round-trip business class on JL67/JL68 for summer. The tickets were issued by AS/AA. At first I had 2 business-class seats + 1 premium economy seat. Closer to the travel date, more seats opened up again, so I upgraded the premium economy seat to business class—and once again, with just a bit of luck, we ended up with business class for the whole family.

AS points can currently be transferred from Bilt, and most of my points came from spending on the AS card. AA was transferred when Bilt still had a partnership with AA.

JL67 Seattle-Tokyo

JAL uses BA's lounge in Seattle, and it shares a location with ANA's lounge. ANA's The Club was already downstairs in the Seattle lounge, so I assumed BA's lounge would be nearby, but it was actually in the basement.

The lounge was tiny and super crowded, the view was terrible, and the food was awful.

This poor view.

The restroom used Elemis toiletries, which is very British. Since we were in a good mood about heading back home, I took a few extra photos.

This tray was so bad that no one really wanted to take it.

Look at how crowded it is.

Boarding time. Both are 787s. ANA is 1-2-1 / 1-1-1, while JAL is 2-2-2, so the side-to-side space is noticeably tighter. The fore-and-aft space is slightly longer than ANA. Maintenance looks average at best, and it seems a bit worn.

This storage area is only available at the aisle seats.

The storage is usable, but it’s shared by two seats.

The window-side storage is too small, so I had no idea where to put anything.

The welcome drinks all follow the same routine.

The amenity kits are different for each person, but they all include the basics like eye masks and earplugs.

There’s also a phone holder.

We checked the menu and still chose Japanese-style food.

With the 2-2-2 layout, people near the aisle feel especially close.

Not long after takeoff, we were served. It started with snacks. Marinated olives were not something our whole family could get used to.

Our kid got fruit; the adults got nuts.

Kid's appetizer: there was a packet of gummies. The kid was thrilled, and the parent was left dealing with it.

Adults' appetizer. JAL is definitely better than ANA when it comes to food, especially fish dishes. ANA fish was nearly unpalatable, while JAL’s was actually quite good.

Personally, though, I think the appetizer is still similar to ANA’s, with the main issues being that it was too salty and too cold.

The paper-crane origami was brought out halfway through the meal, suddenly, by a flight attendant.

The main courses arrived. As mentioned, the overall flavor was pretty good.

The kid’s main course felt kind of lackluster. The kid didn’t like it and only took a few bites.

The ice cream was, as always, vanilla.

The dessert pudding was nice, though it was a bit too sweet for my taste.

JAL keeps the mattresses in the overhead bins and leaves them for everyone to take. They weren’t very clean and had some stains. I asked a flight attendant which side of the mattress should be facing up. She said either side is fine, but I still remain skeptical.

I put a steam eye mask on the kid and forced him to sleep. Unscented steam eye masks are also provided onboard. You can ask a flight attendant, or you may find one at the snack station when you pass by the restroom, and take one.

The occupancy at the back end of business class was very low.

The snack station is here. The design is pretty thoughtful. I don’t really remember whether ANA has it or not.

The restroom also has a Washlet, a typical feature on Japanese airlines.

Amenities.

Before departure, I used Wi‑Fi from an old friend, Boingo. The full tutorial was posted by Beimei PiaoDi: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xvVH-2HBtN9wud7E1h7Jnwwifi. It works well, and the speed is not too slow. The only issue is JAL has a session limit, and following the guide, by the time this flight arrived, all sessions were already used up.

Because I get motion sickness easily and don’t really need Wi‑Fi on a plane, I didn’t use it on the return.

This JAL flight was, for some reason, extremely dry—both on the outbound and return legs. Even I, a native of Xinjiang, found it hard to take. I woke up several times because my nose was too dry. My teammate and kid did not complain.

It was soon time for the second meal. JAL’s second meal is optional—choose whether or not you want it. You can have a more formal Western or Japanese meal, or one of the in-flight menu items that can be ordered repeatedly.

The kid’s breakfast was very basic...

I suddenly had a random craving for ramen while in the air, and this ramen was okay. To be honest, it wasn’t as good as ANA or Delta ramen.

My teammate’s main course looked like this.

After we finished eating, we were close to arrival.

We arrived and saw a Mongolia Airlines aircraft.

We’re usually slow, but this time, as we were landing, we quickly put our things away and waited right at the door. For the first time, I saw an aircraft open its door at the gate.

Narita Airport welcomed us with cute Pokémon.

The whole wall is Pokémon animation, so it’s hard to get a good photo. Don’t miss it as you pass by.

JL68 Tokyo-Seattle

On the way back, we tried the stroller counter-check and gate-pickup service. Do not use it! After arrival, we waited in the jet bridge, and only got the stroller after almost all economy passengers had disembarked. Even as priority baggage, our stroller was not among the first to come out. Next time, we’ll either check it properly or keep it onboard.

At Narita, JAL check-in counters each had a gentleman in charge of placing luggage tags, which felt like overstaffing.

Narita Terminal 2 is split between the main terminal and a satellite terminal. Our gate was in the satellite terminal, while the lounge was in the main terminal. It’s a long walk from the lounge to the gate, so leave enough time.

Once we arrived, we first went to pick up prebooked duty-free items. We bought different things at Fa-So-La and JAL duty free. Both offer a 5% discount if prebooked. Remember to make your reservation a few days before departure.

The lounge is large with two levels, but dining is only on one level. Don’t queue right at the entrance. You can sit down and order using your phone; it’s all the same food, and Japanese people really do love lining up.

I ordered a kaiseki-style set, a small serving of curry rice, and ginger pork rice. I still miss the ramen in the ANA lounge and the made-to-order sushi in the Delta lounge. I really don’t like JAL lounge dining.

Most shopping is in the main terminal, while the satellite has a few small stores, but the main terminal has the fullest selection. The biggest food-and-department store was packed; I bought a large basket and noticed I could check out in the electronics section.

After a brisk shopping session, it was almost boarding time.

Just before the return, I unfortunately got COVID-19 again. My teammate likely got it first in China, and I got it a week later. Since my teammate tested negative several times at home, I thought it was just a bad cold until we got back to Seattle and went to urgent care, where I learned I was positive.

That day on the plane, I was at my worst symptom-wise, and with this plane being especially dry, my nose stayed painfully dry and I couldn’t sleep at all. I brought a nasal spray because the return flight was so dry; it helped only for a few minutes, but it was better than nothing.

Because I felt sick and uncomfortable, I took far fewer photos. I still made sure to photograph the menu carefully.

The business-class load factor was much higher on the return.

The kid’s meal was amazing—lots of seafood. We didn’t let him eat raw fish, but he finished everything else.

My teammate's photos were average, so just take them as a reference. The main course looked like curry rice.

The pre-meal snack was awful; the dip sticks were not good, and the sauce was super salty.

The appetizer tasted okay overall, mainly because it wasn’t especially salty. But it was still cold. Since I had no appetite because I was sick, I barely ate anything before asking the flight attendant to take it away.

The main course was also okay, though it felt a bit weaker than the appetizer. At that point I truly couldn’t eat much, so I tasted everything and had the flight attendant clear each dish.

For dessert, the chestnut red bean pudding was incredibly sweet, so I couldn’t finish it.

Later in the morning, since I couldn’t sleep at all because my nose hurt the whole way through, I had no appetite at all. I still ordered ramen. This ramen had a tomato flavor and was fairly appetizing. I predicted it would be quite salty, so I ordered hot water to drink and poured it in directly, which made it much better.

After getting off the plane, I had to wait a long time in the jet bridge for a baby stroller. I won’t ever choose gate-delivery service again.

Even so, after I got off, the luggage still hadn’t arrived. I’m not sure if Seattle airport was still recovering from a cyberattack. At least after the bags started on the carousel, priority luggage came out first.

For customs, I used Global Entry with face scan. This time I was lucky and cleared smoothly without speaking to an officer.

Summary

Of course, my experience was limited to Seattle and does not apply to other regions or aircraft types. I had read reviews saying JAL is noticeably better than ANA, but this actual experience did not match that impression.

JAL was better in onboard meals, especially fish dishes, which were better than ANA’s. For the other dishes, the difference was not that big.

ANA’s lounge and onboard meals are a bit more ramen-friendly for ramen lovers (though DL’s yuzu ramen is better still). The cabin space on NH117/NH118 is noticeably larger.

By comparison, I felt ANA was slightly better overall. If I could switch tickets, both would still be good choices.

But my later experience on JAL from Tokyo to Shanghai, where I was involuntarily downgraded, was so poor that it seriously pulled down my overall rating for JAL. I’ll complain about that in a future article.