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2015 RTW

Japan Airlines JL62 777-300ER NRT-LAX First Class Review and Tokyo Trip Report

Japan Airlines JL62 777-300ER NRT-LAX First Class Review and Tokyo Trip Report

As discussed in my last post, I was lucky enough to be able to upgrade the last longhaul of my trip to not just First Class, but First Class on Japan Airlines, known for one of the best soft products in the industry.

The Round-the-World Series

After my LCC flight to Tokyo on Vanilla Air, I went to check into my hotel, Hotel Niwa. However, my flight arrived late at night and (as mentioned in my last post), I was extremely tired and homesick.

As I landed, like a good nerd, I had directions on the Tokyo subway saved to my phone so I was ready to go. Buuuut upon arrival, I was both delayed on the tarmac long enough that the ticket counters were closed and long enough that I was very very tired. So I was presented with the map that looked like this:

Dude.

I was so tired, I basically just stared at this map for an hour trying to match the kanji characters with the romaji characters I had saved down. I was saved by a very kind Japanese man who spoke no English but looked at my saved directions and pointed the kanji equivalent out in the automated ticket machine. Thank you very kind Japanese person.

Upon arriving at Hotel Niwa, it was very clean but very cozy and unassuming. I had no issues whatsoever and the grounds of the hotel were gorgeous.

Wrapping up my trip, Tokyo was an amazing place of (again) beautiful nature, a buzzing metropolis, and a bunch of nerd culture stuff. I found these incredible Star Wars tea plates, but frustratingly couldn't put them in my luggage. I ended up buying them off of eBay later.

Also.

As I wrapped up the trip, heading back to NRT, I realized that I had somehow neglected to have sushi the entire trip. I'd had plenty of ramen, katsu and of course, Micky D's, but I'd failed in that task. Thankfully, after arriving at the Japan Airlines lounge, not only did they have Sushi, but they had Coke Zero in a fountain! It's truly the small things in life.

After my quick meal, I boarded my flight back to the states, JL62 onboard the 777-300ER to LAX. After Etihad, it's fair to say my expectations for hard product were high and Japan Airlines didn't quite meet that bar. But the seat was comfortable, roomy and accomplished the task, even if it was missing some privacy and glitz and glam.

The seat also handily passed the tall person test, I had no issues with feeling cramped in the footwell, something that other airlines still struggle with.

But where the flight truly shined was the service. At this point of the trip, I was pretty cold (getting into November) so I decided to keep my jacket on me and it clearly perplex the flight staff who would really prefer they make me comfortable. But they were quiet, unobtrusive and truly extraordinary. I never had to wait for dishes to be cleared, never had to ask for refills and they were more than happy to oblige me for photos.

The meal was no less amazing than the menu, with a set of hors-doevres, amuse bouches and a wagyu filet.

I really struggled to stay awake to savor the last bit of my first class experience, but alas I zonked out very quickly to the smell of breakfast being started. I had the club sandwich, assorted fruits and they passed out some wonderful chocolates just as we were beginning descent into LAX.

All in all, even though I was tired as heck by the end of the trip, it was a wonderful time in Tokyo and an amazing experience overall.

In my final post on the subject, I'll recap the whole trip, summarize my points used for the whole thing. Since I am writing these in arrears, I'll also summarize how many points this would be today. It's a bit of a shocker.

And because I know you, Mr. Imaginary Reader are curious, I will also summarize which non-US McDonalds food was best.

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