Avis du vol entre Taipei et Phoenix en classe Affaires avec Starlux Airlines

Hello again everyone, welcome back to another flight review! Today, as promised, we are flying Starlux J on their newest route from Taipei over to Phoenix. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous watching Starlux’s Instagram feed share all the excitement and festivities during the inaugural flight (which I just missed by three days), especially seeing all J and F passengers got free watches! My goodness! I guess their second ever flight is also something memorable (no watch though). Still waiting my first ever water salute too, hopefully it will come in the near future!

Starlux was the first ever airline I reviewed here, and as my inaugural piece to this incredible community, it’s always a special occasion to fly them again! Out of all the potential flights from Asia to the US, another big reason I chose Starlux again was to answer a question once and for all, considering JX not having a substantially different F and J hard product, is the class distinction worth the near 3x F price? Keep that overarching question in mind as we dig in!  I'll leave the conclusion section to have an extensive comparsion and judgement.

Starlux flies out of both T1 and T2 here at Taoyuan International Airport, with the latter taking charge of US bound flights, where we depart today. At check-in, there was one counter for F, three for J, and five for everyone else.

Frustratingly, only one of the three J counters was open, and I waited nearly 25 minutes with only two other customers ahead of me, both who were also showing disappointment with the lack of urgency. Eventually they opened the F check-in for J too, which sped things up.

At the desk, I saw these nice Phoenix themed souvenirs.

I was curious about potential F upgrades and was told the price was 5000 dollars. Considering I paid around 3200 USD for J, an extra 5000 would place the total cost at 8200 USD which was considerably lower than the 11000 USD or so a full-fare F seat would have costed. Although I was never planning on taking the upgrade offer, the agent then mentioned that if I did chose to do so, the was likely not enough time to prepare a F meal, meaning only the J one would be provided. She also mentioned that I could take my J ticket now and return any time. The problem with this, she added, was that F passengers would have their checked baggage placed in a slick JX box of sort, so if I came back later my bag that was being checked now wouldn’t receive that luxury. 

I also mistakenly thought these yellow hazmat suited gentlemen were airport maintenance crew, turned out to be JX employees repping their unique outfits.

I was offered a card detailing the two JX lounges, one in each terminal. Interestingly, the terminals merge beyond security meaning you could visit both. T2 has the newer, and much larger lounge, which is also the one recommended.

Before going through security, I had some time and visited the observation deck. If you’re ever passing through T2, this is a must see! Just remember to head over and take one of the elevators and the end of the terminal, as the ones in the center won’t take you up to the 5th floor. It really is EVA’s home, green galore everywhere! The deck was also far busier than I last visited in July, I guess word really got out of this little hidden gem! 

Back over to the terminal, and it was a quick trek past security. The lounge is located next to gate D7, around a 7 minute or so walk from immigration. 

Inside, the gentleman checked my information and guided me over past the left door. The right side is the F lounge, as I’ve reviewed previously. He informed me the upstairs seating area was full and suggested I headed down. Since four JX US bound flights take off within three hours (SFO, PHX, SEA, LAX), it was very busy. 

Named the ‘Galactic lounge’, the entire area feels very futuristic and like a big spaceship. Whether you like the aesthetic or not, you must admit it’s unique.

Both floors have a buffet selection with nearly identical options, but the top floor featured a few extra goodies like a dessert section, and some sausages that could be made into hot dogs. 

Back downstair, I checked out the buffet section, there was a large salad bar and a few hot options (identical on both floors). 

Downstairs seating, and an ice cream freezer.

Scanning the QR code at the table opens up an a-la-carte menu with quite an extensive offering ranging from pasta, to dim sum, to fruit teas, coffees, and alcohol. 

an extensive offering ranging from pasta, to dim sum, to fruit teas, coffees, and alcohol. I began by grabbing some fried fish and macaroons from upstairs, before coming down and asking about the showers. 

I assumed they would be full, since there were only two and the lounge was so busy. Luckily, the lady mentioned no line and urged me to go before a line formed. To do so, I needed to head back up to reception and exchange my boarding pass for a shower key.
 
A quick oopsie on my behalf, I had initially placed my bags in these lockers upon entering the lounge, and now while I wanted to grab some clothes, ended up locking myself out of the locker. Thankfully the receptionist saved the day with a master key, my bad!

The shower suites follow the galactic theme with its gray walls and bright mirror. Although not having 12 nozzles (like in the F lounge), it was extremely spacious (essentially the same size as the F shower suite) and came with lots of amenities. 

After my quick shower, I headed back to my table where my iced americano and biang biang noodles (from the a-la-carte menu) were waiting. 

Biang biang noodles are incredible, basically chili oil mixed noodles, one of my all-time favorite Chinese dishes, recommend! The dish was prepared as good as out in the restaurants, but with only three very thick pieces of noodle. I liked that all the a-la-carte dishes had small portions, but this was so delicious I could have easily done a giant bowl of it!

I then noticed nearly all the other guests being served an orange fruit tea, and I had to try one from the menu, also really refreshing.

The chicken rice and mushroom pasta were average, not up there with the biang biang noodles, and so I had to go for a second portion of it!

Check out this UFO-like light.

I also ended up heading back upstairs to try the Taiwanese cheese hot dog, which exploded with mouthful after mouthful of cheese, not bad! I was far too stuffed by now, and left to walk around the terminal before boarding.

Similarly to HKG after dark, planespotting here is rather difficult due to the darkened windows. Unless you press right up against the glass, it’s nearly impossible to see what’s outside. Something cool I observed was that all the three Taiwanese airlines have their entire flight crew march together to the gates, led by their captains and followed by the cabin crew. I’ve not actually seen this anywhere else, and the way everyone shares the same outfit/branded luggage adds an extra bit of unity and pride in their airline! 

Now then, it’s finally time to head over to our gate, A9. As per regulations, we needed to undergo a second round of document check before heading down to the gate for all US bound flights. Pressing my phone up to the glass, I snapped our gorgeous A350-900 taking us to Phoenix.

Starlux recently received their first A350-1000, and they plan to announce its first routes later in February. Boarding began with F and J passengers, along with high-tier JX members. I took the ‘F and J passengers’ announcement as opposed to ‘F then J’ to suggest the F cabin was empty, and I was later proven correct.

Onboard we go! After 6 months of CA and MU, it was a real breath of fresh air seeing JX’s beautiful interior again.

My seat today was 3A, the second J seat behind the first row of F booths. Waiting at my seat was a pillow, fleece blanket, and a Ja Malone goodie bag, nice! 

I then turned over the blanket to find slippers and an amenity kit, more on that later. 

The giant IFE screen showed Snoopy taking a snooze in Phoenix, how adorable!

My first impression of the seat was that it’s not that different to the F seat. The foot area is the only noticeable difference, smaller but still ample. 

To your left, there’s a storage area that can be opened which houses a bottle of water, headphones, and charging ports. You can also charge your phone wirelessly, but it requires a very specific placement in a perfect angle for it to function. 

One problem I didn’t realize until sitting down was that this seat didn’t offer a full window, rather halves of two. This wasn’t a big problem for a nearly full night time flight, but something to consider during seat selection. 

Another shallow storage area is present near the armrest, far less extensive than the previous.

After being welcomed on board, a hot towel was offered. 

then opened the Jo Malone bag to find a nice Phoenix themed card and a large bottle of pillow mist. JX really living up to its name as a luxury brand with the Jo Malone collaboration.

. I opted for champagne as my welcome drink, before opening and putting on my slippers. 

There’s also a coat hook located on the right side, but I opted not to utilize it.

Looking forward you can notice the row of F rising above the J seats, all empty today.

Both the food and beverage menus are fully available to browse on the IFE. Prepare for an outrageous amount of pictures coming your way! First let’s check out their incredibly extensive F beverage menu. From spirits to cocktails, juices to teas, soft drinks to cold pressed juices, bubble tea … Anything and everything you could probably think of, they got it. 

Wow, what a spectacle that drink menu was. A quick note, the bubble tea is only available on flights departing Taipei. 

Now, onto the food menu. This was slightly confusing. The first and second picture showed the"late night menu", and last pictuing showing "light menu". I didn't really know which one our flight was considered, but I ended up receiving the second "late night menu", and nothing from the other two. I was also unsure which entrees were offered to passengers who didn't pre-order. I did, so nothing to consider there.

It also shows on the top right corner this is the menu for all their US destinations, I guess that makes the catering easier?

Let's open up our amenities. A quick comparison, since our underlying question is still there… The eyemask was of a different design to the F one (with that one being a white color). I couldn't feel any difference in terms of fabric nor comport. If anything, this one blocked more light due to the darker color. The F kit also featured a glasses cleaner. The last significant difference is that the F kit comes in a large hard case as opposed to the bag we have today.

For those who may remember from that F review, JX provided a full bag of Lamer products, a huge distinction from the amenities offered in J. Once again, however, the question is whether that justifies the incredible step up in pricing…

I had previously mentioned that one of JX's only weaknesses is their IFE system. Don't get me wrong, the giant screens are not what I'm referring to, but rather the content featured. I was too busy being in awe at the F product last time so I didn't too much time reviewing it. Let's do a more thorough look today. 

If I'm remembering correctly, JX now has more movies than in August. Far more selections between different genres and languages, definitely going in the right direction.

Enter text here…

Unfortunately, as I recalled from before, the TV shows have not impressed. There are a very limited amount of options, and almost all of them feature just one or a few episodes from each season.

They also offer lots of very peculiar Taiwanese reality TV shows which their non-Taiwanese passengers may struggle to identify or share interest in. With their growing network and continued expansion as a reputable international carrier, they should consider catering their shows to a more diverse audience.

I took a quick trip to the toilet at the front of the cabin. This is another area where JX shines above the competition. Last time round, I assumed the diffuser, amenities, and flower was only for the F toilet, but today I learned they were present for J too. As expected, the toilets were impeccably clean throughout the flight. The only times I needed to wait and use one was when a crew member was doing a quick cleanup post-use. 

There is one toilet in the front galley and two in the middle. When there are no F passengers, all three are available for J. The front toilet is only blocked out if there are F passengers, where there were not today.

Always appreciate airline colored walls.

And of course, JX's unique toilet paper:)

The J cabin was more or less 40% full today, a step up from what felt like a 20% load back in August from LAX. 

As always, I came back to unwrap my blanket cover. I had read a review online that JX crew can sometimes be unattentive when it comes to taking trash away. Not the case for me today. I had accidentally left the blanket and amenity cover, and arguably was barely visible o a passing crew member under my blanket, but tsomeone immediately spotted it and took them away.

JX's astronomical and whimsical safety video then played, taking us all the way into galaxy!

We then began pushback, and passed by this UA bird parked next to a DL one. I wonder who would choose US carriers of Taiwanese ones, must be those loyalty programs!

After a short taxi, we pushed out of TPE at 20:49, 4 minutes behind schedule. Flightly and the IFE showed an estimated 12 hours of flight time, but for some reason the JX wifi webiste showed near 15 hours!. We did a confirmation from the captain of the 12 hours being accurate.

Shortly after the seatbelt sign was turned off, a crew member came through the galley with a trolley full of pyjamas. JX recently launced a new F pyjama set in collaboration with British company Huntsman, in a rich red win color. J pyjamas also received a rebranding in collaboration with Paul Smith, debuting on their inaugural PHX flight three days ago. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of these J blue pyjamas.

Another nice touch JX offers is a face mask, speak of kicking back and relaxing!

Wifi is free for all J and F passengers, and it was incredibly fast (when we weren't passing by areas with no service). 

Service then began with tablecloths being provided.

Drink orders were being taken whilst the crew pushed another trolley containing our first courses of the meal.  

According to the menu, we had a smoked salmon egg salad in the top right, and the main featuring chilled yam noodles with seasonal fruit salad, japanese sesame dressing. Honestly, this was quite disappointing. The dish looked very pretty, but tasted quite poor. The chilled yam noodles were quite strange, and the salty sesame sauce definitely did not work with the sweet fruits. The smoked salmon egg salad tasted exactly like it sounds, and really did not work. This was definitely the low-light of the entire trip. 

A quick interlude from the meal to check out the headphones, which offer a bluetooth function. These were quite similar to the ones on F, and worked really well. I got going on my Equalizer marathon, who can say no to some Denzel in the skies?

The earphone plugs into the small cabinet on your left.

For my drinks, I went with a bubble tea, diet coke, and JX's new signature cocktail concoction, one that was not offered back in August. The bubble tea was awesome, and the feeling of having one up in the skies is really unique. I wish they could stock up on more for return flights!

I apologize for the blurry photo, but this was the new signature cocktail, Amber Harmony. Ingredients features Genmai & Longan Wine and Black Tea. It was splendid, one of my favorites out of the signature cocktails. 

After the first course, the crew came around inquire interest over a soup service, to which I happily accepted. Accompanying it was a bread basket. Apologies again for the blurry image I'm not too sure what went wrong here. The bread basket was far less extensive than the one in F, which isn't a complaint considering how stuffed I was on my F flight. Today, however, I finished off all three pieces with lots of room to go, and I blame my main course as the culprit, stay tuned.

According to the menu, the breads were an Itlian Herbs Focaccia, Candied Orange Peel with Parmesan Cheese Bread, and Garlic Butter Baguette. I felt the names were fancier than the actual taste, they were a bit stale. 

The soup was decent, but it was a really, and I mean REALLY ,small portion. Two or three spoonfulls and it was all gone. It was a Creamy lentil soup with grain brown rice onion soup and pesto croutons, at least that's what it said on the menu. The crew member just introduced it as "onion soup", which I guess it was.

Here was my main course. I didn't get a full name of it, but TLDR it was Hutong Wagyu beef steak with vegetables. I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the meat was delicious, incredibly cooked. On the other, the vegetables were extremely bland, and both the meat and vegetables came in a very small portion. I think I finished off the steak in three or four bites. 

A fruit plate then came with a strawberry/vanilla ice cream dessert duet, along with a piece of chocolate. The fruit was very fresh, and ice cream just perfect temperature, not too cold like many airlines do where it takes a good 10 minutes before youc an even stick a spoon into it. 

I then ordered another one of their signature cocktails, my favorite one from previous flights. When the crew asked which one I was referring to, I simply said "the whiskey one", and she knew! The Star Mojito, featuring Whiskey, green tea, mint, and orange. Excellent!

After the meal, I headed over to the front toilet to get changed, as the crew began turndown service. The front galley was all empty for the majority of the flight, some crew members utilized it to catch up on some TV shows later on when everyone was asleep.

On my way back, I passed by the two honeymoon F class suites.

Back to mine, the crew had attached my mattress and left another wet towel. They also helped fold up the fleece blanket, which is always appreciated.

Although a door is featured, the same problem persists in both J and F, in that it doesn't fully shut. I'm sure there are some aviation safety requirements that contribute to this. Furthermore, no real privacy is offered since anyone passing by you in the galley can easily see you without even needing to look over your door. 

The lights were then dimmed. I later realized I was the only person sleeping for at least the first three-four hours.

The mattress was very comfortable, but the footspace does become very cramped when fully reclined. The mattress pad also doesn't stretch fully to your footrest since the seat narrows down, making it slightly awkward to place your feet off the mattress. There were a few moments where it was hard to fall asleep due to the cramped leg space, but overall not too bad as I still got a solid few hours of rest. 

Around three hours later, I woke up hungry, and asked if there was anything to eat. I was directed to the snack menu, and chose two out of the three options.  I went with another whisky cocktail and bubble tea as my beverages of choice.

First, I went with the Sesame Oil Chicken Thin Noodle Soupm with sides of Plum Pickled Tomatoes, Passion Fruit Green Papaya, and Herbal Wine. The was De-Li-Cious. The crew shared that I could try pouring some of the Herbal Wine (in the right most small cup), sip on the soup, and add more according to preference. I asked for some chili oil which I added. I think JX should consider adding this to the main dinner menu. Not only did it taste amazing, it was incredibly filling. Honestly this was probably up there with the best "snack/have anytime dishes on a plane" (excluding full a-la-carte menus). 

Then came the "Fine Cheese", featuring Blue Cheese, Camembert, Edam, and "Man Mano Soy Sauce String Mozzarella", with toasted nuts, dried fruits, mango chutney and crackers. Whatever that fancy mozzarella was, it was excellent. I always love a good cheese plate, and this delivered. At this point I was certain that the snack menu outshined the dinner one. 

The other option was a plant-based Mane Filet Burger, which I was too stuffed to try. But considering the qulity of these other snack options, I'm sure it would have been wonderful as well. 

We were around 5 hours or so from PHX, meaning 2 hours or so until breakfast service. I tried to go back to sleep, unsuccessfully. Eventually I gave in and ordered an iced coffee to stay up.

Time really flew by, and before I knew it the lights were back on ahead of breakfast service. Another wet towel was promptly provided.

Everyone was given a nice morning fruit smoothie. I've never been a huge fan so I just left it after a quick sip. Very fresh and refreshing but just not the drink for me.

Breakfast soon arrived, and I went with the Asian Congee set. More specifically: Plain Congee with Steamed Pork with Winter Melon, Fried Water Bamboo with Salted Egg Yolk, Silver Mullet and GReen Onion Frittate. Black Fungus Tsukudani, Salted Duck Egg, Por Floss, Plain or Spicy Tofu Curd. Some elements of the dish may not sound overly-appetizing on paper, but that's just down to poor translation, because everything was terrific. The perfect way to kickstart any day in Asia, and JX perfected it in the skies. The crew offered endless refills of the congee, and I went with two bowls to compliment the saltier side dishes. 

Another fruit plate followed, and my last coffee of the trip.

As always, JX walks around with some candies before landing. 

Before our final descent into PHX, a gentleman (I'm assuming is the main purser since he seemed to disappear for most of the flight) came to thank me for flying with JX, and asked if there were rooms for improvement. I mentioned my issues with the main meal, especially the starter, and also briefly touched on my experience flying F and how I genuinely felt their J class was so top tier it almost makes people not want to splurge for F! More on this in the conclusion. He was very patient and offered to share my critiques of the food with his manager, very personal touch!

Check out this gorgeous Phoenix sunset, just a shame I couldnt't have experienced it three days ago:(

We touched down in Phoenix at 18:08, 28 minutes behind schedule. I was supposed to have a connecting AA flight to St. Louis at 20:10, but I ended up not making it partly due to the ground crew taking nearly 40 minutes to attach the jetbridge. As frustrating as this was, it was quite funny watching everyone in the cabin press up against the window to witness this calamity. 

I forgot to take a picture of this, but JX offers a priority baggage service where your bags are taken off the carousel and placed in a special area. I had no idea this was even a feature so I stood waiting for a good half-hour before realizing. 

A final word on the flight experience, before my large conclusion paragraph largely doing some comparions with First class, I have to commend JX on their lost and found. I, so stupidly, placed my laptop in the safety instructions storage and left it on the plane. When I realized, I ran back to the ticketing area and a JX representative got it back for me within 20 minutes. I genuinely felt he could've given it back to me within 2 minutes but he needed to escort the crew to their hotel shuttle bus. An incredible gentleman and oh what efficiency!

Finally, I just wanted to share this epic planespot the next day. Featuring two of AA's retro liveries in one picture! I hope this means good luck to all my readers!