Avis du vol entre Tokyo et Los Angeles en classe Affaires avec Japan Airlines

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the third and final installment of this short series of flight reviews on Japan Airlines from October 2025. As usual, I'm very behind in posting and finally getting around to writing up this final flight, which was truly the pièce de résistance as we got to try JAL's amazing new A350-1000 Business class!

After a wonderful week in Osaka, we spent the weekend in Tokyo. As it was our son's fall break from school, this trip was mostly built around activities for him, so after visiting Universal Studios in Osaka, we checked out a few more amusement parks in Tokyo with a day at Tokyo Dome park, followed by a day at Tokyo Disneyland. 

The Tokyo Dome City amusement park was a pleasant surprise–a fun little park with some nice rides in the heart of the city.

Tokyo Disneyland is beautiful, super clean, and the staff are all so friendly.

As we'd been to Tokyo several times in the past, we didn't do too much tourism outside of the parks, but we did head out to Roppongi Hills for some beautiful views of the city on a crisp sunny autumn day.

And since it was nearby, we also went back to the famous Shibuya scramble.

Routing

Flight reviews in this series

Pre-flight & Check-in

It was a nice change to be flying out of Haneda, rather than Narita as it's so much closer to the city core. From the Pullman Tokyo Tamachi, it was a quick monorail ride to Haneda–we were at the airport barely a half-hour after leaving the hotel!

The Haneda International Terminal is modern, open, and airy. 

It was easy to find the JAL ticket counters. 

Thanks to our oneworld Emerald status, we had access to the JAL First class check-in area, where service was exceptional. 

For some background, we were originally booked in Premium Economy but had used JAL's online bidding system to upgrade to Business class. Having bid the minimum of $600 per person, I wasn't confident that it would go through, as I'd not been successful in the past, plus there are three of us in the reservation. To my [pleasant] surprise, 24h prior to departure, I received a message that we'd been upgraded! It seems we'd gotten the last 3 seats as we were all assigned in different rows. I kindly asked at the check-in counter if they would be able to get at least two of us together so that I could be with our 6-year-old son. The agent made a quick call and got two of us together and the other one a few rows behind–gotta love when things work out!

While there was quite a long queue for standard security, there was no one at all in the priority lane and we were through in minutes. One thing I appreciate about security in Japan is how well-staffed they are–in my experience, the security agents are friendly and efficient and even help with bags! …at least in the priority lanes. 

JAL First Class Lounge

After security, we headed straight to the JAL First Class lounge, which again, we had access to with Emerald status. 

The lounge is quite large with several quiet seating areas and a large restaurant section. As we hadn't yet had lunch, we headed to the "JAL's Table" section.

It's absolutely huge and there were very few other passengers there at the time. 

We had no problem finding a good spot with some great tarmac views. 

First things first–drinks!

There are a few hors d'oeuvres and snacks available near the drinks station…

However, the majority of food is made fresh and is available to order online through the QR codes at each table.

We tried a variety of Japanese items like curry, soups, and sushi–you can't come to the JAL F lounge and not get some fresh sushi!

Champagne, sushi, and planes…that's the life!

Oh fun, a Tokyo Disneyland special livery!

More sushi!

As we were eating, one of the lovely lounge agents came to us and handed us new boarding passes where we were now all three together! Wow! Completely proactively and unprompted! We were totally fine with just one of us seated with the kid and never mentioned it again–I was blown away that they took it upon themselves to proactively work it out to get us all together! That's the kind of amazing service JAL are known for–we were very thankful and I made sure to send in a compliment letter to JAL upon returning home. 

It turned out our gate was right below the lounge so we got to see our aircraft arrive from our seats in the lounge. 

I won't lie; I'm not a fan of the simplistic JAL livery, but the A350-1000 is a beautiful aircraft in any livery. 

Boarding

Since we were right above the gate, we only left a few minutes prior to boarding. I'm always amazed how JAL only board about 25-30 minutes before departure and still manage to get a full flight out on time! 

As we weren't early to the gate, there were already tons of people in the queue to board. Despite being crowded, it was well-organised and boarding group lanes were clearly marked. Of course it was efficient, it's Japan!

Here we go!

Wow, what a beautiful cabin! Having read quite a few reviews, I thought I'd find it ugly or boring–I'd even commented in the past that it looked like office cubicles (hah). But in real life it looked very premium, chic, and warm with the touches of dark violet and burgundy red. 

Considering that we'd arrived to the gate after boarding had started, I was surpsised that we were the first in the forward Business cabin, allowing some time for a few clean cabin shots before the crowds arrived. 

And here's my suite for the next 10-ish hours! All I can say is wow…this is the most spacious Business class seat I've ever seen–really close to some First class cabins. On par, if not more spacious, with BA First for example–yes, I know, not a great First class product, but a First class product nonetheless. 

Each seat has a coat closet and several storage areas. Again, seeing a coat closet at the seat is more akin to First class. 

As I've often mentioned in the past in other Business class reviews, I generally don't care if a seat has closing doors as most Business class walls and doors are too low to really make a difference and often just feel gimicky–just to say it's an "enclosed suite." 

JAL is different! The walls are high and when seated there is a real sense of privacy. And because the suites are so spacious and well-designed, you get the privacy without that claustrophobic cramped feeling that is common with many other seat designs. 

In the centre seats, there are movable dividers.

On each seat was a large pillow, blanket, mattress pad, an amenity kit, noise-cancelling headphones, pyjamas, and slippers. 

As we were settling in several cabin crew came by to introduce themselves–I did not see this with other passengers, so I assume this was protocol for Emeralds.

A short time later pre-departure beverages were offered. 

Continuing the seat tour…there's a small armrest that comes down from the sidewall. 

There are no overhead bins over the centre seats, which gives an open spacious feel to the cabin. 

Around the side table, you'll find the seat and IFE controls as well as multiple charging options, inluding a universal 110v AC power outlet, USB-A and USB-C ports, and wireless charging. JAL have certainly invested in the latest tech. As much as I fly British Airways, I'm always amazed that they introduced Club Suites so recently but without USB-C. 

The side table lifts up to reveal an additional storage area. 

And another storage space above. So many places to forget a book or phone 🤣
I have a tendancy to leave books on planes so I make sure to keep them in plain sight now!

The IFE screens are large with very good image quality. 

Every airline should offer mattress pads in long-haul Business class. 

Legroom shot–obviously very good and the footwell is quite large and did not feel restrictive. Seat pitch is 51 inches, which is actually quite generous for these staggered configurations. The seats recline 180 degrees to a 2m/6'7" flat surface in bed mode. 

The seat width is officially 22 inches, wider than average, which is generally 20-21 inches. However, it felt even wider than that as I had plenty of space on both sides without touching. 

I did notice that the seat cushioning was a bit thin, even with the mattress pad in place, as I could feel a metal bar below the seat. It wasn't terribly bothersome, but I didn't expect that a brand new seat would have thin or crushed cushioning already, especially given the good quality of the finishes throughout the cabin. That is literally the only tiny criticism I have of this cabin. 

Let's have a look at the menu. Lots of tempting things in there!

Here's a look at the amenity kit contents. Quite nice and there's even a USB-A to USB-C cord in there, which is thoughtful for those flying on older aircraft without USB-C, but it won't be needed on this flight. 

The IFE system is very modern and has a lot of information about the seat and service in addition to entertainment content. 

You can even request to use a cardigan through the IFE system, but it's never necessary on JAL since they love to keep the cabins so warm, in my experience. 

There are even seat maps! 

You can also order food on-demand through the IFE. 

During boarding a member of the cabin crew came to offer a toy to my son. I always love how attentive JAL crews are to children. 

Compared to the airlines I fly most (BA, AA, and IB), JAL have less overall content on the IFE, but it's still a decent amount. 

In addition to the seat/cabin information in the IFE system, there's also a pamphlet available with detailed instructions–this feels very Japanese. 

The Flight

As usual, JAL managed to board a completely full flight on time in less than 30 minutes. 

The safety video played as the aircraft pushed back and began to taxi. 

The crew announced that the Wi-Fi was already available so I checked it out. There are detailed instruction on the Wi-Fi service in the seat pocket, of course. 

The QR code in the instructions leads to the Wi-Fi portal. 

All passengers receive 1 hour of free Wi-Fi, while full flight Wi-Fi is available for $18, which is very reasonable.

Business and First class passengers receive free Wi-Fi via a promotional code which is given in the portal after entering reservation details. Yes, it takes a few steps to get there, but the full-flight free Wi-Fi is appreciated. 

I'm not sure if this is typical of Haneda, and perhaps it was a peak hour, but the taxi time was very long–like JFK evening transatlantic departure bank long. Needless to say I had plenty of time to doom-scroll with the free Wi-Fi.

And finally we were off!

A flight time of just under 9h is too short when you have such a nice seat!

A welcome video played after takeoff, explaining some features of the cabin again. 

All of the charging points were turned on after takeoff. 

JAL's A350-1000s have the new dimming window feature. 

Shortly after takeoff, cabin crew came through with an oshibori service. 

The slippers are decent quality by plane standards and they come with a shoe horn. 

The pyjamas are a Japanese-style long night-shirt and very thick. As it was already so warm on the plane, I did not use them, but a nice souvenir to take home. 

The dinner service began with well-presented amuse-bouches, which is much nicer than the mixed nuts in a bag on BA. The champagne is Charles Heidseck Brut Reserve, also very decent. 

As previously mentioned, the JAL A350-1000 is tricked out with all the latest tech. For the IFE, this not only includes a bluetooth audio connection, which is great, but also an innovative in-headrest speaker option! I absolutely love this as I hate having hot overear headphones on for too long. I will say that there was an ever-so-slight delay in audio when using the in-headrest-speakers, but it was so nice to have and the sound quality is quite decent and of course, can't be heard by seat neighbours. Magic!

Of course, when flying JAL, or to/from Japan, I always go for the Japanese meal option and was not dissapointed. The starter course was beautifully presented and I always love discovering the different and varied tastes. 

Top left:
Potato purée with Ikura, Kabocha squash, chicken teriyaki with Sansho pepper, simmered prawn, deep-friend swordfish with panko

Top right:
Snow crab & 2 colours chrysanthemum flower with rice vinegar dashi gelée

Bottom left:
Simmered wagyu, taro & garland chrysanthemum with roasted shichimi spice sauce

Bottom centre:
Grilled salmon & maitake mushrooms with Miso & shichimi spice

Bottom right:
Simmered abalone & aubergine with dashi sauce & ginger

My son's Child Meal was quite nice as well, and as usual on JAL had some Kawaii elements like carrots cut into aeroplane shapes. 

And now for the main "Dainomono":

Deep-fried black cod with thickened mushroom sauce
Ren's special curry
Stewed beef cheek & turnip
Steamed rice
Miso soup
Kounomono

The beautifully packaged steamed rice. 

Dessert with a green tea to finish up. 

Everything was delicious–a feast for the eyes and tastebuds. 

Quick visit to the loo. Products in the lav with complimentary toothbrush kits and mouthwash.

After the meal it was time for bed. 

The seat, lighting, and window dim level can all be adjusted from the same remote control. 

I slept the whole rest of the flight, skipping meals, and woke up at the very last minute as seats had to be brought up for landing. 

Nice views of the California coast on a clear morning. 

LAX in view as we turned inland to align with the arrival runway.

The Tom Bradley International Terminal where we'll be parking shortly.

The endless LA urban area. 

As usual, there are great views of downtown LA on approach from the right side of the aircraft. 

LA is beautiful from this distance…much better than up close 😉

Hollywood sign 

Despite the long taxi time in Haneda, we arrived at the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule. 

Last view of this lovely cabin on deplaning. 

As we didn't have any checked bags, we were through immigration in minutes with Global Entry. 

Thanks for reading!