Is Japan Airlines Premium Economy Really The Best In The World?
Is Japan Airlines Premium Economy the best in the world? JAL premium economy certainly seems to have a strong reputation online with lots of videos and reviews calling it out as the world’s best. But does the reality on board actually match up with this?
Today I’m flying Japan Airlines (JAL) on a 787-9 on a flight from Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Hong Kong (HKG) to find out.
🎥 Join my Patreon for access to my WhatsApp group, early access to videos, bonus content, and more: https://patreon.com/CharlesOnTravels
📸 Follow my travels in real time on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/charlesontravels
📧 For business enquiries, contact:
charlesontravelsenquiries@gmail.com
🧳 15% off Level8 luggage with code “CHARLES15”: https://www.jdoqocy.com/click-101431576-15195342
00:00 Tokyo Haneda JAL Check In
01:22 JAL Sakura Lounge Tokyo Haneda
03:10 Centurion Lounge Haneda
04:16 JAL 787-9 Premium Economy Seat
07:31 Take Off and Pricing
08:22 Premium Economy Seat Comfort
09:25 JAL Premium Economy Dining
11:32 Overall Thoughts
19 Comments
Nice video!
BenyouSamia kobua 👈🏼🇩🇿👈🏼👈🏼👈🏼👈🏼🌹👑🎂🌹
Good video.
P.S. I could only squeeze a third of a night in the Peninsula Hotel out of the price 'delta' between PE and Economy.
Like how the ground crew waved you off ❤
Always upgrade. Always! Although it looked a somewhat lacklustre experience, I very much appreciated the shell seats in PE and the fact that the crew didn’t seem to lock the windows ✈️
Excellent video. I would love to fly with Japan Airlines again.
Yes theres definitely going to be a difference with what you get in premium economy compared to business and first. JAL is known as a very good airline
Not sure I would go for a JAL Premium Economy seat on a 4 hour flight to Hong Kong, mainly because JAL economy is more than adequate for those “shorter” sectors. When you see what some airlines offer on a 5 hour flight from London to Tbilisi on an A320 (which I think you did), it makes you realise that we get quite a mediocre product on many longer European and medium haul flights compared to JAL and others. A colleague flew BA for 5 hours or just under in economy to and from Cairo recently (at a high price) and they rated it one of the worst inflight experiences they have ever done.
Tbf most of the praise for JAL PE has been for their A350-1000 aircrafts. Not the other outdated cabins from the Boeing ones
I recently went from Frankfurt to Tokyo with JAL and it was the best experience. I traveled with my daughter and husband. The crew was so nice, the food was amazing and the space in the economy class was awesome. When it was time to return, one sensor was malfunctioning so we stayed on ground for an hour. When we finally took off, we all received ice cream and they gave my daughter a plane toy. And at night, as we were flying over the north pole we were lucky enough to see the northern lights, all thanks to a flight attendant that saw me awake and let me know, otherwise I would have miss it. It was truly enjoyable.
this is not good as far as premium economy goes japan airlines have not hit the mark compared to what i am used to i would not fly with them because of this
Some airlines you either do economy OR business class and skip the middle..
My wife and I tried JAL PE on SYD – HND a few years ago. The space is generous however we both found the recline, best described as awkward. I’m 5’10 and my wife 5’, and neither of us could get comfortable.
The seat, legroom and lounge access is excellent, but the food and beverage is the same as Economy class.
JAL’s Premium Economy looks like a really good middle ground between Economy and Business Class.
The messaging about harassment is due to the recent change in the laws of Japan. It is still necessary to educate everyone that harassment will be treated differently now…
And I’ve been in both premium economy and business in JAL…of course, premium economy will never be as nice as business, but on a long haul flight the leg room and lounge access alone is a huge plus.
I flew JL PE from Haneda to Changi about 4 years ago, and thought it was pretty good – food and drink especially (decent champagne), altthough I had just come from LAX on AA, so almost anything would seem like an improvement. And it was definitely a step up from economy for me. But maybe they've changed.
Flew PE on ANA from London to Tokyo this year, like JAL they offer lounge access. That, and the large seat is the only perk, Otherwise I found the experience disappointing, especially the food which was exactly the same as Economy despite giving us a PE menu. This was a bid upgrade so anyone else offered the same, I'd avoid and spend your money instead on an emergency exit seat.
Good video as always, I get the impression you were not a fan 😁. Have you ever done a KLM video, I must scroll through. I hope you have a good week.