JAL Dreamliner Singapore-Tokyo (Nov 2012)

[yflyer]

Hello everyone,

My first post to this wonderful forum! I am planning to post a TR for a recent trip, if I can work out how to post Flickr photos on this forum. This is a test post to check how the pictures appear. Ironic that although I flew 200K miles in SQ economy last year, my first post is a TR on JAL...



YFlyer

[B777rocks]

Hi, and welcome to SQtalk!

You can Attach pictures onto the forum post by copy and pasting the link to your image which goes like '[img].....[/img]' .

Hope it helps, and am looking forward to your TR!

B777rocks

[Audio]

[yflyer]

Thanks, B777rocks and Audio for your suggestions! Hopefully the rest of this post works as expected.

This trip began in November 2012, when I made a trip to Dallas, via Narita, on JL and AA. This began with a morning flight to Narita on one of JAL's new 787's.



As my login implies, I spend most of my time in the back of the bus, unlike some of the fortunate folks on this forum who turn left when they get to the plane. That said, I did manage to snap a couple of pictures of business class (in 2-2-2 layout) while boarding.



Another picture of business class here.



I spent the rest of the flight in economy class (JAL's layout is 2-4-2) , but as you will read later in this report, this was an exceptionally comfortable experience.



The first thing I noticed when I got to my seat were the electronically adjustable window shades, which are really cool (even if they don't go completely opaque, which I have read is an issue on some long flights which follow the sun during daylight. No issues on this flight.)

[yflyer]

This is a fairly wide economy class seat (I put an iPad on the seat to make it easier to judge the width). I didn't measure the width but subjectively it felt similar to SQ's 9 abreast 777 or the economy seats on the A380. The entertainment controller is under the armrest, but has a cutout to enable you to press buttons without removing the armrest cover.

Recline and legroom is average. The headrest has fixed wings that don't fold in and out, but it does go up and down. The seat itself is quite comfortable (a little softer than SQ's latest Y product).



Here is another view of the Y seat from my return flight a week later.



The inflight entertainment is AVOD, with a reasonable selection of fairly current movies, but the number of choices pales in comparison with SQ. Similarly the video resolution is very average (in 4:3 format, even for movies). Movies are much more enjoyable on SQ's high res widescreens, even in Y.



On the other hand, you get Japanese Manga ebooks/comics rendered in high res!

[yflyer]

JAL do a full drink service before serving meals, accompanied by a packet of delicious Japanese crackers. They have a drink menu permanently in the seat pocket.



There is a menu card on the cart which the cabin crew will show to passengers in order for them to choose their selection. There were two choices today, noodles with chicken, or teriyaki style grilled yellow tail fish with chestnut rice.



I chose the fish. The food was tasty and distinctly Japanese. I would rate this slightly better than SQ's Y meals. As an added bonus, they serve you a hot cup of miso soup to accompany your meal.



Cabin service was efficient, polite and refined, with both Japanese and local cabin crew.

[yflyer]

Overall Y cabin ambience was superb. It was a full flight, but did not feel crowded. I think the 2-4-2 layout helped (some other airlines do 3-3-3), and so did the large windows.

The temperature was fine, and I am not sure if it was my imagination, but the cabin pressurisation did make a slight difference. The air felt a little less dry and more comfortable than other flights. The difference is quite subtle though, and until I fly on a 787 more regularly, I cannot be sure if I was imagining the difference.

This is the view from the rear of the plan looking forward.



This is a view of the front Y cabin.



Inflight, the cabin was quiet, but not quite as silent as an A380 (takeoff volume is louder than an A380, but softer than the 777).

Overall, the 787 manages to feel calm and spacious in Y even on a full flight. In fact, having flown on SQ's A380 many times in Y on the upper deck, I kept thinking to myself that the overall JAL 787 Y experience in the rear Y cabin was similar in many ways to being on an SQ A380 upper deck in Y.

[yflyer]

The restrooms are what you would expect on a new plane. The toilet seat cover drops automatically and softly shut automatically when you flush. Great idea, except that on both my outbound and return, some of the toilet covers had issues and did not automatically shut (the flush worked fine of course, just the auto-close.)



This is row 45 emergency row:



This is row 22 bulkhead:



On my return flight a week later, I managed to spend some time in the Sakura Lounge at Narita. This has a full bar with proper bartender, a separate dining area and nice views of the tarmac / runway.



Bartender is a pro, mixing drinks with some aplomb.



I don't have pictures of the dining area, but the food selection was quite good, including high quality local dishes (such as Japanese domestic-grown steamed rice, and Japanese beef curry).

Another view of the lounge:



I would happily spend several hours in transit in this lounge. Food in this lounge seems better than the food you get in the terminal itself.

[yflyer]

......

[yflyer]

And that pretty much sums up my trip report!

Overall, having flown SQ many times on both older and newest SQ Y products on the A380, 77W and A330, I would rate the JAL 787 economy class experience overall very highly. I felt overall this was on par with, and in some ways superior to, SQ's newest Y product.

SQ's IFE is superior, and I have a soft spot for SQ's superb cabin crew who are really the ones who keep SQ's reputation flying high, but the JAL 787 hard product in economy is I think a new benchmark in making flying pleasant for those in the back of the bus.

Hope you enjoyed reading this trip report, and as a long time lurker in this forum, and major fan of both SQ (despite flying oneworld on occasion) and SQTalk, I thought it was appropriate to post my first TR here rather than elsewhere on the web.

Cheers!

[milehighj]

Thanks for sharing.

[9V-SIA]

Excellent first TR! Thanks for sharing

And welcome to SQTalk

[CarbonMan]

Thanks yflyer for the TR. Really like the size of the windows, though I hear that it can't be dimmed down completely. Did it keep the light out sufficiently so that one can sleep?

[cscs1956]

Beautiful plane.

[yflyer]

milehighj, 9V-SIA: Thanks very much for your replies and feedback!

Carbonman: The windows actually do go quite dark, but not completely black. During a daytime flight the windows worked well, and it was nice to be able to leave the window half dimmed i.e. tinted, so you could see outside during the day. My return was an evening flight, so the windows weren't really used. I suspect this will only be an issue if there is a long flight that flies into daylight while the passengers are asleep. Using regular window shades you effectively get a blacked-out cabin, but on the 787, this may not be possible.

cscs1956: Yes it is! Beautiful to look at, and to fly.