Tag · 6 pieces
Every piece on the journal carrying the jal tag, most recent first.
We flew four carriers on the New York to Tokyo corridor in nine months. The 2026 review of ANA, JAL, Delta, and United on HND, NRT, JFK, and EWR, with the booking pattern and the airport math.
ANA's The Room is still the bar everything is measured against, but JAL's Sky Suite III and Korean Air's Prestige Suites 2.0 — both refreshed Apex variants — have closed the gap on hardware. This is the full carrier-by-carrier breakdown of New York to Tokyo in business class, with mileage redemption math, NRT vs HND practicalities, and JFK departure-terminal notes.
Two years into the rollout, JAL's A350-1000 business class — Safran's Unity platform, with a closing 132 cm door and a 24-inch 4K screen — has settled into a confident position in the upper tier of the global business class hierarchy. Reviewer shorthand has labelled it 'Sky Suite III' but JAL itself does not formally market it under that name.
We worked a JAL Mileage Bank balance for six months, booked F on JL5 JFK-HND, and stress-tested the JGC tactic. The 2026 teardown of the distance chart, oneworld sweet spots, status, and the Marriott bottleneck.
Japan Airlines' Tokyo Narita First Class Lounge remains the carrier's flagship ground product, anchored by the made-to-order itamae sushi bar, a sake program that runs deeper than most Tokyo restaurants, and a service philosophy — 'Inspiration of Japan' — that the rest of the oneworld alliance has spent fifteen years trying to imitate. This is the long-form review.
The JAL First Class Lounge at HND Terminal 3 on the fourth and fifth floors. Three visits across February 2026. The Champagne Bar, Sushi Tsurutei, the Dining Room, the showers, and where this lounge actually sits in the oneworld league table.