Review: JAL A350-1000 First Class

My long-awaited flight on the Japan Airlines (JAL) A350-1000 in first class did not disappoint. In fact, it was one of the best flights of my life. This review will recount that (nearly) flawless journey from New York to Tokyo from my “compartment” in suite 2A.

JAL A350-1000 First Class Review (JFK-HND)

I booked this ticket for 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus $15.50 in taxes, including a connection in business class from Tokyo to Seoul. Of all the redemption sweet spots currently available, I would say this one is the sweetest.

After a redeye on JetBlue and a coffee at the TWA Hotel, I headed over to Terminal 8, where JAL flights depart from at New York JFK.

After a long morning in the Soho Lounge, it was time for boarding. I wanted to be first onboard and made the mistake of going down early to board. Not only did we encounter a last-minute 45-minute flight delay (I just stood there…) but when it did come time to board, another agent collected the other first class passengers from the lounge then led them onboard around the gaggle of waiting passengers…including me. So instead of being the first passenger on the plane, I was the last first class passenger to board.

Japan Airlines 005
New York (JFK) – Tokyo (HND)
April 2024
Depart: 1:20 PM
Arrive: 4:35 PM+1
Duration: 14hr, 15min
Distance: 6,772 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A350-100
Seat: 2A (First Class)

After inspecting my boarding pass, a flight attendant bowed to me and asked her colleague to escort me to my seat.

Seats

When I initially booked about two months in advance, only center seats were available. Thankfully, a window seat opened a couple of days before travel. It’s not that the middle seats are bad, but I loved looking out the window on a flight that was in daylight for the entire 14 hours.

The first class cabin has only six seats, in a 1-1-1 configuration across two rows. The seats have a staggering 48-inch width and 83-inch pitch. Each suite feels like you are stepping into your own train compartment (designed for three people, but all for yourself).

To underscore how massive this compartment is, you can see me seated in it below. The seat can easily fit three people…the left-side of the seat (called the side seat) flipped down to create an end table. The ottoman could have fit two more people…

I’m not a fan of the color scheme…I think a beige would have looked better…but it is still very nice.

Underneath the ottoman/guest seat was a luggage compartment big enough for at least one large carry-on item (there are no overhead bins in the cabin, giving the cabin a much more spacious feel).

Additional storage included a knee-level cabinet, a deep drawer beneath it, and a closet large enough to hang two garments with a shoe rack at the bottom. Indeed, no overhead bins were needed!

There was another storage area just below the monitor that supposedly offers a lot of additional storage space, but it was inoperative! You can see below that there is a brown tape around it, preventing it from being opened. I didn’t know what it was at first, only later figuring out that it was broken after a flight attendant pointed it out and profusely apologized.

I was on JA03WJ, which was less than a month old at the time. It seems that these new Safran suites are experiencing a few growing pains.

Each suite has a door that closes in-flight and a fancy brass reading light on each side of the seat.

Charging options abound, including a universal power plug, USB-A, and USB-C outlet on each side of the seat. There was also a wireless charging pad under the window and another universal A/C, USB-A, and USB-C under the monitor.

The seat could be adjusted via push-button controls on the side of the seat. Additionally, a large tablet included not only controls for the in-flight entertainment, but also for adjusting the main seat, side seat, lighting (with four different mood lighting settings), windows, and other reading lights.

There are no individual air vents, which seems like a glaring oversight considering JAL tends to keep its cabin warm. But thankfully the cabin never got warm on this flight.

New automated window shade controls are even cooler than those on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and can be slid back and forth to lighten and darken the transition glass, much like you would raise or lower the sound volume on a touchscreen device. What a nice evolution from window shades!

After lunch, I went to sleep for nine hours….the bedding includes a mattress pad (with both a soft or firm side), duvet, and pillows. While I brushed my teeth in the lavatory, flight attendants made the bed.

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When I woke up my seatmate in front was awake and eating, letting in some natural light into the darkened cabin.

The bed, bedding, and space all made for a lovely rest and helped to acclimate me to the new time zone.

This bed is far more comfortable than the bed eqipped on the Singapore Airlines A380 in Suites Class.

Food + Drink

As I mentioned when I wrote about my first impressions of this flight, I decided that I was not in the mood for caviar and Champagne on this flight, which were both available but I skipped. If I’m being honest, I find those first class staples more about bragging rights than anything I actually enjoy. Sure, a crisp glass of pricey Champagne (Cuvée Louis Salmon 2009 was on offer) can be refreshing, but I quite enjoyed my “Japanese Old Fashioned” cocktail instead…and later had a Negroni. I just prefer those drinks to Champagne.

Before we took off, I was offered a choice of bevreage (I began with water) and a cold towel.

You can review the full menu (.pdf) and drink list (.pdf)…too many pages to embed.

I tried the “Japanese Old Fashioned”  with canapes to begin. That cocktail included Suntory Whisky Hibiki 21 Years.

I then switched to a Negroni, which the JAL flight attendnats have always never heard but do a great job of creating.

The table was set for lunch.

Delicous garlic bread:

First, a burrata cheese appetizer with marinated navel orange. Delicious.

Then roasted veal tenderloin with shaved parmesan and black olive and tonnato sauce (not tomato sauce, but an Italian cold sauce made by blitzing a can of oil-preserved tuna with garlic, capers, anchovy, egg yolk).

A pasta course followed, with gemelli pasta and swordfish. So good.

Then came the main courses, yes with an s. In JAL First, you don’t simply receive fish or beef, but both.

And both were cooked to perfection. The Chilean sea bass was served with zucchini noodles and sweet corn truffle Bagna Càuda sauce (a combination of garlic and anchovies).

I would have been happy to stop there, but then came beef tenderloin, served with a delicious leek bread pudding and asparagus. Even better? It was cooked a perfect medium and was clearly a high-end cut that melted in your mouth.

Then cheese…

Finally, New York cheesecake with strawberry ice cream for dessert with a cappuccino.

You will not find better Western food in Air France, Lufthansa, or SWISS First Class…another testament to the amazing quality of every aspect of the JAL experience.

After a lovely nine-hour rest, I awoke quite refreshed and ordered a French Press coffee and fruit plate.

Then, I ordered the Japanese meal…and I loved it.

The “Washoku” tray included:

Dainomono
Sea Bream with Sesame Sauce & Watercress

Kobachi
Steamed Savory Egg Custard with Lobster

Steamed Rice
Japanese Koshihikari rice

Miso Soup

Japanese Pickles

The steamed savory egg custard with lobster, called chawanmushi, was a very delicious dish full of flavorful lobster.

About 90 minutes outside of Tokyo I ordered one more little snack…some creamy asparagus soup, a green salad, and one more fruit plate.

I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten so much on a plane, but the flight attendants encouraged me to keep eating!

IFE + Wi-Fi

One of teh unique features of the JAL A350-1000 in first class is that speakers are built into the headrest.

I did use them…and they worked quite well. In fact, they seemed very LOUD to me to the point that I thought sure the gentleman in the suite in front of me could hear it. But no, I stepped out of the suite and could not hear it at all. It’s some rather great engineering, though I ended up using the Bang & Olufsen noise-canceling headphones anyway because I still feel self-conscious about playing anything “out loud” on a plane.

The IFE highlight for me watching the HD tailcam on the 43-inch screen…

But there was also a wide seelction of movies, TV shows, live TV, music, audio, and games.

This was not a touch screen. Instead, the handheld tablet was used to control the screen. I did watch a bit of a classic James Bond film, but most of the flight I jsut kept the tailcam on.

Wi-Fi internet was complimentary for first class passengers and worked well (I slept through 2/3 of the flight, but it always worked while I was awake).

Lavatory

First class has two lavatories…the best ratio of lavatories to passengers I have ever seen (though the pilots also used one of the restrooms).

The restrooms were so clean I’d be willing to eat off the floor and were well-stocked with amenities like dental kits and mouthwash. I changed into pajamas fairly early on in the flight.

Yes, the toilets do have a bidet.

Amenties

The pajamas onboard are not my favorite (I think they are a bit thick) but you don’t have to get an XXL in order to get the US equivalent of a medium. I got a medium and it fit just fine (I’m 6’1″ with fairly long arms).

The amenity kit was a Zero Halliburton hard shell mini-luggage case with an interior design by HERALBONY:

• L’Occitane lip cream + hand cream
• comb
• dental kit
• eye mask
• earplugs
• hair brush
• moisture mask
• pocket tissue

Other amenties included a day blanket:

and a nice Shiseido skincare kit plus a moisture mask:

Slippers as well:

Service

This was not my first flight in JAL First Class and I have also enjoyed excellent service on my previous flights, but the crew was simply perfect here (Oba san and Kashima san). So gracious, kind, attentive, friendly, and polite…a perfect combination of professionalism, charm, and warmness.

I’m not dedicating much space to them, but they made a great flight with great food one of the greatest flights I have ever enjoyed. They were so gracious and attentive…just perfect.

CONCLUSION

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over Tokyo as we approached Haneda Airport, landing almost on schedule despite the departure delay.

Next stop: JAL First Class Lounge…

Oh, what a great flight! If you ever get the chance to fly in JAL First Class, take it!

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