Flying to Tokyo
Discussion
Just flew JAL to Tokyo and back in Business. Probably wouldn't do it again, the seats go flat, but not horizontal, so you end up sliding down them the whole time in "bed" mode. I had to keep buzzing for meals and drinks as they seemed reluctant to give any out. On other flights I've been on you have the opposite problem!
Virgin premium economy would've been a better experience.
Virgin premium economy would've been a better experience.
Edited by hyperblue on Saturday 29th January 08:01
Bumping this as I have to fly to Tokyo in a few weeks and Virgin have canned their route.
I can fly from either Birmingham or Heathrow, but want to fly direct if from Heathrow.
What are ANA like these days?
I've seen flights with Emirates from Birmingham, but in the air times are longer, is it worth looking at this option?
I can fly from either Birmingham or Heathrow, but want to fly direct if from Heathrow.
What are ANA like these days?
I've seen flights with Emirates from Birmingham, but in the air times are longer, is it worth looking at this option?
Craikeybaby said:
As the bureaucracy of getting the flight signed off at work took so long, all I was left with was Air France via CdG out and KLM via Amsterdam on the way back. Chances of my luggage not making it?
I would be more concerned with you not making it... CDG is an utter hole and a pain to connect, ditto - albeit less so - with AMS (I appreciate that lots of people like AMS, but I am definitely not one of them).Craikeybaby said:
As the bureaucracy of getting the flight signed off at work took so long, all I was left with was Air France via CdG out and KLM via Amsterdam on the way back. Chances of my luggage not making it?
With both JAL and BA flying at least 4 times a day from Heathrow, how on earth can there only be availability via CDG or AMS?Added to the fact it's your work that's messed up, they need to fix it without impinging on your family time.
Another vote for Virgin - the service was brilliant and I happened to be flying back a while back when there were all the hurricanes / disruptions in the UK... they dealt with it very well, the staff always seem to be excellent and it was very comfy, despite the plane being a little bit old. Having said all this, I was in "Upper class" - champagne and a reclining seat-bed make everything better!
JD
JD
JD PH said:
Another vote for Virgin - the service was brilliant and I happened to be flying back a while back when there were all the hurricanes / disruptions in the UK... they dealt with it very well, the staff always seem to be excellent and it was very comfy, despite the plane being a little bit old. Having said all this, I was in "Upper class" - champagne and a reclining seat-bed make everything better!
JD
I was pretty disappointed when Virgin stopped flying to Tokyo earlier this year. JD
Had an absolute nightmare flying back with KLM.
To start with their 747s are pretty old - I noticed that there was a floppy disk drive in the console where the purser sits! Food wasn't as good as Air France/Virgin either.
Then we got diverted to Brussels due to storms at Schipol. We had a couple of hours on the ground, then went back to Schipol, so spent 18 hours on that 747. Our connection had also been delayed due to the weather, so we waited for about an hour at the gate, with lots of announcements that we would be boarding soon, then all of a sudden - "Your flight is cancelled, go to the transfer desk". We joined an extremely long/slow queue of very angry people, about an hour in we were told that all of the airport hotels were full, so we would be put up in the terminal. As we had been up for 24 hours at this point we decided to fend for ourselves and got a hotel in Amsterdam and eventually got rebooked via KLM Twitter, as we couldn't get through to them on the phone. So we ended up on the next afternoon's Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, then eventually back to Birmingham 44 hours after we left Tokyo!
I'm really missing that Virgin flight now.
To start with their 747s are pretty old - I noticed that there was a floppy disk drive in the console where the purser sits! Food wasn't as good as Air France/Virgin either.
Then we got diverted to Brussels due to storms at Schipol. We had a couple of hours on the ground, then went back to Schipol, so spent 18 hours on that 747. Our connection had also been delayed due to the weather, so we waited for about an hour at the gate, with lots of announcements that we would be boarding soon, then all of a sudden - "Your flight is cancelled, go to the transfer desk". We joined an extremely long/slow queue of very angry people, about an hour in we were told that all of the airport hotels were full, so we would be put up in the terminal. As we had been up for 24 hours at this point we decided to fend for ourselves and got a hotel in Amsterdam and eventually got rebooked via KLM Twitter, as we couldn't get through to them on the phone. So we ended up on the next afternoon's Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, then eventually back to Birmingham 44 hours after we left Tokyo!
I'm really missing that Virgin flight now.
If it is business class, then the newest JAL biz class has the best hard product (i.e. seat) of any business class I've ever been in. Better than the Cathay biz seat by a good margin, and Cathay is known for having a good biz product. The service, while very polite, I find a tiny bit clueless however so Cathay edges it out there.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff