To start off our epic trip to Hokkaido, we took a 11+ hour flight in one of our most frequent and favorite ways to cross the Pacific. As crazy as this sounds, this would be our sixth time flying this Japan Airlines experience. Already knowing this is going to be a special one, Chai Bear is lookin’ wayyy too cheeky in my seat.
Booking
To my surprise, this flight would become my last time flying Japan Airlines First Class for only 70,000 Alaska miles 😦 Recently there’s been a sudden devaluation and got rid of shortcut hacks to First Class. The devaluation hiked up the mileage redemption rates anywhere by 25%-100% depending on where you’re flying…
To add to the pain, availability inventory has become super scarce. Thus, this flight is bittersweet since it means that we’ll probably be flying this product a lot less frequently.
Travel demand has skyrocketed too. Unlike our previous “private jet” experiences back in 2021, this flight was filled to the rim with only one empty seat next to me.
Experience
No matter how many times you board, there are no words that can describe the excitement you have when you first step on this plane. The familiar warmth of Japanese hospitality… the humongous throne seat… knowing this is going to be your home for the next 11+ hours… is an addicting feeling that never gets old.
Upon sitting, I immediately noticed that the amenity kit was different. For this flight, they changed it to a Japanese “Zero Halliburton” hard case. For reference during my NRT-LAX last year, it was an “Etro” amenity pouch. Even though Etro is an Italian brand, I found this Japanese case to be a lot more practical for reuse.
The “Japanese menu” remains unchanged from before, so I decided to change up the omakase style to “Western Menu” for fun. Since I’m not much into seafood and was also relatively full from all the eating at the Qantas First Class lounge, I decided to skip the lobster eggplant moussaka.
But I got caviar instead 😉
It’s a foodie sin not to pair caviar with fine champagne. For outbound flights, they spoil you with the ultimate $1000 Salon champagne. For this inbound flight, they offer the Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois Brut. What’s special about this champagne is its 2008 vintage. It’s a highly demanded bottle since it was a legendary year for prestige wines. Compared with the Salon, I found the champagne almost equally enjoyable.
The second western course was the “Amuse Bouche”
After that came the “Sweet Corn & Potato Gnocchi”, which the flight attendant topped it with extra caviar
Then the “Chilean Sea Bass” which was surprisingly my personal favorite!
The big disappointment was the USDA Prime Beef Tenderloin. Maybe my expectation was high, but I found this main dish incredibly underwhelming and came to the conclusion that it is impossible to prepare a steak 40,000ft in the air. To this day, I have yet to eat a steak that impressed me in the sky.
That being said, the wine pairing with the Chateau Lagrange Saint Julien was fantastic.
For dessert, we have the small nibbles of…
Strawberry Mousse, White Chocolate Raspberry, and Mini Hazelnut Financier
Since it’s dessert, let’s go all out with more fancy champagne and Japan Airlines signature “Queen of Blue” fancy fancyyyyyy tea. To date, this is still our favorite tea in the sky.
After the 3 hour food service, I decided to chill and catch up on some much-needed Japanese cinema.
After the movie, the flight attendant prepared the empty seat next to me into a bed. At Japan Airlines, you can always specify the type of mattress you like. For Chai Bear, he prefers the “Hard” firmness for his mattress.
Before landing, I decided to order a ramen and sake to mentally prepare the epic adventures of Japan.
Overall, it is always a pleasure flying Japan Airlines First Class. Despite the steak shortcomings and the food service being over 3 hours long, the flight was an extreme delight and the 11+ hours flew by.
It’s a shame that this flight is no longer easy to book and going forward this fine dining experience will no doubt become much more rare in future travels. It’s a bittersweet flight I thoroughly enjoyed and I found myself sentimentally taking it all in on the last moments before landing.
Chai Bear World 