Hi all,
Sorry for the lateness of this report! This question, OZ F vs. JL F, has frequently been asked, especially flyertalk.com. So I will attempt to give you my perspective and despite this sample may not be fully neutral, such as my OZ flight departs from a non-home base or my JL flight does not cover the latest JAL SUITES, only the classic Skysleeper solo, comparing two transpacific segments to and from Los Angeles is not completely inaccurate. Be warned that it is a long report, so please feel free to skip the words and just go straight to the photo links and view the pictures.
Flights:
December 5, 2008
OZ 201 LAX-ICN Lv1210 Arr1830+1 Boeing 747-400 (Full PAX) HL7428
December 15, 2008
JL 62 NRT-LAX Lv1720 Arr0950 Boeing 747-400 JA8922 (Skysleeper Solo & Shell Flat)
Photo link:
OZ 201 - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqLwQ
JL F Lounge lower floor – http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqL-o
JL F Lounge upper floor – http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMKA
JL F Skysleeper Solo - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMCg
JL 62 - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMGw
JL F Amenities - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMII
Check-in:
OZ: Asiana uses Tom Bradley International Terminal in LAX and the flight was obviously quite busy judging from the lines in travel (economy in OZ) class, but first class line has only one passenger in front of me. The concierge, a Korean middle-aged woman, immediately spotted me and got my passport and waved to the porter to help with my three heavy bags. (As a Star Gold passenger, I can check-in three pieces of bags.) A folder has already been pre-printed with my boarding pass, bag tags (all the way to HKG despite an overnight layover at ICN), and lounge invitation, which is similar to the arrangement at Incheon. However, since I have a third piece of bag, the agent had to print out another tag and also had problems adding my passport information. Despite of all these problems, check-in was fairly efficient and I was on my way to the lounge soon. However, escort service to the gate was no longer provided as happened previously, but TBIT has also finally set up a priority lane for premium passengers. So no problem here!
JL: I came in from another flight, so not much to say. I arrived at a relatively quiet time and there was no line at the JAL transit desk. However, I noticed that there was still a lack of separate first and business class line at the Japan Airlines satellite/midfield transit area. I had used JAL First class check-in at NRT before, and staffs were efficient and polite and my bags were taken care quickly, but also no personal escort service. There is a priority security lane for first class passengers at NRT too, but not at the transit area. So both performed fairly well here in terms of queue management, baggage treatment, and OZ has a slight advantage by having an additional concierge at LAX.
Lounge:
OZ: Star Alliance first class lounge at TBIT has frequently been discussed and I have nothing to add. The food selection still has a good selection of cold cuts, fruits, cheese, sushi and salad, as well as a choice of two soups – tomato soup or five-grain porridge, as well as some fried rice. I think it can used more hot food, as well as more Asian oriented food in the morning hours, where most flights are Asian bound. On my next report here (just a short F ICN-HKG flight but on new three-class 777), there will be report on OZ brand new first class lounge at ICN, definitely impressive though, and comparable to JAL First Class lounge. However, I think the OZ F lounge at ICN can use more natural light and I know it is more a personal taste issue.
JL: Well there is no comparison to JAL own signature first class lounge at its home base, Tokyo Narita. The lounge is not as busy as before, as a new fourth floor lounge has opened. I have visited both lounges and took pictures and you can compare both of them. They are basically very similar in terms of layout, décor, and services. The differences are relatively minor. First, the lower floor has a proper bar, as well as bar tender service from 3pm onward, but the upper floor only has a self-service beverage station with similar beverage offering. Second, the upper floor food buffet has few additional food items, such as sushi, but really nothing dramatic – same entrée and choices of soups. The upper floor is basically there to relief the busy traffic during daytime. I like the lower floor a bit because I like the view over the apron, but the upper floor can feel a bit cooler during summer times.
On time performance:
I don’t think my two flights are fair comparison because TBIT at LAX has always been a bit difficult in terms of operation, such as the tow gate arrangement, busy alley, and limited gate. My OZ flight was delayed a bit due to the late arrival of the aircraft from Seoul. Boarding did not occur till 12:23pm, which was thirteen minutes behind the original departure time. Door was closed at 12:50pm, which was remarkable for a full load of passengers. We pushed back two minutes later since we were at gate 101, the furthest point of the pier. We took off at 1:10pm, after the departure of a Delta’s ex-TWA Boeing 757-200 winglet N717TW. We landed at ICN the day after at 6:37pm, which was seven minutes behind schedule. So we were able to catch up some time. My return JL flight was on time both on departure and arrival. Boarding was slightly late at 5:03pm due to the security clearance, but was completed at 5:18pm due to light load. Pushed back at 5:25pm, and we took off from R/W16R at 5:48pm. Descent began at 9:12am LA local time, and we landed on R/W24R at 9:41am, nine minutes early. We were parked at gate 104 at 9:56am.
Sorry for the lateness of this report! This question, OZ F vs. JL F, has frequently been asked, especially flyertalk.com. So I will attempt to give you my perspective and despite this sample may not be fully neutral, such as my OZ flight departs from a non-home base or my JL flight does not cover the latest JAL SUITES, only the classic Skysleeper solo, comparing two transpacific segments to and from Los Angeles is not completely inaccurate. Be warned that it is a long report, so please feel free to skip the words and just go straight to the photo links and view the pictures.
Flights:
December 5, 2008
OZ 201 LAX-ICN Lv1210 Arr1830+1 Boeing 747-400 (Full PAX) HL7428
December 15, 2008
JL 62 NRT-LAX Lv1720 Arr0950 Boeing 747-400 JA8922 (Skysleeper Solo & Shell Flat)
Photo link:
OZ 201 - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqLwQ
JL F Lounge lower floor – http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqL-o
JL F Lounge upper floor – http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMKA
JL F Skysleeper Solo - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMCg
JL 62 - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMGw
JL F Amenities - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqMII
Check-in:
OZ: Asiana uses Tom Bradley International Terminal in LAX and the flight was obviously quite busy judging from the lines in travel (economy in OZ) class, but first class line has only one passenger in front of me. The concierge, a Korean middle-aged woman, immediately spotted me and got my passport and waved to the porter to help with my three heavy bags. (As a Star Gold passenger, I can check-in three pieces of bags.) A folder has already been pre-printed with my boarding pass, bag tags (all the way to HKG despite an overnight layover at ICN), and lounge invitation, which is similar to the arrangement at Incheon. However, since I have a third piece of bag, the agent had to print out another tag and also had problems adding my passport information. Despite of all these problems, check-in was fairly efficient and I was on my way to the lounge soon. However, escort service to the gate was no longer provided as happened previously, but TBIT has also finally set up a priority lane for premium passengers. So no problem here!
JL: I came in from another flight, so not much to say. I arrived at a relatively quiet time and there was no line at the JAL transit desk. However, I noticed that there was still a lack of separate first and business class line at the Japan Airlines satellite/midfield transit area. I had used JAL First class check-in at NRT before, and staffs were efficient and polite and my bags were taken care quickly, but also no personal escort service. There is a priority security lane for first class passengers at NRT too, but not at the transit area. So both performed fairly well here in terms of queue management, baggage treatment, and OZ has a slight advantage by having an additional concierge at LAX.
Lounge:
OZ: Star Alliance first class lounge at TBIT has frequently been discussed and I have nothing to add. The food selection still has a good selection of cold cuts, fruits, cheese, sushi and salad, as well as a choice of two soups – tomato soup or five-grain porridge, as well as some fried rice. I think it can used more hot food, as well as more Asian oriented food in the morning hours, where most flights are Asian bound. On my next report here (just a short F ICN-HKG flight but on new three-class 777), there will be report on OZ brand new first class lounge at ICN, definitely impressive though, and comparable to JAL First Class lounge. However, I think the OZ F lounge at ICN can use more natural light and I know it is more a personal taste issue.
JL: Well there is no comparison to JAL own signature first class lounge at its home base, Tokyo Narita. The lounge is not as busy as before, as a new fourth floor lounge has opened. I have visited both lounges and took pictures and you can compare both of them. They are basically very similar in terms of layout, décor, and services. The differences are relatively minor. First, the lower floor has a proper bar, as well as bar tender service from 3pm onward, but the upper floor only has a self-service beverage station with similar beverage offering. Second, the upper floor food buffet has few additional food items, such as sushi, but really nothing dramatic – same entrée and choices of soups. The upper floor is basically there to relief the busy traffic during daytime. I like the lower floor a bit because I like the view over the apron, but the upper floor can feel a bit cooler during summer times.
On time performance:
I don’t think my two flights are fair comparison because TBIT at LAX has always been a bit difficult in terms of operation, such as the tow gate arrangement, busy alley, and limited gate. My OZ flight was delayed a bit due to the late arrival of the aircraft from Seoul. Boarding did not occur till 12:23pm, which was thirteen minutes behind the original departure time. Door was closed at 12:50pm, which was remarkable for a full load of passengers. We pushed back two minutes later since we were at gate 101, the furthest point of the pier. We took off at 1:10pm, after the departure of a Delta’s ex-TWA Boeing 757-200 winglet N717TW. We landed at ICN the day after at 6:37pm, which was seven minutes behind schedule. So we were able to catch up some time. My return JL flight was on time both on departure and arrival. Boarding was slightly late at 5:03pm due to the security clearance, but was completed at 5:18pm due to light load. Pushed back at 5:25pm, and we took off from R/W16R at 5:48pm. Descent began at 9:12am LA local time, and we landed on R/W24R at 9:41am, nine minutes early. We were parked at gate 104 at 9:56am.
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