JAL 787 Dreamliner Flight JL001 SFO-HND, and a Run across the Golden Gate Bridge

[yflyer]

I enjoy writing TR's. I find it an effective way to de-stress.

But I didn't realize that gathering material for TR's had become such a habit until, onboard JL001 last week, I found myself asking the nice gentleman seated to my right, a total stranger, if I could take a picture of the main course on his Y tray before he started eating, just so that you would see both choices of Y main courses that were served, and not just the option I chose...

I recently flew SIN-HND on JAL's 767, and HND-SFO on the Dreamliner, and then did the return trip SFO-HND-SIN operated by JAL's 787 and 767 respectively. I visited the JAL Sakura Lounge in HND while in transit, and spent a little time in San Francisco and the Bay Area as well.

San Francisco would be a familiar city to many on SQTalk, however I did do something which I had never done before on previous trips, which is cross the Golden Gate Bridge on foot, which I now realize is by far the best way to experience this landmark.

All this coming up, and yes there will be food...

[yflyer]

This was a long trip, so it may take a while to get to SFO-HND on JL 001, but let us start at the beginning.

This is not my first post about JAL's 787...in fact this was the topic of my first TR on SQTalk.

Not long after that first TR, 787's were grounded and JAL went back to 767's between Singapore and Tokyo. 787 flights resumed briefly after the grounding ended, but because of another FAA alert in Nov 2013 about possible icing in the engines after flying through thunderstorms, JAL moved the 787's off the Singapore-Tokyo sector, and it has been 767's and the occasional 777 on this route since then.

But the 767's on this route have winglets and new interiors, the new JAL Sky Suite 6 in J and new Y seats too. I was very interested in checking out the new JAL products, and also flying the Dreamliner again, so when a trip to the USA came up, I booked it on JAL.

I had a fairly long layover in Haneda on the outbound trip, but there are many productive and even enjoyable ways to pass time on a long transit stop in Japan.

[yflyer]

I checked in at Changi Airport T1 for my first flight, JL38 SIN-HND, and headed straight to the designated lounge, passing a lot of airside greenery in the process.





JAL uses the T1 Premier Lounge. This lounge is ok, and offers the standard amenities, but this is not a lounge that can be compared to the impressive lounges that Oneworld partners QF and BA offer in T1.





Massage chairs...

[yflyer]

Fairly basic F&B...



But at least one dish was worth trying: the kway teow...



I didn't spend a lot of time in the Lounge. I ate the kway teow and headed straight to my gate.

[yflyer]

I got to the gate about the same time the tech crew did.

They boarded the plane, and almost immediate after that, the Captain took the stairs down from the aerobridge and, torchlight in hand, went on a very thorough walkaround of the aircraft.



It was soon time to board. On the way to Y, I passed the new JAL SS6 business class seats.

They were arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 layout. They looked comfortable, if not particularly roomy. A little like BA's J, except that all the seats faced forward, and you had a side table.













Here is picture of the J seat I took while deplaning in HND, which gives you a better view of the footwell, and the comfortable looking slippers each J pax gets.

[yflyer]

The Y cabin, laid out 2-3-2, was equipped with the latest JAL cabin product, a new seat design in dark red fabric, touchscreen IFE, and up to 10 cm greater legroom.



There were laminated cards in each seat pocket announcing the features of this seat.





No obstructions under the seat for the IFE boxes, and no footrest or foot net either.



There was reasonably good recline. Only the seat back moves when reclining. Unlike the SQ Y seats, where the front slides forward a little as well.



Each seat came with a soft pillow and blanket.

[jammed]

I found myself asking the nice gentleman seated to my right, a total stranger, if I could take a picture of the main course on his Y tray before he started eating, just so that you would see both choices of Y main courses that were served, and not just the option I chose......

Ahh the lengths you went! looking fwd to rest of the TR

[yflyer]

There was A/C power (as well as USB charging) for each seat.



Overhead bins are 777-style, and fairly large.



So far so good, a state-of-the art Y product...

[yflyer]

However I sat down and soon discovered that this seat cushioning was quite firm. Even firmer than the SQ Y seats on the A330 and A380, which are comfortable but lean towards the firmer side of the spectrum.

In terms of comfort, I felt this was a step backwards from the previous generation of JAL Y seats, and not as good as the JAL 787 Y seats, which had much softer cushioning.

So while everything else about the seat checked all the boxes in terms of features, I was just a little disappointed at the lack of subjective seat comfort because of the hard cushions.

You know how hifi manufacturers hire a few so-called "golden ears" to be on their staff to test their speakers and amplifiers to ensure good sound quality, I think airlines need to hire a few "golden bums" to test Y seats for comfort...

I spend a lot of time in Y and while I appreciate the latest IFE, seat comfort is absolutely important to me, and I would rather fly an old plane with soft, plush Y seating than one of these new planes with wonder-seats that have minimal padding.

[yflyer]

The widescreen IFE touchscreen was sharp and clear.

The system was responsive as well, with menus appearing with minimal lag. There were the usual options of movies, TV, audio and flight info.





The selection of programmes was not very wide through. You had modern Hollywood movies and many Asian / Japanese selections, but overall the list of movies and TV programmes was not very long compared to other airlines like SQ, QF or BA.

Picture quality was very good.





The headphones use the standard miniplug, which means you don't need an adapter to use personal headphones.

[yflyer]

I was given a hot towel...



And a bottle of water...



The drink menu was a card in your seat pocket.



You were handed a packet of mixed rice crackers prior to drink service.

The rice crackers were delicious, and came in different sizes and flavours. Most were sweet or savoury. And just to make life interesting, there were a few small crescent shaped crackers in the packet which were chilli hot...



I asked for cold sake, and received a bottle, with a cup built into the cap...innovative!



As this was a late night flight, you were just served a savoury pastry and a drink, and sent off to bed...

[yflyer]

The sun was already up after I awoke.



Despite the firm seat, I managed to sleep quite well on the flight -- maybe the sake helped...

It was time for breakfast service...



Breakfast was quite tasty, with fruit, appetizer, yogurt, and rice congee.



Not a particularly large portion of congee for a main course, but it was quite tasty.

You get real metal cutlery on JAL...

[yflyer]

The flight thus far had been smooth but it got fairly turbulent on descent into Haneda, which was just about the only time the seatbelt sign came on.



Copious use of speedbrakes on descent...



...and a smooth landing at Haneda.



This airport must be regarded as the 787 capital of the world...Dreamliners were everywhere.



How many 787's can you fit into one photo? There are 4 (if not 5) ANA Dreamliners in the picture below...



Some pictures of an ANA 787 landing at Haneda...

[yflyer]

I also caught a glimpse of my ride for my next flight...



This was JAL 787 registration JA831J, one of JAL's newer Dreamliners, only delivered in March this year.

JA831J would be operating JL 002 to San Francisco in the evening that day.

But before that, I would spend some time in transit in Haneda, and headed first to the JAL Sakura Lounge.

[yflyer]

Originally Posted by yflyer
I found myself asking the nice gentleman seated to my right, a total stranger, if I could take a picture of the main course on his Y tray before he started eating, just so that you would see both choices of Y main courses that were served, and not just the option I chose......

Ahh the lengths you went! looking fwd to rest of the TR

Haha...yes, and thanks!