September 2007
New York to Narita, Japan to Taoyuan, Taiwan
Economy Class
Seating: Tight, tight, TIGHT. K and I are not large people, and even with our size, we were super cramped in our seats. I had major cabin fever after only a few short hours because of these uncomfortable seats. The "cushions" were a mere single layer of cotton (or at least it felt that way). After maybe 3 hours, I felt like I was sitting on a wooden board.
Food & Drink: I was a bit disappointed with the selections on Japan Airlines. Aside from the main entree, everything else was cold (ie: side of cold soba noodles). There are only two meals served on the 14+ hour flight, and "snacks" offered were cookies and rolls. There is no cup o' noodle available, which is a huge dealbreaker for us. BIG PLUS: Green tea and plum wine are available (as are other Japanese beers) and all are complimentary.
Attendants: They did not speak English and the ones that did only did minimally. We had to point and charade our way to getting things. This was not an easy flight for us whatsoever. We would say something in English, they would reply back in Japanese. Yes, they were extremely polite and nice, but for all we knew they could've been cursing us out in a super nice manner with a super polite smile.
Check-in: No issues checking in on our way to Asia. Coming back was a different story. We encountered two big issues. One was the fact that I had a huge 30+" framed blown up wedding photo that I did not trust checked-in. I had to fight them to let me take it on the plane and have a flight attendant store it for me in one of the closets. Second, and biggest, issue was the fact that out of our 4 luggages, one of them was slated for Narita, and not for New York. Meaning that while we, and 3 of our luggages, went on to New York after the layover in Narita, one of our luggages was to be dropped off. Don't ask me how this happened since all of our bags were checked in together.
When we got to Narita, a JAL representative was holding my name on a placard. I went over to their customer service desk, which is where they explained what had happened. The lady asked me to identify which luggage it was, which flabbergasted me. How was I suppose to know WHICH luggage the airline mislabeled? And each of our luggages were slightly different. She gave me a plastic picture card of different styles of luggages and asked me to point one out.
Throughout the 14 hour flight back to New York, all I could think about was my lost luggage. Would it arrive in New York? Would it arrive in one piece? Which luggage was it, what were we in the process of losing? We had gone on this trip for wedding-related errands and who knows what we'd need to replace. This was the most nervewrecking flight of my life and I don't think any passenger should have to bear through it.
Flight Time: The Japanese are known for their promptness and their planes are no exception. We left on time and arrived on time and there were no delays whatsoever.
Amenities: In the bathrooms were very nice Shiseido items.
New York to Narita, Japan to Taoyuan, Taiwan
Economy Class
Seating: Tight, tight, TIGHT. K and I are not large people, and even with our size, we were super cramped in our seats. I had major cabin fever after only a few short hours because of these uncomfortable seats. The "cushions" were a mere single layer of cotton (or at least it felt that way). After maybe 3 hours, I felt like I was sitting on a wooden board.
Food & Drink: I was a bit disappointed with the selections on Japan Airlines. Aside from the main entree, everything else was cold (ie: side of cold soba noodles). There are only two meals served on the 14+ hour flight, and "snacks" offered were cookies and rolls. There is no cup o' noodle available, which is a huge dealbreaker for us. BIG PLUS: Green tea and plum wine are available (as are other Japanese beers) and all are complimentary.
Attendants: They did not speak English and the ones that did only did minimally. We had to point and charade our way to getting things. This was not an easy flight for us whatsoever. We would say something in English, they would reply back in Japanese. Yes, they were extremely polite and nice, but for all we knew they could've been cursing us out in a super nice manner with a super polite smile.
Check-in: No issues checking in on our way to Asia. Coming back was a different story. We encountered two big issues. One was the fact that I had a huge 30+" framed blown up wedding photo that I did not trust checked-in. I had to fight them to let me take it on the plane and have a flight attendant store it for me in one of the closets. Second, and biggest, issue was the fact that out of our 4 luggages, one of them was slated for Narita, and not for New York. Meaning that while we, and 3 of our luggages, went on to New York after the layover in Narita, one of our luggages was to be dropped off. Don't ask me how this happened since all of our bags were checked in together.
When we got to Narita, a JAL representative was holding my name on a placard. I went over to their customer service desk, which is where they explained what had happened. The lady asked me to identify which luggage it was, which flabbergasted me. How was I suppose to know WHICH luggage the airline mislabeled? And each of our luggages were slightly different. She gave me a plastic picture card of different styles of luggages and asked me to point one out.
Throughout the 14 hour flight back to New York, all I could think about was my lost luggage. Would it arrive in New York? Would it arrive in one piece? Which luggage was it, what were we in the process of losing? We had gone on this trip for wedding-related errands and who knows what we'd need to replace. This was the most nervewrecking flight of my life and I don't think any passenger should have to bear through it.
Flight Time: The Japanese are known for their promptness and their planes are no exception. We left on time and arrived on time and there were no delays whatsoever.
Amenities: In the bathrooms were very nice Shiseido items.
Comments (0)