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This JAL 787-9 Sky Suite III Business Class Review is from my San Francisco SFO to Tokyo HND flight, reserved for 60K Alaska Mileage Plan miles prior to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan award chart devaluation.
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Japan Airlines Business Class Lounge Access, SFO
Japan Airlines has shut down its own (mediocre) lounge at SFO; JAL now uses the British Airways Lounge at SFO, which is an improvement, even though there's no menu service (that's only for British Airways' own flights).
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JAL Sky Suite III Business Class Cabin and Seat, 787-9
JAL's 787-9 with the Sky Suite III has two versions; the one I was on has 52 business class flat bed seats across two cabins, the first cabin has rows 1-7 and the second cabin rows 8-13. The seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration, where each seat has direct aisle access. Normally I recommend avoiding the first and last rows of each section, rows 1, 7, 8, and 13, to avoid potential light and noise from the galley and lavatories, but as I selected my seat late and wanted a window seat, only 1K was available, which I preferred over a D or G seat in the center.
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As seen above, the design is similar to Cathay Pacific Business Class and EVA Business Class, with the seat controls, IFE controls, a storage cabinet for headphones and other small items, and power outlet/headphone jack below the storage cabinet all within easy reach.
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The ottoman is a handy shelf to put the duvet/pillow on during take-off, and becomes part of the flat bed when the seat is reclined.
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As with other Asian and Middle Eastern airlines, slippers are provided, which I appreciated.
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JAL Business Class Menu and Food
Prior to take-off I was offered orange juice or champagne, and chose orange juice. It was regular boxed or bottled orange juice.
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Japan Airlines offers the option to preselect the Japanese or International meal, so I'd preselected the Japanese meal, which I typically find tastier and more interesting.
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This was the International menu option:
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I was asked for my drink choice, and chose cold green tea, having decided that I wanted to avoid alcohol for the flight.
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There were plenty of alcoholic options, however, from champagne to wines to cocktails to sake, etc.
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Since I'd had very little food in the lounge, I was quite hungry by the time the appetizers arrived. I particularly liked the eggplant with miso and simmered prawn and the mushrooms dressed with tofu sauce and chestnut, although I enjoyed the contrast in flavors and textures of the entire ensemble of appetizers.
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JAL's main course is usually less interesting than the appetizers, and this flight was no exception. The short rib was tender and red snapper was perfectly fine, but nothing to write home about. I do like how the Japanese rice is always perfectly steamed in the faux bamboo wrapper (lower left in the photo below). Miso soup is always a comforting note to end on.
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Desserts are more of an afterthought for JAL (and in most Asian cuisines), but the mango panna cotta was a pleasant pairing with tea. Sadly the tea wasn't very hot, however.
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Towards the end of the flight, I had the Japanese light meal from the a la carte menu.
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The salmon with yuzu, which came with tamago (egg omelet) was very good, as was the hijiki; rice and miso soup were the same as with the main meal.
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I supplemented this with some yogurt with honey, as well as some fresh fruit and a little more yogurt with mango sauce.
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JAL Business Class Bathroom
The business class bathroom has a diaper changing table, dental kits, mouthwash, and Miller Harris Tea Tonique body lotion.
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JAL Business Class Sky Suite III Bed and Sleep Quality
As we've noted in another review, we prefer Japan Airlines' 777-300ER Sky Suite, which in our view had a better padded seat/bed in addition to the airweave mattress pad, plus the window seats on the 777-300ER offer greater privacy. The 787-9 seat and bed is fine, but certainly no better than other reverse herringbone products such as Cathay Pacific Business Class and EVA Business Class except that JAL does have the airweave mattress pad (found in the overhead compartment). I found it most comfortable to put the duvet on top of the mattress pad and sleep on top of it, to make it more padded, especially as the cabin was comfortably warm.
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The other thing that helps with sleep quality on JAL is the moisture mask that is included in the amenity kit (currently, a red Maison Kitsune amenity bag). A moist towelette is slipped into a pocket, helping to moisten the air one breathes.
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Also see our prior JAL 787-9 Business Class video review from an SFO to Tokyo NRT flight:
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The Verdict
Even though I didn't sleep as much as I'd have liked and still prefer JAL's 777-300ER Business Class in a window seat, this SFO-HND flight in JAL's Sky Suite III on the 787-9 was a good flight. Most business class products don't provide a mattress pad or only a simple quilted mattress pad for business class passengers, while JAL offers airweave mattress pads. I also prefer JAL meals over most other business class options, as they're a better combination of tasty and healthy, helping minimize jet lag (at least if you stay away from alcohol and caffeine).
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