One of my favourite airline so far

Advantages: Very efficient, very courteous
Disadvantages: None

...Constant traveling has permitted me to sample different airlines. So far, Japan Airline (JAL) has been my favourite. I have flown with JAL to Narita, Sydney, New York and San Francisco numerous times, and they have never disappointed me once. The ground crew are extremely efficient and courteous. On one of our frequent trips in and out of Australia, we always have to fly to Sydney because its the main hub for JAL. Our baggage would have been checked all the way to Narita in Japan and in Sydney, there is always a special queue for passengers without check-in baggages. This allowed us to obtain our boarding passes very quickly. On one occasion, they gave us seats in the economy plus section and I must say, it was the best flight I ever had. The seats were like business class seats, we actually had to stand up to take a step in order to...

petitesquirt 06.03.2003 · Read review
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Review of Japan Airlines - JAL

I'd rather swim to Japan.

Advantages: Very Polite air crew and ground crew
Disadvantages: Smoking stench, poor food, small seats, no personal TV, bad food

...Maybe I just got lucky and got the worst aircraft that JAL own or maybe I'm just so used to really GOOD Airlines (such as SIA, Thai and Cathy) that I found JAL to be horrific...and horrific is being nice...so lets get on with the details... My flight was a 6pm flight from Bangkok to Narita Economy class; it's a 6-hour flight. First the seats, small, very very small, with leg room that an 8-year-old child would find tight. I am not overly tall but I could not put my feet on the floor in front of me if I tried to sit straight in my seat, My knees had to be jammed into the seat in front higher than my own seat, if I sat slightly sideways i could squeeze my feet onto the floor, just. Foot rests, no idea couldn't reach the floor to find out. And so we took off...and then it got really bad...the smoking started. I swear every person...

khunKwai 30.08.2000 (16.02.2002) · Read review
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Review of Japan Airlines - JAL

A JAL'y good way to fly

Advantages: Very friendly staff, good seat, very clean
Disadvantages: Food might not be for fussy eaters, lack of seat storage

...What a shocking title, sorry about that. Recently I was looking for some flights to head off to Japan to treat my girlfriend and decided to spend some airline miles to get there. The best availability for us was to fly with JAL and using miles allowed us to fly in business class for practically free, otherwise we'd have been sitting in the back. So my review is based purely on the experience of JAL in business class. Booking Well I booked our flights on the telephone with American Airlines, so can't say much about the booking process direct with the airline themselves. I did however call JAL as I was unable to view my booking on their site (different booking system to AA) and the very helpful staff were able to provide me with a booking reference and some guidance for the website so that I could pick seats in advance...

non_sense 26.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Japan Airlines - JAL

Curious Customs: Tips for Visiting Japan, Part 2

Advantages: A great adventure
Disadvantages: Leave that handkerchief at home!

...Welcome to the second part of my top ten tips for visitors to Japan. As this follows on from Part 1 (surprisingly enough), I'll be kicking off with number 6. By the way, in case you haven't read Part 1 I'll just mention that gaijin is Japanese for foreigner. <6> ◄Eating in Japan► Japan is home to one of the one of the world's great cuisines and the Japanese are passionate about food; indeed it is a bigger topic of conversation in Japan than the weather is in Britain. Japanese food is a huge subject and as I'm only offering a few tips for travellers here I can only scratch the surface. I should perhaps mention that my Japanese friends have persuaded me to try just about every weird and wonderful culinary concoction imaginable and I've never suffered any ill effects. Often the things I could barely bring myself to put in...

Mitsudan 22.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Customs (Japan)

Konnichiwa! Tips for Visiting Japan Part 3

Advantages: Successful communication feels like an achievement
Disadvantages: It pays to invest some time and effort

... <10> Communication Welcome to the third and final part of my top ten tips for visitors to Japan. Having looked last time at the potential pitfalls for gaijin (foreigners) in blowing their noses and taking a bath amongst other hazards, this time I'm dealing with the biggest minefield of the lot - the all-important business of communication. So here is tip number 10. The Devil's Language? The brick wall up against which most foreign visitors come in Japan when trying to communicate is of course the Japanese language itself. It's said that in the sixteenth century the missionary St Francis Xavier, on discovering the difficulty westerners had in deciphering a single word spoken or written by the Japanese people, concluded that Japanese had been devised by the devil to prevent Christian missionaries from doing their good...

Mitsudan 25.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of General: Japan

Airline with Asian Flair

Advantages: Awesome, Friendly Service
Disadvantages: None at the moment

...When I go to Japan, I mostly go with Japan Airlines. Japan Airlines has what a passenger would want on an airline. I purchased my ticket on Japan Airlines ticket center. Unlike many airline ticket centers, I was quickly served by a very polite operator and soon had a ticket from Vancouver to Tokyo and back. At $2000, it is quite pricey. The operator gave me a $100 discount for I have flown on Japan Airlines before. My tickets came through courier in two days. When I arrive at the airport, I am quickly checked in and were given kind instructions. At 1:35, I got on-board. Because the flight was actually Mexico City to Tokyo via Vancouver, there were many passengers on the plane already. But things went smoothly and I got quickly to my seat. Safety Instructions, Menus etc. were provided both in English and Japanese. Two hours into...

cyclone88 03.11.2002 · Read review
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Review of Japan Airlines - JAL

Japan delivered to your door

Advantages: All things Japanese for the discerning British shopper
Disadvantages: In store labelling/signage isn't the best

...*Japan is now apparently in the centre of London!* Japan Centre is a series of businesses based in London Piccadilly, with the stated aim of having Japan 'delivered to your door'. It's an absolutely wonderful idea for a diverse range of people: from someone looking to take their first tentative steps towards trying sushi, or for crazed Japanophiles who can't cope without a weekly supply of edamame, sake and good quality sushi rice. All under one roof you can find a retail store, a popular website for ordering Japanese goods, a restaurant, sushi classes, Japanese recipes (in English), a user forum and a bilingual recruitment agency. Much as I love Japanese cuisine I can't speak more than ten words of Japanese, so this review will focus on the retail and online stores and some of the added extras offered on their site (www...

edinburgher 14.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Japan Centre

Monarch Airline-Low Cost Airline

Advantages: Value for money
Disadvantages: none

...This is another low cost airline which I have used on a number of times and I have found reasonable in cost. The website is very easy to use and informative to the costings of the various add-ons. The staff are very friendly when you get to the airport and always want to please. Recently when my daughter flew to Malaga she found that her luggage was missing so when she spoke to a member of Monarch Airlines in Malaga they were straight away on to the problem and everything got sorted in less than 24 hours and they personally delivered her suitcase to where she was staying. When we booked my daughter in it was a little confusing at Gatwick to know which queue to go to apart from that they were very quick at the booking in desk. The staff were very helpfull and even though it was very busy they still were very polite...

ruth1957 05.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Monarch Airlines

Kyoto, the OLD capital of Japan.

Advantages: Cheap area, gorgeous attractions and temples, good for short visits!
Disadvantages: Limited activity so best for -5 day visits.

...I visited Japan at the end of this July, and have only just returned. I must say it was the holiday of a lifetime. Flights cost £900 each via British Airways. We visited Kyoto for 3 days. We got there via Shinkansen from Tokyo, and stayed at the New Miyako hotel, just over the road from Kyoto station. Kyoto was absolutely gorgeous and very easy to navigate around. You can get just about anywhere you want to from Kyoto Station. There are buses, subway trains etc. 220 yen is all you need for a bus ride to anywhere along the Kyoto bus lines. That works out at around £1. You just hop on the bus and pay when you get off. We visited Toei movie land which was a bit of a dissapointment. www.eigamura30.com. Looking at brochures we expected amazing movie scenes etc but it left a lot to be desired. A lot of it was shut off, and most...

Jellypigs 18.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Kyoto (Japan)

Recommended places to visit in Japan

Advantages: Great places to visit, many things to do, new technologies
Disadvantages: some things are pricey especially the latest technologies, jet lag

...I visited Japan last summer with a friend and we spent about a month there. We visited the following cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto. ~Tokyo~ Tokyo is a lot like London. It's made up of a number of very distinct villages - each with their own character and often populated with a variety of characters - some of whom may only come out at night - and are not necessarily vampires! Most of the main areas in Tokyo are stops on the Yamanote Line - Tokyo's equivalent of the Circle Line (only more efficient!). Getting a day ticket to go round this line doesn't turn you into a train spotter. It is an ideal way to get your bearings and it provides a reasonable overview of the City. The streets of Tokyo are laid out in a grid pattern similar to those of New York and other larger cities. At first sight, each street not only looked...

rambo 01.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of General: Japan