JAL vs Cathay Pacific - Business Class

Looking for some guidance . It has been several years since I flew JAL, and that was on a late evening flight from Tokyo to Honolulu. I don't remember their BC being anything special, as far as BC goes. It's been decades since I flew Cathay Pacific, because their options have normally been more expensive. Now this opportunity exists:

On JAL: On Cathay Pacific:

BKK

Half of my thread info got deleted!!!

Here are the options:

JAL:

BKK

Deleted the flight info again. I'll try again tomorrow! Sorry!

I'll try one more time in a straight line sentence sequence. Heaven forbid trying to put it in chart form!

Using JAL from BKK to Narita the times are 08:15

Regardless of which flights, have you looked at www.SeatGuru.com and entered the flight number (and date) of the two choices?

That will give you reasonably up to date information of the configuration, although equipment changes do occur.

In the upper right corner are some metrics about the different class seats.

On the mid-right will probably be a scroll down list of reviews.

Scroll through for reports on Business class.

We've found this very helpful, keeping in mind that not everyone reporting will actually have been on the exact same equipment, and there are always cheerleaders and grumps, plus someone who really had a poor experience on a generally great seat or such (just like with anything, right?).

We'll be comparing the premium service of these two airlines in May/June.

However, I think the specific aircraft will matter, also.

If the JAL flight you're looking at has the Sky Suites configuration....pick JAL! It's amazing.

I'll try again! Three times I entered all the info, everything looked fine. I'd hit submit, and most of the post would be deleted!

The JAL flight from Bangkok to Narita is on a 787. It leaves about 7:30ish. The Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong is on a A350 around 8:15. Both flights then connect to their respective AA flights to DFW. Both flights leave 2+ hours for my connection to BNA.

Therefore, I'm asking which would be the best service and flight in Business Class , JAL on the 787 or CP on the Airbus? I do realize the difference in flight times and how that affects the two legs. Overall travel time is nearly the same. Thanks!

I'll try again! Three times I entered all the info, everything looked fine. I'd hit submit, and most of the post would be deleted!

 

The JAL flight from Bangkok to Narita is on a 787. It leaves about 7:30ish. The Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong is on a A350 around 8:15. Both flights then connect to their respective AA flights to DFW. Both flights leave 2+ hours for my connection to BNA.

 

Therefore, I'm asking which would be the best service and flight in Business Class , JAL on the 787 or CP on the Airbus? I do realize the difference in flight times and how that affects the two legs. Overall travel time is nearly the same. Thanks!

Both will be excellent experiences; however you probably won't know which version of the JAL 787 you'd be getting until closer to the flight date, so you might get a "Sky Suite" or you might not. The Cathay Pacific A350 is comparable to the 787 in terms of comfort - big windows, higher cabin air pressure, etc. - and the Cirrus seats CX puts in their planes are pretty much state of the art. The lounges at Narita are okay; the CX lounges at HKG are terrific. In flight service, food and beverage are very good on both, with maybe a tiny edge to JAL. But Cathay Pacific's IFE (in-flight entertainment) is probably the best system going.

I've flown from SE Asia to Narita on JAL a few times (Singapore rather than Bangkok) and, man, is that a long flight, twice as long as to HKG. The flying time from HKG to the US is longer than from Japan, of course, but somehow the route through Japan feels longer, two really lengthy trips back-to-back. If it was me I'd opt for the CX A350 via Hong Kong.

That 2 hr connection time in DFW is what I would be most concerned about. Depending on what time of day and how many other international flights are arriving at that time you may have a longer delay getting through C&I. Plus (again) depending on time of day and day of week you may run into longer wait times getting back through security to catch your domestic flight.