We were fortunate to be able to use points to book JAL Airbus A350-1000 Business Class for our outbound flight and ANA THE Room for our inbound flight for our two week Japan trip. This is the first (and probably the last) time we were able to experience THE Room Business Class Suite on ANA flights, since we booked these seats a week before our travel dates (review).
JAL Airbus A350-1000 Business Class
- Our inbound flight from Dallas to Tokyo was on a JAL Airbus A350 in business class, which features individual suites with doors.
- The space in the JAL business class suite is perfectly designed to allow a separate deep section under the footwell to store your shoes and laptop bag (see images below).
- My wife enjoyed the relaxing gown provided instead of pajamas, but I did not want to try them.
- Business suites have a 24-inch 4K personal monitor.
- Lots of space inside the personal locker (enough to store a water bottle, wallet, passports and phone.
- Perfectly designed suite door that closes fully with the touch of a button.
- Impeccable customer service.
ANA 777-300 Business Class (THE Room)
- THE Room offers extra-wide seats that alternate between forward- and rear-facing rows.
- You must wear the annoying 3-prong seat belt during take off and landing.
- The seat cushions are made in collaboration with Nishikawa for superb comfort.
- Despite a wide seat, the footwell is tapered narrow and you must sleep at an angle to give your right shoulder more room.
- The bed is comfortable, but you must sleep on your side with legs folded if you are over 5ft 10in tall.
- There is a large 24-inch 4K monitor.
- There is a large pull-out dining tray, the best designed version I have ever seen on any business class flight. The tray can extend over two feet and moving it doesn’t need any special maneuvers.
- The section below the footwell is much smaller compared to the JAL business class cabins. I was barely able to place my sneakers at an angle.
- There is NO wardrobe section.
- There is very little space inside the personal locker with an oddly shaped bottom door that hides the electric outlets.
- No special sleeping masks with heated eyelids feature, compared to the JAL business class.
- Awkwardly designed suite doors (one vertical and the other horizontal) which leave a gap between them when closed.
- They provide a pajama set and slippers.
- Impeccable customer service.
Conclusion
Both of these business class cabins are some of the best in the world and I encourage readers who are sitting on a bunch of points to make use of them asap to experience them. These business class seats carry a premium cash price (around 10K per seat per direction) which we would never dream of being able to pay.