Date: 2017/06/20
Flight: JL26
STD/ATD (Push Back): 1515HKT/1545HKT
ATA/ATA (Touch Down): 2025JST/2110JST
Aircraft/Registration: 777-200/JA702J
Class: Premium Economy (award travel)
Seat: JAL SKY PREMIUM
Prologue
Date: 2017/06/20
Flight: JL26
STD/ATD (Push Back): 1515HKT/1545HKT
ATA/ATA (Touch Down): 2025JST/2110JST
STD/ATD (Push Back): 1515HKT/1545HKT
ATA/ATA (Touch Down): 2025JST/2110JST
Aircraft/Registration: 777-200/JA702J
Class: Premium Economy (award travel)
Seat: JAL SKY PREMIUM
Prologue
Pre-boarding
No bag to check and I had printed out the boarding pass at the hotel. So, I went straight through the formalities.
Lounge
JAL customers were directed to the Qantas lounge. It is spacious, and always empty this time of the day (~14:00HKT) Ample hot foods and beverages. Premium economy passengers have lounge access.
At the Gate
By the time I got to gate 18, priority boarding had been completed and general boarding was in progress. I showed my self-printed boarding pass with my passport but was stopped. Once again, they said they needed to see my 在留カード (Japanese residence card which all foreign residence are required to carry while in Japan.) They wanted to check if I were an illegal immigrant or if I were trying to be an illegal immigrate. This doesn't make sense because with my passport, I can enter Japan without a visa for a 90-day stay anyway. I was told to stand aside and wait. After a while, the ground staff came back and returned my passport, Residency Card, and a new machine-printed boarding pass. Perhaps the home-printed boarding pass is for Japanese national only because it's a hassle actually, for them to stop me at the gate and question if I could go to Japan.
On Board
Doors were closed by 15:06. STD of 15:15 came and went. At 15:22, the captain announced that we had a 30-minute delay due to bad weather around the HKG airport. Push back was at 15:45, half an hour behind schedule. There was a backlog of departing flights. Take-off wasn't till 16:24HKT.
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| Aisle seat floor-storage space limited by support structure. |
Seats
As noted in outbound flight, the seat was surprisingly spacious with plenty of leg room. However, the aisle seat has less floor-storage space because of the support structure getting in the way.
Food
Pre-ordered the oriental vegetarian meal. Everything was delicious. (Note the metal cutlery.)
Pre-ordered the oriental vegetarian meal. Everything was delicious. (Note the metal cutlery.)
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| Appetizer; marinated mushrooms. Desert; fresh cut fruits. |
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| Mushroom in faux oyster sauce, steamed rice with corn, baby pok-choi. |
The premium economy cabin was about 90% full. Service was so-so. I'd asked for black tea when coffee was offered after the meal. The flight-attendant brought the tea around but she had obviously forgotten who had asked for it. When she came for my tray, I asked for the black-tea, again. She asked again, if I wanted sugar and/or milk with it and I again said that I would like it straight and that I had asked for it a while back. She then pretended that she had my tea all along and that she had it right there. I wouldn't mind if she would just come clean with me. Everyone forgets and it was perfectly OK. But pretending that she didn't forget wasn't OK.
Epilogue
JAL's premium economy product to/from HKG is actually better than its business class. The seats are spacious, with plenty of leg room, and much less claustrophobic than the business class seats. Though glasses, and ceramic dishes are replaced with plastic ones, premium economy passengers get lounge access, as well as priority boarding. As it's about 40% cheaper than a business class ticket, I would recommend this over their business class.
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