Business to japan

[rechoboam]

Hi all. We are taking a very quiet 7yo child syd-Tokyo at in a couple of weeks and the OH has convinced me to fly J, she showed me the SCs and I couldn't resist. Can anyone here tell me how much sleep one can actually get on the night flight, which is about 10 hours, but presumably interrupted by dinner and breakfast? Just thinking about the ordeal awaiting us to get from Narita to a town well away from Tokyo on landing. How was the overall experience with the sky beds on the airbus? I presume it's going to be better than our previous flights (always Y) but trip reports would be welcome.

 

[NM]

Expect dinner to be served commencing around 1 hr into the flight and for the meal service to take around 1 hr to complete, so you could aim for sleep about 2 hrs into the flight.

Breakfast orders are taken at the beginning of the flight and you can request an express option to be delivered as late as possible, which would normally be around 1 hr before landing to give time to eat and for the FAs to clean up and prepare the cabin for arrival.

So if you plan to eat both meals, expect a minimum of 3 hours for the meal services. If you like to enjoy the meals, enjoy dessert, cheese, port/muscat/baileys etc and not be rushed, better to allow 4 hours. If you want to keep the meal service time as short as possible, let the FAs know and they will generally try to oblige as best they can without impacting the overall service to the cabin.

 

[cosi]

Sydney - Narita flights are back to a 2 class 747.

You can refuse dinner - FA will leave you alone if you are sleeping.

On the breakfast card, you have the option of being woken or remain sleeping. Cabin will be dark.

You need to select your seating!

 

[rechoboam]

You need to select your seating!

3 of us travelling - any tips? Seatguru has them all as standard Skybeds with no specific advice.

 

[JetLagged]

3 of us travelling - any tips? Seatguru has them all as standard Skybeds with no specific advice.

As I believe the 747 refits have not started as yet, the Skybed Mk 1 is rather a personal decision as to good or bad - while definitely superior to having to sit up all night, I find their structure uncomfortable in terms of support etc. Have flown them SYD - LHR, and prefer to A380 Mk2. However, my parnter finds them fine - depends on height, weight, how you l;ike to sleep etc etc etc.

How sleeping comfort stacks up agains wider seats, the better class food and plonk, is a personal decision.

 

[dajop]

3 of us travelling - any tips? Seatguru has them all as standard Skybeds with no specific advice.

On the 744, a lot of people prefer upstairs or (in 2 class version) the pointy end. However in your case unless you can get Row 1, the centre bank of 3 seats DEF is probably the best as you can all sit together.

As for sleeping advice, on the (MK I) skybeds, they are angled lie flat and a common complaint is that you slide down towards the floor when trying to sleep. I find that putting the seat completely flat (obviously at an angle) then moving it back towards sitting position ever so slightly, ie putting a very small kink in it again, stops this and is quite comfortable.

 

[rechoboam]

The plane on both flights to Sydney is:
Airbus Industrie A330-200

I think the Boeings also fly there depending on the day of the week, but we have an Airbus...any seating advice for that? (given NB status)

 

[cosi]

The plane on both flights to Sydney is:
Airbus Industrie A330-200

I think the Boeings also fly there depending on the day of the week, but we have an Airbus...any seating advice for that? (given NB status)

Sorry rechoboam, I was told the 747 was a daily service. Upon checking, I now see the A330 is used 1 day per week.

Would recommend a window seat and 2 aisles seats.

Personally, on the A330 I prefer the 2F or 3F because less traffic going up/down the aisle from the flight crew on the starboard side of the plane. Row 1 is close to the toilet and the later rows are close to the gallery.

Enjoy Japan and the food.

 

[rechoboam]

Enjoy Japan and the food.

Oh, I am sure I will. I love Japanese food, only started to realise recently how good the French/Italian/Chinese etc cuisines are over there as well. Should be good!

 

[Jobu]

On the 332 the J class configuration is 2-2-2, so there are no bank of 3 seats together. I usually suggest that you give a child the window seat, as you can then typically take turns then as to who is on baby-sitting duty. There aren't really any bad seats from memory, although row 1 is closer to the toilets and rows 3-4 are close to the galley, so perhaps slightly more traffic in these areas.

In terms of sleeping, when you fill out your breakfast card when you board, you can check the box that says "don't wake me if I'm sleeping". Although the noise and lights from breakfast service normally wakes you up, if you manage to sleep through it, the sleep is probably more valuable than the breakfast...

Cheers

JOBU

 

[Timtammi]

I find that putting the seat completely flat (obviously at an angle) then moving it back towards sitting position ever so slightly, ie putting a very small kink in it again, stops this and is quite comfortable.

YES! that is exactly what I do too, good to hear that someone else finds this more comfortable I thought I must be weird or something. Either way, a skybed beats a Y seat anyday (or night!).

Cheers

Timmi

 

[Hvr]

On the 744, a lot of people prefer upstairs or (in 2 class version) the pointy end. However in your case unless you can get Row 1, the centre bank of 3 seats DEF is probably the best as you can all sit together.

As for sleeping advice, on the (MK I) skybeds, they are angled lie flat and a common complaint is that you slide down towards the floor when trying to sleep. I find that putting the seat completely flat (obviously at an angle) then moving it back towards sitting position ever so slightly, ie putting a very small kink in it again, stops this and is quite comfortable.

Another one who uses the same technique. I sleep very well thank you.

For my trip back next February I have a seat up in the pointy end. Very happy thank you.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Oh, I am sure I will. I love Japanese food, only started to realise recently how good the French/Italian/Chinese etc cuisines are over there as well. Should be good!

Yes I recall having the best Italian in tokyo - sorry to get off topic!!!!!

 

[gumpy]

At the start of July I was in a Skybed from BA to Sydney and it was flat no angle... it wasn't the usual the angled type though the TV was still in the back of the shells and not a personal pop up one like in the A380's (NFI what's going on but i'm 100% sure it lie flat)... maybe you'll be in luck have the flat beds for Japan...

Just confirmed with my gf that they were angled... >< sorry...

 

[serfty]

...
Just confirmed with my gf that they were angled... >< sorry...

Maybe the aircraft flew at an unusually high angle of incidence over/near the antarctic regions, thus negating the slight slope.

 

[sr81]

Just a quick one on the other part of the OP question.

Narita to Tokyo. I did this a week ago and it is very easy with the Narita Express (NEX). You can buy a return NEX ticket and Suica card that includes 2000yen credit for travel on Tokyo metro. It is a swipe card like the London Oyster card or the 'total waste of money myki' card in Melbourne. The all up price is 5500 per person (about AUD70). see here: Suica & N'EX | Fares & Passes | JR-EAST

Over three days was used all of the credit on our Suica cards with about 3 Tokyo metro trips a day.

NEX is very easy, clean, a 50m walk from when you exit customs and exactly on time. The trip to Shinjuku was exactly 84 minutes both ways. You could also get a limo bus but this can take up to and over 2 hours depending on traffic.

Narita is a long way out but this pass is excellent.

Enjoy Japan and do get up VERY (about 3:30am) early for Tsjuiki fish markets. Totally worth it and I can scan and send a map as it can be a little confusing.

 

[Timtammi]

I would second the comments about the SUICA card. Great idea, are refillable and make things so easy. I have one that I take with me every time I go to Japan and just top up when needed. The NEX train is quite a bit more expensive than just taking the regular train NRT-Tokyo but MUCH faster and as the previous poster has said, its a loooong way out.

You know I've been to Tokyo about 10 times now and I STILL havent made it to those fish markets. No excuse really, I've even stayed really close, I just don't like getting up early! I really must go next time, got a trip booked again for November.

Cheers

 

[VirginiaF]

Again, off topic ... getting to the fish markets only gets you a view of thousands of beheaded tuna being auctioned off (kind of made me think about going vegan for a while). Otherwise if you're going for fresh seafood - sushi, sahsimi - then going later in the day is just as good. I enjoyed getting there early, apart from the fish/kill experience - the metro was unusually quiet at that time of day (pre-6:00 AM). Also, the fish markets are not that far away from Ginza, so if you are well nourished with a hearty fish breakfast, you can go work off some calories absorbing the sites of Ginza (the Sony Building is pretty interesting).

Back on topic - just posted on JL re: SYD-CDG. They don't have lie flat seats in J, and there is the sliding down the seat issue. The common feature of all flights is flight time, and I found the 9 hour flight less take off, levelling, meals and landing subtracts substantially from possible sleep time. Not too bad on a day flight (JL flies these out of SYD) but a night flight is a bit of a problem. As another poster mentions, breakfast service with lighted cabin is bound to curtail the sleep at the best of times, irrespective of do not disturb requests. I guess it all comes down to how heavy a sleeper you are.

Enjoy. Like they say, J is superior to Y anytime. And Tokyo rocks!

 

[rechoboam]

Are the skybeds on the A330 syd-nar still Mark 1 seats?

 

[serfty]

Other than the 388, all QF Skybed equipped aircraft have MkI's.

You'll need to wait until later this year for the commencement of installation of Mk II into 744s. I don't recall seeing any schedule for installation onto 330's.