I Tested Japan's BEST Airlines

Today I Tested Japan's Best Rated Airlines in order to find out how good or bad they actually were and what the differences were like! Japan Airlines (JAL) and ANA are considered to be the BEST rated and most popular airlines in all of Japan but how different can they really be? I show you everything from the check in, to the in flight experience and all the interactions with staff so we can truly see how each airline compares to one another!

Time Stamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - JAL Check In
01:20 - Airport
02:39 - JAL Reviews
03:18 - JAL Flight
09:00 - ANA Check In
10:15 - Airport #2
11:43 - ANA Reviews
12:10 - ANA Flight

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Snapchat: @ericcstrukk

[Hnl]

I’ve flown on both. JAL offers more traditional Japanese style service while ANA is like the more modern style airline

[mattsoca]

I'm a Southern Californian about a third of the way through a 3 and 1/2 year residence in Japan. I should mention that there are differences between domestic and international service with respect to JAL and ANA. Aside from meal service, the lounges serving most Japanese Airports are very different when comparing one in the domestic area versus international terminals/zones. ANA and JAL international lounges usually have enhanced food and beverage offerings, and showers (there are a few exceptions when it comes to showers). When flying from Haneda Tokyo Airport to/from Sapporo Chitose or Osaka Itami, both JAL and ANA normally use wide-body aircraft frequently because of the volume of business. And the airport kiosks for JAL and ANA usually have a foreign language option (especially English), just like many ticket kiosks for trains/subways, bank ATM's, etc., in major cities. Also, a final hint - if your middle name is on the airline reservation, you normally need to enter the first and last name contiguously (without a space) on the airline website or airport kiosk (and there will not be a line for a middle name entry). The Japanese do not use middle names, so using a "separate" middle name online or at a check-in kiosk is confusing.

By the way, I definitely prefer to use Japanese carriers when returning home to the US, or flying anywhere else to/from Japan. Their efficient and quick boarding process has always amazed me.

[ericstruk]

Do you guys like when I do 2 videos on the weekend???

[EuanmarkNicolasRecto-eg]

When leaving the japan, you can see at the ground, some ground crews are waving bowing, a sign of appreciation to visiting Japan!

[marutataru]

Just a Japanese human here. If I remember correctly, ANA's lack of air conditioning you mentioned at around 14:38 should work when you rotate the overhead lights; the air flows out of the gap created around the rim.

[tsubasa_no_oukoku]

I am a ramp agent at Osaka International Airport. I always do my best to ensure on-time departures. We look forward to seeing you on board again.

[Ethanhkswimmer]

Eric, the 787 you’ve flown on is in domestic configuration, you can tell that this 787’s seats, doesn’t have a headrest

[navigator_nakagawa]

I want to say thank you, bro. As Japanese, I am glad you introduce Japanese great airlines!! There are much airlines in Japan so I would like you to experience.

[Evil.Totoro]

ANA became a Skytrax 5 star airline a few years before JAL did. For 2 carriers from the same country to be part of that club is incredible because there are only 10 airlines in that ranking.

[patrickmcbride]

FYI they didn’t do the safety demo in English just for you. English is the international language of aviation - safety demos must always occur in English.

[cjmcastillo]

Awesome work Eric! You gotta do the airlines again in an international flight! The experience is night and day and still amazing!

[uhhhwhat]

Wonderful and informative video Eric!

On ANA, you were on the domestic version of the Boeing 787, these 787's are only flown in Japan. You should indeed try their special Tokyo-Narita to Honolulu route on their beautiful Airbus A380.

[hunhun]

If you want to fly to many places, ANA is better, because they have a little bit larger network than that of JAL, and it is a member of Star Alliance. If you want to experience better flight experience including OMOTENASHI, JAL is better than ANA.
As a Japanese, I am happy to hear that you enjoyed both flights in Japan! I didn’t know that not every airports in the world have observation deck, because almost all airports in Japan have that.

[kyro]

When I see a new aviation Video I get on my couch and I eat popcorn. Watching an aviation video is so calming 🤩❤️

[guybeauregard]

A solid take. For longer international flights, ANA has densified many of its aircraft (so nine seats across on the 787s for example) while JAL has not (so eight seats across). More comfort matched with peerless down-to-earth service--I love JAL!

[zleonz]

You didn’t fly on that pink airplane! You flew on an Embraer 190 but the pink airplane is a Boeing 737…and you need the ANA app to activate the Wi-Fi 😂

[ririririri]

I just came across your vid and as a Japanese person living overseas for quite sometime, I enjoyed it! Love the thorough reviews of the two airlines!

[ゆくてん-no]

Thank you for making these videos! I am Japanese and fly mainly ANA all the time. This time on ANA, the reason why the Wi-Fi didn't work is probably because I didn't connect to the Wi-Fi in the ANA app - unlike JAL, on ANA you have to connect to the Wi-Fi from within the app. However, there is a slight problem with this, with the drawback that you can't even connect to the app while connected to the VPN. So if you connect from the app with the VPN etc. switched off, you should be fine. As long as you can connect, you can communicate rather comfortably!

[camilleyu]

I’m Japan Airlines staff!! Thank you for your video! I’m a big fan of JAL also! ❤

[Leonardo-csij]

Eric, it sounds like you need to review JAL and ANA international flights next. They are ELITE