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This is part of the Around the World 2015 Mega Trip
- Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Washington DC
- Etihad Business Studio – IAD to AUH
- Review: Etihad Arrivals lounge and Etihad Chauffeur experience
- Grand Hyatt Dubai
- Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi
- Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Abu Dhabi, AUH
- Etihad Pearl Business Class – AUH to JNB
- Intercontinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers
- Blue Train Johannesburg to Cape Town
- Queen Victoria Cape Town
- Chitwa Chitwa Sabi Sands Luxury Game Reserve Kruger National Park
- Royal Chundu Zambezi River Lodge – Victoria Falls
- Intercontinental Johannesburg Airport
- Review: S(h)ongololo Lounge JNB
- Cathay Pacific Business Class – JNB to HKG to HND
- Ritz Carlton Tokyo
- Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo, NRT
- American Air Flagship First Class – NRT to LAX
Man oh Man is this a nice lounge.
- Massage? Check
- Massage Chairs? Check
- Incredible Sushi? Check
- Feelin’ P.I.M.P.? Discount Double Check
- Miles went to the bar looking for SIZZURP
- and I felt like this:
-
Image courtesy of bossip.com
Yes, The Japan Airlines First Class Lounge makes you feel strapped with bling
The Deets:
- Location: Main building, 4th floor. Enter on 3rd
- Who can enter the Japan Airlines First Class Lounge:
- One World Emerald,
- 1st class international ticket holders on One World
The Japan Airlines First Class lounge is located in 4F, the main building, on the 4th floor. You enter on the 3rd floor and this building isn’t really all that big, with a small shopping area of duty free, and the lounge is only a few minutes walk once you clear immigration. It’s worth noting that there is an American Airlines Admiral’s club downstairs from the main level on the 2nd floor. Dave, Miles and I arrived at the lounge about 4 hours before our flight.
Narita is a long way from downtown Tokyo and we had left a lot of time, not knowing what sort of issues we would encounter on the nearly 90 minute drive to Narita. We also wanted to make good use of the lounge. We’d really wanted to fly JAL first class on the way back from Tokyo to LA, but as luck would have it the availability opened up after British Airways had devalued their chart, and we would have been looking at a huge increase in price. So we took pleasure in indulging in their lounge rather than use the Admiral’s club down below.
The lounge isn’t really all that big. As you can see, the picture above almost encompasses the entirety of the lounge. There are a couple smaller office style rooms, a massage chair room, a spa, and a computer workstation area.
Speaking of the spa
I have no pictures. Ugh, I know. There were quite a few people in the lounge and it didn’t really seem appropriate to capture them in such a small area, plus I was totally getting the stink eye from the lady running the spa check in. I kinda had my phone out and she knew I was going to sneak a picture, and I got the stink eye. No biggie.
The massage was great, roughly 10 mins and in a private room. The check in process was pretty seamless, just put your name down and return 5 minutes before your appointment. If you have any luggage with you there is a small room just beyond the spa check-in that contains lockers. Easy. Peasy.
The Food.
While in Tokyo, I ate at the ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ restaurant: Sukiyabashi Jiro, Roppongi. It was beyond words. Meticulous preparation, love, passion, culinary explosion, what else can I say – it was out of this world sushi. I’m not going to lie, but the sushi in the lounge of the airport was the 2nd best sushi I’ve ever had. They had toro and shrimp…a few other options, but I had 3 plates of the toro and shrimp. For those unfamiliar with toro, it’s the fatty belly of the tuna and it is seriously tender, succulent, and delicious. It was nonstop at the lounge. Being from Los Angeles, Miles and I are seriously spoiled with good sushi and this lounge had me spinning.
How could the sushi be this good? We’re in a bloody airport!
Went a little British on ya! That’s how good it was…
Toro Toro Toro!!!!!!
The rest of the bar/food area was good. Nice selection of wines, champers, and booze
One of the best parts of the bathroom…the toto toilets.
Sorry no pictures, but you can read about them in my Ritz Carlton Tokyo review!
The computer workstation
Oh yes, sorry no mobile phones
The lounge has a no mobile phone policy. So if you need to to use it, there are private booths you can use, or a couple of work rooms that they are allowed in. This may have also been why I was given the stink eye with my phone out…phones are frowned upon.
Overall impression
The lounge is great. Great massage. Outstanding sushi! A little oasis to watch the planes come and ago before you must head down the terminal to your gate. It’s just amazing to me what points and miles can really do. We not only flew in American First but we also utilize all of these lounges. Our ticket back cost us just 75k Avios and roughly $135. The sushi alone would have cost us easily $50 or$ 60 a piece in a LA if not more, let alone a couple glasses of champagne…Thanks Miles!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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