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Review: Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Tokyo NRT
The Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Tokyo is accessed through the same entrance as the JAL First Class lounge; however, you’ll use the main check in desk which is immediately in front of you. The check in area reflects the comparative size of the lounge…YUGE! While the First Class check-in is small and tucked away to the left, the Sakura Lounge receptoin is sized to accommodate large swaths of business class customers looking for rubber stamped entry. I did a sweep through the lounge to check it and was pretty impressed.
Access
Since I was flying on a First Class ticket I had access to both lounges. You can also access the lounge with one guest if you’re One World Sapphire/Emerald, as well as Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Sapphire, Premier, and Diamond. JAL Global Club members also have access.
It’s 2 full floors with floor to ceiling windows, and a gorgeous open staircase.
The line in the background is actually for dining. The lounge was MEGA crowded. If I had to guess I’d say there was a few hundred people in the lounge, and while you had to look for seating, it could still be found. The Sakura Lounge is clearly a workhorse. The respect everyone gives each other in Japan is impressive. Even in a lounge this busy, things were orderly, clean, and respectful.
A wine and coffee bar set aside from the main food presentation.
While there are a few places to grab coffee in the lounge, this separated area for Wine and Coffee ( which has an attendant) helped to alleviate congestion. It was still quite crowded on the top floor, but had this been a part of the main food area it would have been pretty problematic.
The line for food was akin to the bar line during intermission at Hamilton. I’ve never been, but I’m sure it’s really long!
I’d guess that 50 people were lined up to eat. Thank goodness I’d stuffed my face with top shelf sushi in the First Class lounge 😉 We snuck in the midst of the action for a quick shot, but I’m sorry I wasn’t willing to wait for up close pics.
Downstairs was far more relaxed and spacious. It’s divided into two wings. There’s also a small food area to the left with a lot of seating. Got some pics of that offering 😉
And some food.
If you meander on back you’ll find areas where you can sleep. I wish I’d known about these ahead of time. I could have used a small nap after being wide-eyed the whole flight from Bangkok.
Crossing over to the other wing you’ll find a large storage locker room.
The seating on this side had workstations, drinks, and a snack bar.
Both levels have incredible views of the airport. Miles hung out here for a bit
He was posing for this picture when our very first reader recognized him. Very cool experience 🙂
Overall:
Couple things not photographed, but available:
There are Shower Suites that you can reserve as well as work stations. Unfortunately, the lounge was so busy that the work stations were fairly occupied and would have been weird to take a picture of them. Miles knows no shame, but his sock puppet human companion maintains a sliver of it. I’ve heard the Shower suites are pretty nice as well, but they were occupied and I’d already showered in the First Class lounge. Needless to say, the lounge was busy, but the facilities are there if you need them.
I also ducked into the lounge with about 15 mins to spare so I didn’t have time to wait for a shower to open up just for photos.
The only downside of my experience was really it’s popularity, and I can’t blame anyone for enjoying this baby. It’s beautiful, full of light, food, drink, and from what I’ve heard shower suites that compare to the First Class lounge. If you’re in Narita and have access to this lounge, I’d definitely give it a visit.
This review is a part of the Trip Report: Miles Traces his roots in Southeast Asia
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- American Airlines Admirals Club Tokyo NRT
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- Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Tokyo NRT
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- Tip on how to fly standby the day before your flight
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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account openingÂ
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travelâ„
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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:Â
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.Â
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.Â
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