Japan Airlines offers reasonably priced paid upgrades to its domestic business and first-class cabins at the airport. There are no limitations on what tickets can be upgraded, as partner awards are also eligible.
We have covered these a few times previously (read more here, here, and here), but I have a new case where I switched from a 1 PM flight to an 8 AM one and purchased a first-class upgrade (I had no idea that you could take an earlier flight).
You can access JAL’s page for domestic business here and first here.
Our Previous Upgrade Cases:
Japan Airlines (JAL) Inexpensive Domestic First Class Upgrade: Case Haneda – Kagoshima
Fabulous Fridays: Cheap Upgrades To First- & Business Class On Japan Airlines Domestic Routes
Japan Airlines Inexpensive Domestic Upgrades (Both Business & First)
I am on an around-the-world ticket in business class (read more here) that had me arriving in Haneda on Tuesday last week at 6 AM from Singapore.
My Japan Truster Traveler Program (TTP) card had “expired,” as one of Finland’s Embassies misprocessed my application and canceled the wrong passport. As a result, I could no longer use those automated gates at select airports in Japan but would need to go through the standard immigration process, which is usually smooth but has also had some lengthy lines.
I tend to fly to the furthest destination in Japan first, like Kagoshima last year, and then take the Shinkansen back up to Tokyo with few stops. So, I decided to use miles for the HND-FUK segment, as I was not exactly 100% sure about my itinerary.
The JAL flight from Singapore lands at 6 AM, and there were awards options for very early flights that I thought would be impossible to make from this flight, as you need to clear immigration and customs, switch terminals, and check bags.
The first HND-FUK award option was at 1 p.m. in the afternoon, which would have me sit in the lounge for five or so hours. This was not optimal, but I could use the time to work, so it was not a huge loss.
First Class Upgrade Purchase & Switch To Earlier Flight
I checked, and the photo above was taken at 5:56 AM. We started to deboard the plane at 6:00. I had to clear the immigration (short line), wait for the bags (I know that I should travel with just a carry-on, but simply impossible), clear customs, and then take a bus to the domestic terminal.
This was all surprisingly swift, as I was already at the First Class domestic check-in less than 45 minutes later.
I asked the agent if I could take an earlier flight and if they had first-class upgrades available for sale. She asked if I had just come from an international flight, and the answer was obviously yes. My bags also obviously had all the tags intact.
She was typing on the computer, and I saw that she had written down the time (8 AM).
She also told me that upgrades were available, and the price was the expected 10K YEN (roughly $65).
I agreed to purchase this, and the credit card slip was printed at 6:45 AM (Japanese efficiency).
Lounge & Boarding
Domestic lounges are not the epitome of luxury but get the work done.
There are some snacks, beer & soft drink machines.
My favorite thing to do is watch and take photos of various planes as they land, pull up at the gate, and depart.
Boarding in Japan, even for a high-density domestic widebody, is highly efficient and takes no more than 10 minutes.
The boarding starts at 740 AM and ends at 750 AM for an on-time 8 AM departure.
The first class and Emerald members board first.
Obviously, JAL uses both aircraft doors, just as airlines in civilized countries do.
Domestic JAL First Class Service
The domestic first-class seats are basically regional business-class seats, with some variations. The seat on my JAL flight to Kagoshima last fall was better.
There are no catering options, but you can also choose noodles.
I decided to check out the sober curious drinks.
Conclusion
Obviously, whether these upgrades are worth it for you depends.
I feel that paying $65 for a two-hour flight HND-FUK is worth the price, but perhaps not the usual hour hops between Tokyo and Osaka, but I take the Shinkansen between these cities anyway.
I am used to airlines being super inflexible when it comes to taking an earlier flight, so I was surprised that there was absolutely no pushback from the agent (remember, this was an AA award) and no issues combining it with an upgrade.
There were some issues getting this award ticketed with AA. I had not previously had any problems with awards like this, but this time, the AA’s website just returned an error after I clicked purchase. I didn’t get an email confirmation or anything, but the system had created a PNR that a phone agent could retrieve and then proceeded to fix it. It then took another day to get the ticket receipt (no payment is involved as taxes and fees on these are 0).
Have you had success with these domestic paid upgrades on ANA and JAL? Please comment below.
