Arrival Day
We flew from SFO to Haneda and flew with JAL in business class. Our flights were booked through AA with points. The boarding process went smoothly and was quick. When we got on the plane we realized they gave us a different plane so the seats we booked were in different places. Instead of us being in a row it placed dh up in front of us. If it had been just dh and I it wouldn’t have been a big deal but having a 4 yo made the change difficult. Luckily they were able to get us in 3 seats right next to each other but we did have to give up our window seat.
For the majority of the flight ds did pretty well. He slept about 3 1/2-4 hours after we gave him melatonin and I was able to sleep about 2 1/2 hours. I ordered the western meal and dh got the Japanese meal. He said he regretted it because everything was pickled. He did the same thing last time we flew to Japan with ANA
For my main meal it was a beef option with potato gratin on the side. The beef was pretty dry and not great but the potatoes were delicious. Later I ordered the pork and rice bowl which was really good. They brought ds child meals (we had to call before the flight to get this ordered). The meals were very cute and had lots of options but he was so sleep deprived and out of sorts that he really didn’t eat much of anything the entire flight.
The flight attendants were fantastic and even let ds pick a toy out at the end. He chose a JAL plane which is a fun souvenir. The end of the flight was a disaster. Ds had ear troubles which he’s never had before on a plane. He kept unbuckling his seatbelt and trying to stand up during the descent. The seating in business class is difficult with a preschooler. Dh had to reach around the middle divider and physically hold ds’s seatbelt on and he was screaming the entire time that he wanted his seatbelt off and wanted off the plane. I felt really bad for everyone around us. He’s never done this on a plane before. I think he was so overtired and didn’t understand how to handle the ear pain. When we landed I was so focused on getting him off that I left my carry on bag on the plane. Luckily they were amazing and met us at baggage claim with it. It had all of our essentials so we would’ve struggled without it.
Instead of pulling up to a gate, they connected us to a staircase and drove us to the airport on a bus. I’ve never had that happen before so it was a little different. Everything after that went really smoothly. We got our bag quickly, went through the priority line with our QR code and didn’t have to wait behind anyone, customs was fast, got our Welcome PASMO cards, money out of the ATM, and booked airport limousine tickets to Shinjuku Station. All of that was done in under an hour.
Overall, it wasn’t a horrible travel day but it was LONG with a preschooler. We took ds to Germany last August but this was so much harder. I think the huge time change from the east coast of the US and the longer flight made him so overtired.
