For 2024, my goal is to review as many interesting airline experiences as possible. I kicked off the year with a review trip to Oman, and wanted to share the full details of the next trip that I’ve finalized.
In this post:
Background on my upcoming review trip
For those who aren’t longtime readers, let me explain that I take review trips with the sole intention of reviewing as many airline and hotel experiences as possible while being away from home for as little time as possible (since we have an infant son). I also take more leisurely vacations with family where I spend more time in destinations, but these trips aren’t those. 😉
My goal is typically to review products that readers may enjoy redeeming their points for, and/or products that I just generally find interesting, including flights, airport lounges, and hotels.
A portion of this review trip had been planned a long time ago. Japan Airlines will soon start flying Airbus A350-1000s, featuring all-new cabins. This plane will debut between Tokyo and New York shortly.
The airline has been teasing this product for many months, even before the schedule for the first flights was announced. So many of us had speculatively booked Japan Airlines first class tickets between Tokyo and New York using points. For me, one of those tickets is working out with the timeline for entry into service.
So I’ve had one direction of the review trip planned for quite some time, but for a long time I was trying to decide how to get to Tokyo. Below are the details of the itinerary that I’ve planned.
The itinerary that I’ve booked…
With the above out of the way, let me share the details of the itinerary that I’ll be flying. I’ll share the details of this trip in reverse chronological order, roughly reflecting the order in which I booked tickets as part of this itinerary.
Japan Airlines A350 first class
As stated above, I’m flying Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 first class from Tokyo to New York, which I’m very excited about. This should be the best new first class product that we’ve seen introduced since Emirates’ “new” first class back in 2017, and I can’t wait to experience it. I’m also looking forward to reviewing several Haneda Airport lounges, including the Japan Airlines First Class Lounge, Japan Airlines Business Class Lounge, and Cathay Pacific Lounge.
ZIPAIR lie-flat seat
So, how am I getting to Tokyo? Well, I’ll be flying into Narita Airport, so I’ll have to change airports. Specifically, I’ll be flying ZIPAIR, Japan Airlines’ low cost carrier, which arguably features the world’s most basic business class.
It’s not even a separate class of service, but rather you just pay to assign those weird reverse herringbone seats without TVs. Suffice it to say that I’m intrigued. While the airline operates long haul flights, I’ll be flying from Seoul to Tokyo, as I don’t necessarily feel like I need to enjoy 12 hours of inflight non-service.
I paid cash for this ticket, and paid $300 all-in, including just about every add-on imaginable (an amenity kit, food, drinks, cute looking chocolates, a carry-on baggage allowance, etc.).
MIAT Mongolian 787 & 737 business class
How am I getting to Seoul? Via Mongolia, of course, as one does! While I’ve reviewed MIAT Mongolian’s Boeing 767 business class back in the day, the airline has nicely refreshed its fleet with new Boeing 787s. So I’ll be flying from Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar on the Boeing 787, and from Ulaanbaatar to Seoul on the Boeing 737. The country also has a new airport since I last visited, so I’m curious to check that out.
I booked this ticket for cash, and the fare was a surprisingly reasonable ~$1,100 one-way. Then again, perhaps that pricing isn’t surprising, given that one wonders who is flying between Germany and Mongolia in the dead of winter? As someone from Florida, how will I cope with the 30 seconds I have to spend in the jet bridge in Mongolia?
Air France A350 & HOP E190 business class
To position to Frankfurt, I’ll be flying Air France business class from New York to Frankfurt via Paris. Specifically, the carrier’s latest A350-900s feature all-new cabins, which look exceptional, and I managed to book this from New York to Paris. While I reviewed Air France’s new 777-300ER business class last year, the A350-900s have a different new product.
Then from Paris to Frankfurt I’ll be flying on Air France’s regional subsidiary, HOP, on an Embraer E190. That plane is in a 2-2 configuration, and I’m a bit surprised to see that Air France doesn’t block seats in this configuration in business class, so you have a seat mate.
I’m also looking forward to reviewing several lounges at JFK, including all the lounges in Terminal 1, plus the Chase Sapphire Lounge, at a minimum.
I managed to book this entire ticket for 50,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles, so that’s quite a good value.
Bottom line
I kicked off 2024 with a fun review trip, and I have another one coming up very shortly. This one involves Japan Airlines’ A350 first class, ZIPAIR’s flat bed whatever-class, MIAT Mongolian’s 787 and 737 business class, Air France’s A350 and E190 business class.
Any thoughts or predictions on my itinerary? I’m excited about this, so stay tuned!
Any idea re the HND-DFW route starting to use the new planes? I happen to have a fc booking early October.
At least you avoided LH 350-900 crap business class! BONUS!
On our 10 hour flight SFO-MUN the FA's were around for about 3 hours at start and 2 hours at the end. Rest of the time either asleep upstairs or in the kitchen.
Usually they do block the seat next to you in Business on HOP! Embraer E190's when the cabin is not full.
I took one of these last month.
Anyway, its a waste of money to pay for Business on these planes
Hi Ben,
Assuming you’re aware of the VIPOne service at JFK terminal 1 Avoids you having to use TSA PreCheck lite, and is free for Priority Pass (May be dependent on PP benefit source). A real timesaver.
I am booked in February to fly JAL from JFK to HND in J
Checking daily to see if anything opens up in F
Lucky - if you’re planing to try for a bulkhead on the AorFrance A350, just beware that Delta seems to play games with reassigning those in this seats at the last minute. Happened to my wife and I in December flying from Detroit. We had blocked the seats as part of an award booking and Delta gate agents reassigned them at the last minute (15 minutes prior to boarding) with zero notice. When questioned at...
Lucky - if you’re planing to try for a bulkhead on the AorFrance A350, just beware that Delta seems to play games with reassigning those in this seats at the last minute. Happened to my wife and I in December flying from Detroit. We had blocked the seats as part of an award booking and Delta gate agents reassigned them at the last minute (15 minutes prior to boarding) with zero notice. When questioned at the gate, they claimed it was due to an aircraft swap but that was 100% a lie. The aircraft had always been the newly configured A350, and not a previous Joon configuration.
Either way - good luck and enjoy. It’s a nice product!
Remember HOP departs from CDG T2G which is a wonderful terminal if originating in Paris but a pain if you're coming from another terminal since it sits away from the rest of T2 which is all around the oval. Forget bus gate, its a BUS TERMINAL! The public departures area post security in T2G is beautiful and arguably nicer than the AF lounge in T2G although obv the AF lounge has food and drink included. :)
Please share the backend booking process for these flights! Miles? travel agent? airline website?
Travel agent lol.
He did?
His stock ticket was overnighted via mail courier.
Would like to hear about your ground experience in FRA. I used their JAL First Class Lounge. I’ll be in Tokyo HND twice next month and have JAL First Class lounge access there.
Hope all the flights work out and it’s an amazing review trip.
Not surprised by Hop! opting against blocking any seats in J... I flew last week IB J on an Air Nostrum CRJ (first regional jet flight in many years) and was shocked by the fact they also don't even bother blocking any seats. Back in 2017/18 I recall taking another flight on an IB CRJ (albeit Y) where there were only 5 J pax and despite that the first three rows were J (a pair of seats for each passenger).
Can you explain how you booked the JL F segment?
Very exciting I am really looking forward.
Is the A350 product different from the one you reviewed out of YYZ?
JAL cabins were so bad on the way to Tokyo..cancelled F class going back to DFW and taking AA business.
It is REALLY BAD on JAL right now. They are pumping heat into the cabin for 14 hours and the Japanese are in jackets and blankets. It is a major cultural difference. I wish you good luck on that A350. I do not care if it was a private 4 bedroom suite with hookers and a chef.... I will avoid JAL forever after that sweatbox.
If there is a next time, try asking a flight attendant to turn down the temperature. In my experience, they happily obliged.
I flew JL F DFW-HND in August. I really hate hot stuffy environments too but I remember being comfortable the whole flight. Maybe it comes down to the personal preference of the head FA.
I just flew to Haneda from ORD on JAL 787-9 with Apex Suites. Found a very different experience from you. Quite honestly, one of the best flights I’ve ever taken. Service was amazing and cabin temperature was very comfortable.
I flew JL11 in F last week, and the temp was fine (as an old fat texan). Perhaps I just haven’t run into a crew that keeps it steaming.
FWIW, I flew just a couple of weeks ago in 1A on Air France's A350-900. Headrest was broken, armrest was broken, and all the IFE remotes in the entire plane were inoperative.
I talked to the purser, and he told me most of the FAs are gutted because it's a brand new plane and they keep having issue upon issue upon issue with the new suites (I also flew in the new suites on...
FWIW, I flew just a couple of weeks ago in 1A on Air France's A350-900. Headrest was broken, armrest was broken, and all the IFE remotes in the entire plane were inoperative.
I talked to the purser, and he told me most of the FAs are gutted because it's a brand new plane and they keep having issue upon issue upon issue with the new suites (I also flew in the new suites on the 777 back in September, also in a bulkhead seat but in the middle, and the privacy partition was broken). They were very apologetic, and we chatted for a while. They said Safran is really struggling to keep these seats working and many parts can't be ordered on time, etc. And it's a bummer because it otherwise is an amazing seat and the cabin looks stunning!
Ended up getting a very nice compensation for those issues.
Also I'm not sure you will be able to access terminal 1 at CDG, since both your flights arrive and leave from terminal 2. I believe there are conflicting reports on that, but if you don't have a flight ticketed to depart from T1 you may have issues.
Ben, you left out a very important part here - how did you book the JL FC? I have been looking almost daily to find award ticket in either direction but nothing shows up.
80k AA miles- as he mentioned it was speculatively booked months ago. ever since the new cabin was officially announced the seats get snatched up incredibly quickly.
Thanks Harold. Had forgotten about that.
Can't wait to read about your adventure.
Safe travels
I can't believe you managed to find award space on JAL. I've been scouring for months now, including when the schedule first opened for the dates I need, and nada. J or F...
JAL J on the A350 isn't that difficult if you have a flexible schedule. I have seen a few awards from July to December.
14 days is the general rule. Once in a while on ORD routes they will release earlier. I am warning everyone on here... two JAL flights this month were over 80 F in the cabin... major sweatbox. Dress in layers and be prepared to not sleep.
Ben stated a few weeks back that he proactively booked at F reward on the JFK flight when it was showing a 773 in the hope that it would switch to 350 (since JL restricted sale to only 6 of the 8 seats). I assume this change occurred and he arranged this trip around that.
Otherwise - I expect it will be hard to find F space on the 350.
Like the good old days!!!
Great stuff
@Ben- How did you book the JAL flight?
Looking forward to the reviews! AF is imo one of the better European airlines, but do manage your expectations for HOP, and plan enough transfer time as their Embraer flights leave from Terminal 2G..
Don't Air France's A350s have the same new J seat as the 777s?
@ Chris W -- They look very similar, but it's not the same product. The 777 has the Safran Versa seats, while the A350 has the STELIA Opera seat. Funny how they're so similar and even have the same bulkhead seat designs, but are different seats, eh?
I was able to book AF new A350 PPT-LAX bulkhead seats without FB elite status. I'm hearing conflict reports if this elite status is required. Do you know if there is a clear policy?
I had an awards flight booked with miles via FlyingBlue and for some reason, the bulkhead seats opened for me to book, I think maybe 3 weeks prior. I have no status with AF so I thought it odd. They had been previously blocked for selection.
TAP or Aer Lingus?
Yikes....this didn't age well.
Maybe ELAL 788 MIA (or other us gateway)-TLV-FRA?
Looks like a great trip! I’d advocate for the AeroMexico or Air France if availability arises.
I wonder, could you by any chance do an update post on what luggage you’re currently using? I’d find that hugely helpful.
How about KLM’s new business class? Think they have it on their 777s to JFK
I flew Zipair lie-flat from SFO-NRT. Like Vinoo said, they board back to front. Those of us flying lie-flat were the last to get called.
How did you book the JAL flight?
Fly Air Algerie YUL-ALG-FRA
Air France’s Caribbean island hopper
Then Air Caraibes to Orly ( or AF to CDG)
Great! I‘m really interested in all three reviews, MIAT, ZIPAIR and JAL.
For the transatlantic, I love daytime flights. There is a new one: YHZ-LHR by AC. It‘s operated with a 737 MAX8, so don‘t expect any flat beds … but fair enough, they sell their business class as premium eco, which I find a good deal for a day time flight.
Just got off Aer Europa 787-9 business class yesterday. It was fine. Seat was nice, but the crew was more interested in serving their friends that they bumped from economy then me. Ran out of food options twice.
why not try flying with elal 788 from miami via TLV available for 100k alaska miles
Why not fly with Iceland Air and make a stopover?
What about slumming-it on Level (SFO to BCN) or French Bee (SFO to ORY)?
Just got back from Tokyo, flew few different business class in Asia (China air, Thai, D1, Hink Kong) - as far as a hotel close to Haneda, while not an airport hotel per se, I can’t recommend enough The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo. It’s a simple 25 min train ride from terminal 3, but the hotel has amazing gardens, spa, sauna, restaurants…highly highly recommend it! Try to get a room on the 14th floor facing the city (Tokyo tower) as well as the gardens.
Agree best place near Shingawa and much better than the HND airport hotels but its very mediocre for Ben's taste :).
My prediction ; Ben’s review of the new JAL First will be 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I’m making a couple of quick turns between LAX and HND in February. I plan on being in the JAL Sakura First lounge at HND 1030a-noon on 2/13 and 2/15 but I’m flying AA. The business class lounge was horrible last time I was there ; now I have OWE.
No way! Def will be 5! Actually 90% chance of 5 and 10% chance of 4.5
The Sakura First lounge is nice. Better than the biz lounge, but not quite on par with CX (cabanas, dining, bar) or QF (dining) lounges, IMO. The Red Suite is an enjoyable room in which to relax and sip a glass of champagne or wine. The Salon (up one floor) is also worth a visit. It hasn’t been open on all of my visits! Enjoy - would love to know what you think of it….
Will you stay in Mongolia for 1-2 nights? If not, seems like a waste as it's a unique destination that could led to interesting blog content.
Fly Lufthansa Discovery and get $1300 in cash compensation again
TAP A330-900neo?
Nevermind, seems like someone else had the same idea
How about WestJet? I don’t think you’ve flown them since the Pandemic
Please stay at the hotel "Villa Fontaine Haneda Premier" at Haneda Airport.
You can see planes at Haneda Airport from the open-air bath. There's nothing like watching airplanes while taking a warm bath outside in the cold winter.
Welcome to visit Japan!
I'm Japanese and I use Google Translate, so I'm sorry if my English is bad.
I agree!
I also thought the Villa Fontaine Premier’s restaurants were quite good for an airport hotel. I’m not sure if the Permier and the Grand share the same restaurants.
Zip Air boards the plane from the back rows to the front. Flew from SFO-NRT on their flat bed seat. Good value for money!!
Use the onsen at Haneda if you get the chance! It's pretty fun and might be good to do a quick review to inform readers. Though photos would have to be quite limited for obvious reasons...
I'd love to see Aeromexico 787-9 review
How about Ethiopian airlines to FRA via ADD?
Awesome, looking forward to the trip reports. Have a happy New Year and hopefully we get to hear from Tiffany in the New Year...Hi Tiffany, I/we miss your reviews
yep I am a Tiffany fan also. Her Romanian and Jordanian roads trips from several years ago were superb both in content and writing style.
Edelweiss SJO-ZRH A340
What about JetBlue on the LR? Go through CDG or AMS from JFK!
Ben,
How about a rail and air trip report?
Brightline MIA to MCO followed by Eurowings business class nonstop to FRA?
Although no one would fault you if you flew the 747 on LH nonstop ;)
Sounds like a great trip!
Having just been through the new UBN this summer, it's nice and clean, but the lounge is outside of security, and the airport is so far out of the city, it can take 2-3 hours to get in during rush hour. Will you be leaving the airport or just transiting through? I can't imagine they have a lot of transiting customers since MIAT has so few planes and routes! Looking forward to your report!
Don’t do Royal Air Maroc if you can avoid it. Everything is bad news about the experience. They swap the 787s for derelict Wamos planes all the time, with no advance notice. So if you enjoy angle-flat, surrounded by non-rev airline staff, knock yourself out. And don’t get me started on the airport ground experience. Avoid at all cost. If you manage to get on the 787, it’s decent interior, eadible if basic food, dreadful...
Don’t do Royal Air Maroc if you can avoid it. Everything is bad news about the experience. They swap the 787s for derelict Wamos planes all the time, with no advance notice. So if you enjoy angle-flat, surrounded by non-rev airline staff, knock yourself out. And don’t get me started on the airport ground experience. Avoid at all cost. If you manage to get on the 787, it’s decent interior, eadible if basic food, dreadful IFE, rude flight attendants. I had to take a few of those flights, it’s a lottery basically what you will get.
I know you reviewed Iberia somewhat recently, but would enjoy your take on the new A350 business class with doors.
Availability to Mexico City seems easy to come by, and also a pretty solid deal using avios at off-peak pricing (42.5k miles one-way for a 12hr flight).
@ Kevin M -- Would LOVE to do Iberia's new A350 business class. It seems seat map is the same as the old configuration. Is there a different designator code used for it, and/or is this consistently flown to MEX? That's an option I'm definitely into...
Emirates A380 JFK-MXP and then MXP to FRA dare to change airports to do ITA LNT? Don’t know if service is back in time though. But there’s also the Emirates to Athens or from Mexico to Barcelona.
Or Norse Premium Eco? Most ppl assume it’s the same as Norwegian is it?
How about CDG-MIA on Norse Atlantic? You never reviewed their premium cabin.
Second choice would be Air Europa or Icelandair.
I am thinking of other airlines you never reviewed before? Level? Play? Vorl Azul via Brazil?
I know you probably wouldn't want to do it, but Norse, TUI, or Neos in premium economy would all make for excellent reviews! Maybe not this time since it would have to be an overnight flight, but given their reasonable premium fares, it would be great to read what they're like!
To be fair Ben only sleeps a couple of hours on flights (especially shortish ones like transatlantic)… I don’t even know if the lay flat seat is that important. I fly Norwegian from ord to BCN in the premium economy type big seat and actually slept better than a lot of flat bed seats I’ve been on.
Would love to see an Aer Lingus Review via Dublin
As much as I had a bad experience on Air Europa and would dissuade people from booking it, I will at least say that I used to see availability on Flying Blue, both out of Miami and New York. Delta doesn't show this availability on their website.
Otherwise, what about Iberia's "suite with doors" product?
My first ever business class redemption was in Air Europa, JFK -> MAD 15 months ago, I was able to find availability for 4 people via Flying Blue, I sure hope that option hasn't become more limited as I'd love to fly them again in 2024 to get to Europe.
Would love to see an air Europa business review as it’s supposed to be pretty good!
I flew ZIPAIR SJC-NRT. There is a single check in line regardless of seat. Boarding from back of the plane. They charge for everything including pillow, blankets food and water! So take an empty bottle and post security fill with water at a lounge. Even if you order their food the serving size very small! Note if you don’t order their food online it’s ordering via a buggy code you have to scan on board....
I flew ZIPAIR SJC-NRT. There is a single check in line regardless of seat. Boarding from back of the plane. They charge for everything including pillow, blankets food and water! So take an empty bottle and post security fill with water at a lounge. Even if you order their food the serving size very small! Note if you don’t order their food online it’s ordering via a buggy code you have to scan on board. Given that it was 25% of the cost of ANA and JAL. The seat is designed more for Japanese so if you like turning while sleeping it will be difficult. And SJC NRT is likely better than the other way around given sleep patterns.
BTW how did you book JAL F? I never see it these days
@ Marcus -- Thanks for sharing your experience, that's helpful! I booked Japan Airlines using AAdvantage miles, and it showed directly on aa.com. Japan Airlines typically releases one first class award seat per flight when the schedule first opens. Sometimes people book them and then later cancel, so I was able to book one of those seats.
I should add a few more details. I am 5’10” 165 pounds. The seat was quite snug for me and whilst barely acceptable sleeping on my back no way to move or turn around! I should add do not use their blanket. I something awful which sticks to your clothes and generally creates a mess. As a regular on the SFO NRT route (8 times a year) it’s astonishing how much the cash costs and...
I should add a few more details. I am 5’10” 165 pounds. The seat was quite snug for me and whilst barely acceptable sleeping on my back no way to move or turn around! I should add do not use their blanket. I something awful which sticks to your clothes and generally creates a mess. As a regular on the SFO NRT route (8 times a year) it’s astonishing how much the cash costs and points has gone up. I do wish point.me offered a service where they alerted you of F availability regardless of date and direction as I can generally work around those dates! Where is the NH and JL F availability gone?!
Seat.aero.com
Would've loved to see ANA's A380 and Air Premia thrown in there somehow. Anywho, Happy New Year to all and all the best for 2024.
@ Mike O. -- I was initially hoping to do a combination of ANA A380 first class and Thai 777 first class, but I couldn't find any availability. It's so tough to come by... :-(
Maybe for MIA-FRA you could try Aer Lingus via Dublin? Or Virgin Atlantic via LHR (dunno about LHR-FRA…) or even ITA via FCO?
@ Meshi -- Aer Lingus is a great idea if availability opens up, as I haven't done the A330 in a long time. I have done both of ITA's long haul aircraft recently, so won't be flying with the airline again soon. I also did Virgin Atlantic's A330-900neo, but I should probably check out the A350-1000 again.
I’d love to read your thoughts on the new Finnair business class ‘sofa’, have only read people whose opinions I don’t trust / who don’t go into much details…
@ Ignoramus -- Thanks for your trust! I reviewed it some time back, you can read my thoughts and review here:
https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/finnair-business-class-a330/
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/finnair-no-recline-business-class-seat/
Aww, was hoping to see an Air Premia review on the way to Seoul. :) Sounds like fun!
My suggestion:
Miami-São Paulo (Latam or Azul)
GRU-JNB (South African)
JNB-FRA (Ethiopian or nonstop in Condor/Lufthansa)
@ Rafa -- Hah, I'm hoping to slightly minimize my time away from home, and I think that might just be a little too circuitous. However, I have plans to travel to Africa in the coming months as well, so I think I should have some Ethiopian and South African Airways content there.
That would be a super cool change from the usual US-Europe-Asia itinerary!
Feels like old times at OMAAT! This is what makes you the best in the business, Ben, keep it going!
Check the Flying Blue portal for Air Europa rather than skyteam. that's how I found an award flight when I flew them in October.
@ FE -- I appreciate it, thank you for the comments and for reading! I'm hoping to focus on the basics in the coming year, and that includes a lot of flying.
I would LOVE a delta one review....
@ Amit -- I'm long overdue for that. Has anyone seen any amount of transatlantic business class award space for January/February bookable at a decent mileage cost/through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club? If there's availability I'd definitely travel that way!
According to Seats dot aero it looks like there is availability for 50,000 VS points from PDX to AMS, DTW to AMS, or JFK to DUB on 1/5, 1/23, and 2/1, respectively.
I second this. A Delta one review would be great. Super useful.
I booked JFK/ZRH in Delta One with VA miles not too long ago for Feb
Ben, what about TP for your flight to FRA?
@ Nelson -- That's a great idea. I should have mentioned that I have another spring trip booked (not just a review trip, but a "normal" trip) where I have the TAP A330-900neo and A321LR booked, so those reviews are coming, now that the airline finally releases a decent amount of business class award space.
I'd love to see a Club Suites review! I've flown them 4-5 times and would love to hear your thoughts.
“best Haneda Airport hotel when departing Terminal 3?”
I thought the Villa Fontaine Premier was quite good. Would love to get your take on it.
I agree!
Air Algerie YUL-ALG-FRA!
@ Saeed -- I'd love to fly Air Algerie, but the cheapest one-way business class fare I see in the market is over $2,000, which seems a bit steep for what's being offered. Air Algerie remains on my list, I'm just waiting for the right opportunity.
@Ben I think the best hotel near HND is the Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda Airport. It’s connected to Terminal 3, and the prices don’t seem too bad.
If you really want an adventure, maybe consider flying Avianca or Latam to Bogota, and then fly Avianca up to LHR, MAD, or BCN.
The Villa Fontaine Premier is a step up from the Grand. Both are good. The Grand is great if you are simply looking for a place to crash, but the Premier is definitely “better” IMO. In my experience the Premier was about $100 more than the Grand.
Not at Haneda airport itself, but Hyatt Regency Yokohama is an excellent nearby option to Haneda esp if you have a Category 1-4 cert! ~$5 by public transportation, or I'd estimate a ~$50 taxi? (Japan being Japan w/ private car transport costs)
Across the Atlantic, you can also check if there's any "cheap"-ish Aeroplan Business Flexible awards on Air Canada metal via Toronto? You could (finally) visit the Signature Suite lounge in Toronto, which imo...
Not at Haneda airport itself, but Hyatt Regency Yokohama is an excellent nearby option to Haneda esp if you have a Category 1-4 cert! ~$5 by public transportation, or I'd estimate a ~$50 taxi? (Japan being Japan w/ private car transport costs)
Across the Atlantic, you can also check if there's any "cheap"-ish Aeroplan Business Flexible awards on Air Canada metal via Toronto? You could (finally) visit the Signature Suite lounge in Toronto, which imo has the best food/drinks of any North American lounge!