Review: ZIPAIR Economy Class (787-8)

After finishing my trip to Japan, I didn’t want to spend too much on airfare to get back home to Vancouver. Flights between North America and Japan have gone up quite a lot when paying with cash, so new long-haul low-cost carriers like ZIPAIR bring hope for cheaper flights across the Pacific. 

Thankfully, ZIPAIR recently launched flights to Vancouver from Narita International in Tokyo, so I wanted to give them a shot. Read on for my review of ZIPAIR Economy Class to know what you can expect if you are looking to save significantly on your next trip across the Pacific!

Booking ZIPAIR Economy Class

At the start of my trip, I redeemed my Aeroplan points for the flight to Japan in Air Canada’s Premium Economy aboard their 787, but the prices coming back were way too high to justify using more points. 

I only paid 45,000 Aeroplan points for the flight to Osaka, but coming back to Vancouver from Tokyo, was not worth the redemption, especially with a connection that could double the time it would take to get back. I also didn’t want to spend twice as much money on a one-way ticket as I would have on a different carrier.

Instead, I went with ZIPAIR where the base fare cost $363.67 CAD, and taxes and fees took $39.22 of that total. As ZIPAIR is a budget airline, I did purchase the premium bundle for $176.04, which included seat selection, an additional 8kg of carry-on weight, a 30kg checked bag, a meal, and an amenity kit (which I totally forgot about until a flight attendant handed it to me).

While purchasing the premium bundle increased the total cost a bit, you can’t expect any of the amenities of a full-service carrier so I didn’t mind spending a bit more to make the flight more enjoyable.

I also paid $2.44 for the meal to be served two hours before landing instead of being served during inflight service right after departure plus a $2.20 500ml water bottle, but it wasn’t necessary because I didn’t read the fine print stating that a water bottle was included with the meal.

In total with the additional fees, I paid $544.35, including tax for my one-way flight which seemed quite reasonable, especially considering that the cost of round-trip flights to Japan hovers around $1200-$1500 during the summer season. ZIPAIR is also one of the few Low-Cost Carriers that allow you to earn Mainline Airline points, which in this case would be Japan Airlines’ JAL miles.

Ground Experience

Checking in and dropping my bag was surprisingly seamless. Mobile check-in was temporarily unavailable for the flights from Tokyo to Vancouver, which meant that I had to go to the airport to check-in. 

There was a ZIPAIR flight to Los Angeles departing at around the same time from Narita International Airport, so it was very busy, but thankfully, there were self-service kiosks for you to check in and print your boarding pass. Service desks were located at the C and D check-in piers, where one side of C was for Vancouver and the other for Los Angeles.

One part of the D pier was for bag services, where staff weighed carry-on baggage and you could use the self-serve bag drop. There was a long queue for the bag drop but it went fairly fast. The first staff member you approached only weighed your carry-on before sending you to the bag drop machine.

Because I purchased the premium bundle, I was directed to the bag drop services desk instead of the self-service machine. A staff member at the counter tagged my checked bag and stickered my carry-on and my personal item backpack. The sticker did come off somewhere between the security checkpoint and boarding, though the gate agents didn’t check for it.

You could also pay for the express service which did everything for you at the same desk, though it was only limited to 30 people per flight, for 3000 JPY each. The express service mimics a Priority Services counter, where you get priority check-in and priority baggage delivery at your destination.

ZIPAIR doesn’t offer complimentary lounge services, though you can pay 5700 Japanese Yen for access to the affiliated Narita Premier Lounge. This lounge was right next to my flight but ZIPAIR flights don’t always depart from the same concourse at Narita Terminal 1.

Boarding was in three groups: Priority Boarding for those who paid for a lie-flat seat, the back rows of the plane, and then all passengers at last, which was the boarding group that I was a part of.

Cabin Arrangement

The Economy cabin on ZIPAIR’s 787-8 is configured in a standard 3-3-3 layout, with a total of 272 seats with a pitch of 31 inches. Although these were ex-Japan Airlines aircraft, the lavatories in the middle of the economy cabin were removed and moved to the back of the premium lie-flat section. Two more lavatories were added to the rear of the plane as well.

ZIPAIR allows you to upgrade your seat to a lie-flat no-frills business class seat, which would’ve cost 70,000 JPY for my flight, though the flight was fully booked. According to their website, the availability of these seats is very limited throughout the summer for the flight between Narita and Vancouver.

Row 36 cannot recline and row 57 has a limited recline, though the middle section of these rows has no problem. 

Seat

I chose seat 28K, a window seat adjacent to the right wing of the plane. Most of the Economy seats are not particularly special except for a few rows with stationary armrests and a limited recline.

ZIPAIR does not offer seatback entertainment consoles at any of their seats, so bring your own entertainment or plan to rest for the flight ahead.

My seat had a very stained bi-folding tray table and a smaller shelf for holding smaller items. The shelf can also be used as a phone or tablet holder as well.

The seat itself was well kept, however the floor area was very dirty with food and other unknown crumbs visible in the seat installation rails. The seats are at a 31-inch pitch, which is about standard across the long-haul market.

Amenity Kit

The amenity kit I received was part of the premium package I paid for as an add-on. Included were a fleece blanket, an eye mask, earplugs, and a neck pillow. The neck pillow was inflatable by squishing the air pump. The eye mask was cushiony, which was great for this red-eye back to Vancouver.

Dining

The Premium package also included a meal. I chose the Gyudon Rice with Beef, which included a small water bottle. When I selected my meal, I didn’t realize that it already included one, so I also pre-purchased another water bottle. I also paid extra to have it served later just before landing.

The food was bland, but this was a low-cost carrier, and I was half awake so I didn’t really expect much in terms of flavor. If it were during the day, I probably would consider other options. 

You can purchase food and drinks onboard through the in-flight menu via the shopping browser on your personal device as well. However, it wasn’t available until halfway through the flight, and the selections on the in-flight menu sold out very quickly because each product was limited in quantity.

Parent company Japan Airlines’ exclusive Udon de Sky instant noodles are also available for purchase.

Only about 30 minutes after opening, most of the food options sold out.

Entertainment

WiFi

There is no seat-back in-flight entertainment on ZIPAIR planes, so ensure you bring a way to keep yourself entertained for the flight. However, there is complimentary WiFi for everyone, various streaming media, and a flight tracker that you can access through your devices. The WiFi was quite spotty and slow, especially over the ocean.

I tried to sleep through most of the flight so it wasn’t too big of a deal. For some reason, the shopping portal didn’t work until I was in incognito mode in my web browser so be aware that you might have to try a few different ways of connecting in case it doesn’t work for you as well.

At the top of the in-flight browser was a bar that displayed when you can purchase items through the shopping site. Nothing was available for purchase until about halfway into the flight. I bought a ZIPAIR ‘Remove Before Flight’ keychain and it came to my seat about three minutes after I ordered.

Lavatory

The lavatory was clean throughout the rest of the flight. Nothing unusual, although they did have a de-odourizer spray in there just in case.

Conclusion

Paying just under $550 Canadian Dollars to fly from Tokyo to Vancouver was reasonable, especially when it could have been as little as $370 for just bringing a personal item. The crew was attentive and friendly; however, the cabin itself could certainly use more of a thorough cleaning.

On our descent into Vancouver, the air conditioning started leaking from the middle overhead compartments and five flight attendants plugged the leak by taping the gap. Although this was a full flight, the overhead compartments weren’t very full because of the add-on charges so nothing got wet except for the passengers underneath who got rained on.

Having very little expectations for ZIPAIR, the in-flight experience will reflect how much you paid for a seat onboard this service between Tokyo and Vancouver. I am hoping they are able to disrupt some of the prices currently offered on other carriers between Japan and North America since those have skyrocketed within the last few years. 

My overall experience with ZIPAIR was positive. I would consider booking them again if the time and price are right.