Review: ZIPAIR “Full Flat” Business Class (787-8)

I was fortunate to be visiting Japan for the second time since 2023, this time during the time of year with a bit more favorable weather conditions and cherry blossoms in full bloom. Rather than fly Japan Airlines business class again, or one of the many other award flight options for traveling to Japan from North America, I decided to try something different.   

ZIPAIR is a relatively new Japanese carrier flying out of (routes/cities) with an interesting value proposition. It offers a bare-bones product with competitive pricing. Frugal Flyer contributor Andy had previously reviewed ZIPAIR’s economy class with a positive recommendation. Their “Full Flat” product, as it’s branded, is essentially a business class seat but without any of the other bells and whistles of business class, such as complimentary meal service. 

At only 10 hours travel time from Vancouver to Japan, having a bed to get a little rest was the primary purpose of flying in traditional business class anyway. So, ZIPAIR seemed like a great option to try out. 

Read on to see how my experience went.

Booking ZIPAIR “Full Flat” 

I booked ZIPAIR’s Full Flat product using cash for a total cost of $1,418 USD. The base fare cost was $1,277.50, but I added seat assignment, an amenity set, one carry-on bag, and a preselected meal.  I was able to knock $100 USD off the price using an Amex Offer for “Spend $500 or more, earn $100 back” that showed up on my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card.

The cost of carry-on baggage was $37.96 USD and was limited to 8 KG, although my bag was never weighed by any ZIPAIR staff. The meal, on the other hand, was $14.32 USD. I pre-selected the ‘Chicken Sauteed in a Seafood Chili Sauce’. You can also order meals once you’re on the plane, but pre-selecting will ensure you get the option you want and also get served faster.

For what it’s worth, I have heard that the Ginger Pork rice bowl is one of the best meals, as ranked by Elegant Escape, who have apparently tried them all.

Ground Experience

A reminder email prompted me to check in to my Zipair flight 24 hours prior to departure. Funnily enough, clicking the email link redirected to a page on the Zipair website which simply read “Please use the Mobile Check-in functionality from your Smartphone.” Indeed, check-in was only possible via a smartphone web browser. This was because the passport verification step required a photo and would not allow the manual inputting of information.  

After completing mobile check in I received both a boarding pass to print and also the option to add the pass to my mobile wallet.

As a low-cost subsidiary of Japan Airlines, ZIPAIR doesn’t have its own lounge. Although there are a few paid service partner lounges listed on ZIPAIR’s website, none are located in Vancouver.  Instead, I chose to visit the Plaza Premium Lounge at International Departures, accessed using my American Express Business Platinum Card.

Boarding was not the organized experience I’d come to expect from Asian carriers. The plane was boarded back to front, and the row numbers of the plane delineated three separate boarding lines. Although I had read that priority boarding was granted to Full Flat passengers in some other reviews, it turns out this was not the case on my particular flight.

Although it felt like I was one of the last to board, the full flat cabin was nearly empty when I got on. As it would turn out, it was only about half booked to begin with. 

Cabin Arrangement

ZIPAIR only flies one aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It is configured with just 18 “Full-Flat” class seats arranged in 1-2-1 configuration, and 272 standard seats arranged in 3-3-3 configuration. The full flat seats are JAMCO venture seats arranged in a reverse herringbone pattern, each seat with a pitch of 42” and width between armrests of 20”. The lie flat seat is 76” long.

With the reverse herringbone pattern, all of the business class seats on ZIPAIR Full-Flat are nearly identical, so seat choice is of little consequence. Individuals may opt to choose window seats, while couples can opt for middle seats side by side. Or you can just not pay the seat selection fee altogether if you wish.

As with any business class product, you may want to avoid seats near the bathrooms or galley. Allegedly, the bulkhead seats 2D and 2G are slightly roomier in the footwell, although I did not confirm this. 

With all that being said, I chose seat 4K, which was a window seat on the right side of the cabin. 

Seat

As mentioned, the cabin was rather empty upon my arrival. The cabin and seats themselves had a minimalist aesthetic, with a black and white color palette. The emptiness of the seat without any amenities also contributed to this.

I had an ample amount of space for my baggage, including both my carry-on and personal item. For me, this is always one of the understated benefits of business class.

The seat itself was made of a faux leather material. It wasn’t unpleasant to sit on, but I’ve also felt more comfortable materials. As I’ll get to later, it wasn’t the best for temperature regulation while sleeping. 

Other than that, it was a pretty standard-sized seat, with 20” seat width between the armrests. There was enough space in front for me to stretch out comfortably, but not by a lot, as it was one of the triangular footwells. Anyone pushing over 6 feet would probably have some discomfort.

As you can see, there was no entertainment screen, just a literature pocket. There were a few other storage areas as well, located around the seat, including a small ledge under the literature pocket, a pocket under the armrest, and a shelf behind the seat shoulder. 

The flight attendants were quite strict about stowage and seat belts. While the full shoulder seat belts were to be fastened during taxi, take-off, and landing, I was required to wear my waist seat belt for the entirety of the flight.  

The Zipair Full Flat seat controls were digital, located right on the armrest. The seat controls weren’t especially responsive. You really had to ‘press’ with firm authority to activate them.

The seat had ample lighting options, though, with a bright overhead light and a reading light above the shoulder with multiple brightness settings. 

The window also had a digital dimmer function with 5 different settings. 

The seat’s tray table was spacious and highly functional. It slid out diagonally and then folded over to expand. It had the ability to move laterally towards and away from the passenger for convenience.

Overall, Zipair provided a very passable and modern-enough business class product that I was not disappointed with. 

Lie-Flat Mode

The lie-flat mode of the ZIPAIR seat was easy to engage using the controls on the armrest. There was also a secondary button for transitioning back to upright positioning, which was accessible even while lying down. 

The armrest on the left side of the seat moved downwards with the press of a lever, which gave some extra space around the torso area when sleeping. 

I found the spaciousness of the lie-flat bed on ZIPAIR to be decent and on par with other business class products. The biggest downside was the lack of a mattress pad, as the leather material wasn’t the most comfortable to sleep on, and it seemed a bit difficult to maintain the right temperature. That and a more typical pillow would have greatly enhanced the sleeping experience on ZIPAIR.

Nonetheless, I was able to doze off twice for around 30-45 minutes, which was of great benefit to my restfulness on arriving at my destination in Tokyo.

Amenity Kit

ZIPAIR Full Flat does not come with a dedicated amenity kit included. However, I chose to add the optional add-on amenity kit at the time of booking. The amenity kit I received was essentially just a bag with a blanket, slippers, earplugs, and a blindfold. It was brought to me about 30 minutes into the flight. 

It also included an inflatable neck pillow, which I made use of while seated, but was useless for sleeping unless you want to wake up with major neck pain. A pillow or mattress pad for sale would have been a nice addition to the shopping portal offerings, and I would consider bringing a small pillow with me on my next ZIPAIR flight if I were serious about sleeping.

Bathroom 

There were two bathrooms available on each aisle at the back of the business class cabin. These were shared with the economy class passengers; however, until the last 30 minutes of the flight, I never had to wait for a turn.

One of the bathrooms was larger and was surprisingly spacious, with plenty of room to stand and move laterally (picture above).  The other was on par with the restrictive airplane bathrooms typical of an economy class cabin.

Dining

The ZIPAIR Full Flat product didn’t have a formal in flight meal service as with other carriers. However, it did have the option to pre-order a meal at the time of booking, which I did, opting for the chicken sauteed in seafood chili sauce. This pre-ordered meal was served pretty soon after we hit altitude.

Although it didn’t have the most appetizing appearance, the chicken was decent. The sauce had a tasty flavor, and the rice was sticky. I ordered orange juice as well, which tasted very fresh.

About one and a half hours into the flight, in-flight shopping was made available via the ZIPAIR web application. At this point, I ordered a Suntory plum wine and soda, as well as the Caring coconut ice cream.

The wine was delicious. However, the ice cream tasted a bit freezer-burned and lacked flavor. 

I ordered several more snacks at various points throughout the flight, and found the ordering process convenient and streamlined, aside from the fact that I had to re-enter my credit card information each time I placed an order.

Notably, quite a few of the popular items had run out of stock by the latter half of the flight but there were still plenty of options to choose from.

Entertainment

Entertainment Console

ZIPAIR’s Full Flat seat didn’t have a dedicated entertainment console. However, once connected to the WiFi, you could browse a selection of entertainment options from your phone. The choice of movies was extremely limited and outdated, offering: Top Gun Maverick, Black Adam, No Time To Die, DC League of Super Pets, Super Mario Bros Movie, Minions, Fantastic Beasts, DUNE, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Intern. 

With the quality of the complimentary satellite WiFI, I think streaming on your own service like Netflix would have been a problem, so it’s best to pre-download some entertainment before the flight if that’s how you like to kill time onboard.

WiFi

Satellite WiFi was available complimentary to passengers aboard ZIPAIR. The process for connecting was simple and fast.

Although pages were slow to load initially, the quality seemed decent enough for me to work on online documents or browse the web, albeit with patience. Speed test results are shown below.

Streaming on something like YouTube was a real struggle and frankly not even viable. Listening to Spotify live was possible, on the other hand.

Conclusion

At about ⅓ the cost of “real” business class, flying ZIPAIR’s “Full Flat” product is a compelling option for budget-conscious travelers who prioritize comfort over luxury. While it lacks the amenities and service frills of traditional business class, its value proposition comes from the lie-flat seat, modern cabin, and competitive pricing. And if you adjust your expectations accordingly, you won’t be disappointed.

Although there are times when dedicated meal services on business class flights are really nice, I really enjoyed the à la carte nature of the ZIPAIR shopping experience, being able to order anything when I wanted and have it delivered within minutes by the flight attendants. 

I would definitely still veer towards making a points redemption where possible for transpacific flights to Tokyo, but in a pinch, ZIPAIR is a decent and cost-effective option to consider from the West Coast.