Review: JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View at Tokyo Haneda Airport

During my 28-hours-non-stop trip to South Korea, I had a chance to spend some time in both of JAL’s lounges in Tokyo Haneda Airport’s Terminal 3. The first one I went to was the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View, which as its name suggests, promises to offer a better view than the regular Sakura Lounge one floor below it.

Continue reading this review to see what the lounge was like and whether you should plan to spend a few hours in it before catching your flight.

Location & Opening Hours

Fairly recently, the locations of different lounges in Haneda Airport’s Terminal 3 were reshuffled slightly. That said, the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View has been in the same location since opening (unlike the regular JAL Sakura Lounge which moved from being near gates 111 and 112 where the JAL First Class Lounge remains to one floor below the Sky View Lounge).

To get to JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View, go through security and immigration and, once airside, turn left. Walk toward gate 114, pass by it, and, before getting to the area of the terminal with gates 140 through 149, you will see a sign pointing to “Lounges.”

The lounge is on the fifth floor, the same floor as the Delta Sky Club and, as mentioned above, one floor above the regular JAL Sakura Lounge and ANA Lounge. JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View is one floor below the Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge.

You can either use the escalators or take an elevator. In the latter case, make sure to remember the floor you are going to since the signs next to the elevator buttons will be useless!

The Sky View Lounge is open every day from 7AM to 12PM and from 6PM to 1AM.

For comparison, the two lounges with similar entry requirements – the regular Sakura Lounge and the Cathay Pacific Lounge – are open from 6AM to 1:50AM and from 7:30AM to 5PM respectively.

Entry Requirements

JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View at Tokyo Haneda follows the standard oneworld lounge access policy meaning:

• First class passengers departing on a JAL or other oneworld member airline flight can use the lounge together with one guest also traveling on a oneworld flight
• Business class passengers departing on a JAL or other oneworld member airline flight can use the lounge on their own
• Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald frequent flyer status holders can use the lounge together with one guest also traveling on a oneworld flight

Additionally, JAL passengers traveling in premium economy (excluding those who upgraded at the airport on the day of their departure) and on economy class “Flex Y Fare” (excluding those flying to Seoul and Guam) can use the lounge free of charge.

Lastly, the lounge can also be entered by using JAL lounge coupons.

Lounge Tour

The reception area was decorated with a large Japanese artwork.

Funnily enough, while the Delta Sky Club staff tried to send me to this lounge, this lounge’s staff tried to send me to the Delta lounge when they saw my boarding pass. After an explanation of the situation and a quick call by the staff to Korean Air staff later, I was let in.

Along the short hallway connecting the reception with the lounge itself was a baggage storage area.

Exiting the short hallway and turning to the right was “The Dining.”

The main feature of “The Dining” was a large buffet area consisting of four counters with a decent selection of drinks and food. More about the selection itself in the next two sections of this review, though.

As for seating, the dining area mostly had tables for two with benches along one side and chairs along the other.

There were also wide counters with chairs along each side, as well as bar-height counters along the windows, ideal for passengers traveling on their own.

Each of the seats at the counters had access to a power outlet and a USB charging port.

Turning left instead of right upon entering the lounge led to a series of seating areas with a much larger combined capacity than the dining area.

The seating mainly consisted of sofa chairs and lounge chairs arranged in rows facing each other. There were also some for larger groups of people arranged in groups of four. The one thing I appreciated was that even though the seats were in fairly uninspiring rows, the rows were spaced out a lot for extra privacy.

I also appreciated that most of the seats in this area had access to power outlets and USB charging ports and that, like throughout the rest of the lounge, there were small design touches (like nice artwork on the walls, not all seats being the same, etc.) that made the lounge feel cozier than it would have been without them.

At the very back of the lounge was a triangular “SKY Lounge” which, perhaps ironically given its name, consisted of dining tables and chairs placed in a row along the windows, neither of which was the ideal type of seat for lounging and relaxing.

The areas above were also home to a couple of drink counters.

Lastly, in terms of seating areas, there was a bar-like section behind the SKY Lounge. This section featured much darker tones than the rest of the lounge and had a more “elegant” vibe.

It was equipped with sofa chairs in a row along one of the section’s walls, as well as sofa chairs arranged in groups of four and a counter in the middle of the room. Additionally, there was a drink counter.

Separately from the above, there was also a copier/fax and a few phone booths along the inner wall of the lounge area.

The latter is something I always appreciate as it prevents the ambiance in the lounge from being disturbed by passengers taking phone calls/doing online meetings in the middle of the lounge.

While the Sky View Lounge had two sets of restrooms and a changing room, there were no showers.

Showers were instead available in the regular JAL Sakura Lounge one floor below.

Drinks

All drinks in the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View were self-serve. As mentioned above, they could be had in four different places – the dining area, the bar-like area, and the two counters in the general lounging areas. The selection in each of those places was essentially the same.

Cold soft drinks included a selection of sodas (Coke, Coke Zero, ginger ale, and Real Gold), juices, Pocari Sweat (a Japanese sports drink), ice tea and coffee, milk, and water.

Hot drinks included regular coffee, cafe latte, espresso, and cappuccino from an espresso machine, as well as a selection of five different George Steuart black teas. There were also regular green and roasted green tea bags.

Alcoholic drinks included two brands of beer (Asahi and Kirin) available from automatic dispensers. Interestingly, the selection of non-alcoholic beer was wider as there were canned Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory.

There were also two white wines, two red wines, two sakes, and a sparkling wine to choose from.

Additionally, there was a non-alcoholic sparkling wine. While I appreciated the effort the lounge put into providing non-alcoholic alternatives, it would have been nice if a more premium brand (for example So Jennie which Qatar Airways offers) was offered.

Lastly, there was a selection of about a dozen different kinds of liquor including vodka, whisky, gin, shochu, and plum wine among others.

Food

The selection and especially quality of food in the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View were above average.

There was a variety of bread and pastries, as well as taiyaki (a Japanese fish-shaped cake filled with red bean paste).

Then there was a salad bar next to which were two desserts – apple tarts and almond jelly.

More substantial items included a Japanese boxed meal with a piece of fish, cod roe, egg, and some other sides.

Then there were Japanese vegetable, onion, and miso soups.

Hot main dishes included curry rice, beef rice bowls (gyudon), pasta, and fried fish among other things.

It was also possible to order special meals through the lounge’s app available by scanning one of the QR codes on the tables:

• Halal vegetable penne
• Halal beef bowl
• Vegan vegetable penne

Lastly, on the drink counters were some snacks including cocoa biscuits, soybean chips, mixed nuts and dried fruits, and candies.

JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View Tokyo Haneda Summary

In most aspects including the entry requirements, overall design, types of seats, drinks and food selection, and so on, the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky View at Tokyo Haneda Airport is the same as the regular JAL Sakura Lounge a floor below it.

The one disadvantage it has compared to the regular lounge is the lack of showers.

The advantages include the better airport views (in other words, the lounge lives up to its name) and the fact that it seems to be less crowded than the regular lounge. The reason for the latter is probably that most people just take an escalator up and head to the nearest lounge (i.e. the regular one) without realizing there is another one a floor higher.

All in all the JAL Sakura Lounge Sky Views is a nice place to spend a couple of hours before a flight having a bite to eat and getting some work done.

First published on 2020/01/03. Fully rewritten on 2024/02/20 based on my latest visit.