Admirable how they have been able to carve out their little niche in the busy Japanese airspace! Like a small boutique airline on economy level, I like it! Amazing visuals as always, even the dreary weather upon arrival🤩 Thank you so much for reviewing this little gem 🙏🏼
I love the sleek livery and the interior of these birds. I enjoyed the transition of the wing while taking off from Haneda and the views of the airport/city afterwards.
I love your sense of humor and how you mention exactly how you paid for your flight/stay at a hotel. Usually I have to scrub back and forth to see how much a creator paid (if at all they mention it).
Unusual to have only one overwing exit on the A320. This must be due to the lower seating density offered by StarFlyer. Another sterling video review, Kevin. The Japan series has been fascinating. Thanks for your hard work.
I remember flying them years ago. Loved the airline...hated the flight though. Had nothing to do with them, the FAs were nice as hell, the seats were comfortable, and the other crews were pretty good. The problem I had with that flight has more to do with what time of year I chose to go to Japan. I went from Kansai to Tokyo, and was told there was some nice views on that route. I saw nothing from 1 minute after take off to 30 seconds before landing, it was that socked in over the country. It was such a waste, I could have just taken the Bullet Train back to Tokyo. That being said, Star Flyer isn't just holding to these small routes out of a focus on product and service. There are a lot of small carriers like that in Japan that nearly exclusively serve 1 or 2 destinations and no more. Unlike the US and Europe, Japan doesn't have the demand to fly more point-to-point routes and so super hubs like Tokyo (or really just Tokyo) ends up being the main and only destination of worth for these companies. And since HND is pretty close to capacity, they don't add more flights. I think it a way, also, they are a way of providing simulated competition to what would otherwise be a duopoly between JAL and ANA.
You are a great reviewer because of your niche market's videos Kevin! I am thrilled by how well-documented and inclusive your narration has been and this video proves just that ❤.
been curious of this airline since i played atc4 games, especially with their black livery... but indeed, black is quite elegance, especially with that type of interior.. hope you can cover another airlines in japan, i.e. ibex with their all crj fleet, fda with their all e-jet fleet and colorful livery, and perhaps the most precious of all, amakusa airlines with one and only mizoka plane...
Having IFE on a domstic flight is impressive! Almost as impressive as this Japan-series. And its not even the last one! I bow deeply in true Japanse manner. Respect!
Cool little airline and great value too! Such a decent flight for under $100? Hard to find that anywhere tbh. And I agree with you, I totally respect them for concentrating on their business model. On a side note, you keep teasing us with that Bhutan Airways flight, the Intercontinental Sanur, and that Qantas "experience"... all three of which I am eagerly anticipating - when are they coming!!?? :D
I may need to travel between Tokyo and Fukuoka next year so this looks like a good option. Some great views departing HND as well - something about those crystal clear Japanese days hits different.
HI Kevin, another great video. Thanks for introducing this airline. I looked at their web site, and it has to be about the most complicated tiered pricing system I've ever seen. If it wasn't for your video, as a foreigner, I think I'd just book with another carrier.
That's actually how just about all domestic airlines in Japan operate- heck, one of the flights on this trip was on JAL becuase I simply couldn't figure out how to book with Peach Airlines...
Had to look up the seating charts- couldn't imagine where 2 more seats could go unless you just tacked them onto the end... and it seems that's just what they did lol.
Airlines like Starflyer are the reason why I fall in love with Japanese carriers. I was even having a bad habit of overglorifying them until Starlux said hello to me last May. It's just....hard to get one bad flight with Japanese carriers, right? Idk though, who knows if someone, you included, have encountered any subpar flight with any Japanese carriers that did not scream Japanese hospitality. That's just my over-glorifying assumption again. Nice video as always!
The only type of disappointment I've ever had on a Japanese carrier was simply becuase I was holding them to a higher standard to begin with. The only examples of this would be my JK JFK-HND First video out a few weeks ago or tomorrow's ANA Economy video. I reckon it's difficult when everyone always expects perfection... United, American and Delta have it easy 😅
@@tfft : Same happened to me with Indonesia's new airline, TransNusa. Hearing tons of nice things, I set the bar high only to be greeted with faulty seats, so-so cabin crew, and almost getting injured due to my tray table suddenly giving way and flying open. I had the same high expectation on some new airlines like Starlux and Pelita and they both delivered and surpassed my expectations. A year after my flight, TransNusa got roasted by netizens for their inexplicable, unrealistically common flight delays exceeding 8 hours 🤣🤣
Hey Kev.. do you mind sharing the link for the quarterly rating review in your post with the scan code? I had opened it but then went on to check out this new video. And once i opened it, I can't find it again . Thanks very much in advance.
Digression at four minutes: they must’ve missed all the 7 year growth plans of every business school on the planet in the 90s. What a magnificent achievement - I’m originally from Australia where little airlines barely get their head above the parapet before it’s lopped off with maximum drama and gore:).
With my upcoming Australia series, I can’t wait to jump on Vanessa Hudson’s recent ‘Australia doesn’t need more airlines that’s why all others fail…’ philosophy 😂
@@tfft ooh, you’re doing an Oz series! Excellent. Aussies had high hopes for Hudson, especially given her predecessor’s umm…modest popularity:). I’m in Melbourne at the moment escaping the northern summer. On that Aussie note, after doing your survey I thought I should send a few monetary thanks as well. The RU-vid thanks button won’t process a payment bc my account is in America and the amount button is for AUD, and is apparently, set in stone. I’m not kidding. Will sort it out when I’m back, but thought I’d let you know of a barrier to receiving income from travelers who are travelling, at least in the antipodes.
Ah thanks very much for that. Hopefully RU-vid doesn't read this, but if I'm honest that "Thanks" button is more of a hassle for creators than anything else lol. So many rules on both ends of things- but of course, always happy to accept 😂... All I would say is I have Patreon tiers starting from $5, so if there's a tier that fits what you were going to give, there's no hard feelings at all to sign up for a month and then not renew. Up to you, but either way, thanks very much for the thought!
That looks so nice, 34 inches of legroom on a domestic economy flight is really impressive. I had a question - I’m looking to fly LHR-BKK in economy next year and my options are an EVA Air 777 with a 3-4-3 layout and a Thai 777 with a 3-3-3 layout. They’re priced pretty much identically and legroom seems to be the same. I can’t work out whether it’s better to have wider seats with Thai, or better service/IFE with EVA. Would you choose one over the other for economy?
I’d sacrifice food, water and all human contact (for a few hours lol) for a wider seat. I can feed and entertain myself, I can’t make my seat wider lol.
@@tfft thanks, thats really good to know. I’ve never actually been on a 777 before so I’ve not got any personal point of comparison of 3-3-3 vs 3-4-3 cabin comfort, but I can imagine it’ll make a pretty big difference on a flight that long. Thanks for the help 👍
@@christianwolff497 Choose an aisle in the middle on 3-3-3. That way there's no chance you'll get woken up by someone wanting to get out (which is possible on 3-4-3)
@@tfft It does seem like all the major Japanese carriers have a similar fare scheme, even ANA and JAL have the tourist specific fares if you know where to look.