I've had the chance to recently experience JL F, NH F, and KE F, and i'm a bit puzzled that the consensus is to rank JL / NH F well ahead of KE F. It might just be my taste, but i thought the KE F was superior to both of the Japanese products. and more important, JL was much better than NH. to be more specific:
Hard Product - KE > JL > NH. I just really enjoyed KE spacious seats, Open concept and unrestricted legrrom, To be clear, JL was pretty good as well, but NH was just uncomfortable and felt very claustrophobic. if i had to rate on a scale of 10, i would rate KE 8, JL 6, and NH 2?
Design - KE > JL > NH. I just loved the fresh and modern design of KE. everything from airport (ICN Airport is my new favorite. it just looks like something from a futuristic movie), lounge, plain, FA outfits. where as the JL / NH products seem something of the past in comparison. Again, NH design and even outfits seem like something from 80s.
Lounge - KE > JL > NH. Again, the KE and JL experiences were somewhat similar i felt. Their lounges seem modern and and comfortable, but the private large cocoons gave KE a slight edge i thought. NH in comparison, is just light years behind. their F lounge in NRT is just an embarrassment. small, crowded, terrible design and even worse in comfort. i mean i was so underwhelmed. those chairs, urgh, seemed like something from a 3rd world country.
Soft Product / Service - NH > JL > KE, only redeeming quality for NH. though the difference between the 3 was very small or negligible. it might just be the specific crews that we encountered, so hard to rate service based on just one experience, but the NH FAs were just super accommodating.
Food - all equal - I won't really rate here, as i'm very picky with food, and didn't feel like i could differentiate the 3 much. I dont really drink, and can't really eat any of the Japanese or Korean dishes. the intl menu, wasn't really memorable in either case. so..
overall, i flew 7 F products, and would rate as follows:
CX
KE
EK
JL
NH
AA
UA
just my 2 cents