Lie Flat/Business Class Airline Recommendations?

[amberwc]

[QUOTE="calypso726, post: 57857939, member: 132697" My suggestion would be check any flights you are looking at in www.seatguru.com The seats are mapped out by type of plane, airline, route and configuration. They detail the type of seat, width, pitch and even have information on specific rows and seats. I'm flying Singapore Suites and this is why. Here is an article from The Points Guy discussing the best business class flights to Europe and he goes into detail about which airlines and which specific aircraft.

View attachment 249365[/QUOTE]
That article is actually why I asked the question. I started researching all the options, and some have 20" seats, some 22" and some comments complain about them being too hard. It's a lot to try to research!

 

[calypso726]

That suite is what I'm hoping for one day You must do a trip report and tell us how it is. I've read the points guy article (as well as others), but hearing about it from someone I feel like I know would be great!!

I will definitely be doing a day by day trip report, assuming I can post from China. I will, of course, start with the flight

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

[QUOTE="calypso726, post: 57857939, member: 132697" My suggestion would be check any flights you are looking at in www.seatguru.com The seats are mapped out by type of plane, airline, route and configuration. They detail the type of seat, width, pitch and even have information on specific rows and seats. I'm flying Singapore Suites and this is why. Here is an article from The Points Guy discussing the best business class flights to Europe and he goes into detail about which airlines and which specific aircraft.

View attachment 249365

That article is actually why I asked the question. I started researching all the options, and some have 20" seats, some 22" and some comments complain about them being too hard. It's a lot to try to research![/QUOTE]

I totally agree--it's one more layer, but I do use seatguru, too. Of course there's alway the best laid plans adage to worry about. You can do all this research, get your great seat, and it may not end up making any difference if they change equipment (which has happened to me)

 

[AdamEfimoff]

The problem with Malaysia airlines in business class while now it lies flat is well the functionality of the airline. I am a big guy and was even bigger than( thanks gym) but the headphones kept getting tangled up when I wanted to leave the seat and I had to move the seat just find a comfortable position to get out of the seat and to sit ( not sleep) but to sit. There was no welcome drink none (I got welcome drinks in premium economy) the food was crap. This would of all been fine if it was well the 80's but at 6000 dollars a seat. You have to be wondering who keeps this charade going. It was so bad that I broke up with my former travel agent. Who pushed us to go business over premium economy. Why because his commission would go up. What a silly move that was.

The travel agent was not dreams unlimited

 

[calypso726]

The problem with Malaysia airlines in business class while now it lies flat is well the functionality of the airline. I am a big guy and was even bigger than( thanks gym) but the headphones kept getting tangled up when I wanted to leave the seat and I had to move the seat just find a comfortable position to get out of the seat and to sit ( not sleep) but to sit. There was no welcome drink none (I got welcome drinks in premium economy) the food was crap. This would of all been fine if it was well the 80's but at 6000 dollars a seat. You have to be wondering who keeps this charade going. It was so bad that I broke up with my former travel agent. Who pushed us to go business over premium economy. Why because his commission would go up. What a silly move that was.

The travel agent was not dreams unlimited

I would be pretty upset if I paid real money for that type of flight experience. One of the other perks about the travel hacking hobby is that the bloggers we follow not only teach us how to leverage points and miles for flights and hotels but they also do write ups and reviews on them. So, if you are ever considering an airline you haven't flown before, you can find articles and reviews on both the airline hard product (seat, design, configuration, entertainment system, on board amenities like shower or bar) and the airline's soft product (service, food, wine, amenity kit, pajamas). Some of the bloggers are really tall too, like The Points Guy, he is 6' 7". So his airline seat reviews are pretty valuable if you are a big guy.

It is due to the articles from the bloggers that I chose the flight we are doing on the way to our China ABD trip. In real money the flight is over $8500 one way. We are flying with points and miles so my out of pocket costs are $72.20 per person in taxes and fees. Singapore airlines gets some of the best reviews from the points and miles community for both the hard and soft product. I am willing to fly out of my way to experience the flight. Anyhow, I hope sharing this information can help others to avoid paying a lot of money (or points and miles) for a crappy flight experience.

I totally agree--it's one more layer, but I do use seatguru, too. Of course there's alway the best laid plans adage to worry about. You can do all this research, get your great seat, and it may not end up making any difference if they change equipment (which has happened to me)

This is true. However, with my Singapore Suites flight if they change the equipment it would likely be to the new A380 and my seat would go from this:



to this:



I'm ok with either one

 

[Cousin Orville]

@calypso726 I’m looking forward to hearing your of those suites! That looks amazing. My favorite airlines we’ve been lucky to travel business/1st on was Eva and ANA to and from China. But I’ve never had a negative experience anywhere.

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 I’m looking forward to hearing your of those suites! That looks amazing. My favorite airlines we’ve been lucky to travel business/1st on was Eva and ANA to and from China. But I’ve never had a negative experience anywhere.

I’ve heard great of things about both those airlines but have never flown them. This will be our first Asian airline experience. If ABD does announce Japan, we will likely be looking at ANA, Japan Air and Cathay Pacific as options.

 

[starry_solo]

I have done both Delta and Air France, business class, and neither were comfortable for me or my companion and we are short (5'1")

 

[Cousin Orville]

I’ve heard great of things about both those airlines but have never flown them. This will be our first Asian airline experience. If ABD does announce Japan, we will likely be looking at ANA, Japan Air and Cathay Pacific as options.

One of the unusual things about ANA 1st was their private security (whatever their version of TSA is) area in Narita. It was very VIP. Private room, zero line, very apologetic about asking to look inside my carry on.

I have done both Delta and Air France, business class, and neither were comfortable for me or my companion and we are short (5'1")

There's definitely a range with United non Polaris kind of at the bottom (Polaris is nicer, but same just ok quality of service). And ANA probably at the top of my experience. If you ask my son who's been spoiled enough to have taken a couple of business class flights, he liked S African Airways best by a wide margin. But I've never been disappointed. One minor funny story about United Polaris. They have their wine tastings now. I opted for one and the attendant started pouring. I had to turn to help my son briefly in the next seat. When I turned back the 3 glasses were poured and the FA was gone. Had no idea which wine was which. When I got the FA's attention, they had forgotten which wines they poured. Just 3 random glasses. 1st world problem to be sure.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I’ve heard great of things about both those airlines but have never flown them. This will be our first Asian airline experience. If ABD does announce Japan, we will likely be looking at ANA, Japan Air and Cathay Pacific as options.

I've already been researching options in anticipation

 

[BluesTraveler]

I flew Delta One to England last year and found it incredibly comfortable. Went right to sleep and had enough room to even sleep on my side. I'm 5'6.

 

[aggiedog]

Calypso, my ds is a commercial airline fanatic. He is always showing me pics of suites on various airlines. He would be over the moon to travel in one.

 

[tgeorge]

I’ve heard great of things about both those airlines but have never flown them. This will be our first Asian airline experience. If ABD does announce Japan, we will likely be looking at ANA, Japan Air and Cathay Pacific as options.

I was just thinking about this the other day! My Mom was set to do a river cruise with me and right before I got with the TA to book the other day, she backed out. So, my next thought was ‘Well, maybe Japan will be an option. Which airlines can I use my points in for flights’ That Singapore Suite looks amazing. I saw the video The Points Guy did when he was excited to fit in the suite. I showed it to my husband and he said he’d fly to Asia if we had that Excited to hear about your experience.

 

[sayhello]

I’ve heard great of things about both those airlines but have never flown them. This will be our first Asian airline experience. If ABD does announce Japan, we will likely be looking at ANA, Japan Air and Cathay Pacific as options.

I've flown Cathay Pacific Premium Economy, which was *definitely* a huge step up from Economy (Kind of like the old-style business class). Economy was 9-across, Premium Economy was 8-across, so definitely wider seats, way more leg room, plusher seats, foot rests, our own FAs, better food, etc. It wasn't lie-flat beds, but the service was excellent. If Premium Economy is any indication, I'd assume their Business & First Class would be excellent.

Sayhello

 

[OKW Lover]

We've flown long-haul flights extensively on Delta (and once on Air France). Our preference is for Delta's A330-300, followed closely by Air France's 777 and that closely by Delta's 777. Then there is a big gap to Delta's 767-400.

 

[tgeorge]

Delta’s new OneSuite on the A350 is supposed to be a pretty good business experience. We’re flying AA 787 in business on our non-ABD Paris trip in March. So, we’ll see how that goes

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Calypso has created a bunch of monsters in my family. My son and DH groan if we aren't going somewhere in business now. We do so much traveling that there is no way I could get that many miles for 4 people so we pick and choose--a lot of times doing one way business rewards in the direction it is needed for sleeping and premium economy or the dreaded "steerage" in the other direction. We are more limited because I'm usually looking for 4 tickets, so I try to do a combo of cash and awards. So far we've managed Business United Polaris to China, First Class Polaris back from China, British Air business to England/Scotland a couple times, and Virgin Upper Class to England once. We have Air Canada to London coming up, Norwegian's Premium (not lie flat but trying out as a cash alternative for flights to/from London), and I'm on the lookout for flights to Cusco right now for my next hiking trip. I may end up paying cash for those just to not use a bunch of miles since cash prices seem to be pretty reasonable. All have been fantastic, but my favorite was the First Class Polaris so far. It wasn't that different from Business class, but we got jammies (also got them on our Virgin flight), and I had my wine flight

 

[Cousin Orville]

We have Air Canada to London coming up...

Hoping Air Canada is a good experience. We have ours in March from Montreal to Rome.

 

[sayhello]

Hoping Air Canada is a good experience. We have ours in March from Montreal to Rome.

I'm flying Air Canada to Iceland, through Toronto. (I'm flying them to Montreal in February, also.) As long as you're not doing Air Canada Rouge, I think you should be OK. What class are you flying?

Sayhello

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I've flown Cathay Pacific Premium Economy, which was *definitely* a huge step up from Economy (Kind of like the old-style business class). Economy was 9-across, Premium Economy was 8-across, so definitely wider seats, way more leg room, plusher seats, foot rests, our own FAs, better food, etc. It wasn't lie-flat beds, but the service was excellent. If Premium Economy is any indication, I'd assume their Business & First Class would be excellent.

Sayhello

the food is okay, but everything rocked including the lie flat bed mum paid for premium I paid for an upgrade best money I have ever spent.