The Best Business Class? We Compared 50 Airlines

The Canadian Star Alliance member Air Canada has three business class versions: an old one, which is mostly disappearing, and two modern versions. We can recommend the flights in the Boeing 787, as you’ll be guaranteed a business class experience which is up to the current expectations. Travel-Dealz founder Johannes flew from Copenhagen to Toronto with the 787-Dreamliner and was generally very satisfied.

Before Covid-19, Air France still had 4 different business class versions, but now, as the A380 & A340 have left the fleet, only 3 remain. The business class in the A380 was no longer up to today’s standards, unlike the business class that’s installed in the Boeing 787-Dreamliner and Airbus A350, which is modern and comfortable. This business class is now continuously being installed in other Air France planes as well.

The Italian SkyTeam member Alitalia manages to survive over and over again, and despite its questionable image, its business class is absolutely not bad. All Magnifica seats are roughly the same: very nice but possibly problematic for big people, as the seat only extends to a bed of 185 to 189 cm.

Even if American Airlines doesn’t enjoy a good reputation for many, its business class is very good. Every seat has direct access to the aisle and the service, as well as the food and the seat, are at a very high standard. Travel-Dealz founder Johannes tested the Boeing 777 and really enjoyed the flight.

You’ll usually sit and lie in ANA‘s Business Staggered when flying from Europe to Japan. The seats are wide and offer ludicrous amounts of space for your personal items. Nevertheless, many of the seats are already over 10 years old, and it shows in some places. At least you always have direct access to the aisle, always either sitting right next to the window (recommended for more privacy) or directly at the aisle. Otherwise, many planes still have the old business class installed, which cannot be transformed into a completely flat bed, and then there’s the brand new THE Room class, in which the seat is unbelievably wide. Unbeatable for sleeping, sometimes unnecessarily wide for sitting. Additionally, they’ve installed a 24-inch 4K-screen and every other row is facing backward. As the seat is still only available on very select flights (from Frankfurt, London, and New York), we haven’t included it (yet) in our table.

The Austrian business class may not be known by many, but all seats are at a consistently high standard. The Boeing 767, as well as the Boeing 777, are both equipped with the same seats, which are not only comfortable but also offer a good sleeping experience. The catering is also said to be especially good.

British Airways was the first airline to offer lie-flat seats – over 20 years ago. Sadly, many seats are still from that time and no longer reach today’s standards in other aspects. Especially in the Boeing 747, the seats were extremely narrow. Furthermore, it is unusual that every other seat is facing backward. If you, however, fly in a plane that has the new Club World seats installed, you’ll be flying in a much better product, sometimes even with Suite seats that offer a lot of privacy. A general downside at British Airways: there is no free seat reservation, which is unusual for a business class.

Hong Kongese airline Cathay Pacific started equipping its planes with a new business class in 2011. By now, this process has been completed. Therefore, you’ll always sit in a modern seat, which can naturally also be converted into a flat bed (as long as you’re not sitting in a regional flight). Nevertheless, the business class is still only slightly above average – as Travel-Dealz author Dennis was able to find out. Especially the food and the service was surprisingly disappointing.

If you’re making a business class comparison of various airlines, then Condor will under no circumstances end up in the upper half of the standings but rather near the bottom. Neither the seat nor the catering is outstanding in any way. If there are other alternatives to fly to your destination and your looking for outstanding comfort, Condor will hardly be your first choice.

If you’re travelling to North America, Delta is surely not a bad choice, especially if the route is operated with an Airbus plane. The seats in the Boeing 767 are good, but already quite old. The seats in the A330 and especially the A350, however, are on an extremely high level. All A330neo and A350 planes already have the Suite seats installed, which offer maximum privacy.

There’s a brutal difference between the business class that Emirates offers in its two aircraft types. While the business class in the Airbus A380 offers a special experience, one really cannot recommend the Boeing 777 business class. In the Boeing 777, you’ll mostly not even have lie-flat seats and 3 seats in the middle section – this could be better! In the A380, which you’ll see in most Emirates advertisements, you’ll be offered more. Not only are the seats more modern and luxurious, but there’s even a lounge area with sofas and a bar. You need to be careful, however, when selecting your seat in the A380 as the seats at the window are clearly bigger than those at the aisle. In one aspect, however, Emirates is the clear number 1: The in-flight entertainment with over 1,000 movies and various live TV channels is unbeatable.

Even though Etihad’s seats are very good (big legroom, direct aisle-access, etc.), they often look a bit worn out. Nevertheless, Etihad offers its business class passengers some services that are rather rare, e.g. you can decide at which point of the flight you’d like to eat. In the Airbus A380, there’s even a Lobby area, where you can relax with a drink during the flight and chat with some other passengers.

Finnair, the Oneworld member from Northern Europe, offers a very modern and comfortable business class in its Airbus A350. Their A330 product is comfy, but the seats do show their age. A remarkable thing about Finnair is that they’re planning to introduce a Light fare (on some routes), which doesn’t include luggage – an absolute novelty for this travel class.

Iberia is one of the few airlines that has the same product across its entire long-haul fleet. A positive is that every seat has direct access to the aisle. The seats which are directly next to the window (in every 2nd row) offer especially high privacy. In total, it’s a very good product, as Travel-Dealz founder Johannes could witness on his short test flight on an A340.

It’s actually questionable if Icelandair should even be mentioned in this comparison, as the Saga class is more of a premium economy class than a business class. It especially shows when you look at the seat, which doesn’t even come close to meeting today’s standards for a long-haul business class. Even the in-flight entertainment is nothing special. You do have to consider, however, that the prices of the Saga Class are also closer to premium economy prices than business class prices, with tickets from Europe to North America sometimes being available starting at €700. Other positives include the catering and the lounge in Reykjavík.

By now, modern seats have also become the norm at KLM. Its business class is definitely not a bad choice, also thanks to the good service. Like many other airlines, the Boeing 787 always has the newest business class seats installed.

On cannot speak of a single Korean Air business class, as there are 4 versions. The newest version has mainly been installed in the Boeing 747-8 and the A330. There, you’ll fly in a modern and comfortable seat. The special part: Even though the seats are aligned in a 2-2-2 formation, everyone still has direct access to the aisle. The seats are not right next to each other, thus creating a corridor to the window seat – a great idea for wide planes like the Jumbo! In the A380’s upper deck, you’d fly in an older business class version, but Korean Air has a bar area where you can comfortably sit on the couch drinking a cocktail. The worst business class version is still being used on less prominent routes on some older Boeing 777 planes – with a row of three in the middle and angled seats.

The Polish airline LOT only has one long-haul aircraft type, the Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) – thus every flight will have the exact same seats. Everything is slightly above average, except the seat alignment (2-2-2), which doesn’t offer direct access to the aisle for the window seats. A further disadvantage of flying with LOT: There’s no Wi-Fi, even if you’d be willing to pay for it. So, if you intend to work (with internet access) during the flight, you should choose a different airline. LOT is, however, very generous with its baggage allowance (3 x 32 kg).

If you don’t like surprises, you’ll be on the safe side with Lufthansa in one aspect: all planes have the exact same seats. That, however, will no longer be the case when Lufthansa receives its first Boeing 777 planes with the new business class. Many of our readers may have already experienced the current business class. Generally, Travel-Dealz writers and readers are not big fans of the Lufthansa business class, even though it is definitely not bad. One reason for that is that the service is too inconsistent: From extremely friendly and quick to unfriendly and slow – everything is possible with Lufthansa, even in business class.

At Qantas, a comfortable seat with much privacy awaits you, though the seats are not exactly new anymore. You can see the age of the seats, e.g. by looking at the screens that are no longer up to today’s standards. The seats, however, are great for sleeping, and the crew is also usually very friendly. In the A380, much older seats are installed (which really don’t match the modern standards), but thanks to Corona, these planes won’t be used by Qantas in the following years.

Qatar Airways undoubtedly offers one of the best business class products, if not even the best. Especially the new Qsuite is almost on a first class level, but sadly not yet installed in every plane. A short while ago, however, Qatar Airways published a very negative update to their business class conditions: Lounge access is no longer included in their cheapest business class fare.

Scandinavian airline SAS has very big and comfortable seats, each offering direct access to the aisle. There’s a lot of storage room and also a very big desk which is perfect to work. The seats alternate between either being directly next to the window or directly at the aisle. Another upside of flying SAS: Free unlimited Wi-Fi! The SAS business class is therefore definitely not a bad choice for hard-working businessmen.

If you fly in Singapore Airlines’ new business class, like Travel-Dealz founder Johannes, you’ll get a very convincing product, but even the older seats still offer high comfort. A notable aspect (especially with the older seats) is the width – the seats are extremely wide. Singapore Airlines’ main upside, however, is the service. The so-called Singapore Girls are really very friendly and attentive. The in-flight entertainment, however, is mediocre.

With SWISS, it very much depends on the specific seat, as SWISS has a throne seat in every row. While the double seats share a platform in the middle, the throne seat has its own platform on each side, which you won’t have to share with anyone. Those seats thus offer privacy and comfort to an extent that the other seats cannot compete with. Therefore, you may be disappointed if you don’t get one of the throne seats, even if the other seats obviously also have a very high standard.

Not too long ago, TAP’s Executive Class was infamously subpar. By now, however, all planes have been equipped with new seats that can be converted into fully flat beds and offer quite a high comfort. The service is also said to be very friendly.

Thai Airways‘ business class is satisfactory. You’ll get everything that a business class has to offer: better food, friendly service, and you can sleep well. You shouldn’t, however, expect much more. Most planes that are used for flights to Europe have the newest business class, so you won’t need to worry about that.

In theory, the Turkish Airlines business class is very good – there’s good food, very friendly service, free & unlimited internet, a lot of storage room, quite comfortable seats – but there is a pretty big downside: The seats are rather cramped. Not only is the bed length a bit short, but they even have 3 seats in the middle of the Boeing 777 – completely unacceptable nowadays! While a new business class has been installed in the Boeing 787, with the modern 1-2-1 alignment, there have been many complaints that the seats are uncomfortable – which is why this new business class is going to be changed again. We’ll have to wait and see how the 787 business class will end up being in the end – in the other planes the seats will stay good, but small.

United has clearly upgraded its business class in the past years since they’ve announced the so-called Polaris business class. The new seats especially offer high privacy and comfort, which barely any other airline can keep up with.

Nevertheless, United also uses the term Polaris for flights with the old seats. On United.com/Polaris, you can check which planes were already refurbished. Currently, a big portion of the Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 planes have the new seats, while the chances are rather low for the Dreamliner.

You have to be especially careful with flights on a Boeing 777-200. Some of those have a 2-4-2 alignment in business class, which results in narrow seats. Luckily, these planes are mainly used within the USA on transcontinental flights, as well as to Hawaii and Guam. Occasionally, however, they do use them for transatlantic flights.

When we talk about the Polaris business class on Travel-Dealz, we mean the new hard product, which has been introduced in 2016.

Especially in the Boeing 777 and 767-300, there’s a good chance that you’ll get one of these seats. Furthermore, all new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners will also have the new business class.

As previously mentioned, United also calls the old business class “Polaris business class”, despite it already being many years old. Jokingly, many call it Fauxlaris.

At least you’ll get the same soft product as the Polaris business class, e.g. with a cushy blanket and a great pillow. This old business class will gradually be replaced by the new one.

The special High-Density-Version of the Boeing 777 is mostly used for flights within North America, especially on the long routes to Hawaii. Furthermore, it is also used on the routes to Guam, e.g. Guam – Honolulu or Guam – Tokyo. Sometimes, however, United will use them on touristic routes to Europe.

At least these seats are also lie-flat and comfortable. This is, however, not a modern business class.