Business Class Comparison and Round Up 2024
A summary and comparison of my experiences to date.
Business Class Comparison Introduction
Business class - that elusive creature that weighs on our tired, traveler minds while we shuffle past into the back of the plane to our sardine can seats that are waiting in economy. If only we could sit up in the front like these lucky folks. Well, the good news is that you can. Later this year I’ll write an article about how I specifically do it (Hint: Credit cards and points).
The truth is I cannot afford to be flying around the world in business class. And just because I have a website, folks should not get it twisted - it’s pretty rare that people at my level are involved with brands like airlines. I know people are jaded these days and think every YouTuber and website owner gets paid by airlines but trust me - we’re not getting free flights from Airlines. We’re just not (Sam Chui aside, he’s a walking advertisement). And while I can occasionally afford domestic US business class (and I do take it when this happens, of course I do), international is another beast entirely. Round trips routinely cost between $4,000 to $10,000 depending on the airline and where you’re going. No kidding.
That said, over the last couple of years I’ve quietly been devouring information about award travel, credit cards, and how to best utilize points for the thing I’m interested in: International business travel. So I thought it might be interesting to do a quick sum-up of the experiences to give my readers a high level of each. Just in case you’re making some of these decisions, too. This won’t be comprehensive reviews of each flight, but frankly I think I can get the major points across in a list style for you. You can then dig in to the more in depth reviews out there if something piques your interest.
One more callout I’d like to make because here I’m about honesty. And it annoys the CRAP out of me when I read bloggers saying this or see YouTubers say this. “Michelin level dining on a plane”. Go away. This is not only untrue, but it’s impossible. I’m not convinced those people have experienced many Michelin starred restaurants if they think this. It’s also click bait. Can the food be outstanding? YES! Yes it can - for a plane. You’re still ON A PLANE. Keep that in mind to set your expectations right. You can only do so much with pre-cooking and a microwave, lol. Go in with expectations of elevated plane dining, and you’ll be proper chuffed I think. But it cannot compete with even normal level “great/elevated restaurants” in most cities. I get that’s my opinion, and it’s not meant to be snobby, but it’s an opinion based on 40 countries visited, and I’d say nearly 30 or more Michelin starred (not Guide, but starred) visits under my belt. I want you going in with real expectations. I’m not selling you anything here.
For full transparency, I have no relationship with ANY Airline on this list, and I “purchased” all of these on my own using points from various different FrequentFlyer programs and Credit Card flexible points systems, or an occasional cash upgrade. It took me years to save up most of these points. Thanks for stopping by!
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Business Class Comparison Format
The format is going to be pretty simple. I’m going to list the business class Brand and type (most brands have multiple planes and styles of seat).
Then, I’ll give you a picture, often from the brand itself as I don’t dig invading folks' privacy on planes and kind of like to “act like I’ve been there before” if you know what I mean. I do have a couple personal pics though which will be quite obvious.
Last, I’ll sum up my experience highlighting the seat, service, food, and my perceived value. I’ll highlight the amenity bags as well! Lol.
Cool? Let’s get into it.
British Airways New Club Suites
These are British Airways’ newest business class setup. It’s quite common on the JFK/LHR flights, and I had the chance to fly this on the way back from LHR after our honeymoon. This was the final leg of a trip I booked using points that I’d saved up over, no joke, like 5 years. In short - these seats are great. Modern, nice colors, all the features you’d expect. I found them really, really good. Now, that said, service, food, and price is all the same as the old seats. So, don’t expect anything big here. British Airways (like most of the Western carriers) are basically running on the fumes of prior glory years in terms of service levels. But, as you increase the quality of the hard product like this, you suddenly forget pretty easily. The value of this experience increases because of the hard product. If BA serves your route, I’d definitely be on the lookout for these. My food was solid if not spectacular, but high-ish quality for a Western brand. Flight attendants were all friendly and affable, if not really fine-service oriented or that polished. Book with OneWorld airlines.
British Airways Old Club World
OK. To clarify right away, these are the “old style” British Airways business class. It’s been in service for a while. At this point, I’ve flown this set up three times, two times upgrading with cash from premium economy. It tends to be around $900.00 USD at check-in. I just recently flew this from London to Shanghai (after flying in the Club Suites from JFK on the first leg) on points. If I’m comparing this to other business classes, I would say it’s pretty sub-optimal. It’s “fine”. In a vacuum though? It’s still lie-flat business class with better food, service, lounge access, AND A BED. Let’s keep this in perspective here, folks. Even the best Premium economy isn’t in the same league as this aging product. Would I seek this out? No. Would I be OK if this was my only option on the route I was going? Yes. Because it’s business class. I would say this is a great “first experience” business class. But, I do think BA needs to get rid of these asap because their Suites are a great product. Service is fine, food is fine, seat is very very dated. Overall value? Not the greatest in terms of cost (since it’s the same as the newer product) but it gets the job done. Again, OneWorld.
American Airlines Domestic Lie Flat Business Class
Let’s be up front, no amenity kit on this one, ha. OK this one was a surprise for me. I was going to Vegas (not my thing) for a work trip and this plane was quite full. I have Sapphire status with OneWorld (through BA), and I think that got me an upgrade on an overbooked flight. For a JFK to Vegas flight, this seat was fantastic. I believe it’s their newest product, too. Service was typically American-carrier-ish, but being fair they were very polite and efficient, and offered all the things you’d expect, even if I did not partake on this flight. Mostly I slept due to the early morning departure so I could take advantage of that sweet, sweet, lie-flat. Value-wise, I think US carriers are highway robbery for Domestic lie-flat seats. But if you can score an upgrade on the app or at the gate for the lie-flats, and it’s in your budget, I would consider it for sure. Like any lie-flat business class, there are ZERO non-premium cabins that can compete. None. So I don’t think it’s the best value, but I think it’s one of the best hard products on the domestic scene since it’s so new. Nice seat, if maybe a little smaller in feel, bad value due to the $$ cost. Part of OneWorld.
Iberia Old Business Class
Iberia recently started a refurb on some of their major routes, and if you look those up on-line, they look VERY nice. Minimal, no frills, but nice and modern. My experience however has been on the old version. I’ve now flown them twice. Once from MAD-JFK and once JFK-MAD. Iberia gets a bad rap - deservingly so in many cases. Like their IT experience, customer service experience in English, etc. It can be pretty brutal at times if I’m honest. But, like with British Airways Club World versions, it doesn’t matter if they are older (these are better than BA’s Club World seats, FYI). We’re still flying across the pond in a lie-flat seat, and that’s usually GLORIOUS vs. the other choices. Food is fine, same catering company as BA, I THINK. Nothing spectacular (I did have some very above average beef cheeks once!). For some odd reason, my last few flights on Iberia (even non-business class) they’ve had issues with sparkling water. Which is weird for a European carrier. But, no need for a tangent there. I’ve found their service to be better than expected actually. Very friendly crew, on the ball, and while the products they serve aren’t mind blowing, they have always been very kind and shown a real desire to try and take care of you. They’ve also got some of the best uniforms out there from what I’ve seen. I find the value for east coast-US to Madrid to be outstanding. Especially if you’re using points because you can find off-peak prices for around 40K Avios. A steal for a 7 hour flight. An aging and average hard product, fine food, better than expected service - but an outsized return on value due to the low points. Also part of OneWorld.
Emirates Business Class A380
This was a big one for me. It was my first “aspirational” business class that I’ve gotten to experience. I went hard into the realm of awards travel, learning all I could about the best points redemptions for this flight. Truly, it was one of my first redemptions that I made after I really learned what I was doing. Endless YouTube vids, written reviews, reddit. I really amped this one up. We used the route from JFK to Milan. Did it live up to the hype? Mostly, yes. I don’t want that to sound spoiled - it was of course a fantastic experience all around, in one of the flashiest cabins in the sky. But that’s part of the issue. The design is pretty gaudy by today’s design standards. And, remember that “act like you’ve been there before” comment from earlier? Forget that here. It was Instagram central with everyone and their sister gearing up for their posts. The boarding experience is a bit of an adult-plane-Disneyland vibe. This is a BIG plane, too. Which makes it harder on the staff to really provide that kind of high level service you might imagine. This is more of a good example of “business class at scale” in action. Attendants were polite, but very business-like and often seemed to disappear (because there were so many seats for them to cover). Slight issues like forgetting my dessert (then not knowing what they had when I asked for it), slowness on the serving, robotic delivery, etc. All symptoms of them having too much ground to cover. To be clear - NEVER were they rude or unprofessional. Just not too warm either and seemed like they had too much to cover. I was also roasting in the cabin, which made it hard to sleep, which defeated the purpose for me. Seats, despite their now-slightly tacky look, were still fantastic and high end. Food was delicious (I had a biryani which, considering it was on a plane, I loved). They also had the bar in the sky which is a cool novelty if you like that (I don’t drink much these days on flights as I’d rather arrive in good shape). The cakes by the bar are worth going for though :). Did this live up to the hype? Not really. Was it still fantastic? Of course it was. Don’t expect your life to be changed but at the same time, this is one of the best experiences in the sky for most of us, and like most first times in business class, it will ruin all other classes below it for you. Still recommended, especially on the JFK to Milan route which is a reasonable redemption and therefore a good value. Various programs but can be booked direct or with Aeroplan.
Qatar QSuites Business Class
OK. I think by now if you’ve watched any Youtube travel videos, you’ve at least HEARD of Qatar Qsuites. Widely regarded as the best business class on the planet (perhaps except maybe ANA’s The Room, and with JAL’s new one nipping at its heels, or maybe Singapore). We took this on our honeymoon leg from LHR to DOH. And man, do I wish we had a longer leg. Did this live up to the hype? Why yes. Yes it did. The seat is gorgeous and a phenomenal design. The service was great on our flight (this can vary, because we’re all humans and have tough days). I had to really work to “act like I’ve been here before” because I was giddy the entire time. The dine on demand. The Screens. The pajamas if you want to put those on (shorter flight, so that was a bit much for me, but on a long haul I DEFINITELY would). We did not take advantage of the “double bed” feature - but we will next time we fly on the way back from Japan in 2025. The food on this flight was the best I’ve ever had (until Singapore). I mean, I had osso bucco and polenta, that didn’t suck, ON A PLANE. Their Arabic mezze is also a standout. Add in the little fake candle for atmosphere? Yeah the hype is real on this flight. So, no surprise here. I’d recommend this every time. And, now that they are fully onboard (see what I did there? Flights? OK moving on) with OneWorld and use Avios as their points, it’s super easy to find the “currency”. Availability is another issue entirely. But easy to get the points to try. You can transfer from British Airways with zero issues. Possibly my best flight ever…but let’s see what the Singapore flight has to say about that. 12/10 would recommend any time you have the budget or points to cover it. Part of OneWorld.
Qatar Business Class 787-8
On that same trip, we were also able to fly Qatar’s other business class product. I find it’s good to get them back to back because all of it is still fresh in your mind. This is like BA Suites vs Club World…except way way better, obviously. We still had lovely service from these attendants the entire trip. We flew from DOH to JRO for our safari. Food was solid, but nowhere near as good as Qsuites, and I don’t know if that’s normal or we just got a route with lesser catering. My wife for instance barely ate her main. She’s tough on plane food, but also hates wasting food. So, it would’ve been pretty bad for her to do that. This is a good example of my point earlier - business class or no, it’s still plane food. YMMV on all of these flights. Still, since this was all the same booking, made with points, it was still fantastic to get solid food (for me), a great nap, and lounge around watching movies for a few hours on the way to your destination. And to be fair, most business classes cannot touch QSuites, so can’t hold that against them. In a vacuum, still a great experience and solid value as part of a single points booking.
Korean Air Business Class
I was able to experience two separate products on my one trip, so that was pretty cool. The first was a 2 x 2. Not my favorite set up as you’re even with your neighbor and if they are sleeping, you need to step over them. That said I was alone so that wasn’t an issue. I WILL say this product had an absolute palatial amount of space generally speaking. It was shocking actually and very comfortable.
The second leg was on a more standard product, and I pretty much have the same comments about this one except that I like this set up better overall. It’s staggered like the older BA business class which isn’t amazing, but the quality of these suites are MUCH higher than the old BA ones. Even just things like the foot rest vs that weird and janky folding platform thing that BA has on its old Club World. Food was pretty plain on both of these flights, nothing I’d write home about or get excited over.
What I do need to comment on is the service. My attendants on both flights were lovely. Very service oriented but very warm and nice as well. Kind of a typical experience on Asian carriers in my experience. But I need to mention it because it’s an important part of any business class product. Part of SkyTeam.
Singapore Air Business Class A350
I was on this flight for the literal longest flight in the world. 18 hours. Not 18 hrs for a trip with stops. Eighteen hours inside of a metal tube in the sky. So, I got my money’s (points) worth and really got to test this out. This is a monster of a seat. It’s overall fantastic, with a few quirks that you see divide the award travel folks online. Amazing storage. Huge space to spend time. Really high end finishes all over. Pretty quirky bed though - you need to fold the seat down in order to make the bed. It works, but it’s just a little bit odd. The other thing to mention is people tend to crap on the angle of the foot box. I’m short and a side sleeper, so for me it wasn’t an issue really. That said, while SITTING, the angles all over the seat and where they place the shelving and such do kind of make for some awkward in-seat movements when you need to shift. You can also catch your toes on the shelving when raising the leg rest too, since the leg rest is not actually the bed. All that said, 10 out of 10 would have no issues taking this seat anywhere. Food was great, especially if you like Asian food. And the amount of choice due to the book ahead feature, is incredible.
Have to mention - the crew. Singapore has the best crew I’ve ever experienced (two flights, mind you, with the brand). The hard product and food competes with QSuites, and I frankly would prefer this airline with Service being a huge tiebreaker. Qatar tends to be hit or miss based on reviews, often leaning towards slightly colder yet still efficient and very polished. I’ll take the Singapore version every day. Book direct or through Aeroplan.
Singapore Air Business Class 737
This was my first leg and just a quick jump to Singapore Changi from KUL. I had the “throne” seat - nicknamed that due to it looking like (you guessed it) a throne and being the only seat in the row so you have no neighbor. Always grab these when you can. Finishings were super high end in this seat and it was frankly just a lovely place to be.
Same comment on the crew - amazing. This was my first time flying Singapore and I’m going to go ahead and say that it might be my top target from the US to Asia moving forward. Phenomenal experience with the crew on both flights.
Bonus: China Southern Domestic Business Class
Special guest mention here because we took this internally in-China. This isn’t anything to write home about, and is a pretty standard and dated domestic business class product. HOWEVER - what I do want to mention is that the crew on our flight were outstanding. They practically bent over backwards for us on a 1hr and 15min flight. Was all we could ask for, honestly. Plus it came with perks in the airport like a special check-in line (which is a godsend in some Asian airports) and even a special security line (same thing when you have groups of 50 tourists heading to the standard lane). We did not eat on this short flight, but I would not expect much from the food on a flight like this. Would I take it again? Absolutely I would, especially if you find a solid price for your one way.
Final Thoughts On My Business Class Comparison and Round Up
That’s the list - for now. In 2025, I’ll be flying on Air France business class to/from Paris, and the BRAND NEW Japan Airlines business class to Japan. That one is going to possibly beat Qatar (though my flight home is on about 24hrs worth of Qsuites so I can revisit to see how that service is now), so I’m excited to try that. I will let my readers know once I make those updates in our quarterly newsletter, so sign up for that if you want to be aware of when I make that addition.
Let’s make sure that I say this - travel in general is a privilege. I’m one of those. I do not believe traveling the world is a “right” so to speak. I think you should have the right if you can make it happen (meaning, I don’t believe in government restrictions). But the act of doing it - we’re privileged to be able to see the world and experience other cultures. Especially on an American passport - that makes it so much easier.
But flying business class? That’s a whole different level of lucky opportunity. So, I do not take it for granted which is why I made sure to mention that I had to work at it, and I could not afford it with cash, and that the airlines did not work with me to do it. I earned it the old fashioned way.
That said, I figured it would also be of interest to you in case you have some opportunities to use some cards or buy a business class seat for a special occasion.
The best of the bunch is easily Singapore. But at the end of the day, it’s very hard to find a BAD business class. Lie flat seats are TOTAL game changers and allow you to get wherever you are going in a much more rested, comfortable manner. This means you’re much less sore and tired and thrown off when you hit your destination. It’s invaluable. Not to mention the benefits on your backs and hip muscles as you age (trust me, it’s a real thing!). So I’d say the best business class is the one with a seat available and you can afford - let’s start there.
Hopefully, this gave you some insight into those brands, and hopefully it was a little fun to read about them.
Good luck on your own journey!
Wander more and Wander smarter, everyone.
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