Having your own business provides an excellent opportunity for business travel. But even if it’s not for business, knowing which airlines to invest your hard-earned money into is paramount. Given the price tag on business or first-class tickets, you would want to get this part right. So which ticket is expensive, business or first class? They are both expensive, but of course, first class is the most expensive of the two.
Two-class and three-class airlines are many. Standouts are few.
Skytrax World Airline Awards
Looking at the Skytrax world airline awards one would think that all the work has been done for us.
Skytrax is a UK-based consulting company that has a key focus on rating airlines, airports and everything that is related to aviation. Travellers from all over the world take part in a passenger survey to decide the world airline award winners.
The people have voted, and now we must decide whom to fly out of the top 10! But what are the criteria? Perhaps we need to factor in who the voters are to get an idea of what they are searching for and what they expect from an airline when fronting up thousands of dollars.
For example, there is a big difference between a business traveller and a leisure traveller, both looking to travel in a business class cabin. Understanding this gives us an insight into what to expect when selecting one airline over another based on someone else’s recommendation.
Always remember that value for money is entirely subjective. I prefer to pay that little bit extra to walk into a business or first-class lounge before my flight which few have access to, while I await my flight, as opposed to something that anyone can pay $100 to access, with people running all over the place and posing for their social media accounts.
The expectations of a leisure traveller travelling from Sydney to Bali on a Qantas/Jetstar flight in business class and a business traveller on a Singapore to London flight are different. Even if we put these two travellers on the same flight and in the same cabin, their expectations will be vastly different; therefore, their reviews will also vary.
Remember, there’s business class, and then there’s business class.
Differences of Premium Cabins Between Airlines
There’s a difference between the aircraft used, the ground services, the inflight service and facilities provided, the lounges they have and even who can access them. Customer service and quick access to talk to someone when cancellations or changes occur are also important when deciding whom to fly. Some airlines offer a chauffeur-driven service to and from airports. If you are a frequent flyer member of an airline program, this should also be up to scratch. It would help if you looked to see their reward ticket availability. Don’t give them your loyalty if they are not prepared to give back. If you are interested I list my favourite frequent flyer programs here and also explain why.
When factoring in the above and with over 30 years of extensive travelling both for business and personal travel, my votes go to these airlines:
My top Airlines for business & first class
Emirates (*standout – Shower on board their A380 First Class Cabin & their First Class game changer 777-300ER)
Emirates A380 upgraded retrofitted plane types such as EK409 are magnificent.
Singapore Airlines (*standout – on board their A380 First class are double rooms with lie-flat beds and swivel chairs and generous 32-inch tv’s. Seats: 1A+2A or 1F+2F)
Cathay Pacific
JAL – Japan Airlines
My Top business class lounges
Singapore Airlines – Singapore
Turkish Airlines – Istanbul
Emirates – Dubai
My Top First class lounges
Swiss International – Zurich (*standout – hotel rooms with a view of the alps available for lounge visitors’ use)
Emirates – Dubai
Singapore Airlines – Singapore
Are all Business & First Class Products the same?
No, they are not. Looking at the intra-Europe flights (like domestic flights in the USA and Australia), we get a clear picture of what business class can look like. Standard three seats to a row with the middle one blocked out. They can never be compared to long-haul routes that use wide-body aircraft. It is one of the reasons why I will always recommend you try and find a flight as part of a fifth freedom flight or actively search for a wide-body aircraft. This is where you get a real bang for your buck.
It would help if you also were mindful of the airline you book through, as you could inadvertently book a flight that flies one of their partner airlines. For example, if you book through Qantas and want to fly their fleet, be sure that this is the case. Qantas is part of the one world alliance, and Cathay Pacific flies some flights, British Airways, Malaysian and many more, depending on your destination.
What is a fifth freedom flight?
It’s an aviation loophole, and if you know about it, you have scored a great deal and product. They usually use wide-body long-haul aircraft.
Put simply, a fifth freedom flight is when an airline flies between two countries, and neither country is its home base.
They are worth checking out. It’s the difference between flying in a standard reclining chair and a lie-flat bed with all the bells and whistles. In general terms, you should be looking at flying a wide-body aircraft. This type of aircraft has two passenger aisles and generally has more space than a single-aisle aircraft. More space means a better and more comfortable seating configuration. This is where you typically find the lie-flat beds or similar when travelling business or first class. Alternatively, checking the seat configuration is also a way to know what seat and comfort level will be on board your aircraft. I do this either directly through the airline’s website or expertflyer. Expertflyer provides access to in-depth flight research on alot of airlines.
Emirates Fifth Freedom Flights
Emirates flies a few fifth freedom flights. For example, Sydney to Christchurch could be a better option in terms of price (and product) than flying Qantas. If you travel Emirates business class, you would be on board an A380 800, sipping champagne at their inflight bar. If you travel Emirates first class, you will get to experience their superb first-class suite as well as their shower on board. They are a real bargain if you use miles through their frequent flyer program. A return ticket in business class can set you back as little as 72,000 miles + AUD 270, and you can snap up first class for just 137,000 miles return.
If you are a business owner and haven’t already done so, you need to start accumulating miles to travel for free.
The following are some fifth freedom flights on my favourite airlines that are worth checking out.
Emirates 5th Freedom Flights
- Milan – New York
- Athens – Newark
- Barcelona – Mexico
- Bangkok – Hong Kong
- Colombo – Male
- Singapore – Melbourne
- Sydney – Christchurch
- Barcelona – Mexico
Singapore Airlines 5th Freedom Flights
- Manchester – Houston
- Frankfurt – New York
- Tokyo – Los Angeles
Wide Body Aircraft Flights
Various Intra Europe Flights that use wide-body aircraft
- Ethiopian Airlines: Stockholm to Oslo (also a fifth freedom route)
- Finnair: Helsinki to Amsterdam
- Finnair: Helsinki to London
- Iberia: Madrid to London
- TAP: Lisbon to London (look for flight numbers TP1367 & TP1356)
- TAP: Lisbon to Frankfurt (look for flight numbers TP573 & TP574)
Turkish Airlines fly into several European cities using its wide-body aircraft. It’s essential to search and ensure you are booking on one of them, as they also use their narrow-body aircraft on these routes.
Their site generally lets you know which aircraft you are flying and tells you if it is a wide body for your convenience. These are the ones to look out for:
A330-300 wide body, A350 wide-body, B777 wide body.
Here is a list of cities where I have seen at least one route on their daily schedule that uses a wide-body aircraft:
Istanbul to: Athens TK 1843 (Sunday mornings)
Istanbul to: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Vienna
If you are flying Turkish Airlines, you must visit their business class lounge in Istanbul. It is one of the most exquisite I have seen.
Like Europe, the USA also uses narrow-body aircraft on their domestic routes. The following is a list of some flights which use wide-body aircraft, and their business class product is more or less a lie-flat seat.
Various USA Domestic Flights that use wide-body aircraft
United Airlines:
- Newark to Los Angeles (B 787)
- Newark to San Francisco (B 787)
American Airlines
- New York to Los Angeles (a321T)
- New York to San Francisco (a321T)
- New York to Santa Ana (a321T)
- Dallas to Honolulu (B 777)
Delta
- New York to Los Angeles
- New York to San Francisco
- Atlanta to Honolulu
Jet Blue
- Boston to Los Angeles (A321 Mint)
- New York to Los Angeles (A321 Mint)
- New York to San Francisco (A321 Mint)
- New York to Seattle (Flight B6263) (A321 Mint)
Hawaiian Airlines
- Boston to Honolulu (A330)
- New York to Honolulu (A330)
When I initially set out to travel, I assumed all business-class cabins were the same. I remember paying so much money to book myself a business class ticket when travelling in the USA from Los Angeles to New York. I was put on an aircraft with three seats, one blocked out, and barely any legroom, and the full inflight service was underwhelming. (On a side note the weather was so terrible I didn’t know if the airplane would be able to fly through the thunderstorms). The business class lounge at the airport was like a canteen, so I opted to sit in the food court instead. Part of owning a business was supposed to be enjoying what you do, and the perks and benefits, and this was falling far from it!
Travelling inside Europe was quite a similar experience. After this point, I made it my mission to ensure I got a product and service that lived up to the name of premium cabins. I ensured I got the best business class and best first class that was available on the routes I was taking. And before I forget to mention, Don’t ever share your boarding passes on social media as there is great risk in doing so.
As I previously said, there’s business class and then there’s business class. It pays to do a little research before handing over your hard earnt money. Happy travelling and don’t forget your packing list!
