Top 10 Airline Cabins for First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class

The Champagne Mile on 09/12/2016 - 07:19
Last edited 09/12/2016 - 09:19 by 1 other user

Airlineratings.com has produced lists of what it claims are the very best seats in economy, premium economy, business and first class for 2017. The rankings are based on space allotted to passengers, innovations in each class and product and safety reviews by experts and consumers.

Interesting to see Qantas in fourth place for First, and fifth overall for business. And Virgin Australia at number one for business, which makes a trip to the US on VA metal appealing.

For those with Qantas, Velocity or AMEX MR points to burn, this could help you with your aspirational travel goals for next year. Personally, I'm gearing up for a trip on the Etihad Apartment and Qantas First next year, while Singapore Suites and Emirates are also on the bucket list :)

Ranking First class Business Class Premium Economy Economy
1  Etihad Airways    Virgin Australia Air New Zealand Singapore Airlines
2 Singapore Airlines Air New Zealand Qantas Airways Korean Airlines
3 Emirates Singapore Airlines Virgin Australia EVA Air
4 Qantas Airways Etihad Airways Virgin Atlantic Cathay Pacific Airways
5 Cathay Pacific Qantas Airways Singapore Airlines Qantas Airways
6 Air France Emirates Cathay Pacific Airways Air New Zealand
7 British Airways Cathay Pacific EVA Air Japan Airlines
8 All Nippon Airways Virgin Atlantic Lufthansa Virgin Australia
9 Lufthansa All Nippon Airways All Nippon Airways Etihad Airways
10 Korean Airlines  Japan Airlines  British Airways All Nippon Airways

Full writeup in Daily Mail here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-398292…

Travel

Comments

  • apple2016 on 09/12/2016 - 08:15
    +1

    Interesting. No American airline on the list!…

    • RockyRaccoon on 09/12/2016 - 08:53
      +1

      No Russian, Greek, Italian, Chinese (mainland), African either….

      • sane on 09/12/2016 - 14:32

        Actually Turkish Airlines generally do quite well in the overall "Best Airline" rankings.

        But nobody who's travelled on any american airlines will be surprised they aren't on the list.

        Mind, Qantas shouldn't be that high either…

  • Skramit on 09/12/2016 - 08:39
    +1

    Singapore winner for Economy surprises me. I took a trip on Singapore air to Singapore recently and it was lacklustre. Service appalling. Food average. The seat and entertainment was pretty good though. The service was so bad I wrote to Singapore to tell I thought the service was appalling and they graciously accepted my feedback.

    shrug

    Sample size of one :)

    • boomramada on 09/12/2016 - 08:47
      +1

      Service appalling? air hostess didn't sit next to you? Food average? you try to order steak sandwich?

      • Skramit on 09/12/2016 - 09:17
        +3

        Ran out of food on both trips so some people had to get other throw together meals. Forgot to bring drinks numerous times after saying they'd be right back with it. Didn't clean up a spill by some kid in the aisle for ages even after they were told about it, people then stepped in it. Only offered water once on each flight in between meal service (Qantas do this 4-5 times on shorter journeys in my experience). Clear care factor of zero for customer service on my flights - both there and back (maybe it was the same crew? :P). Crew never smiled either.

        I just thought it was shithouse for the #1 ranked economy airline……

        /endwhinge

        • boomramada on 09/12/2016 - 09:33
          +1

          unlucky you. was it A380 or ? I haven't had such a issue with any of the airline I been with, inc Singapore Airlines.

        • Skramit on 09/12/2016 - 09:41

          @boomramada:

          Nah 777 MEL-SIN-MEL.

          I was genuinely surprised, hence I gave SG some honest feedback, not angry feedback, just listed out all the little things that made it crappy service IMO. They were quite receptive to that.

      • argamond on 09/12/2016 - 11:02
        +1

        Brother in law flew Singapore HK-SIN-CBR and back and it was a bit substandard, from the service, the entertainment (movies are limited) and even the check-in

        Though he will still prefer to fly singapore because he says that cathay is worse

    • buzymum20 on 09/12/2016 - 09:42
      +1

      I'd have to agree with you, Skramit. Singapore 1st?? Just crazy! We also found the service appalling and on the return flight, the seats were rock hard. Singapore Airlines, never again.

      • boomramada on 09/12/2016 - 11:30
        +2

        Rock hard seat?? you haven't flown in Virgin Atlantic then.

    • pandabun on 10/12/2016 - 10:13

      We used to fly SQ Economy. I agree the service is terrible. They didn't give us the baby seatbelt and the stewardess gave us death stare when we asked for one during take off.

      But SQ Business Class > QF > Virgin Australia in my experience.

      Crews in SQ are very attentive, gives you the option when you want to have your food, very kids friendly.
      QF crews told me "have it now or no food throughout the flight".
      Virgin Australia crews love to socialise among one another, even for midnight flight.

    • alchew on 12/12/2016 - 18:15

      Completely agree…SQ has dropped their game since some years ago. Service is average and food has taken a dive for the worse.

    • alchew on 12/12/2016 - 18:15

      Completely agree…SQ has dropped their game since some years ago. Service is average and food has taken a dive for the worse.

  • RockyRaccoon on 09/12/2016 - 08:51
    +3

    Also keep in mind not all planes on all routes with the same airline, have all the top end features.

    eg Virgin havent upgraded all their planes yet

    also as the Op stated, watch you arent on a code share flight provided by a partner as this will affect the service level (for all airlines)

    • SimbaGirl on 09/12/2016 - 19:59

      Do you mean the 777s VA uses for long-haul? They've now all been upgraded with the new business class, I think the last one was completed a few months ago.

  • trilby on 09/12/2016 - 09:52
    +1

    Qantas above Emirates in business? I find that hard to believe - the Emirates lounges are far superior for a start and the service and fittings are better. Qantas premium economy is quite good though.

    • argamond on 09/12/2016 - 10:59

      I enjoyed my time in the Qantas lounge in HK - much better than the cathay lounges. But you are saying the Emirates lounge is even better?

      • trilby on 09/12/2016 - 13:44

        Haven't been to either lounge in HK, but the Emirates lounges I have been to are far superior to the Qantas ones - better food, top notch spirits etc.
        Found film and TV choices to be a bit limited in Qantas as well.

  • Shaw on 09/12/2016 - 09:54

    Where is Jetstar?!

    • altomic on 09/12/2016 - 10:07
      -2

      More importantly, where is malaysian airlines flight mh370?

      • Shaw on 09/12/2016 - 10:14

        Anyone can tell you where it isn't…. Millions of $$'s can't tell you where it is though.

      • avgbowlofpho on 10/12/2016 - 14:45
        -1

        Where have you been????, it crashed into the Indian Ocean. This isn't new either, you must be really late then

        • altomic on 10/12/2016 - 16:47

          Great, so you can tell me where exactly it is and then the families of the victims can have some peace.

    • reggae on 09/12/2016 - 12:52

      more importantly, where's Tiger ?

    • Cluster on 09/12/2016 - 13:00
      +1

      Where is Air Koryo?

  • lupiter on 09/12/2016 - 11:27
    +1

    I would rate JAL Economy above QF Economy, JAL Economy has the legroom of QF Premium Economy. The JAL staff are really nice and helpful, and you get to fly mostly with Japanese tourists rather than Australians.

  • Cluster on 09/12/2016 - 12:37
    +2

    Very odd that Qatar is not on the list in any category. I recently flew on their 787 and A350 planes, and was impressed by the amount of space in economy on the A350. The entertainment gear was excellent as well.

    • iseenya on 09/12/2016 - 15:34
      +1

      Qatar has nice, clean, modern planes and seat spacing on their long-range 777s is good, although the aisles are very narrow. Food is average (Qantas meals are much better), service is OK (Air NZ is better), but Qatar 777s don't have enough toilets.

  • desafinado74 on 10/12/2016 - 10:34
    +2

    Personally i find SQ service to be top notch . Bad service seems to be the exception rather than the norm. And i find Asian airline service to be pretty good generally. As for people complaining about the food, geezz…what do you expect when you are flying economy?! And never have high expectations of airline food,especially from European and US airlines. As for movie choices, can't expect the latest releases on the entertainment system.

  • anna10 on 13/12/2016 - 16:34

    OP, which points would you use for EY F?

    • The Champagne Mile on 13/12/2016 - 17:21
      +1

      I have lots of Qantas points to burn, so those would be my natural choice (bearing in mind the high YQ (taxes) charged. Otherwise, can transfer to Emirates from AMEX MR (but Emirates charges slightly more points tha Qantas for redemptions on their own metal). Alaska Airlines have the best redemption opportunities for Emirates (lower taxes by far), but you would have to either purchase those points or transfer your AMEX Membership Rewards points to Starwood / Marriott then convert to Alaskan.

      One sweet spot I've just come across (I've just been looking into a cheap way to experience Emirates first class - Flights from Hong Kong have very low taxes, and Emirates flies a fifth freedom HKG to DXB route. Only $60 taxes in first class…)

      • lilkid28 on 13/12/2016 - 21:34
        +1

        Qantas points can book EK F, not EY F ;)

        • anna10 on 13/12/2016 - 21:38

          Probably a bit of confusion here with the similarity btw EY and EK. I know Flybuys can be credited to get into EY, any thing else?

        • The Champagne Mile on 13/12/2016 - 21:38

          Sorry, misread. EY F is best booked with AAdvantage points - again best obtained via SPG / Marriott. You can book it with VA, but they levy exorbitant sector-level surcharges on premium bookings.

        • anna10 on 13/12/2016 - 22:05

          Good news, I have lots of AA miles. If using AA, are there less fees?

        • lilkid28 on 13/12/2016 - 22:29

          @anna10: Yes, but the thing is you need 2 award tickets to get from Australia to Europe/USA using AA miles - 1 award ticket from Aus to Abu Dhabi, and another to Europe/USA.

        • djkelly69 on 15/12/2016 - 14:10

          @The Champagne Mile: Is AA best for EY J as well?

  • anna10 on 13/12/2016 - 17:48

    Thanks, that is very interesting. And, how will you get to HKG?

    • The Champagne Mile on 13/12/2016 - 18:45
      +1

      SYD - SIN - HKG in SQ suites (HKG adds another sector but is still the same price as going to SIN). Then QF First on the way home from DXB.

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