I'd say AI isn't as bad as people think it is and JL is very underrated considering they are the only airline still committed to 8-abreast on the 787 and 9-abeast on the international 777. Their Premium Economy is also underrated as its 42" pitch is well above industry standard.

Also, AV might be underrated (they have PTVs and outlets on all A319, A320, and A321 aircraft).

Any ideas?

Personal bias here but Air Canada is very underrated. It's a national pastime in Canada to dump on AC but I've always had rather good experiences on AC. Their short-haul fleet was the first in North America to have PTV's system-wide including the Jazz CRJ-700s! They're the only North American airline to be rated 'four stars' by Skytrax ( if you have any faith in them ). Currently their BOB, Air Canada Cafe is the best in the business IMO, offering hot entrees served on China, yes the Business Class meal with wine for 20 bucks! Their current long-haul fleet is amongst the youngest in the world with 23 787's and 25 777W's and LR's ( handful of 767's is about to go ). Their Business Class product features direct aisle access ( herring bone and reverse herring bone ) on the entire long-haul fleet and is very consistent throughout.

From my point of view Mea airlines of Lebanon is very underrated .Compared to European companies MEA offers a much higher service for onboard service including catering and inflight entertainments

ACCS300 wrote:

Personal bias here but Air Canada is very underrated. It's a national pastime in Canada to dump on AC but I've always had rather good experiences on AC. Their short-haul fleet was the first in North America to have PTV's system-wide including the Jazz CRJ-700s! They're the only North American airline to be rated 'four stars' by Skytrax ( if you have any faith in them ). Currently their BOB, Air Canada Cafe is the best in the business IMO, offering hot entrees served on China, yes the Business Class meal with wine for 20 bucks! Their current long-haul fleet is amongst the youngest in the world with 23 787's and 25 777W's and LR's ( handful of 767's is about to go ). Their Business Class product features direct aisle access ( herring bone and reverse herring bone ) on the entire long-haul fleet and is very consistent throughout.

At the same time AC is making a tremendous effort to align itself with the public opinion. From being one of the most comfortable in Y they went to LCC level. They made really difficult for me to take a vacation with them by introducing Rouge on virtually all sun routes and from the perspective of a 10 year in a row E50K they added insult to the injury by gutting their FF program and lowering the service levels in MLL's.
I used to recommend AC to all my friends. I don't do it anymore.

Southwest.

They offer the most room and amenities for the money of any domestic airline I have flown in the world. Flying WN is still a relatively stress free experience.

cedars747 wrote:

From my point of view Mea airlines of Lebanon is very underrated .Compared to European companies MEA offers a much higher service for onboard service including catering and inflight entertainments

Agreed I had great flights on MEA and would love to try them again.

Swadian wrote:

I'd say AI isn't as bad as people think it is

I've flown AI on a couple of occasions, and especially domestically in India I avoid it at all cost. Not exactly an underrated airline imo.
An underrated airline (although probably not on this forum) I think is SU (Aeroflot). You still hear it a lot, Russian airline, must be dangerous etc...

I would think that Porter is the most underrated airlines IMHO. Few people have heard of it and people don't always rave about it. Porter was above and beyond the nicest airline I've flown. Meals provided on flights under an hour, all kinds of free beverages served in real glasses and a 34 inch pitch on a turboprop. Plus in YTZ they have a lounge available to all their customers free of charge that is comparable to an Admirals club. All of this at prices that often beat AC and the US3 from the U.S. to Canada.

To some extent, the Chinese Big 3.

They're decent enough, for the price.

I would like to make a case for Air India and Allegiant Air (G4).

Both airlines are under fire from all over the world for one minor blip here and there..

Air India is certainly a top notch airline in domestic at least. They have the best meals in the sky, the highest free luggage allowance (at 25kgs), and benefits of being a Star Alliance member. While their B787s are 9 abreast, at least their B777s make for a relatively comfortable flight, with the 9 abreast seating. No news about a switch to a 10 abreast yet.

As for Allegiant Air, they are a simple ultra low cost airline. I have heard people criticizing them for what they are: over-charing for bags, seats, etc... That's how they function. If their policies are understood, Allegiant makes for a very cheap travel deal!

Varsity1 wrote:

Southwest.

They offer the most room and amenities for the money of any domestic airline I have flown in the world. Flying WN is still a relatively stress free experience.

Agreed! With two free checked bags, they certainly make the case for a pretty inexpensive experience.

Regards
CollegeAviator

peterj324 wrote:

I would think that Porter is the most underrated airlines IMHO. Few people have heard of it and people don't always rave about it. Porter was above and beyond the nicest airline I've flown. Meals provided on flights under an hour, all kinds of free beverages served in real glasses and a 34 inch pitch on a turboprop. Plus in YTZ they have a lounge available to all their customers free of charge that is comparable to an Admirals club. All of this at prices that often beat AC and the US3 from the U.S. to Canada.

While I agree with you that they have a pretty solid product considering they're a regional airline flying Q400's, they have lowered their standards a lot from where they were previously. In recent years they discontinued the meal boxes, and now offer chips/apple chips/cookies/banana bread, as well as adding an additional row of seats on their Q400's. Still more comfortable than a WS Encore Q, but not quite as nice as they used to be.

When they first launched, they used to offer multiple types of beer(Stella, Keith's etc) in a tall can, a meal box with a proper sandwhich, cheese, chocolate etc.

I imagine they realized that their product was costly and overkill for 1-2 hour segments and they could save some significant money scaling it back, while still providing a pretty good product and value. Though I miss the tall cans of beer....

CollegeAviator wrote:

I would like to make a case for Air India

I flew a few times in J LHR-JFK-LHR many years ago on the B744 and they were great. Lovely interiors,good food and attentive crew. However from friends I know who fly them now I think I would be in for a shock. Maybe I will try them again sometime but there is no doubt the actions by their management and bad press does certainly put people off me included.

Air Serbia...best intra-European service out of the 30 something different carriers I flew during my 3.4 years spent in Germany.

My vote goes to Aegean! They have Europe pretty much covered and they serve everything from candy on take-off to real food (not just a sandwich) and free coffee/drinks. Their prices are excellent, 120 euros for ATH LHR return ticket is very good! And they have the best mileage programm. In general very satisfied with hard and soft product. They can always get better but for the prices they charge I m more than satisfied

Jetstar AU/NZ.

I would have to go with Sun Country. Small airline only serving the major destinations, but they are very homey and the employees are like family.

for me airlines that were all WAY better than the usual LH group, BA, AF and so on western crap were within the EU especially TAROM! in asia i very much like the service of iran air. and also air koryo is way better than always stated by skytrax. biman had a great service as well (my flights were all on time however!). in russia SU is getting worse, to me the best carrier by far is izhavia, with a great dedicated crew, 2 hot meal choices in eco and lots of drinks (for a two hour flight), a nice fleet of yak-42 and a great homebase. i highly recommend izhavia - for enthusiasts it is an astonishing experience! oh, and KL is way better than it might seem at first.

Allegiant Air

Perfect safety record, excellent service and on time all the time. 11/10

I know many won't agree, but I'd say three of the most underrated airlines in the world are the three U.S. network carriers - AA, Delta and United. There's no question that there are other airlines around the world that run generally more reliable operations and/or deliver more consistent service, but then there aren't many (any) other airlines in the world with 1,200-1,500+ branded airplanes serving 300+ airports. And not that there certainly isn't always room for improvement, but given the sheer scale and complexity of all three of these airlines' networks, their sprawling operations and fleets stretched across hundreds of cities spanning dozens of countries literally circling the globe, and the diversity of markets and customers they carry - I'd say all three (and their collective 250,000+ employees) do a pretty impressive job overall.

For me, I would say Philippine Airlines. Underrated at least when compared to the bigger, more well-known Asian carriers a la CX/SQ.

Free hot meals, clean, spacious cabins, comfortable seats in Y (Except on their current A330 configuration), and young, outgoing, friendly crews. One thing that I loved about PAL when I flew them is that each crewmember, while extremely warm and friendly, had their own personality and bubbliness. This contrasts with the traditional robotic crews of KE/SQ/JL/CX.

sevenair wrote:

Ryanair. Cheap, get you from A to B. No pomp. No ceremony. Fabulous safety record. Amazing rout choice and frequency. OK legroom and onboard prices.

Can't agree more. When travelling within Europe, I don't see any reason to choose the likes of LH or KL which justifies the price difference they have compared to Ryanair. In some cases, I already even opted for a self-conneting combination in Stansted as I considered it cheaper and more reliable than a flight with a legacy (e.g. HAM-WAW-WRO vs. BRE-STN-WRO for example).

coolian2 wrote:

Jetstar AU/NZ.

They get so much hate from NZ and Australia for being a cheap and therefore rubbish airline, said to be unsafe, but have an amazing safety record. Jetstar is no different to NZ on short domestic routes and in Australia are basically on par with VA. And you just can't beat the cheap fares, it's almost always guaranteed that Auckland to Wellington or Christchurch will not cost more than $50 NZD!

ZKOXA

I am a big fan of MEA and Ethiopian. Great airlines both of them.

Agree re Aegean. Great prices, great service, clean planes and good food. Plus the benefit of being in Star A.

Never flown with them before, but Sun Country. From what I've heard they're comfortable and the cabin crew are very friendly. No one seems to talk about them.

I think Thai Airways is underrated. My experience with TG was great. Their economy class is one of the best.

fallap wrote:

Allegiant Air

Perfect safety record, excellent service and on time all the time. 11/10

This thread can't possibly get any better...props to you sir!

ACCS300 wrote:

Personal bias here but Air Canada is very underrated. It's a national pastime in Canada to dump on AC but I've always had rather good experiences on AC. Their short-haul fleet was the first in North America to have PTV's system-wide including the Jazz CRJ-700s! They're the only North American airline to be rated 'four stars' by Skytrax ( if you have any faith in them ). Currently their BOB, Air Canada Cafe is the best in the business IMO, offering hot entrees served on China, yes the Business Class meal with wine for 20 bucks! Their current long-haul fleet is amongst the youngest in the world with 23 787's and 25 777W's and LR's ( handful of 767's is about to go ). Their Business Class product features direct aisle access ( herring bone and reverse herring bone ) on the entire long-haul fleet and is very consistent throughout.

With their high density 777 and 787, I don't really think the AC is underrated. They could definitely do better than this...

I know I'll get flamed and worse ... but my vote is for NK. If by "underrated" you mean delta between reputation and reality, I'd argue NK has greatest distance between the two. SW has an excellent reputation, and while Allegiant may not have had any fatal accidents, they've had enough incidents (unscheduled and emergency landings) to make me reluctant to board w my wife and kids. I've flown about 20-30 NK segments in the last 10 years (most recently last week), not a lot but every flight was brand new plane, highly professional and friendly crew, pilots tend on the younger side but seem great guys (and gals) whenever I poke my head up front. I have full confidence in Spirit, their planes, their crews and their maintenance. If you understand their business and pricing model you won't complain; if you don't, you will. I wouldn't want to fly Spirit cross-ocean or even cross the US bc of legroom, but to Florida from NY and other segments 3 hours or less they're terrific IMHO.

Easyjet. Along with Ryanair they carried on the work of Freddie Laker in bringing cheap, no-frills travel to the masses.

Sir Freddie envisioned a train in the sky. Buy a ticket and get on, everything else is extra and you only pay for what you want or need. FR and U2 continued that, except Ryanair's model is more like a bus service. Both took inspiration from herb's airline Southwest so props to them as well.

WildcatYXU wrote:

At the same time AC is making a tremendous effort to align itself with the public opinion. From being one of the most comfortable in Y they went to LCC level. They made really difficult for me to take a vacation with them by introducing Rouge on virtually all sun routes and from the perspective of a 10 year in a row E50K they added insult to the injury by gutting their FF program and lowering the service levels in MLL's.
I used to recommend AC to all my friends. I don't do it anymore.

What's the alternative though? Mainline fleets are being densified as well, for example the 458 seat 77W. Transat? Good luck if you think it will be any less cramped. Let's face it we're migrating to an LCC-like world. Maybe to Europe there's a bit more choice with BA, LH etc., but I think the race to the bottom is on with everyone. I mean even Air France have super-crammed 77Ws in and out of YUL.

Beech

I've had very nice trips on Avian and LAN (now LATAM). LAN provided a good service for the money and with nice PTV and food. They are gone now, but i really liked BMI, had a lovely trip on them from London LHR to AMM Amman.

I am taking my first flight on Austrian this summer, I've heard good things and have never used them/considered them before.

Adam

SriLancan was very good.
In 2014, I flew DME-CMB-KUL r/t.
Reasonable prices. A combination of A332 and A320 was good.Generous pitch. Clean. Nice crew. Not excessively spicy food.
Approaching the island alone was a great entertainment.

I would have to vote for Tam. Flew them from MIA-MAO circa 2008. I was in Y for the roughly six-hour flight on a 767-300ER. The seats were old, but my gosh, they were comfortable as can be. The departure was early in the morning, and I slept nearly the entire flight. I recall the breakfast and service being superb-- the mango juice in particular was wonderful. Nonetheless, perhaps my memory is clouded by the fact that I was going on vacation...

LAN/LATAM. A few years ago they were always the but of jokes due to lousy OTP, bad service, old cabins with hopeless IFE. Nowadays they're very good with excellent service, new 787s, cheap fares and great IFE. Always a pleasure.

Jetstar is underrated too. Cheap and (reasonably) cheerful.

I honestly think China Eastern (MU) is underrated. When reading their Yelp reviews, you wonder what is going on.

Sun Country is a very underrated airline. Many good things about this airline: the friendliness and devotion of their employees, from counter staff and gate agents to flight attendants and pilots; a route system that serves major US cities and many leisure vacation spots in Mexico and the Caribbean; an on-time record that is always near the front of the pack; a very comfortable first class cabin experience with meals that are much better than I've experienced on Delta. Living in the Twin Cities, I love the fact that I can go wherever they fly and it's a non-stop trip.....I hate having to make a connection in Atlanta. They've got a great product and I would love to see them add a few more planes, some more domestic and Caribbean routes, but otherwise keep everything else as is.

I don't think NH gets the credit it deserves despite being ranked as a "5 star carrier".

As a poster above me already suggested, I'd also include Aeroflot. I flew ZRH-SVO-GYD-SVO-ZRH with them back in 2014 and had a very good overall experience with them. There was a problem with the booking and the telephone agent was very competent in handling and solving the situation. The flights were all fine. They served an actual hot meal (as opposed to some cold, interestingly looking wrap type thingy you get thrown your way on many legacies nowadays) that you didn't have to pay extra for and flight/ground crews were very helpful and polite, even joking around with PAX after arriving at SVO from ZRH at like 3 o'clock in the morning lol.
Also Pegasus Airlines is highly underrated IMO. I saw they received tons of bad reviews on their facebook page and are included in the Skytrax bottom 20 list. Frankly, I don't see why, I had nothing but good experiences with them. They are no LX or TK but for the price it's quite alright I'd say. I'd place them quite a bit above Easyjet etc. for having tons of connection possibilities at SAW, hot(!) meals and beverages for comparetively resanoble prices and having an overall product that doesn't present itself in a cheap and lazy way (I know, very subjective). Also flight/ground crews have always been very helpful and polite in all occasions.

I'd say Swiss.
It's not a very big airline by European standards but it's a fantastic airline to fly.

beechnut wrote:

WildcatYXU wrote:

At the same time AC is making a tremendous effort to align itself with the public opinion. From being one of the most comfortable in Y they went to LCC level. They made really difficult for me to take a vacation with them by introducing Rouge on virtually all sun routes and from the perspective of a 10 year in a row E50K they added insult to the injury by gutting their FF program and lowering the service levels in MLL's.
I used to recommend AC to all my friends. I don't do it anymore.

What's the alternative though? Mainline fleets are being densified as well, for example the 458 seat 77W. Transat? Good luck if you think it will be any less cramped. Let's face it we're migrating to an LCC-like world. Maybe to Europe there's a bit more choice with BA, LH etc., but I think the race to the bottom is on with everyone. I mean even Air France have super-crammed 77Ws in and out of YUL.

Beech

As I see it, there is no simple alternative. It all depends on the route. To sun destinations it could be WS. Or just go to destinations served by RV 767's (PUJ, CUN). They have decent Rouge Plus seats and even the basic seats are survivable for the 4 hours. I wish the 319's and 321's would have other Rouge Plus seats than the first row behind J and exit seats.
TATL - whoever who flies Airbus or 767's (except, obviously, TS), TK, or whoever who offers W seats for reasonable money. Again, that may be AC as well.

United. People are quick to bash them when things go wrong (no different than other airlines) but slow to give them credit where due. First to implement economy extra, first US airline to offer lie flats in business, and helped create the largest alliance.

rebr wrote:

Swadian wrote:

I'd say AI isn't as bad as people think it is

I've flown AI on a couple of occasions, and especially domestically in India I avoid it at all cost. Not exactly an underrated airline imo.
An underrated airline (although probably not on this forum) I think is SU (Aeroflot). You still hear it a lot, Russian airline, must be dangerous etc...

Really.. You prefer 15 kg baggage, no food, extremely crammed legroom, no IFE, no FF programmes..

AI is the only airline offering 25 KG baggage, free meals, a nice legroom (AI has 168 Y on A320, compared to 180 Y in 6E and G8, 186 Y on SG B738), and on some A320s and A321s, AI has IFE as well. AI is a *Alliance member. No other airline offers any such good frequent flyer program.

The best part, with AI you can often experience a B777 or B787 on domestic sector.

Royal Jordanian. Not a huge airline and not a big network, but comfortable, with great service. The new terminal building in their home airport is icing on the cake.

Air Zimbabwe
Ethiopian
Royal Jordanian
Philippine Airlines
ANA

For me its also SU, I have done more than a dozen flights with them during the last year and they serve nice hot meals and even give out menu cards in Y class. Also the staff is usually friendly.
But it still has the aura of being an old soviet airline with old equipment and bad service.

Ab345 wrote:

My vote goes to Aegean! They have Europe pretty much covered and they serve everything from candy on take-off to real food (not just a sandwich) and free coffee/drinks. Their prices are excellent, 120 euros for ATH LHR return ticket is very good! And they have the best mileage programm. In general very satisfied with hard and soft product. They can always get better but for the prices they charge I m more than satisfied

Agree but I would not call them underrated as they are known for their full service,reliable reputation and got awards for it which unlike some are actually deserving of such awards. As for the fares though it is hit and miss. I often find their fares are min £200 on the LHR route. I guess it depends on how flexible you are and when you are going but for me its mostly off peak and still rarely get those P class fares. Being a long time Gold member with them I can only agree with the FF program comment. They do offer one of the best products currently in Europe. I had 4 flights with them back in December and all were 100% consistent.

irishpower wrote:

I'd say Swiss.
It's not a very big airline by European standards but it's a fantastic airline to fly.

Again not really underrated and known for quality especially their Euro J product which I have over 100 flights with over the last number of years. Most recently 4 flights just before Christmas and all were 10/10 and those meals are very hard to beat

From a recent experience, Air France. Lovely planes, friendly staff, excellent and extremely fast connectionin CDG despite a short 40 minute connection (but not rushed at any point). Okay service on-board. Planes departed and arrived on time every time I flew with them. I left the plane with a very good impression.

irishpower wrote:

I'd say Swiss.
It's not a very big airline by European standards but it's a fantastic airline to fly.

Yeah, but they aren't really underrated, are they? They are generally regarded as a fantastic airline

OA260 wrote:

Ab345 wrote:

My vote goes to Aegean! They have Europe pretty much covered and they serve everything from candy on take-off to real food (not just a sandwich) and free coffee/drinks. Their prices are excellent, 120 euros for ATH LHR return ticket is very good! And they have the best mileage programm. In general very satisfied with hard and soft product. They can always get better but for the prices they charge I m more than satisfied

Agree but I would not call them underrated as they are known for their full service,reliable reputation and got awards for it which unlike some are actually deserving of such awards. As for the fares though it is hit and miss. I often find their fares are min £200 on the LHR route. I guess it depends on how flexible you are and when you are going but for me its mostly off peak and still rarely get those P class fares. Being a long time Gold member with them I can only agree with the FF program comment. They do offer one of the best products currently in Europe. I had 4 flights with them back in December and all were 100% consistent.

I mostly fly to TXL and LHR but have a flexible schedule and I find tickets from 100 to 140 euros on both destinations at least 8 out of 10 times which is good for me. There have been times that I fell on some pretty hefty prices but they are in the minority. Can't wait for them to try long haul (A339 plz )