What are currently the best premium products on Transatlantic routes? This may include premium economy, business or first class.

If possible, I would be interested in grouping this by Alliance, and if there is a difference between aircraft, be explicit about which configuration you are referring to.

By product, I mean mostly hard product (seat + cabin), but happy to get a better sense of other aspects too (service, food, other benefits).

Thanks!

From my pov , W=VS, J=NZ, F=LX

BA. I can't compare it to others anymore, because I haven't flown anyone else TATL in 12 years. I took Virgin Australia West, it was awesome. Lie flat First on both carriers.

La Compagnie for me, while they currently only serve EWR-ORY and they dropped their LTN flight I enjoy how convenient the airline is with a low density 757, while the angle lie flat is not the best for a short hop across the Atlantic you really don't need much else, with their 321N's set to be delivered next year the product will hopefully become even better with full lie flat seats.

If you want a traditional lie flat seat it has to be American's 77W's especially their mini cabin between F and the boarding door at L2, it is only two rows of J seats making it nice and quiet. Service is a solid meh, with all US3 they are hit and miss, I would usually put Delta ahead of American but their reverse herringbone I like so much more than the Delta Throne Seats on their 767 fleet and I have yet to fly their A330's.

Premium Economy has to be Singapore's on their A380 from JFK-FRA Singapore's product all around for me is absolutely beautiful with stellar service and the crews are some of the friendliest and nicest I have experienced both in the air and talking with them on the ground.

I like EI J, BA J is the worst out there atm imo. They’re the only 2 I’ve been on recently TATL....actually i’ve been on SQ heading to Asia ...theirs is brilliant.

Specifically for FRA-JFK Singapore Airlines flies it daily on the A380 as a fifth freedom from SIN and it will be continuing. Never flown, but arguably SQ is leagues above LH in W and J. Service on F is comparable by what I've read but SQ suites are too good to pass up. If I recall correctly ANZ's LHR-LAX part of LHR-LAX-AKL is also fifth-freedom, and their W is one of the best. Then you have EK and their fifth-freedoms MXP-JFK and ATH-EWR for F and J (at least on the MXP-JFK one flown by the 388).

Otherwise in general the best airlines for me would be Virgin Atlantic in W/J, LH in F and AF in J/F. Never flown any of them so I can't really judge, but from the reviews these seem to be it. Maybe with their 2020 J LH will improve on their J service as well. Also would consider Norwegian for W, since the hard product is arguably the best there is, and TK for J, but that depends on wether or not you consider Turkey a part of Europe, but since TK markets itself like that and has a large European clientelle I'd say we can put it on the list

I've only done AA and BA. For me, it's 777 on AA. But I would imagine SQ would be the best overall.

US AIRWAYS A333 PHL-LHR ENVOY CLASS (I'm bored)

SPREE34 wrote:

BA. I can't compare it to others anymore, because I haven't flown anyone else

Gee, we couldn't tell.

BA has quite possibly **THE** most comparatively piss-poor premium product of any of the major carriers.

....granted they can afford to, as they're the primary presence in the world's largest premium market:
you can strap a booster-seat to a buzzard, and *some* sob will STILL pay $10K to fly it to LON!

I have flown Virgin (JFK-LHR), SAS (CPH-IAD), and Aer Lingus (BDL-DUB, DUB-BOS) transatlantic in J. Virgin had great service and seat, however I didn't like the reverse herringbone config as looking out the window is not the easiest. Since it was a short overnight flight I only elected for the quick tapas service which was good. The arrival lounge at LHR with breakfast and shower was a great option and the JFK lounge offered lots of options with table service. EI had great service and above average food. The 757 BDL-DUB with the "pod" seat was great. I also enjoyed the SAS business product, great seat and service and food was very good. I like how SAS offered custom beers onboard that can be purchased.

uconn99 wrote:

I have flown Virgin (JFK-LHR), SAS (CPH-IAD), and Aer Lingus (BDL-DUB, DUB-BOS) transatlantic in J. Virgin had great service and seat, however I didn't like the reverse herringbone config as looking out the window is not the easiest. Since it was a short overnight flight I only elected for the quick tapas service which was good. The arrival lounge at LHR with breakfast and shower was a great option and the JFK lounge offered lots of options with table service. EI had great service and above average food. The 757 BDL-DUB with the "pod" seat was great. I also enjoyed the SAS business product, great seat and service and food was very good. I like how SAS offered custom beers onboard that can be purchased.

VS config is the Herringbone. BA First and AA J is Reverse Herringbone

speedbird52 wrote:

uconn99 wrote:

I have flown Virgin (JFK-LHR), SAS (CPH-IAD), and Aer Lingus (BDL-DUB, DUB-BOS) transatlantic in J. Virgin had great service and seat, however I didn't like the reverse herringbone config as looking out the window is not the easiest. Since it was a short overnight flight I only elected for the quick tapas service which was good. The arrival lounge at LHR with breakfast and shower was a great option and the JFK lounge offered lots of options with table service. EI had great service and above average food. The 757 BDL-DUB with the "pod" seat was great. I also enjoyed the SAS business product, great seat and service and food was very good. I like how SAS offered custom beers onboard that can be purchased.

VS config is the Herringbone. BA First and AA J is Reverse Herringbone

Thanks for the clarification, I thought I was wrong on that.

uconn99 wrote:

speedbird52 wrote:

uconn99 wrote:

I have flown Virgin (JFK-LHR), SAS (CPH-IAD), and Aer Lingus (BDL-DUB, DUB-BOS) transatlantic in J. Virgin had great service and seat, however I didn't like the reverse herringbone config as looking out the window is not the easiest. Since it was a short overnight flight I only elected for the quick tapas service which was good. The arrival lounge at LHR with breakfast and shower was a great option and the JFK lounge offered lots of options with table service. EI had great service and above average food. The 757 BDL-DUB with the "pod" seat was great. I also enjoyed the SAS business product, great seat and service and food was very good. I like how SAS offered custom beers onboard that can be purchased.

VS config is the Herringbone. BA First and AA J is Reverse Herringbone

Thanks for the clarification, I thought I was wrong on that.

No problem

Unbeatable BA with the best of the World Business class (BA called it “First”) and Premium Economy (They call it “Club World”) hard and soft product

SPREE34 wrote:

BA. I can't compare it to others anymore, because I haven't flown anyone else TATL in 12 years. I took Virgin Australia West, it was awesome. Lie flat First on both carriers.

You having not flown anyone else is obvious when you state BA. Perhaps one of the worst in the sky, let alone TATL. Also, please don't compare VA with BA. That's like comparing apples and oranges. VA is one of the leading premium products in the world.

chunhimlai wrote:

Unbeatable BA with the best of the World Business class (BA called it “First”) and Premium Economy (They call it “Club World”) hard and soft product

Not sure if you're actually being sarcastic or not, but assuming you're not: your standards for any premium class must be very low as British Airways probably has the worst product of any of the premium classes.

F100Flyer wrote:

chunhimlai wrote:

Unbeatable BA with the best of the World Business class (BA called it “First”) and Premium Economy (They call it “Club World”) hard and soft product

Not sure if you're actually being sarcastic or not, but assuming you're not: your standards for any premium class must be very low as British Airways probably has the worst product of any of the premium classes.

Read what he wrote again, he is actually correct, BA first is the best business class out there, just at the price of first.

The seat is nothing over the top, but I have always enjoyed the food and drink in P on AF.

On a side bar, I am always mystified by people preoccupation with Asian airlines. Is it all a halo effect from SQ?

Having been on many of them in all cabins I do see what all the fuss is about?

SPREE34 wrote:

BA. I can't compare it to others anymore, because I haven't flown anyone else TATL in 12 years. I took Virgin Australia West, it was awesome. Lie flat First on both carriers.

12 years ago BA was still good indeed, nowadays it isn't much anymore. They're on a steep rate of decline.

Rated per alliance I'd say:

OneWorld: Finnair

SkyTeam: KLM

Star Alliance: Lufthansa

Non-alliance: Emirates (they have several fifth freedom routes from Europe)

Overall the best carriers I'd say are KLM and Lufthansa.

From what I’ve seen and read (but unfortunately not experienced), I would say Air Canada’s premium product is very good.

Just to summarize, then, what has been mentioned so far without dispute (such as BA), with class specified where available:

oneworld: Finnair, American (business)

SkyTeam: KLM

Star Alliance: Lufthansa, Air Canada, Air New Zealand (business), Swiss (first), SAS (business), Turkish (business)

Non-alliance: Emirates (business and first), Virgin Atlantic (prem eco), La Compagnie (business), Singapore Air (prem eco), Aer Lingus (business), Norwegian (prem eco)

Gotta say I did not expect OneWorld and SkyTeam to do so poorly relative to the two other groups!

JakubH wrote:

Just to summarize, then, what has been mentioned so far without dispute (such as BA), with class specified where available:

oneworld: Finnair, American (business)

SkyTeam: KLM

Star Alliance: Lufthansa, Air Canada, Air New Zealand (business), Swiss (first), SAS (business), Turkish (business)

Non-alliance: Emirates (business and first), Virgin Atlantic (prem eco), La Compagnie (business), Singapore Air (prem eco), Aer Lingus (business), Norwegian (prem eco)

Gotta say I did not expect OneWorld and SkyTeam to do so poorly relative to the two other groups!

Singapore Air is a member of *A

JakubH wrote:

Gotta say I did not expect OneWorld and SkyTeam to do so poorly relative to the two other groups!

OneWorld is indeed very poor. Even their best airline, Finnair, would be an average airline compared to the airlines in the other alliances. British Airways and Iberia are even below that. And I wouldn't rate American very high either.

On SkyTeam there's Delta which is about as good as KLM. Aeromexico has also improved a lot lately, as did Air Europa. They might not be the best, but they're not bad either. Only bad TATL airlines on SkyTeam are Air France and Alitalia. Even Aeroflot beats them.

On Star Alliance you can't go wrong with the Lufthansa Group except for EuroWings. All the other members (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines) all offer a top class product, only EuroWings is a bit less which is logical because it's the LCC of the group. SAS Scandinavian offers a very descent product as well, as does United. LOT Polish airlines is a bit basic and therefor not a top class airline, but still mediocre.

chunhimlai wrote:

Singapore Air is a member of *A

Thanks for the correction!

Considering the entire experience from check-in to luggage claim, for airlines I've flown recently (approx 2 years) on TATL
1. Air Canada
2. Lufthansa
3. Brussels Airlines
4. Air France
5. SAS
6. American Airlines
7. British Airways
10. United

I'll let you know who 8 and 9 are once I've flown them.

Probably the best TATL would be SQ, FRA-JFK in First or J. As others have noted BA First is a J experience with a First class price. Air Canada J beats Virgin and BA product, as does EI aross the pond. Both Swiss and Lufthansa First are excellent too.

blueflyer wrote:

Considering the entire experience from check-in to luggage claim, for airlines I've flown recently (approx 2 years) on TATL
1. Air Canada
2. Lufthansa
3. Brussels Airlines
4. Air France
5. SAS
6. American Airlines
7. British Airways
10. United

I'll let you know who 8 and 9 are once I've flown them.

I'd say Delta and KLM would complete the list, however not as number 8 and 9. They're too good for that, I'd rate them between number 2 (Lufthansa) and 3 (Brussels Airlines).

tpaewr wrote:

On a side bar, I am always mystified by people preoccupation with Asian airlines. Is it all a halo effect from SQ?

Having been on many of them in all cabins I do see what all the fuss is about?

I can’t comment too much on the topic at hand as I’m not an experienced pond hopper in premium.

That said, ANA was on par with typical domestic US offerings, but TG blew me away! Both in cattle class and premium offering. I know all the rave is around SQ but I can’t imagine them being much (if any) better than TG. So no, it’s not all an aura around SQ.

To (slightly) defend BA's Club World product: if you can get an upper deck window seat (with extra locker space) on one of the 86J 744s that fly into JFK with the new White Company bedding and Do&Co food service, and you don't mind flying backwards, then it is actually a great experiences. But that's a lot of "ifs" - I appreciate the 772 experience is quite different.

I'd more strongly defend their First offering - there is clear white space between BA F and any long-haul J product I have tried (which includes SQ, CX, EK, EY) and the soft product is phenomenal. I really don't get the jokey comments that it is the best J product.

But then again maybe I don't have any taste - to be completely honest my preferred J product (for an overnight flight at least) is UA Polaris Business on the 763, because the seat, despite being a bit narrow, is so damn soft and comfortable, as is the Saks Fifth Avenue bedding and memory foam pillow. I sleep like a baby on those planes, and that's the most important thing when flying for business.

I'll add this: It really depends on the seat and how you sleep.

I sleep on my stomach (prone), which means I need width at the top because my hands are under my head with elbows out. The AA Concept D for example, is so narrow I have to move to my side or back, which is so uncomfortable I can never get adequate rest. Also, the AA 767 J (Thompson Vantage) was so open it felt like I was sharing a bed with the lady in the seat next to me (and Galaxy tabs, really?), so I actually prefer BA J over those options.