A great business class can feel like a vacation in itself – hours of dedicated luxury, 40,000 feet away from any trace of reality. As full-time travelers, we have flown on dozens of airlines, big and small, grandiose and ghastly. It’s difficult to know which airlines are worthy of shelling out the big bucks or miles for business class. We flew 40,000 feet up in the air to find out which airlines service the skies and which ones should be left at the gate.

Waterproof Travel Tote Bag / Travel Duffle

Royal Jordanian Airlines

  • Route: Chicago to Amman
  • Year Flown: 2016
  • Pro: 787 Dreamliner with spacious seats and overhead, genuine apparel of staff, good food, lounge in Amman, check in service in Amman
  • Con: champagne service when most people sleep, movie selection, lounge in ORD USA weak
  • Worth It? Yes!
Royal Jordanian Airlines Crown Class

Turkish Air

  • Route: Chicago to Istanbul
  • Year Flown: 2015
  • Pro: Great service, a special pass to get you through customs/immigration quickly in Turkey, chef onboard, candlelit dinner, full lie flat seats
  • Con: weak lounge at ORD – this lounge is shared with other star alliance members and it’s extremely small.
  • Worth It? Yes!
US passport
turkish-air-business-class

Asiana

  • Route: LAX to Seoul
  • Year Flown: 2017
  • Pro: Fabulous service, business class lounge on aircraft, incredible lounge at LAX (The Star Alliance Lounge at Tom Bradley International), immediate service upon boarding, lie-flat seats, great entertainment selection
  • Con: Customer service on phone is absolutely horrible. We spent hours on them trying to change one thing.
  • Worth It? Yes!
asiana-business-class

EVA Airways

  • Route: Round-trip LAX to Taipei to DPS
  • Year Flown: 2014
  • Pro: We flew on the branded Hello Kitty plane, outfitted with Hello Kitty exterior art, interior décor, and branded napkins. The lounge at LAX (Star Alliance lounge) is fantastic, impeccable service.
  • Con: Extremely slow and unorganized boarding process
  • Worth It? Yes!
eva-air-business-class

Avianca

  • Route: Buenos Aires to Bogota
  • Year Flown: 2015
  • Pro: New aircraft, lie-flat seats, great lounge at Buenos Aires (The Star Alliance Lounge)
  • Con: Poor food and unorganized boarding process
  • Worth It? Not unless you absolutely need to sleep on the flight.
avianca-business-class

Lufthansa

  • Route: Frankfurt to LAX
  • Year Flown: 2017
  • Pro: Speedy boarding, immediate service upon boarding, extra storage space at seat, multiple lounges at Frankfurt Airport
  • Con: Quantity of food and quality of food
  • Worth It? Yes, but bring a snack!
lufthansa-business-class

United Airlines

  • Routes: Round-trip LA to London, Amsterdam to Houston, Round-trip LA to Sydney
  • Years Flown: 2013, 2014, 2015
  • Pro: Lie-flat seats, great lounge at Heathrow Airport, great lounge at Sydney Airport
  • Con: Poor lounge at LAX (in domestic terminal), poor service – not as good as foreign airlines
  • Worth It? Yes

Checkout the great deals from United Here!

united-airlines-business-class

Austrian Air

  • Route: LAX to Vienna
  • Year Flown: 2017
  • Pro: Lie-flat seats, new route for LAX to Europe on Star Alliance, delicious food
  • Con: Poor service, no drinks until 1+ hour into flight, no beverages served on the ground, poor drink selection
  • Worth It? No. Opt for economy.
austrian-air

South African Airways

  • Routes: JFK to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to London
  • Year Flown: 2015
  • Pro: Good lounge at Johannesburg (South Africa Airways Hub)
  • Con: Outdated seats (not fully lie-flat), poor service, bad food
  • Worth It? You definitely do not get what you pay for, however it is beneficial for sleeping.
south-african-air

ANA (All Nippon Airways)

  • Route: LAX to Tokyo Haneda
  • Year Flown: 2012
  • Pro: service!!! Japanese service at its finest. Service as soon as we lift off. Great lounge at LAX, great food
  • Con: Outdated seats
  • Worth It? Yes!
all-nippon-air

Thai Airways Royal Silk Class

  • Route: Tokyo to Bangkok
  • Year Flown: 2012
  • Pro: Fantastic service, lie-flat seats, great lounge at Tokyo Narita (Star Alliance Lounge)
  • Con: Some flights have outdated seats
  • Worth It? Yes!

Photo from Business Traveller

SAS Scandinavian Airlines

  • Route: Stockholm to Los Angeles
  • Year Flown: 2018
  • Pro: Massive seats (row 1 seems even bigger), lie-flat seats, great entertainment selection
  • Con: SERVICE! They refused to hold food for us while we slept.
  • Worth It? Yes, but bring some snacks.
sas-business-class

We have an epic wish list that we will hopefully report back on soon!

  • Singapore Air
  • Air New Zealand
  • Emirates
  • Etihad
  • Qatar

What are your favorite business class experiences? What is the worst business class experience you’ve had? Comment below!