I sometimes share what I consider to be the world’s best business class seats, and also what I view as the world’s best business class airlines. In this post, I’d like to talk more broadly about the amenities, services, and features, that make a business class product great.
Continue reading: 12 Features That Make A Business Class Experience Great… Or Not
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Here's my hot take: The focus on privacy and partitions has actually hurt business class products, particularly on narrower aircraft.
I should point out here that perspective matters - of the 100+ business class flights I've taken since I got into this game in 2011, virtually all of them have been with a partner. So I have rarely had as much reason to need privacy. Still that doesn't make my POV wrong, just different.
And the fact remains that privacy and walls come at a cost. On a wider aircraft like a 777/A380, that cost is minimal or sometimes even non-existent. But on narrower aircraft, that cost is real estate and comfort. Look at the Turkish 787, the Virgin A339, the American 321XLR. In order to give everyone the privacy and walls, they're using sub-optimal products and sacrificing comfort.
By contrast, look at seats like the old Qatar product/old Turkish product. Not as fancy, no privacy - but man you could sleep great in those seats because you had so much room. And those seats had downsides as well (TK having a middle of the middle in J was definitely sub-optimal) but comfort is an inherent good to me, and privacy/partitions often come at the cost of comfort.
It is funny how we all have our preferences. Could not care less about entertainment as I like to unplug from technology on flights, but love a local/cultural vibe.
I love the Japanese meals on ANA/JAL, the traditional Ethiopian course on Ethiopian, etc. To me the cultural food is what makes a lasting impression.
Yeah. I would agree with that for the most part but also realise different people have different preferences. I find that sleeping on planes in business class is becoming less and less comfortable, and recently even reclining is not that great.
I’m old so I’m going to partly blame social media. The enclosed cocoons are very instagrammable haha
I prefer digital detox. So no Wifi is best for me.
I enjoy a good movie and a glass of wine instead of internet stress
Ben covered it. No notes. So far, I’ve found QR Q-Suite, ANA The Room, JAL 35K, and SQ long-haul, really do J best, but I know everyone has their favorites. I’m also fond of AF mostly for food/wine, KL long-haul for delft blue houses, and B6 newer Mint as far as US carriers with premium. If you’re gonna spend-big, you’d hope to be satisfied all-around in the end.
Sounds like you expect top notch waitressing in business class. Imagine grtting a college degree then bring judged only on tucking onemileatatime into bed and giving frequent drink refills. I don’t expect that in a restaurant.
I suppose if they went to Clown Dancing college, that would be as good as it could get.
I would add the following enhancements:
Lavatories: Maintain excellent passenger-to-lavatory ratios with consistent cleanliness standards throughout flight. Upgrade amenities and avoid crew monopolization of forward facilities. Eliminate premature lockouts 30-45 minutes before arrival (common on UA, VS, BA).
Cabin Communications: Minimize non-essential flight deck announcements (limit to pre-flight and top-of-descent). Reserve seatbelt sign for operational necessity: takeoff plus 10 minutes, final 25 minutes of descent, and genuine turbulence only. Excessive alerts create passenger fatigue.
I was on a BA flight (AUS-LHR) a while ago that was seemingly punctuated by numerous self-congratulatory announcements from the purser to the cabin crew for having to overcome "operational adversity" when they did not fully-cater the flight at AUS.
For me, the seat, food, service, toilet and entertainment matter. I am not bothered about coffee, individual air nozzles and am fine even on a dry flight (I do enjoy beer and wine, but beer choices on almost all airlines are the cheapest supermarket brands, so...). I didn't miss wifi earlier and now welcome the absence of it to disconnect.
These tabloid, HuffPost style lists seems to have become a regular feature of this blog and takes away from overall quality and positioning.
And before someone jumps in with “if you don’t like it then don’t read it”, let me just add that I didn’t read it. I just skipped directly to the comments section.
Having been on SQ for two legs to SIN, only 1 meter away from a screaming baby for 18 flight hours, I would have appreciated doors.
And yet you took the time to engage in the comments and grace us with your opinion.
Bed comfort (and an atmosphere conducive to sleep) are the only thing I really worry about. I don’t care about wifi and I can make my own entertainment. And the food is bound to be ok.
A door with no full seal which doesn't extend to the ceiling is really not gonna block much sound.
I kinda don't care if WiFi is free or $10 on a flight I paid a few thousand dollars for. But I do care if it works well.
I agree with you 100% about the problem with sleeping on these planes now (and I am also old). I find I keep bumping my shoulder and elbows against hard unforgiving plastic when I lay down. I almost feel like I have to be perfectly still in a coffin like position, which is not an easy way to fall asleep. I think we can all agree the seat is the number one priority although we may then differ on the others (eg I could care less about wi-fi but like entertainment and clean bathrooms!)
this bit made me laugh:
> too many airlines don’t consider the needs of couples or families
umm, it's *mass transit*. the needs of couples or families are the same as the needs for single travelers. if you're looking for a custom experience then fly private.
It makes me crazy how they brag about their wines and serve the cheapest rock bottom beers.
Before I got as far as your list I guessed/knew that high up would be free/good wi-fi and air nozzles!
Nozzles rate in my top 3 too, and are a welcome addition.
I wouldn't expect any of that at McDonalds 'restaurants' either.
That's about the restaurant level you are most comfortable at, yes?
I’m in the camp that comfort is more important than privacy. Give me an old-fashioned 1990s 747 F recliner any day over a semi-private plastic pod thingy. And I agree with those who stress excellent lavatories - good ratio, sized reasonably, and spotless for the entire journey.
Direct aisle access - Yes
& some privacy - Depends
Free (or reasonably priced) & fast Wi-Fi - Unnecessary
Great bedding to get comfortable - Yes
Tasty & nicely presented food - Hell Yes
Friendly & attentive service - Hell Yes
Individual air nozzles - Unnecessary
Dine on demand and/or efficient service - Yes
Extensive entertainment options - Unnecessarry
Good coffee & espresso-based drinks - Hell No
Good alcohol selection - Hell No
Amenity kits & pajamas - A must
Some local flair - Unnecessary
#1 a cooler cabin, so Air nossels !
I cant fly Turkish because they keep the cabin so HOT.
Speaking of representing their countries with flair, I was very impressed with Copa Airlines of Panama which offered a very nice coffee - It's a very good coffee country by the way. Then on top of that Copa have chocolates that tasted great, but the real kicker was that they were the exact size dimensions and the exact weight of a frog endemic to Panama.
Copas amenity kits as of late last year early 2026 offered different designs depicting oil paintings of local scenery like ships passing through the canal, wooden boats on the river etc...
Similar in Thailand, Also a great coffee country - Thai airways royal silk business coffee experience offered both good coffee and flair. They had a very unique coffee pour over setup which they perform at your seat with filter n all. Talk about making a passenger feel special and giving them some flavor from the country.
I get where you're coming from. As a NJ early adopter with a relative who piloted for another private conglomerate there's nothing like it...of course. But also of course how much more is it to fly private than F or J? Sometimes not much but usually alot.
I looked to outright charter my family from MIA to EZE (LONG FLIGHT maybe 12hrs+ and it was over holidays) - it was almost $250k. I could shop around more but Obviously for me, hard no but the points earn was tempting lol not. That's a bit different but if we are comparing int'l J to private it's fair.
Lots of people fly J or F with family and splurge on such trips. Maybe just me but when I splurge I often do a lot of research on differentiating items of which I'd say considerations for families makes a good differentiator.
once flew Qatar QSuites for actual business purposes in a four-person setup where we 2ppl faced another two because the four of us we needed to work on a key note speech and presentation. That almost conference room like setup was amazing and then when it came time to sleep we put dividers up and rested well in privacy.
It's why we booked it for almost 20k for the four of us and wow was it a differentiator.
That said, when I book for pleasure, I always book the seat in q suites next to the window because I'm a look out window guy. WE ARE FLYING! I know it's 2026 but it's still novel to me and I get giddy
This - "If you’re gonna spend-big, you’d hope to be satisfied all-around in the end"