The 6 Best Domestic First & Business Class Flights

Honestly amazed people use valuable points to fly first and biz domestically. Flights are not long enough to maximize the experience plus the North American airlines fail sharply in comparison to ER, QR, ANA, CX, TK, etc.

TK using widebody planes in domestic routes with full flat seat or one of the best narrowbody business product of europe (i think best) and they offers Domestic Lounge access, business class cobus service, priority entrance and amazing catering.

Wow I thought this would be an insightful and helpful post about the best domestic business flights in the world.. but apparently it’s been forgotten that countries other than the US have “domestic flights” too.. maybe make the title of the post clearer?

Would enjoy your ranking on best recliner style domestic first class product.

One cabin per airline? American is featured twice.

That would be a great and interesting blog. I'd have to think ANA and JAL's 777 & 787 domestic flights would take the cake.

Dana - I have been going to Hawaii for both leisure and work recently. Flights are 13 hours from JFK to HNL/OGG. Outside of Hawaii I fly 5-6 hour flights domestically pretty regularly. Some of my recent routes:

JFK to SEA
JFK to SFO
JFK to LAX
JFK to LAS
BOS to SFO
BOS to LAS
Even JFK to PHX is a decently long flight

Honestly amazed that some people have different experiences and sense of what they value than other people do. Who knew?

American's transcon flight to me was pretty wretched. One of the most rickety planes I've flown in. Certainly could've been worse, but I ain't itching to try it again.

OTOH, we had an excessive layover between SQ F and our AA F flights, and had an exceptional 5+ hours in the Flagship First Dining area. Quite, elegant, and with great food, plus a view of the tarmac. Looks like that's been replaced by something even better, now.

tbh I think Alaska's business class is highly underrated considering how cheap upgrades can be (without wasting points). Better service than pretty much every airline (besides B6/AA F), and there are lounges, unlike B6.

You really don't need a lie-flat seat unless it's an overnight flight.

When that AA 77W pulls up on the JFK MIA route it’s being worked by young attractive flight attendants and you can get a seat in row 1 or 2. People are so clueless about being able to assign flagship first seats.

The A321T transcon First was made for J passengers upgrading to F , operational upgrades , whining people whose upgrades don’t clear from Y to J and piss and moan because they want the gate agent to upgrade them to F (entertaining meltdowns at the gate over the years) , but most importantly F cabin was made for non revs.

@Jimmy T

The A321neo is nice and quiet in First. Pop a few benzos and sleep through the red eye what difference does a lie flat seat make ? It’s still better than being in the main cabin with the cattle.

From your description I am not sure why Delta One should rank behind United/American Business.

Surprised that #5 doesn’t distinguish between DL’s tired 763 and the much snazzier revamped 764 (or just award the latter exclusively). Then again I’m thinking Ben hasn’t flown it yet. It’s a fixture on some JFK-LAX frequencies - not every day, but regularly for sure.

your "best" flight is going away... so that puts the real best, JetBlue in the number 1 spot

I don’t fly much but surely that’s not United 787 business class? The plane in the photo has window shades

Alaska is my favorite domestic first product. One of the only domestic airlines to include lounge access with each first class ticket.

They are my least favorite premium product. Very substandard service. And I am 100K. By the way, they no longer provide lounge acess to first class passengers. It is not a big loss anyway, given how bare their lounges are.

You can't compare domestic flights. Of course the longer domestic flights will have a better business class experience. What do you expect on the short haul flights of only a couple of hours - to lie down?

DL flies the A350 daily year round on MSP-PHX. No joke. https://www.google.com/travel/flights/s/J5ftp9ZjjbCkk2e76

This is still much better than anything we get on Qantas in Australia

Honestly, I like the service United provides on these flights. I think the Polaris chair provides the most comfortable ride across the continent and you have at your fingertips the best entertainment system at your fingertips. I really use it the most. However, if you’re a foodie, and your choice is based on the food served on board and food alone ONLY, then your best choice and option, IMO, would be AA. They really knock it out of the park in that category alone.

Never flown on a QF A330 domestic flight then (often on transcon and sometimes SYD-MEL and other SE sectors)? They have flat beds and direct aisle access. On another of Ben's criteria, QF offer J pax domestic business lounge access, something most US carriers do not. I won't defend QF's other transgressions, and they are legion, but on their A330s they are ahead of most US carriers, and on other jets at least on par for J-class travel. (VA are fine too.)

Hawaiian also flies the A330 between AUS and HNL

Reality is most flights are operated by decrepit B737 on flights to Perth. Also airfares are much higher ($2k+ each way).

Agree! The SLC-HNL route has the tired 763, with tiny screens that rarely work. The service and food were great though, and the lie-flat was decent. The wi-fi hadn't been updated on our flights either.

Delta has one flight a day from ATL to LAX on an A350-900, DL950 the return seems to be spotty though. Good news is the premium economy section is labeled comfort+ and the comfort+ is preferred. So as Platinum I get to sit up a bit, but since I'm not a Diamond like all of the other flyers in Atlanta, the Delta One Suites are not likely.

Flew JetBlue Mint recently from San Diego to Boston round trip. Food was great. Seats were ok…nothing to write home about.

Hi Ben! When you update your list next, I think it’s worth noting that Delta operates daily A339 flights from LAX-JFK and back (DL1749 and DL771), and also operates once daily in each direction on their retrofitted 764. While I totally agree that DL’s 763s are beyond outdated, I could also make the argument that even though United operates the Dreamliner and 777s on a few transcon flights a day, they operate wildly old 757s on the rest of their daily transcons. Given that, I think it’s fair to include the best of DL since you include the best of UA. Also, as someone else noted, DL does have daily service from LAX-ATL on the A350 (DL678 and DL301).