Have you flown business class to Europe? Which airline did you have an enjoyable experience with and what was the most memorable moment?
Business Class Travellers: Which Airlines Did You Enjoy When Flying to Europe?
WatermelonJuice on 23/07/2019 - 11:39
Last edited 23/07/2019 - 11:41
Last edited 23/07/2019 - 11:41
Comments
Suites? Are you talking about first class?
Yeah so first class….
@Malarkey: A suite is a first class suite. It's just a different category of first class. Regardless, OP is asking about business.
Yes we have been flying to Europe once or twice per year every year for the last decade. We mostly do First Class now on these flights because we find it much more amazing and opulent than business but that said, business class is comfortable and makes the trip more pleasant.
From a business class point of view, Qantas, Singapore, Etihad would be my top three picks to Europe.
If you fly First, then Singapore, Etihad, and Emirates would be my next, with specific flights out of specific airports (such as Lufthansa First class out of Frankfurt, Thai Airways ex Bangkok)
Lufthansa first class is my all time favourite. I try to fly them at least twice per year. Do you really enjoy Thai ex-bkk?
I enjoy Thai ex-BKK only First Class and on the A380s; with private lounge check in, escort through security and immigration, golf buggy to lounge, complimentary hour long full body massage in spa, personal escort back to the plane when boarding.
Lufthansa is amazing with their First Class Terminal at Frankfurt!
My opinion is biased as I get thai first ground service even when not flying thai.
Will you adopt me.
Username checks out.
Just flew Emirates business to Brussels and have to say I was a tad underwhelmed. We had three hops, Singapore and Dubai on the way. For the first two hops the seats weren't that great and the food was pretty ordinary.The air craft seemed to be pretty old and tired. The Brussels hop was a much better, newer aircraft, better food, etc. The lounges were reasonably OK along the way.
Look at things like Skytrax etc.
https://www.airlinequality.com/I have always found Etihad and Qatar to be better than Emirates. I am flying Virgin Atlantic upper class on the 787 from London next month which is super exciting.
We flew Virgin Atlantic business a few years ago. Did an around the world with Virgin Australia/Atlantic at a really good price. My quibble with Virgin Atlantic was the aircraft we flew on had seats where the back folded down and they put like a mattress protector down for you to sleep on - it wasn't very well padded and you could either have a, reclinable, seat or a full flat and no real in between. The Virgin Australia seat was better as it adjusted between them. We did have a really good experience with the Virgin business class overall.
I think it depends on the flight duration what your preference will be. My preference will change for a night flight between 7 to 10 hours and a short/longer flight.
I found Virgin Aus long haul to be an awesome product with terrific FAs. Great bar to help pass the time.
@WatermelonJuice
I very dislike Emirates business class, flown them twice and avoid that class and cabin completely.
First Class is in a different world however especially the crew.
I found on a380 it was pretty great. On 777 very average
Is this a bragging thread?
Qatar QSuites, just next level over any other business class I have flown.
Next trip will be on emirates a380 to dubai then 777 to lisbon - the 380 has the bar which is amazing and a great A/K seat, but the 777 has slightly wider seats in J (but no bar and not all seats have aisle access). Coming back will be Q-suite which I haven't flown before but has great reviews, then regular non Q-suite back from doha - still a good J hard product. Would avoid avoid british airways at all costs, and some of Qantas old J seats to europe aren't great. Advise you read up at pointhacks, ausBT, champagnemile etc as the wrong carrier in J is not pleasant!
Did you book with points?
yep points… don't think I'd ever fork out actual cash for J or F. Paying for really cheap economy is fine - we're flying airNZ next month which is OK, jetstar in november (eeeurgghhh) and begrudgingly brunei air over xmas, all those flights bought cheap as chips.
Very easy to book points redemption in economy but to me that's a poor use of points. Much better value redeeming in J but more difficult booking J/F, especially with asiamiles/cathay which seem to have permanent waitlists on all their cathay metal, but redeeming asiamiles for qatar out of europe not as difficult.
I was once forced to fly first class whilst my private jet was being serviced. Never again
It's happened to me when mine was in for service but I enjoyed the company in first class, so I will do it again.
BA Business Class is just an very sad joke. Hopefully their new product roll out will be fast, mind you I thought Qantas long haul FA's were nasty until I met their BA counterparts.
So true. Had outstanding service on Emirates from ADL to Dublin, but side trip to London with BA was awful. Offhand, unhelpful - behave as though service is beneath them.
I had great experiences on emirates first to Europe and Singapore business back. The emirates first hard product was amazing, but I found the Singapore service better. The angled foot hole in Singapore business is not very comfortable.
I usually just have Manuel bring the plane around. Not sure if whether it is an Emirate or what-have-you.
It's nice I guess.
Lufthansa followed by Singapore. Absolutely loathe Emirates.
I feel like a posh flyer when Jetstar's booked up and raises their prices to almost the same as a less budget airline, and I'm not stuck eating a smuggled, ice cold big mac
Have flown with Singapore, Cathay Pacific and China Airlines. I do prefer Singapore Airlines but i do recommend China Airlines. All there long haul flights are new planes, seats are comfortable, service is excellent and prices are good, you can find return flights for under 5k. Cathay pacific i didn't think much of.
I have flown business class to Europe on SQ, QF, BA, Lauda (gone now), Thai, Swiss (from HK) and Cathay. Unfortunately most were many years ago. SQ were clearly the best and I will be flying business with them to Europe in October. I have also flown first with Thai, QF and BA in the era before suites. All were pretty average. I am looking for sponsors to try one of the modern suites products.
Singapore Airlines Suites with a stop-over in Singapore. A+++. Their J offering is really good too.