The headline here is that there will be 9
fewer business class seats available, which means there won't be quite the award availability you may have hoped on the new planes.
Cathay's A350 has one
fewer Business Class seats than the A330 it is replacing but it offsets that by offering 7 more Premium Economy seats and 23 more Economy Class seats.
Importantly, from an award booking point of view, the Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliner will not offer
any fewer Business Class seats than the A340 it is replacing.
The 747 has 11
fewer Business Class seats than the A380 but 38 more than the 777 - 200 so, depending on how frequent the 777 - 200 service was, there could actually be more Business Class seats on the route than before.
Not exact matches
The «Captain's Chair» second row
seats, complete with winged head restraints and flick - out footrests similar to those encountered on
business class airline
seats were used for carrying coats, gloves and hats in cold areas on most days and child
seats for a
few.
For travel to Korea, for example, the only available
seating for a select
few itineraries was through available through the
business class.
While many United's international
business class flights are now branded as Polaris, only a
few planes have the new Polaris
seat.
Fortunately, United Airlines offers quite a
few flights with lie - flat
business class seats.
Both aircraft provide roughly the same
business class product with slightly different
seat widths, in - flight entertainment screen widths, and a
few other slight variations.
Although some carriers don't release a lot of
business or first
class award space in advance, they usually release at least a
few seats.
This means you can pay a
few hundred or maybe a thousand dollars more for that nice, flat
business class seat instead of the usual 4 - 5 thousand dollar premium over economy
class.
If SWUs no longer allow upgrades from Economy to
Business class that will be seen as a massive devaluation in EXP status and, if Main Cabin Extra is no more than a
few seats dotted around the cabin, most American Airlines flyers will struggle to ever reserve those
seats if they don't book 6 + months in advance — another devaluation.
The Qantas 787
business class seat doesn't have tons of personal space for extra items when in bed mode, but there is a
few places to store extras.
In fact, Lufthansa requires
fewer miles than United to book the same
business class and first
class award
seats.
British Airways guarantees that it will release at least 2
Business Class seats on every flight so, as this route has just be loaded in the past
few hours, award availability should be plentiful right now....
No new
Business Class seat is expected from Lufthansa for a
few years so the A350 is expected to come with the current Lufthansa
Business Class seat in a 2 -2-2 layout (so no all - aisle - access).
With a
few hours to kill before my onward flight I had plenty of time to check out the
Business Class lounge's facilities,
seating and dining options... so how did it rate?
I think I've flown in enough
Business Class cabins to know how comfortable or uncomfortable a
seat is going to be within the first
few minutes of sitting down and the Qantas 787
Business Class seat shows a lot of promise.
Looks like the same
business class seat I just
few in on SQ 2 days ago, the one that's been around for a while now.
If you're on the Boeing 747, you'll find the
business class seats on the upper deck provide a much more peaceful ride as they are further from the engines with
fewer passengers.
While many United's international
business class flights are now branded as Polaris, only a
few planes have the new Polaris
seat.
On the negative side the Dreamliner will offer 4
fewer seats in
Business Class than the A330 but, on the positive side, the
seats in the Dreamliner are considerably better.
although, as a lot of us suspected, this is where the QSuite does appear to have a
few things in common with the new
Business Class seat Delta announced for its A350s a
few months ago:
I flew Lufthansa
business class a
few weeks ago and got a chance to try those new
seats.
The benefits of achieving a so - called «elite» status vary, but can include access to lounges (regardless of travel
class), a bonus in elite qualifying miles when flying in first or
business class, the ability to reserve better
seats including enhanced economy
class, free or discounted upgrades, priority in standing by for a different flight, priority in not being bumped if a flight is oversold,
fewer or no nuisance fees,... well, you get the picture.
You might be offered a
seat in domestic first
class for $ 50 or a
business class international flight for just a
few hundred dollars.
Delta SkyMiles options are generally on China Eastern via Shanghai with a
few hundred dollars in fuel surcharges, but with really nice
Business Class seats if you catch one of their new 777 - 300 aircraft.
Given the options such as Austrian and Swiss to name a
few nobody in their right mind would pay for a Lufthansa
business class seat.
Don't hesitate to pay the
few extra dollars for this
seat if your company won't pay for
business class!
Overall trends: As I mention above, you'll be hard - pressed to find
business class award availability on Air France, though I was able to find a
few seats here and there.
When there are six or
fewer seats available for awards, that fact is noted in the search results, and yet that fact is not noted in the screenshot above meaning there are 7 + award
seats in
Business Class on each flight that you can book with American Airlines miles.
Some of the
few business -
class seats I found on ExpertFlyer didn't show up when I searched on Delta.com, and many of the economy
seats were off as well.
Most domestic airlines»
business classes are just wider
seats and better food and your own restroom for the
few instead of two bathrooms for hundreds.