I'm planning to take my girlfriend to either Italy or Australia. I have only one overseas travel experience; I flew to and from Paris with my ex. Eastbound I flew alone in biz on a DL 767, with a seat configuration (herringbone) that would have made it hard to really share the experience with a companion; returning together we were in biz on an AF 777, side-by-side. So it worked out well.

I'm open to flying either biz or first, and have enough miles to do it on any alliance. I'd prefer F, but also prefer to use DL miles which can't be used for F.

My question is, what airlines/aircraft are the best, or perhaps which to avoid, for a couple who want to sit "together" - not just "next to each other." There were some award flights in F on Asiana A380, which would be an obviously desirable choice, but a "private suite" isn't really what we'd want, unless one wants to sleep and the other doesn't, but I don't know if you can take down the partition in some side-by-side seats.

So while the question is possibly very broad in that it encompasses a very wide range of aircraft, which would be the best to aim for or avoid?

It's generally thought that the Singapore Suites are best for a couple as you can put the center divider down and make something like a double bed but you mentioned that it may not be desirable for you. You would also have to have Krisflyer miles to book that.

In that case, anything side-by-side would be good. Pre-deval by United, we flew LH F on the A330 and it was easy to conversate. Australia is going to be tough to get two good seats. Have you looked into Virgin Australia using DL miles? I'm not up to speed on their seats but I know they had front-facing business class seats. They weren't fully flat but you should be able to get seats that make it easy to talk and interact.

Virgin Australia has lay flat seats on their 777 from LAX to BNE and SYD. Award availability in J can be very tough though.

If you go to Italy, Alitalia has what they call Honeymoon Seats in business class which sounds like exactly what you want. ""Honeymoon" seats: next to one another in the middle, but with a partition that can be raised between them"

http://www.alitalia.com/us_en/volare...-business.html

airberlin has honeymoon seats too

Also Virgin Australia is going to reverse herringbone on the 777 with what looks to be a divider screen that can go up and down so the "next to each other" aspect will be going away once the conversions are complete.

In terms of "sitting together" you're not really going to find anything that fits that bill if you exclude "next to each other." Asiana and others have seatbelts on the ottomans so you can sit together in that sense (CX does this and will serve you a meal together which my GF and I did a couple weeks ago ex-HKG).

Otherwise EY (on new A380) and SQ are really the only suites that allow you to "sit together" in the traditional sense. However many F that are in 1-2-1 format allow the middle divider to go down and allow easy conversation. Asiana is particularly good in F because you can close the suite doors to have a nice little private space but put the divider down to have natural conversation.

For a different perspective, my wife quite enjoys a bit of 'premium' me time when we fly F or J, so she's quite happy to sit in her cocoon in 2A with me in 3A.

My wife and I flying LAX to SYD next Feb. in business class. We have seats 1a,2a. When VA changes over to the herringbone pattern of seats, what do you think VA will do about our seat assignment? Will we still be in those seats with the aisle separating us or do you think they will move us to 2b,3b? I'm a bit curious.
I'm sure I'll be checking constantly at that time to see what they do.
And if they do get the seat configuration changed prior to our flight, I still don't know what the best seats are for us to be able to talk.

Etihad is flying their new A380 with the First Apartments from London to Sydney later this year, June I think. Can't get more luxurious than that. Get adjoining apartments (3A/4A or 3K/4K). You'll be separated during takeoff and landing but can spend the rest of the flight together.