LuvTravellin

Hello all,

Total newbie here so I apologise in advance for anything that may have been asked before, or any stupid questions. Hope you can help with what should be a simple dilemma.

I'm taking my very first RTW journey coinciding with my very first Business class experience in October 2020, so I want to make sure I choose the right airlines for the best experience and make it memorable. (I might do it again if I like it!)

Part of the journey is Tel Aviv to New York, and my TA has given me a few options for this leg. (I'm happy with the options for the other legs in the RTW trip, Cathay and Qantas).

All are Business class. And I will be solo (female), and that creates some of the dilemma.

1. Lufthansa - I'm not keen on this because of the seat layouts 2-2-2. I think it's better for couples, and I don't want to climb over anybody or them over me. A321 and A346.
2. Swiss - can have a single seat. This has a very early departure at 5.20am from TLV, so not really keen on this either, but can cope if Swiss is a great experience. Not sure of the aircraft.
3. Codeshare on United with Swiss (or may be Lufthansa I'm not sure). Can have a single seat I think. Not sure of the aircraft.
4. Austrian - can have a single seat. A321 and 76W.

As you can see, some of the dilemma is the seat layout on the aircraft, but I also want to have good food, IFE, service and an overall good experience.

Which should I choose? Or which would you choose if you had the choice and were flying solo?

Any suggestions, tips or advice you can offer for these airlines I would be very appreciative.

Thanks.

ISTFlyer

Hi LuvTravellin,

- Lufthansa would have been my last choice if you care about privacy. Their business class seats are comfortable, their services are alright; however, their food might not be great on flights departing from outstations. And also, I guess you live near EWR so I assume that you would not prefer going to JFK or the EWR LH options don't work for you.
- Austrian would be a good option unless you don't mind seating on a Euro-J business class seat on the short leg ( middle-blocked ). Their lounge in VIE and their onboard service is amazing
- Solo Swiss would also be a nice option as the throne seats of Swiss J would give you extra space and privacy. Also, you might get a wide-body on the ZRH-TLV leg.
- UA-LX combination would not be better than flying solo Swiss or Austrian, as I find the Swiss J seats more comfortable and in terms of privacy, you would have more personal space on a Swiss wide-body J seat unless you select one of the double window seats. The advantage of flying UA would be the Polaris Lounge in EWR ( you could also benefit from it when flying OS or LX, but you must allow extra time to travel to your gate ), however, UA food is not great but their amenities are a bit superior to LH,LX,OS.

So if I were you, I would have chosen Austrian in terms of sleep, food, and service and disregarding the mileage amount that you would earn and the price of the ticket.

LuvTravellin

Hi ISTFlyer and thanks for the feedback.

I agree LH is the least private option for me, so thanks for confirming. I think I'll forget about that one. I don't actually live near EWR (I live in Sydney, Australia), so the EWR remark was just about having to get into Manhattan from the airport.

Also thanks for confirming that Austrian is a good choice....that's what I've read whilst surfing the web as well.

I assumed United Polaris was a big step up from the previous United J offerings, so was excited about that. Other blogs and info seem to say it's not a bad product. But I guess it's how it compares to the European options.

I'm a little closer to choosing Austrian now.

Thanks.

dtbe

You can also take a codeshare LY flight to ZRH, which departs later in the morning. But you'll get a reclining seat (instead of a lie flat seat on LX, if the aircraft is not downgraded to A321).

Unterwegs

Both LH and LX are not state of the art any more in business class. You could still book a seat in the middle pair of seats to avoid the problem you are describing.
The 321 on LH and LX just have their (pretty bad) regional economy seats with an empty middle seat. Avoid these. LX usually has a widebody with lay flat seats, but they substitute.
You are not saying what kind of RTW ticket you are on (it cannot be one of the Star or Oneworld variants). Is your TA building this based on one ways?

If on separate tickets:
You could also look at TAP via LIS. Lay flat on both legs (at least when they have the 321LR on the TLV flight, free stopover in LIS, usually good fares. Service and lounges in LIS are just ok, not memorable.
SQ also has a flight FRA-JFK with very good seats and great service, but that leaves too early to connect same day.

fanb

Easy
Austrian!
I'm a big fan of their catering.. Food wise it's the safest bet..
I recently flew Lufthansa longhaul in business and the fish was inedible, second pre-landing meal was almost frozen.. It still was a good flight service and comfort wise but I like Austrian better

vantage03

Sounds like an LX/LH/OS issued RTW ex-Australia where they use QF/CX as well as *A partners to Asia and the US from Australia. They also sell these in some other markets. Main point here is sectors to and from Europe must be on an LH-Group airline.

deniah

There's not a consistent and significant enough gap between the 3 to make any difference in terms of experience for me. It's really about availability and timing first and foremost.

The rest are:
-LH seating is worst for flying solo. (When traveling with wife, i dont care).
-LH has option of 747 upperdeck
-LX P earns miles to my program, LH P does not
-OS used to be most convenient to me, and also I like their coffee cup which I sort of collect as souvenir :P

Keep in mind the solo "throne" seats are specially reserved and you may not be able to get it for yourself.

starflyergold

Austrian! Friendlier service and much much better food.

televisor

1: if you take one of the "middles" then you won't need to climb over anyone (note that the A321 is just normal economy seating with blocked middle in "business").
2: Indeed you can get single seats on the sides, but be aware that Swiss charge 200 CHF to book a "throne" seat (at least for the ZRH-EWR/JFK section). These become free at checkin, but they may be gone by then. Similar to Lufthansa there are "middles" with direct aisle access, but they're more private. TLV-ZRH might also be real business class (A340/777), but might end up on an A321 like the other airlines.
3: United do codeshare with both LX and LH: they're operating different aircraft on differnet routes: on ZRH-EWR, they're operating the "High-J" 767 with new Polaris seats starting this December. It has a lot of good "single" window seats (just search the internet for reviews of the new Polaris 767). If you fly FRA-EWR or MUC-EWR you might end up with older business seats which are likely to all be worse than Lufthansa seats when it comes to privacy - equally, they're upgrading a lot of their planes, so you might be able to get the new Polaris seats. But beware: I think food is worse on United, and service can vary.
4: Never flown Austrian, can't give any useful advice...

corporate-wage-slave

On the seating side, did you also look at TLV-WAW-JFK on LOT? They have a 737-800 on the 11:25 departure from Ben Gurion, then it's a 787-800 (usually) from Warsaw to JFK with a good arrival time from a tiredness point of view, 20:30 hrs. The middle pair of seats in the 787 are less popular and would avoid the climb over issue. The 737 is the standard European business model, you have a neighbour but a middle seat in between, and the cabin may well not be full anyway.

Seating apart then you're probably looking at OS for food and service, United for IFE and/or Polaris. Upper Deck on LH - ok you have a neighbour but UD is a great way to travel, very private and quiet.

findark

Is the United nonstop TLV-EWR not an option? TLV to Europe on a narrowbody is a really lousy way to start that trip.

OS is a pretty solid choice. The new United Polaris seat is a really excellent hard product especially if you value privacy, but the food is sorely lacking these days and service won't compare to a European carrier. Also note that unless you see the 18-row 767 configuration (that is also selling Premium Economy) that you could end up with the old seats since UA is the middle of a reconfig.

New York airports will start a lively debate, but in my opinion all three of them are equal for getting to Manhattan, and they are all awful.

Brostman

Without any particular reason, but I would book LH and then try to bid for an upgrade into F. Earlier this year (after toying around with the upgrade bid process, but not actually submitting a bid) I was offered by email a chance to buy-up from J to F at a very reasonable cost (my J cost plus the upgrade charge was less than the cheapest F cost I had seen in the 3 months prior to booking J). No guarantee you will be offered the chance to upgrade.... my flight was ORD-BCN via FRA

ermis177

Brostman out of interest. Route and offer?

junglematt

If price/layovers/timing are similar, I would go with Austrian.

The others aren't bad, but the DO&CO catering on Austrian is amazing. Service was great. Chef onboard prepares the meals. Seats are innovative and many of them are arranged so you don't have to climb over anyone. Oh, plus 10 varieties of gourmet coffee drinks.

Swiss and their seats would be my second choice if you don't want to have to climb over anyone.