helvetic

I'll try to aggregate some thoughts and photos from every first class product worth flying.

Done, in order of favorites:
1. LX - Swiss
2. LH - Lufthansa
3. EK - Emirates
4. EY - Etihad
5. SQ - Singapore Airlines
6. GA - Garuda Indonesia
7. KE - Korean
8. CX - Cathay Pacific
9. OZ - Asiana
- This is the cutoff point at which I'd rather fly my favorite J product, BR - EVA Air
10. UA - United
11. CZ - China Southern
12. MU - China Eastern

Bonus to the report:
- Pictures from Asia: Dubai, China, Bali

To do:
- TG - Thai
- AF - Air France
- JL - JAL
- QF - Qantas
- NH - ANA
- BA - British Airways
- MH - Malaysia Airlines
- CA - Air China
- WY - Oman Air
- MF - Xiamen Air
- AI - Air India
- 9W - Jet Airways

Not interested:
- QR - Qatar: Flew them in domestic F and tried the Al Sawfa lounge. Flew them in J and Y too. Horrible service, don't care to fly again.
- SV - Saudia: Not interested in a dry sharia law airline.
- AA - American: AA is a garbage airline. No thanks.


Anyone got more suggestions of what to fly in first class?

(It'll take me a little bit to dig up a good picture and write up something about each of those. Bear with me!)

helvetic

SFO777

You forgot BA, although they really don't have F. Granted they sell it, but it's more like a good Business Class.
I can understand your not wanting to fly AA although my recent LAX-LHR flight was surprisingly good.
But can't understand your reluctance to fly QR as my experience has been just the opposite, very positive.

FWIW, my overall ranking of the international F products I've flown.

1. Air France
2. Garuda Indonesia
3. Qatar
4. Emirates
5. Etihad
6. Lufthansa
7. Cathay Pacific
8. Singapore
9. Swiss
10. ANA
11. JAL
12. Qantas
13. Korean
14. Malaysia
15. Asiana
16. Thai
17. American
18. British
19. Air China
20. United

batmandds

I would reconsider Qatar F. It was the best overall of all ME3. Try it on an A380.

helvetic

Surprised you ranked Cathay so high @SFO777. I originally forgot to include it in my list; but when I flew it I thought it was pretty average. The lack of wifi, old cabin, and the inconvenient swinging IFE were noticeable flaws. The food was also a bit lackluster. Everything else about the flight was great, though-- I particularly loved the pajamas and amenities.

I'd be open to flying Qatar F if the opportunity presented itself; but I have a very negative impression of the airline right now, having had a terrible time in my past two trips involving it. Onboard they were fine (though I can't believe they fly that dreadful angle-flat 77L product to LAX, what a joke!), but it's the ground services and customer service that was downright incompetent and rude at every step of the way. At one point, I had a phone supervisor literally shouting at me and calling me names. Completely unprofessional!

I've edited my first post to rank the airlines in order of desirability. Also added a couple I had forgotten about for the Todo list.

Kagehitokiri

great thread!

interesting >
1 vs 9 Swiss
6 vs 2 Garuda

(variables include number of flights, where, when?)

Aventine

I don't think Asiana F should make your top 10. Their F is like a very good business class now. All started when their parent company went into bankruptcy mode.

RTW4

no question in my mind that after a recent JFK-CDG-JFK on AF, their first class product is number 1 on my list. Until that point is was JAL....

helvetic

Top 10 doesn't mean that much considering there are only 25 airlines that even have international first class. I suspect OZ will be pushed out of the top 10 once I get a chance to fly TG / AF / JL / QF / NH.

helvetic

Updated the Swiss post with a whole bunch of pictures.

helvetic

SFO777

QR doesn't have a First Class cabin to LAX to any other US market so if you haven't flown long haul QR First, you haven't flown QR First. Just saying. I've never had any problem with ground service at DOH, but would agree that telephone customer service is not the strong suit of any of the ME3. Despite those short coming, the inflight product is still good enough for me to rank them 3, 4 and 5.

SFO777

Agree on the FCT if you are departing FRA and the Weiner Schnitzel. Love the hard product especially the 748i. But in flight service has become more inconsistent and food downright inedible at times of late. But it's the lack of personal arrival and connecting ground service at FRA and MUC that lowers LH in my ranking, although to a still respectable #6 .

Swiss is great once on board, but until they do something about this kind of ridiculous priority boarding, I can't rank them higher.

Kagehitokiri

SFO777, that is the issue when some only fly F, and some do not ONLY fly F.
can be interesting when airlines have dramatic difference between F and J service

didnt QR dramatically reduce amount of F?

painful. why not pay for VIP? can pay for tarmac transfers (sometimes private terminals) at airports in DE/CH, others in EU, doesnt require flying J or F, and not open to anyone who is not paying for it. pretty cheap vs paid F/J. if LH FCT best for departures, then paid would be better for arrivals/connections. and of course available at airports besides FRA.

edit - USA just got its first, at LAX. hope more continue to get done, like Signature's which allow commercial to pay to use their FBOs, including LGW so far, a lot cheaper than LHR's.

SFO777

QR doesn't have a lot of F service and nothing to the US. Had an interesting conversation with one of QR senior cabin crew about why no A380 to JFK. No idea how true this is but she told me the reason no JFK is that QR's current A380s are not ADA-compliant. Supposedly they have more A380s on order and those will be ADA-compliant. Sure sounded like a good story after 3 or 4 drinks at the bar.

Agree. But we're ranking airlines based on what they provide on their own, not what you can add on at an extra cost.