Tag · 40 pieces
Every piece on the journal carrying the cabin review tag, most recent first.
United's first commercial Polaris 2.0 rotation flew UA1 SFO–SIN on the Elevated 787-9 on April 22. We were on the inaugural and on a later SFO–FRA rotation in May. Here is the doored Polaris Studio cabin assessed against the open Polaris seat it replaces, and against the Delta One Suite, BA Club Suite, and Lufthansa Allegris Business it now has to compete with.
I flew AM1 MEX-MAD seat 2A on XA-ADL and AM57 NRT-MEX on XA-ADD. Here's how Aeromexico Clase Premier on the 787-9 holds up against Delta One JV in 2026.
Etihad's A380 Apartment is the only commercial first class cabin that gives you a separate chair and a separate bed, with a sliding door between you and the world. Three years after Etihad un-mothballed the airframe, we flew the product on AUH-LHR to answer the question the Apartment has always raised: is the routing detour worth it, and what happens when this airframe finally retires for good?
Delta One Suite has been flying on the A350-900 since 2017 and on the A330-900neo since 2019. After eight sectors in spring 2026 across JFK-LHR, ATL-JNB, DTW-NRT, and SEA-ICN, we assess where the cabin sits against the doored-suite competitive set in 2026 and what the upcoming A350-1000 refresh changes.
I flew HU7975 PVG-LAX in seat 3K on B-8016, an A330-300 with the Collins Super Diamond reverse-herringbone cabin. Mainland China's only Skytrax 5-star carrier, eleven consecutive years and counting — this is the 2026 reassessment.
I flew NH9 Haneda to JFK in seat 1A on ANA's The Suite — eight first class suites per 777-300ER, the 43-inch Sony 4K screen, the Globe-Trotter amenity kit, the Krug. Here is the 2026 review of Japan's most committed first class product.
KLM World Business Class on the 787-9 — Safran Cirrus NG seats, the Delft Blue house tradition, the Schiphol direct-routing strategy, and the SkyTeam transatlantic JV with Delta that quietly anchors the long-haul network.
JetBlue's Mint Studio premium-cabin product on the A321LR has been operating transatlantic for 18 months. We flew it on JFK-LHR (Heathrow) in April 2026 to assess whether the doored Studio variant — the carrier's largest Mint suite — actually competes with the BA Club Suite and Virgin Retreat Suite on the same corridor.
Cathay's Aria Suite replaces the carrier's decade-old reverse-herringbone Cirrus with a closing-door, 21-inch armrest, 78-inch bed product that finally puts the OneWorld carrier into direct hard-product parity with Qsuite. A note on the URL: this article's slug references the A350; the cabin actually entered service on the 777-300ER in October 2024, and that is the aircraft reviewed below.
American Airlines' Flagship Suite has been flying for roughly eighteen months on 787-9P deliveries and is now appearing on retrofit 777-300ERs. We assess the cabin against UA Polaris, Delta One Suite, BA Club Suite, and the wider Adient Ascent peer group to settle whether it justifies a tag-on fare premium.
Air China's Forbidden Pavilion First Class flies the 747-8I and select 777-300ER fleet out of Beijing on PEK-JFK, LAX, FRA, CDG, and LHR. We assess the suite, the Maotai program, PhoenixMiles redemption realities, and how it stacks up against Lufthansa Allegris First, Air France La Première, Emirates First, and ANA The Suite.
Seven years after its 2019 debut, ANA's 'The Room' is still the largest business class seat flying — 38 inches wide, with a footwell big enough to lie sideways in, a closing door, and a kaiseki service that quietly outclasses most first class. Here is why the bar has not moved.
Emirates' Game Changer A380 retrofit — the program that reduced first class and inserted Premium Economy from 2022-2023 — has produced a fundamentally different aircraft from the 777-300ER. After flying both on identical Gulf-to-Europe and Gulf-to-Sydney sectors in spring 2026, here is the technical case for why the two-class A380 has quietly become the best Emirates business class on the network, and where it still trails Qsuite, Apartment, AF Travers and BA Club Suite.
Air France La Première from the JFK side: the Terminal 1 lounge inside the Air France/KLM facility, the 2024-2026 suite rollout to North American sectors, AF6 in 1A, and what the eastbound passenger actually gets that the westbound passenger does not.
I flew CI11 TPE-LAX in seat 4A on B-18906, a Song Dynasty-themed A350-900 with the Collins Super Diamond reverse-herringbone cabin. Taiwan's flag carrier on the Pacific flagship — this is the 2026 reassessment.
I flew AC1 YYZ-NRT on C-FGDX and AC32 YYZ-FRA on C-FGDT. Here's how Air Canada Signature Class on the 787-9 holds up against UA Polaris and LH Allegris.
Five years after Club Suite entered service on the A350-1000, British Airways has effectively completed its long-haul refit and is staring down a 777X delivery window. We assess where the Super Diamond platform actually sits in 2026 — against Allegris, Aria, Apartment, Qsuite, and the AF/KL diaspora — and what the cabin's middle age tells us about the platform crucible behind it.
Air France's new La Première suite — unveiled in 2023 and rolling out across the 777-300ER fleet through 2026 — is the most ambitious Western first class product since Lufthansa Allegris. A single private suite per aircraft side, a separate seat and bed, a personal wardrobe, two doors, a 32-inch 4K screen, Krug, three-Michelin-star catering, and the Mercedes chauffeur at CDG. We assess where it sits against Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore, ANA, and JAL.
I flew NZ1 Auckland to New York in seat 1A on Air New Zealand's bulkhead-row Business Premier Luxe — four seats per aircraft, a closing door, a guest dining ottoman. Here is the 2026 review of the cabin's most scarce premium product.
Korean Air's long-awaited Prestige Suites 2.0 has now flown on enough Boeing 787-10 rotations between Seoul and the United States to be assessed against its category peers. We spent six segments in the cabin between February and April, and a great deal of time in the aftermath of the carrier's Asiana Airlines merger trying to understand what it means for the combined fleet.
Two years into the rollout, JAL's A350-1000 business class — Safran's Unity platform, with a closing 132 cm door and a 24-inch 4K screen — has settled into a confident position in the upper tier of the global business class hierarchy. Reviewer shorthand has labelled it 'Sky Suite III' but JAL itself does not formally market it under that name.
Aer Lingus took delivery of its first A321XLR in December 2024 and has been progressively rolling out the type on transatlantic routes through 2025-2026. We flew the new business class cabin on DUB-BOS in April 2026 to assess where Aer Lingus's narrowbody-long-haul play sits against the broader transatlantic competitive set and against the BA Club Suite that the IAG sister carrier flies on the same corridor.
I flew AZ610 FCO-JFK on EI-IFA and AZ790 FCO-NRT on EI-IFD. Here's how ITA's A350-900 holds up post-Lufthansa Group acquisition and Star Alliance shift.
I flew CM465 PTY-JFK on the MAX 9 Dreams cabin and CM117 JFK-PTY on the MAX 8 recliner cabin. Here is the difference and how Copa fits the Star Alliance Americas network.
I flew VN98 SGN-SFO in seat 3K on VN-A893, an A350-900 in the carrier's newer Saffran Cirrus III configuration. Vietnam Airlines' only US route and the long-haul flagship — this is the 2026 reassessment.
Oman Air's 787-9 Business Studio — six former First Class suites, plus the Apex Suite Business cabin — is the bet that brought the airline into oneworld in 2025, and the MCT hub is finally getting the attention it deserved.
We ranked nine transpacific business class products on the JFK/SFO/LAX/SEA to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, and Manila corridor by seat hardware, soft product, schedule reliability, loyalty value, and price-comparable benchmark.
I flew AI191 Delhi to Newark in seat 4A on a Collins Horizon-suited A350-900 — the cabin Air India inherited from the ex-Aeroflot order book and the one transforming the Tata-era premium proposition. Here is the 2026 review.
Eight transatlantic premium economy products ranked from a US-traveler buying-perspective by hardware, soft product, lounge access, and value-versus-J, scored on a weighted rubric, paid revenue benchmark.
I flew TG677 BKK-NRT in seat 11K on HS-TKW, an A350-era 777-300ER still flying the 2010-spec Royal Silk staggered cabin. With the 2027 retrofit programme firming up, this is what the legacy product looks like in its closing chapter.
I flew LX52 ZRH-BOS in seat 11A on HB-IFA on the SWISS Senses A350-900 inaugural. Here's how the new cabin holds up against Lufthansa Allegris in 2026.
Virgin Atlantic's A330-900neo Upper Class cabin has been flying since 2023 and is the carrier's transatlantic flagship business class on JFK-LHR, BOS-LHR, MCO-LHR, and ATL-LHR. The cabin's standout feature is the Retreat Suite — two enlarged bulkhead seats at the front of the Upper Class cabin — alongside the Loft social space. We flew two sectors in spring 2026 on the JFK-LHR rotation to assess where the product sits against BA Club Suite on the head-to-head transatlantic corridor.
Turkish Airlines' new Crystal Business Class on the 787-9 finally gives the carrier a direct-aisle-access, closing-door cabin that matches what BA, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have been flying for two years — and the chef program plus IST hub geography makes the value proposition harder to ignore than most reviewers admit.
I flew IB6253 MAD-JFK in seat 2A on EC-NCX and IB6117 MAD-MIA on EC-OFM. Here's how Iberia's A350-900 Stelia Solstys II Business Class delivers in 2026.
I flew LA8181 JFK-GRU and LA533 JFK-SCL on the Thompson Vantage XL 787-9. Here is how LATAM Premium Business holds up post-oneworld in 2026.
I flew OZ222 ICN-JFK in seat 2K on HL8079, an A350-900 painted in the still-active Asiana magpie livery in January 2026. Eleven months from the brand sunset, this is the final reassessment.
We ranked nine transatlantic business class products on the JFK/EWR/BOS to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Madrid corridor by seat hardware, soft product, schedule reliability, loyalty value, and price-comparable benchmark.
I flew BR66 Vienna to Taipei in seat 7A on EVA's 787-9 — the doored Royal Laurel cabin that has quietly become Star Alliance's best mid-tier business class. Here is the full 2026 review of a product that punches above its 1-2-1 staggered weight.
Allegris is Lufthansa's first all-new cabin platform in more than fifteen years, and the gamble is enormous: a single airline now offers seven distinct premium hard products across First, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. We spent two months evaluating the Allegris A350-900 across nine sectors to determine whether the multi-suite philosophy works, whether Suite Plus is worth the upcharge, and whether retaining First Class still makes commercial sense in 2026.
Saudia's 787-9 Business Class is a Vision 2030 calling card — a dry-cabin Collins Super Diamond suite, prayer-direction display, and a SkyTeam routing that still gets surprisingly little attention in the Western premium press.