I’m an airline product geek, and every so often I like to publish a list of what I consider to be the world’s best first class airlines, best first class lounges, best business class airlines, best business class lounges, etc. In this post I wanted to provide an updated ranking of what I consider to be the world’s best business class seats.
In this post:
Business class seats have come a long way
We’ve seen a significant amount of innovation when it comes to business class seats over the past several years, with some of the world’s best business class seats having been introduced in recent years.
However, it’s worth acknowledging that this is part of a larger trend, as over the past 20 years we’ve seen business class seats go from recliners, to angled flat seats, to flat beds, to seats with direct aisle access, to suites with doors. In many ways, the premium economy cabins being introduced nowadays aren’t that different than business class 20+ years ago.
Given the amount of innovation we’ve seen, I wanted to share an updated post with what I consider to be the world’s best business class seats.
What makes a great business class seat?
My ranking will be subjective, since not everyone is looking for the same thing when flying, and I think creating a formula for ranking these seats would minimize the perspective I can provide, having tried all of these products myself.
Some people love direct aisle access from every seat. Others don’t, since they love to sit next to their travel companion. Some people love seats with doors. Others hate them. The list goes on and on.
What goes into my decision as to what I consider to be the world’s best business class seats? A fully flat bed with direct aisle access from at least most seats is a given to make this list, though here’s what I’m looking for beyond that:
- A comfortable sleeping surface — First and foremost, business class is about the bed, so a comfortable sleeping surface is the single most important factor. Part of that is lots of space for my feet, since some airlines seem to be developing elaborate seats with small footwells.
- The ability to maximize privacy — This is something I personally care about, though I know others don’t. Given the choice, I’ll always take a seat that offers more privacy over one that doesn’t. I find it awkward to sleep next to strangers on the ground, and the same applies in the air.
- Attention to detail with the design — Often I wonder if the person who designed a particular business class seat has ever actually been in business class before, because the design doesn’t have great attention to detail. I’m talking about where buttons are located, how good the lighting is, how easy it is to use the tray table, and more.
- Different seating configurations for different occasions — Everyone travels with a different purpose, so it’s important that seats are customizable depending on whether you’re traveling alone, with a companion, or with your family. It’s great to have a lot of privacy, but truly exceptional airlines have designed their cabins in such a way that you can choose whether you want to sit alone, or next to someone else.
- Great tech — Lately a lot of the innovation with new business class seating has come in the form of improved technology, including bluetooth audio, several high speed charging ports, wireless charging, high definition personal entertainment screens, and more.
- Beautiful finishes — While the substance of a seat is most important to me, there’s also something to be said for a cabin that’s stylish.
- Individual air nozzles — This is something I won’t be able to cover too thoroughly here, since in some cases I’ll be talking about seats that are used by many airlines. However, for any airline product folks reading this, individual air nozzles make a huge difference in terms of being able to sleep comfortably, given how warm cabins are often kept.
Why you should trust OMAAT seat rankings
Hopefully I don’t have to explain this to regular OMAAT readers, but I feel like this is worth mentioning for those who aren’t regular readers…
All the time I see media outlets ranking the best business class seats, though typically they’re just going off stock media images and how airlines describe their seats, rather than actual firsthand experience.
While I’m absolutely not saying you need to agree with my rankings, here’s why you should trust OMAAT rankings, in the sense that I’m sharing my honest and informed take here:
- I pay for all of my own flights, either with cash or miles
- I’ve tried virtually every kind of business class seat out there, and have flown business class literally hundreds of times, so have lots of context for what makes a great seat
- I don’t have any sort of financial relationship with any airline
- This is my passion, I’ve been reviewing airlines for 15+ years, I’ve written hundreds of flight reviews, and have logged millions of miles
The world’s 10 best business class seats
Let me now share what I consider to be the world’s best business class seats. Just a few final notes, before I do so:
- Some of the seats I list are only available on one airline, while others are available on dozens of airlines, so I’m only going to be listing each type of seat once, even if there are minor variances
- In situations where only one airline has a seat type, I’ll refer to it by airline, while when it’s a situation where multiple airlines have the same seat, I’ll refer to it by the seat name
- One general struggle I have with these rankings is deciding which seat in a configuration to judge (for example, Singapore Airlines’ bulkhead business class seats are phenomenal, while the rest of the seats aren’t nearly as good); so I’ll be judging seat variations only if at least an average of one seat in each row has the comfort that wins it the ranking
- I’m leaving service, food, drinks, entertainment, and Wi-Fi out of this equation; this list is all about the hard product
Below are my rankings, starting with the best…
1. All Nippon Airways “The Room” business class
All Nippon Airways has the world’s best business class seat, in my opinion, which was introduced in 2019. This is simply an incredible product — each seat has a door, the suites are massive, and the amount of personal space is unparalleled.
With this seat, I really feel like airline products have come full circle, because this business class suite is better than many first class suites out there. This even beats the world famous Qatar Airways Qsuites product, at least in terms of hard product.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available exclusively on select ANA 777-300ERs. No other airlines have this product.
2. Starlux Airlines Collins Aerospace Elements business class
Nowadays, reverse herringbone seats are among the most popular business class seats out there. Popular seat manufacturer Collins Aerospace recently took this to the next level, with the introduction of its new Elements business class seat.
What makes this different than previous generation reverse herringbone seats? Well, quite a bit. The seat has a massive 24″ entertainment monitor, amazing tech, a door, and most important of all, it has significantly more space in the footwell. Many reverse herringbone products feel really tight in bed mode, so that’s where this evolution of the concept shines. I can’t wait to see more airlines introduce this same product.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on all Starlux Airlines A350s. Furthermore, a similar product will soon be introduced on select Etihad 787s.
3. Qatar Airways Qsuites business class
Qatar Airways introduced the Qsuite in 2017, and set a new standard for business class at the time. Just about everything about it is incredible — it’s private (it features a door), it’s spacious, it’s stylish, it has plenty of storage, and everything is thoughtfully designed.
What really seals the deal is how customizable these suites are. You can choose a window seat for full privacy, you can choose a double bed in the center section, or if you’re traveling as a group of four, you can even reserve a quad and create a huge suite.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on all Qatar Airways A350-1000s, and on select Qatar Airways A350-900s, 777-200LRs, and 777-300ERs. No other airlines have this product.
4. Apex Suites business class
When you look at Apex Suites, you may initially think that they’re just average business class seats, as they don’t look that impressive. For example, on a 787, Apex Suites will be in a 2-2-2 configuration. What makes these seats superior is the window seats, as they feature an unrivaled amount of privacy and personal space. The window seats have a private walkway leading to the seat, and you can raise or lower the partition between seats for full privacy.
For many other business class seats, you have to sleep with your feet in a small footwell, while in an Apex Suite you have an unlimited amount of space for your feet. The other nice thing is that if you’re traveling with someone you can select an aisle and a window seat and sit next to one another, though you won’t have the same level of privacy in the aisle seat.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on Gulf Air (787-9s), Japan Airlines (select 777s and 787s), Korean Air (747-8s, 787-9s, and select 777-300ERs), and Oman Air (select 787s and A330s).
5. Qatar Airways Adient Ascent business class
While Qatar Airways is most well known for its Qsuites business class, the airline is installing the Adient Ascent seat on its 787-9s. These seats have doors and direct aisle access. Qatar Airways is the launch customer for this product.
This configuration is highly customizable, and each seat has a door. It’s a bit different than your typical reverse herringbone configuration, since the center seats face the aisle rather than the center of the cabin. The finishes in this cabin are all very well designed.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on Qatar Airways 787-9s. No other airlines have this product yet, but expect to see it soon more airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines.
6. Air France Safran Versa business class
Safran recently debuted its new Versa business class reverse herringbone seat on Air France, and it’s quite a good product. It has doors, excellent technology, and the seat feels quite spacious. Perhaps what’s most remarkable is the bulkhead seats in this configuration, which I’d consider to be the single best business class seats in the world. Of course only a small percentage of passengers get that seat, though.
Where to find this seat: This product is available exclusively on select Air France 777-300ERs and A350-900s, though you can expect this to be available on more planes in the future.
7. Collins Aerospace reverse herringbone business class with door
As you can see above, Collins Aerospace’s cutting edge business class product is the Elements seat, available on Starlux Airlines and soon Etihad Airways. However, it’s worth also mentioning the company’s previous generation reverse herringbone product, which is otherwise the best you’ll find in the skies.
The Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat is incredibly popular, and can be found on airlines like Air Canada, American, China Airlines, Qatar Airways, Xiamen Air, and many more airlines. However, what elevates this product to the next level is that we’ve seen some airlines add doors to this seat.
In general I like reverse herringbone seats because each seat is virtually identical, so there are no bad seats. The seats have plenty of privacy, the window seats face the windows, and the seats are comfortable regardless of whether you’re relaxing or sleeping. The downside is that these seats aren’t ideal when traveling with someone, since even the center seats are quite private.
Where to find this seat: British Airways has the most of these seats in service, as they can be found on all A350-1000s and 787-10s, as well as select 777s. On top of that, Etihad has a similar product on its A350-1000s.
This seat is available on all British Airways A350-1000s and 787-10s, and on select 777s, as many planes will be reconfigured with these seats in the coming years. Etihad has installed a similar product on its A350-1000s.
8. Turkish Airlines Collins Aerospace Horizon business class
At the moment this is a very niche product, as it’s only available on a handful of aircraft in service. However, Collins Aerospace has also produced the Horizon business class seat, which is a staggered configuration with a door. This is a very functionally designed seat, with storage, good tech, and it’s comfortable whether sitting up or trying to sleep. Personally I prefer this product to the Vantage XL product with a door.
Where to find this seat: This seat is currently available exclusively on a subset of Turkish Airlines A350s, which were initially intended for Aeroflot.
9. Vantage XL business class with door
Delta’s flagship business class product is the Delta One Suite, which is a business class suite with a door. Delta uses a modified Vantage XL seat (similar to what you’ll find on Philippine Airlines, Qantas, RwandAir, and SAS, for example).
The Vantage XL seat isn’t otherwise on the list because I consider this to be an evolved version of it, given the addition of a door. The configuration is staggered, and the seats are private, spacious, and mostly well designed.
However, I do think the seat is a bit rough around the edges — the window seats lack storage, the door doesn’t quite close the whole way, the doors themselves are pretty low, and they’re difficult to open. This is a very good product, but a better job could have been done with the finishes, in my opinion.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on select Delta A350-900s and A330-900neos. China Eastern also has these seats on A350-900s and 787-9s, while Shanghai Airlines has these seats on 787-9s.
10. Zodiac Aerospace Optima business class
United Airlines has completed the rollout of its Polaris business class seats, featuring a staggered configuration. On 777s and 787s, every other row has “true” window seats, which are quite private, and every other row also has “honeymoon” seats in the center section. These seats are comfortable and functionally designed. However, they’re not especially spacious, and I find the footwell to be a bit on the tight side.
Where to find this seat: This seat is available on all United 777s, 787s, and 767s. Air France also has these seats on most of its A350-900s and on select 777-300ERs. While not quite the same, EL AL has similar seats on all 787s and select 777s, and TAP Air Portugal has similar seats on A330-900neos.
Bottom line
There you have it, those are what I consider to be the 10 best business class seats. As you can see, in some cases these seats are specific to one airline, while in other cases many airlines have the same seats.
These rankings are highly subjective, and on a given day I could see the order of some of them being switched around, depending on whether I plan on sleeping the whole flight, am traveling with someone, etc. The only rankings I’m pretty committed to is my top three choices, though I could also see the order being moved around depending on the circumstances.
What do you think the world’s best business class seats are? How does your list compare to mine?
You might find that while Air France's A350s with reverse herringbone seats have the same amazing bulkhead product, they are actually Stelia Opera seats, not Safran Versa/Cirrus 5c03s.
Hey Ben,
Really appreciating this report.
At 6'7" the bed length makes ALL the difference to me.
That said, airlines such as Virgin Atlantic advertise "up to" 6'8" flat beds. I flew them recently in both the older and newest biz class ... both a disaster !! Seats are so narrow in the shoulders that I'll take a United 6'4" Polaris over Virgin's product any day.
So, the big question for...
Hey Ben,
Really appreciating this report.
At 6'7" the bed length makes ALL the difference to me.
That said, airlines such as Virgin Atlantic advertise "up to" 6'8" flat beds. I flew them recently in both the older and newest biz class ... both a disaster !! Seats are so narrow in the shoulders that I'll take a United 6'4" Polaris over Virgin's product any day.
So, the big question for me:
Which biz class has 6'8" flat beds WITH enough width ... ???
So far, the single seats on Jet Blue Mint, and in Air Lingus have that.
Any others ...?
Thanks, Mark
The Apex Suite #4 here is not anywhere on my list of desirable products. In fact, I’d avoid it. Can’t argue with the others on the list. I flew the D1 product listed here last year and I’d give it high marks.
Is it just me or do JAL’s new seats seem better than the ANA room?
Not impressed with the bulk. Look tight and cramped with little decent size storage space snd surface space. And some seem to forget completely that having a good window view is part of the fun of flying.
Sadly one of the worst 'new' seats is the VS one. I find it quite cramped. And impossible to extricate yourself when in bed mode. Unless you're Simone Biles.
"4. Apex Suites business class"
That should read "Apex Suites business class window seat only", given how you never gush over the non-window seats.
Why did you rank the Elements Suite better than the QSuite? This is the first time I've seen the QSuite not in no1/2 rankings anywhere, including past versions of this article. I was just wondering why as I've not flown either.
Because the QSuite is getting redone. Gotta let it bump down a few slots so the Gen2 QSuite can came back at the top of the ranking
Suggest when you make a comparison you look first at the airline. I note you give a large write up to Starlux a very,very small Taiwanese airline of 20 planes only and rated number 39 , so little chance for most people to travel with them. A suggestion stick with one of the real people movers i.e. American , United, British Air, Singapore Airlines, Turkish et al and concentrate on their products.
The article is literally titled "the world's 10 best", not "the best of the big airlines".
It notes that American is going to revamp it's long haul fleet with the Adient Ascent seats.
United is also going to be getting something similar.
Will be interesting at next years ITB when QR lauches Qsuite2. And their other J products aswell for 787 and narrowbodies.
Can it be as "ground breaking" as previous Qsuite was when launched?
Hi Ben
I think the first image of the Apex Suite is actually Korean Air's first class - as noted by the bulkhead behind.
Did you not realise, or did you just pick that image because the hard product is the same and its the best image you have of that seat?
Is that a typo or is the Safran seat going to be on no more planes in the future ?
Turkish A350 without the Aerofloat design didn't make the list? I know the privacy shield is a little annoying, but I'd take it over Polaris personally.
It's on No.8
The Turkish Aeroflot design seats will also be present in Air India's new A359's.
How does the Singapore Airlines A350-900URL, on the NYC-SIN flight, ranked?
I can't speak for Ben, but the ULR's seats are kind of annoying because you have to flip them over to make them into a bed. Yes, the tray is super clever and you can eat the second meal service while it's in bed mode, but it's really uncomfortable for your back to do that. I guess you could ask the FA to un-make and then re-make your bed for that meal, but it seemed like a lot of setup and teardown to eat.
Just flew it a week ago.
First the flipping does get annoying. Second the angle flat is miserable. I'm not fond of twisting into a pretzel to sleep. Third, there is virtually NO storage space except for a few shallow bins. Fourth, the bedding seemed thinner than previous SA flights.
Lastly very little surface space to put anything on. We travel with a USB mini fan and it kept falling on the bed because...
Just flew it a week ago.
First the flipping does get annoying. Second the angle flat is miserable. I'm not fond of twisting into a pretzel to sleep. Third, there is virtually NO storage space except for a few shallow bins. Fourth, the bedding seemed thinner than previous SA flights.
Lastly very little surface space to put anything on. We travel with a USB mini fan and it kept falling on the bed because no decent space for it.
And the amenity kit pretty much is a joke.
A final note, they offered us either the India Air lounge or some other lounge (can't remember name) with seriously minimal food options. Having usually been in the Emirates business lounge, this was sadly pathetic.
The price was right but the overall experience lacked.
Air France uses a different seat from a different manufacturer for it new batch of A350-900.
It's not the same Safran Versa seat installed on their B777-300er.
Check Runwaygirlnetwork for the correct seat type and it's manufacturer.
The problem with « The Room » for me was how low the seat was. I found myself having to stand up to go for a stroll just to keep the blood circulating in my legs and it made meals very uncomfortable. That being said the space in bed mode was absolutely incredible, wish it had more storage though.
One major advantage of seats with doors is it fixes one of the major drawback of configurations with...
The problem with « The Room » for me was how low the seat was. I found myself having to stand up to go for a stroll just to keep the blood circulating in my legs and it made meals very uncomfortable. That being said the space in bed mode was absolutely incredible, wish it had more storage though.
One major advantage of seats with doors is it fixes one of the major drawback of configurations with alternating seats like DL, it makes the aisle seats private whereas they’re usually extremely exposed.
Hmm, I don't recall that being an issue -- though (in part thanks to the extremely spacious and comfy bed) I ended up sleeping for a much greater proportion of my HAN-SFO flight than I intended.
It's impressive that Starlux debuts at #2 on your list.
Was the omission of AY's new AirLounge product due to not trying having tried it or an aversion to the design? I like it as it's very spacious and very private. Admittedly, the design is polarizing.
@ work2fly -- Great question! I did fly Finnair's new business class and I really did like it. However, I'd say it ranks right around number 11 or so, if I were to make this list a bit longer. It's innovative and there are a lot of pros to the seat, but I don't love how you have to sleep at an angle, as the footwell is to the side of the seat. I can totally understand how others might like the seat even more than I do, though.
The article could be improved by placing the airline name and aircraft that use the seat model that is praised. Many people do not know the manufacturer of the seats. Zodiac, Safran, Collins are all names that I recognize but I don't know which airlines use models from those companies.
@ derek -- I appreciate the feedback. This information is covered in the "Where to find this seat" section. I couldn't really include it in the headline for each seat, since some seats are found at many airlines.