Sky High Luxury
Caviar and Krug. Suites rather than seats. Cuisine created by Michelin-starred chefs, bespoke whiskies, butler service and lounges with free-flowing Cuban cigars. These are but a taste of some of the finest amenities being offered today in first-class travel, which has brought luxury to the skies like never before.
First class is back with a vengeance. While airlines have cut quality for most passengers flying today, making coach an increasingly bus-like experience, things have never been better in the rarefied air at the front (or upper level) of the plane—if you fly the right carriers.
People speak fondly of the “Golden Age of Air Travel,” from the 1950s to the 1970s, when airlines were newcomers to international transportation, competing against luxury ocean liners. Flight attendants pushed silver trolleys of chateaubriand down the aisle, hand carving it at each seat, caviar was served in ice sculptures and Champagne flowed like Niagara Falls. Back then, luxury was reflected in food and service, but even the poshest seats of those days gone by couldn’t rival a good living room recliner. Today there is a new Golden Age in the premium cabins and lounges of top carriers, and while caviar and Champagne still play a leading role, the true stars of first class are previously unheard-of space, comfortable bedding, high technology and exceptional privacy.
Recently, people worldwide started spending much more lavishly on luxury travel. After the pandemic crushed demand for business travel, leisure travelers are now willing to pay top dollar to travel well, spurring a first-class revival.
“Before Covid, the industry was getting rid of first class altogether, as premium seats were all upgrades with points or status,” says aviation journalist and industry expert Ramsey Qubein. “Now, suddenly people will pay, travelers are more willing to splurge and it’s all about outdoing other people. That has created a new Golden Age because airlines are reinvesting in products and services, from suites to bottomless caviar.” Emirates famously serves Dom Perignon, All Nippon Airways (ANA) pours Krug, Qatar Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades and so on. Japan Airlines and ANA even have private-label Japanese whiskies, available only in their first-class cabins. “It’s those kinds of differentiators consumers are looking for,” says Qubein.
The biggest change has been the creation of suites, luxury pods encircled by short walls that deliver a new level of privacy and comfort that goes far beyond a large chair in a traditional first-class cabin. Instead of being crammed next to your fellow passengers, these spaces allow you to be in your own world, stretching out in comfort and even walking around. The top suites have comfortable lie-flat beds, fancy bedding (think mattress pads and duvets), areas that can combine into a larger room for couples or families, separate seating in a chair, couch or ottoman, tables and workspaces, extra storage and top-tier personal technology. Then there’s the upscale food, drink, service and associated ground offerings, lounges and VIP services.
Apartments In The Sky
Various experts rank them in different order, but three names dominate discussion of the best first-class product in the air: Emirates, Etihad and Air France. (All three offer limited routes, especially for passengers flying to or from the United States.) Etihad has the single best suite in flight, the over-the-top Residence. The closest thing to your own private plane, the Residence is the truest suite in the sky. It’s a three-room, 125-square- foot ensemble that can fit up to two passengers. The separate bedroom has a real bed (six feet, 10 inches long and just shy of four feet wide, complete with its own touchscreen), a living room with a leather reclining sofa and an even larger 32-inch screen, a private bathroom with a full-height shower, even a butler dedicated to fulfilling every need.
Before the pandemic, the Residence was sold on its own, and a trip from London to Abu Dhabi went for about $25,000. It has gotten much more accessible. Today it’s not sold as a normal ticket but rather as an upgrade to a regular first-class ticket. For that same route today, first class is typically around $6,000. The upgrade to Residence adds another $2,000 to $4,000, making it about $10,000 or less for a trip, a relative bargain in the world of first class.
There is no more than one Residence on an Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, making such an experience a hard-to-obtain luxury. However, Residence-equipped Etihad flights also have nine Apartments, which are considerably luxurious in their own right. Each is a one-room, 39-square-foot unit with a leather recliner and separate couch that becomes a large bed, a stocked minibar and oversized TV. While the lavatory is shared with the other nine Apartment fliers, it looks more like a restroom found in a high-end spa than what typically is found on commercial aircraft (and yes, it even has a rare in-flight shower). Outside of those experiences, normal Etihad first class is superb. Earlier this year, the carrier introduced a new fleet of A321LR aircraft with two slightly scaled down but still exceptional first-class suites.
Emirates, the first airline to bring showers, global Wi-Fi and the onboard lounge to planes, just upped the ante with unlimited caviar in first class, something that disappeared when the Golden Era ice sculptures melted half a century ago. Just about everyone else doles out a single, rationed portion. “In terms of the experience, it’s hard to do better than Emirates first class,” says Qubein. “It’s glitzy, glamorous, the amenity kits are full of fancy things from pajamas to leather notebooks, they outclassed everyone with the unlimited caviar, which no one does. It’s blingy, while Air France is classy.”
Emirates offers a new, fully enclosed 40-square-foot “Game Changer” suite, with six per plane, but they are only found on a handful of 777-300ER aircraft. In the U.S., these can be found on a portion of Chicago flights. The rest of the 777s, serving Boston, Dallas, Miami and several other cities, have eight “regular” first-class suites, which are still great, a larger and more luxurious take on the lie-flat business pod, with added food and amenities. For an even better experience, look to flights from such U.S. gateways as Los Angeles, Houston, Washington Dulles and New York, where Emirates uses an A380 with a superior first-class suite, 14 mostly enclosed and spacious units that are bigger than the 777 version. Some adjoining units can be combined, and the A380 first offers the signature shared shower suite, an Emirates invention, not found on either 777 version. The A380 also has a separate in-flight bar with snacks and oversized television.
All Emirates first-class variants include Dom Perignon Champagne, personal mini bars, snack baskets, room service call buttons, luxury skincare, full closets, up to 32-inch screens, work desks, pull-out dining table and a dedicated multilingual crew with at least one attendant for less than five seats. Every detail, from the Bulgari amenity kits to Bowers & Wilkins noise canceling headphones is top shelf, while menus feature à la carte meals from famed chefs. Its new first-class suites in the middle have virtual reality “windows” that mimic sitting along the wall of the plane, and it is the most widely available of the over-the-top choices in the U.S. market.
Air France is a newcomer to the upper levels of first class, but it made a huge splash with its La Première product in 2024. One big innovation was using heavy, theater-style blackout curtains that run floor-to-ceiling instead of doors, to enable them to fully close-off suites while still having safety access. “It’s brilliant,” says Qubein. “They are the only ones doing it and you get total privacy and darkness. Most people would say La Première is the most elegant on the market.”
Each plane has only four suites, each around 37 square feet of space. There are five windows, a reclining seat and a separate chaise lounge that converts to a real bed, which is made up with a top-shelf mattress topper and duvet. Two adjacent suites in the middle can be connected into a couples’ room. There’s ample interior storage, dual 32-inch screens, noise canceling headphones and more than 1,500 hours of on-demand entertainment, with all the latest technology (although high-speed Internet, via Starlink, was only being rolled out starting this summer). Best of all for American passengers, the first route was from New York’s JFK to Paris, with Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Miami added after. All the meals are the creation of Michelin-starred chefs and the stunning wine list is created by Xavier Thuizat, head sommelier at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. “The food and presentation is exceptional and it’s just oh so French—24-hour fasting beforehand should be mandatory,” says Qubein.
The pampering for La Première begins on the ground, with Paris passengers driven to the plane in private cars. It is, perhaps, the most expensive first-class experience in the sky. Expect to pay up to $30,000 for New York to Paris in the peak of summer.
After these three leaders, the airline with the most widely available standout first-class options is Lufthansa. It has five first-class lounges between Frankfurt and Munich, with everything from smoking rooms (more on that later) to spas to private Porsche transfers to planes. Until recently, the airline offered a solid if unremarkable take on the old-school, three-class plane, but it just introduced its own luxury suite product, Allegris, currently available only on select A350 planes out of Munich. Each plane has only three Allegris suites, two singles on the windows, each with sliding privacy door, lie-flat seat and ottoman and a double-sized middle unit great for couples. As of October, the service was being expanded to flights between JFK, Newark, Chicago, Miami and Munich, with a huge array of onward connections, making it a competitive choice in the ultra-luxe market. Flying Allegris from Chicago to Munich will cost around $9,000, depending on the time of year.
Lufthansa’s venerable product is greatly enhanced by impressive on-the-ground offerings in its dual German hubs. (And, unlike the three leaders, it offers many options from the United States.) In Frankfurt, Lufthansa has created a first-on-earth experience, a separate terminal just for first-class passengers. Departing passengers never even enter the “regular” airport. From Frankfurt, the experience is unrivaled, with expedited security, immigration and limousine transfers directly to aircraft. The restaurant is amazing, the shower suites here even have soaking tubs and hotel-style bedrooms are available. “When I change in Frankfurt or Munich, I try to schedule as long a layover as possible for the lounges,” says Qubein.
The catch is that this is useful for those originating in Frankfurt, while most transferring passengers without long layovers will stick to the main terminal, with two more first-class lounges, unless they want to exit and return through regular immigration.
For U.S. travelers, Lufthansa’s best lounge is in its Munich hub, with most of the same facilities plus an open-air terrace, and it’s far more likely you will actually use the private chauffeured transfers to and from flights.
Several airlines from the Pacific Rim have new, notable or about-to-launch, first-class products, and these carriers also have exceptional cuisine, inflight service and lounges, though their far-flung hubs typically only make sense when flying halfway around the world. Singapore has the world’s number one ranked airport and six exceptional hotel-like suites. While it does not fly these at the present time to any U.S. destinations, in mid-2026 it will be added to the longest commercial flight on earth, JFK to Singapore. It’s roughly 20 hours in the air, ideal for enjoying expanded amenities and space to stretch out in comfort and privacy.
Japan Airlines has a fantastic new first-class suite (with just six available on each A350), on limited routes including JFK to Tokyo. ANA, Cathay Pacific, Thai and “regular” first class on Singapore and Japan are all elevated lie-flat products in terms of food, service and lounges.
Best In Business
While the best business class cannot compete with full-blown suites, top business-class carriers such as Qatar and Turkish are as good or better than many other airlines’ take on first. Plus, they offer more options and fly from the United States to countless destinations.
Qatar’s Qsuites have been the gold standard in the business category for a long time. While British Airways gave us the lie-flat bed, it was Qatar that introduced the walled privacy suite. These are available widely throughout its fleet, with up to 46 per plane, flying out of more than a dozen North American cities. There’s also excellent connectivity via a well-located, state-of-the-art hub in Doha that is currently rated the second-best airport on earth. The entire Qatar fleet averages less than five years old, and the Qsuites combine lie-flat seating, entertainment and ergonomics with privacy and exceptional food, drink and service. They offer adjacent units that can be combined for couples or families.
Despite being consistently rated best in class, Qatar just rolled out an upgrade, Qsuites Next Gen, which is scheduled to launch at the end of this year. It features larger beds and better connectivity between suites, with TVs and partitions that disappear to create more open space. Even single units along the window can now be combined into couple’s doubles. All the technology is also being upgraded.
Turkish Airlines combines luxury and practicality: the ever-expanding airline is closing in on 20 North American gateways. It can take you almost anywhere, and with its highly-rated, new multibillion-dollar Istanbul hub it works well for trips to major European cities. It’s also part of the Star Alliance consortium, and its lie-flat, business-class product is well above the industry average. The airline is especially well known for cuisine, and is consistently among the least expensive business-class options from the United States, and that includes stunning lounges with such intriguing amenities as a street-food marketplace. Turkish uniquely offers a free stopover option in Istanbul—one of the world’s great cities—with two complimentary nights in a fine hotel for any business-class passenger connecting there.
Emirates and Etihad, not surprisingly, also offer excellent business class, as do top Eastern hemisphere carriers including Cathay Pacific, Singapore, ANA, Japan, EVA, Thai, Qantas and Air New Zealand. What is less expected is the drop-off from first to business among many other major airlines, especially in Europe. While fancy food, long lists of ultra-premium libations and posh amenity kits are the norm in first, most of these extras disappear in business, with notable exceptions such as Qatar. Beyond Turkish there are no luxe standouts among major European business-class carriers. It’s even worse for U.S. carriers, none of whom rate among the exceptional. Today, what passes for “first” on most domestic flights bears no resemblance to international first class, the gold standard in luxury.
A Cigar Before Boarding
When splurging on the highest levels of travel, the pampering begins before you take to the skies. For the cigar lover who wants to enjoy a fine smoke before a long flight, a select few airlines even offer cigar-friendly lounges.
In Abu Dhabi, Etihad has a humidor stocked with cigars in a ventilated smoking room on the top floor of its three-level flagship lounge complex. The cigar lounge is small but stylish, with Chesterfield sofas. The cigar menu is well crafted with a mix of Cuban cigars and Nicaraguan cigars made by Rocky Patel available for purchase. Each cigar has a spirit pairing, if you so desire, to truly take the sting off long travel delays.
The third floor also houses the dedicated first-class lounge, but the smoking area is accessible from the business lounge, which sprawls across all three floors. The lounge is for anyone flying first, even on planes not equipped with the top-shelf suites, and it has a VIP area with butler service solely for Residence passengers. It also has a high-end restaurant with à la carte menu dining, private shower suites and a spa with complimentary treatments. Business class customers can also usually pay an upgrade fee (around $160) to move into the higher-tier lounge.
Emirates has a cigar bar with premium offerings at its hub in Dubai, and what sets it apart is that it is open to both business and first-class lounge customers (in Concourse A). First has à la carte menu dining around an open kitchen with chefs in action, and even the ice cream is freshly made in house.
All of Lufthansa’s first-class facilities in Frankfurt and Munich have smoking lounges where cigars are allowed. Lufthansa no longer provides a humidor, so you have to buy or bring your own. There is a certified Habanos Specialist store selling Cuban cigars in Terminal 2 of the Frankfurt airport.
Not every carrier caters to cigar lovers, but there are other appealing extras. First-class lounges for the better airlines typically feature restaurants with table service, spas and sleeping rooms, and just about all have shower suites. A few will even drive passengers directly to the planes. Some lounges have game rooms, relaxation suites and more. The Turkish lounge has a golf simulator. The Swiss first-class lounge in Zurich has hotel-style bedrooms. Lufthansa has a water menu at its restaurant. Air France in Paris has a menu by the famed chef Alain Ducasse, who has accumulated 21 Michelin stars over his storied career.
No domestic lounge can compete with those of the international carriers, but each major carrier has top-tier options that come close. The newest and most acclaimed is Delta One, with just four locations: Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and JFK in New York. These are only available to passengers ticketed in Delta’s top version of long-haul Business, Delta One and its invitation-only highest-level frequent fliers, Delta 360. They feature a for-purchase caviar menu. United’s version is Polaris, open to customers flying longer haul international business (they don’t have long haul first). American has half a dozen flagship lounges. While these compare favorably with many foreign carrier business-class lounges, the same cannot be said for the in-flight experience.
The best first-class experiences turn the ardor of long-distance travel into something else entirely. Even the wait to just board a plane can become ever so relaxing with the right carrier and amenities. When you do it right, sometimes a delay doesn’t feel like much of an inconvenience at all.
