Best Business Class for 2024

One of the best parts of the points and miles game is that the world is your oyster. Want to fly 10 people in economy to Orlando? You can do that. Do you want to fly solo in a first class cabin to Southeast Asia? Those redemptions are plentiful! Although I did not embrace luxury travel initially, I am all about premium cabin experiences now. As an avgeek, I crave the best business class seats and trying new products. This year was all about unique experiences and flying lots of my old favorites. I breakdown my 5 favorites below.

Want to know my ToP 5 business class experiences in 2023? Read last year's post on this ToPic here.

Method to the Madness: How the Rankings Work

Simply stated, there is no rhyme or reason to these rankings of the best business class seats. It is purely subjective. You'll never see me write an airline review and compare wifi speeds, ambient air temperature, cost of the bedding or champagne selection, etc. But each of those factors, and many more, help shape my experience in some way. However, the vast majority of my rankings are 2 things: the seat (known as the “hard product”) and the service (known as the “soft product”). For simplicity's sake, food & beverage are lumped together with service.

RELATED: Want to fly in the best business class seats in the sky? Follow our list of ToP Monthly Cards and pick a card to earn points and miles for your next trip.

Derrick's Best Business Class for 2024

Azerbaijan Airlines

What an adventure this was. Yes, it is not the most luxurious experience ever, the best soft product, or the best hard product. But how many of you have ever flown AZAL? Not many Americans have, for sure. Better still, Brian and I found ourselves onboard one of AZAL's two Dreamliners and we were the only people in the business class cabin. How cool is that?! If you want to read more about our experience, Brian wrote a full review here.

Pros: Very comfortable lie-flat seats. The flight attendants were attentive and polite, although unremarkable overall.

Cons: No options for booking with points, unless you use a portal. Very limited routes with lie-flat business class seats.

EgyptAir

This airline gets a bad rap most of the time. While it is true that some of its products are bad (read: dreadful), we found business class on the Dreamliner to be well above average. We thoroughly enjoyed our 10+ hour flight from Washington, D.C. to Cairo and it is very nice to fly non-stop to Africa from the East Coast. I would gladly fly this product anytime.

Pros: Comfortable seat. Service was okay, but not note-worthy in any way. We did really enjoy the food, which is a complaint of many.

Cons: The airline is dry and does not serve alcohol of any kind. The flight time from D.C., which departs around Noon, makes sleep difficult. If unable to sleep, the early morning arrival sets you up for major jetlag.

Iberia Airlines

We've flown this airline on the new A350s and the older A330s. I like to say that this product is “remarkably solid.” So why did it make this year's list? We had an interesting travel year that included lots of domestic travel and, luckily, lots of First Class flights, which are ineligible for this list. I think Iberia's business product is worth highlighting for all the pros outlined below. I will continue to seek it out for our numerous trips to and from Europe.

Pros: readily available business class to/from East Coast airports. Cheapest way to/from Europe in business at 34,000 points off-peak. Solid food choices and the wine selection is excellent. Love the quick flight times to MAD at 7ish hours or less in either direction.

Cons: Service is not overly friendly and below average. The seats are average, at best.

Aer Lingus

A brand new business class product for us and it was quite pleasant. We flew the new single-aisle A321-neo from Philadelphia to Dublin. While most seats are in an unremarkable 2-2 configuration, every other row has “throne” seats that are 1-1. Sarah and I selected these throne seats for both directions of travel. I really enjoyed them and fully expect to book these seats again (Pro Tip: our route is now only 45,000 miles in business when booking via Alaska Airlines).

Pros: Comfortable seat. Quick flights to/from Ireland and nice arrival lounges await you at DUB. Service was solid, but the food and drink were below average.

Cons: A total lack of privacy in this configuration. If you do not get throne seats, the cabin is an outdated 2-2 configuration.

Turkish Airlines

One of my absolute favorite airlines. Yes, all older planes have 2-3-2 or 2-2-2 in business (newer 787 and 350 planes have 1-2-1). Even in the 2-3-2 configuration, I thoroughly enjoy this product each and every time. The 2 seats by windows are perfect for those traveling together and the 3 in the middle are perfect for adults with a young child. If you don't fit in either of those criteria, you might not enjoy this product as much as I. It was my fifth time flying Turkish J and it is a treat every time.

Pros: Comfortable seat with plenty of leg/foot space while sleeping. The Turkish cabins are oftentimes cooler than other airlines too, so that helps keep everyone comfortable. The food, drink and service are always impeccable by business class standards. Having access to possibly the best business class lounge in the world is nice and the TK lounge at Istanbul Airport probably takes this crown.

Cons: Turkish destroyed its own award chart this year, so 45,000 mile flights to Europe or elsewhere now cost much more. Additionally, award space does not seem as plentiful as in prior years. Lastly, 2-3-2 seating on a majority of its long-haul fleet is no longer industry standards and should be updated.

Best Business Class for 2024 – ToP Thoughts

I bet no one else has ever assembled these exact 5 products for a “best of” list, but this was my favorites for the year. We also flew many repeat products, First Class products, and several options that were just not good (looking at you Lufthansa Business Class). Overall, it was a very fun year of travel, filled with adventures all over the globe, with friends, with ToP members and team mates, and some solo travels too. I can't wait to see what 2025 has in store!

What products made your Best Business Class for 2024 list? Come over to the ToP Facebook Group and let us know.