Our first class alpha launch is now fully live!  This is the next wave of content as we continue to grow Premium Travel Insider.  The first class alpha launch includes Air France, ANA, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore and Swiss. 

There are more than 70 reviews included across these airlines, contributed from 10 different sites.  ANA and Japan Airlines lead the pack from the perspective of the best overall experience—all reviewers were very, very happy.  From a “Big 5” average perspective, neither of those airlines cracked it—the top three were Emirates, Singapore and Etihad. 

This may seem a little odd, but due to the small sample size and the “overall” expectation vs. reality standpoint, the Japanese airlines seemed to have more realistic expectations.  Emirates, Etihad and Singapore seem to suffer from the “over-the-top” suites that made reviewers very picky.  That said, this alpha launch is still a comparatively small data set, so we aren’t going to read too much into it. 

We are just getting started here at Premium Travel Insider.  Go check out our First Class and Business Class summaries and see the reviews we’ve got so far.  Over the next weeks, we’ll be working towards our “beta” which will add both more airlines and more reviews, giving a more thorough perspective.