We are excited to add 21 new first class reviews to Premium Travel Insider this month! These reviews include a new airline – Thai Airways – as well as six new first class reviews added to ANA and Lufthansa. This brings our total for first class reviews to 93. Here are some of the details before you check out the specifics.
As a reminder, Premium Travel Insider aggregates reviews from around the web and scores them on a 1-3 scale. A 3 indicates that a given category exceeded reviewer expectations, a 2 indicates it met expectations, and a 1 failed to meet expectations. We evaluate a variety of categories, the most important of which we call the “Big 5” that are most important to a premium travel experience: seat, food, drink, service, and in flight entertainment. You can learn more about our methodology here.
Thai Airways
Thai Airways first class joins the Premium Travel Insider first class family with 10 reviews from 7 different sites. Thai garners positive reviews and is generally considered a great redemption in first class. There were several things to note from reviewers. First, the airline flies three configurations for first class, in order of quality (best to worst): a new first in refurbished 747’s, a legacy A380 configuration that is rated as solid, and the old first class, which is not great. Thai is also notorious for last-minute equipment swaps, so be aware.
In general, Thai has great food, although reviewers differed in view from “fantastic” to “not memorable.” Service is also touted as quite good, although not as spectacular as ANA or Lufthansa. Finally, although not explicitly factored into reviews, Thai has a superb ground transfer experience in Bangkok, including a free hour-long massage.
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
We added six new ANA first class reviews, bringing the total to 11, with 7 different sites reviewing. Notably, several reviews of ANA’s new A380 service from Narita to Honolulu were added. This flight features the turtle liveried plane and a new first class suite seat.
Overall, ANA’s scores did not change noticeably by adding these new reviews. There were several moderate adjustments, but in general, review scores stayed consistent. IFE also took a hit, dropping to 1.89, brought down by two reviews that cited a sub-par experience. That said, no airline is perfect, and ANA still ranks as one that is truly superb.
Lufthansa
We added six new Lufthansa first class reviews, bringing the total to 13, with 6 different sites reviewing. Lufthansa first class continues to dominate the first class reviews. Although the seats are fairly straightforward, with a roomy, non-suite experience, the soft product is considered out-of-this-world superb by nearly every reviewer. All of the new reviews were positive, and scores for Lufthansa First actually crept up .1 pretty much across the board. Another universally noted aspect of Lufthansa first class is that the product is consistent across all of Lufthansa’s planes – from the older A340 to the newer refurbished 747-8’s. Lufthansa remains a top redemption if you can find availability.
Look Before You Book
Points and dollars are hard to come by for most of us, so make sure you’re getting the best possible travel experience. See what the experts have to say for both Business and First class before making any decisions. It might be the difference between the flight of a lifetime or a disappointment.