At this early point in the year, it is not clear if I will push for elite status once again on United Airlines or truly embrace the freestyle life of buying whatever ticket works best based on date, time, and cost. In any case, there are several business class products I do hope to review for Live And Let’s Fly in 2024, many of them quite exotic.
10 Business Class Products I Hope To Try In 2024
This is not an exhaustive list, but I would place these 10 products towards the top of the list.
Delta A330-900neo
It has now been a couple years since I reviewed a Delta longhaul flight (an A350-900 to Amsterdam) and I hope to review an A330-900neo this year in Delta One.
Aer Lingus A321neo
It has been several years since I reviewed Aer Lingus and I’d like to give the carrier another try and spend a night in lovely Dublin. I flew the A330 last time and since the seat has not changed, this time I will focus on flying the A321neo.
Brussels Airlines A330-300
It has been many years since I reviewed Brussels Airlines in business class. It’s time to check out the Belgian flag carrier and Star Alliance members once again.
Finnair A350-900
I’ve tried Finnair’s new “non-reclining” business class on the A330, but I would like to try another longhaul flight on the Finnair A350 between Helsinki and either the USA or Asia.
ITA Airways A350-900
ITA Airways, formerly Alitalia, has taken delivery of new A350 jets and flies them to Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. The soft product (with a beautiful appetizer, pasta course, meat or fish course, cheese, and dessert) looks amazing and it is now possible to use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles to book award travel on ITA.
Turkish Airlines “Turkoflot” A350-900
Turkish Airlines acquired A350 jets from Russian carrier Aeroflot and kept the Aeroflot business class suites onboard. I hope to review this product this year.
Iberia A350-900
I last reviewed an Iberia longhaul flight (an Airbus A330 from Madrid to Los Angeles) six years ago. It’s time for an updated review on Iberia’s newest aircraft, even though the business class seat has not changed.
Air Senegal A330-900neo
The chicken or the egg? Do I want to visit Senegal to fly Air Senegal A330-900 or do I want to fly Air Senegal to visit Senegal? Both are true. However, I do want to try Air Senegal’s JFK-DSS service on this beautiful plane.
Uganda Airlines A330-800neo
I plan at least two trips to Africa this year. I could be boring and just take United Airlines or I could be a bit different and try airlines like Uganda Airlines, Air Senegal, Rwanda Air, and TAAG. I’m leaning toward the latter and look forward to flying the relatively rare A330-800neo, the flagship of the Uganda Airlines fleet.
Cubana IL-96
One of Cubana’s Ilyushin Il-96 has been returned to Cuba after refurbishment in Russia for the flag carrier of Cuba. I would like to fly it while I still can…
There will be plenty of United Airlines flights this year and perhaps a fresh update on American Airlines as well. The Airbus A318 and Air Baltic A220-300 beckon as well.
CONCLUSION
While I am setting a number of ambitious travel goals now, I do wonder how this year will turn out in terms of travel. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes toward striking the right balance between this blog and my other endeavors, but I am confident everything will fall into place and you will be treated to some fascinating reviews this year.
What business class products are you looking to fly in 2024?
Ilyushin, eh? Kinda shooting for the stars on that one, not that the rest of the list lacks ambition. Perhaps ambition should not be made of sterner stuff.
I’ve got to find a way on this jet. Also want to review the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana.
If you do Iberia, it would be interesting to be on the newer A350 that have a new seat with a door.
Do you know how many of those retrofits are done or if it sticks to certain routes? I would definitely want to fly on a new one.
There’s 7 A350 with the new cabin and they usually fly on the most important routes of IB: Mexico Cjty, Bogota, Buenos Aires.
Sometimes you can find them to New York or London.
Sounds like you may need to find a way to get emerald before you fly IB or AY. Make Senegal happen. I can’t imagine there are any reviews for it.
Would love to return to Platinum Wing in HEL. Is there any special emerald only lounge in MAD?
No, nothing special for emeralds in MAD, but if you fly out of MAD get as late of a flight as possible because they do proper sit down dining starting around 2:00 in the non-Schengen lounge.
There are paid status matches available with RJ and AT I believe.
To Emerald?
Just noticed not a single Boeing on the list…this wasn’t deliberate!
For your Iberia review, why not try to get the new “Suites with Doors” product instead of the older product?
Finnair is flying to Sydney to and from Singapore for Qantas atm. 40k points in biz not bad.
Also to Bangkok from March. 50k for first on ba to Singapore from Sydney not bad also for the return.
If you find yourself in East Asia, try the short haul A321 of China Airlines. I had an amazing experience flying for just a couple of hours TPE-PUS- plus you unfortunately never know what might happen with Taiwan…
Sad but timely reminder.
So in some cases its the same business class product, just on a different plane…
Just reread your SN review from before. They have upped their game on Belgian beer. I flew SN from ACC-BRU last year and they had a beer menu with 12 (!) different Belgian beers. I enjoyed a lovely Westmalle tripel. Great flight overall.
Totally agree. SN is great for the daytime return to the US for its beer bar in the sky. Otherwise, similar to LH.
I’ll be on a TATL on Iberia in business in April, so will be interested in your experience.
I just booked Air Astana Business Class ICN to FRA (with stopover in Kazakhstan)…. 767-300, A321ceo, and A321neoLR. Not bad for just about $1000 and looks fairly nice. I’m looking forward it it (and Korean Air Prestige suite on the same trip).
Not bad! Plated on Air Astana or Korean Air? What is exact routing?
Hawaiian 787 inaugural to Hawaii, then United Island Hopper to GUM, Korean to ICN (A330), Air Astana ICN to FRA via Almaty and Astana with a day there stopover, LH back to the US with a good UA Business Class redemption.
I do need to get on that new HA Dreamliner this year. That totally should have been on my list.
Nice heads up @ned. Just searched same route and see sub $1k flights on miat Mongolian to Frankfurt
Just flew Delta One class from Lisbon to JFK, seat 2A. Nice, but seats are a bit too narrow, and my IFE touchscreen wasn’t functioning well. But service and food were excellent. RE: Iberia? In flight service is okay, but otherwise aonsistently bad airline, with connecting flights cancelled and not rescheduled, seriously delayed flights, terribly rude and ineffective customer service, ridiculous scheduling mistakes (e.g., rebooking a leg to depart before the incoming arrives). The list goes on. We no longer fly or recommend Iberia.
RE: Delta One – Are you sure you weren’t on a 764? Because those can get pretty tight even for people who aren’t wide.