At this early point in the year it is not clear if I will push for elite status once again on a US carrier or truly embrace the freestyle life of buying whatever ticket works best based upon date, time, and cost. In any case, there are a number of business class products I do hope to try in 2023, many of them quite exotic.
5 Business Class Products I Hope To Try In 2023
This is not an exhaustive list, but I would place these five products at the top of the list.
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.
ITA Airways A350-900
ITA Airways, formerly Alitalia, has taken delivery of new A350 jets and flies them to Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. While technically not a SkyTeam member, to my knowledge it is not possible right now to use any SkyTeam currency (like SkyMiles or Flying Blue) to book flights. The soft product (with a beautiful appetizer, pasta course, meat or fish course, cheese, and dessert) looks amazing.
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 have 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
Sources tell me that one or both of Cubana’s Ilyushin Il-96 will return to serve this year for the flag carrier of Cuba. Should that be the case, I would like to fly it while I still can.
There are others too. I want to fly the reconfigured Finnair A350-900 on a long flight and would like to sample the Iberia A350-900 as well. There will be plenty of United flights this year and perhaps the A330-900neo on Delta Air Lines as well. The Brussels Airlines A330-300 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 2023?
Not a single Boeing. Are you sure you’re American?
Wait till you see my first class list tomorrow. 😉
Just flew ITA recently – check out my post of the meal on the United forum in Flyertalk (as a contrast to someone posting a UA meal on the equivalent route). I don’t love the seat for sleeping, but as you note, the soft product was fabulous – service included. Lovely experience.
Oh I saw it. What an amazing meal!
Glad you did – looks like the mods over there have removed it for some reason! Oops.
Looks like it was moved to the general UA service discussion thread.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34903228-post2035.html
I had already made this list out before I saw your post, but that post just confirmed how much I want to fly ITA.
Alitalia also had amazing food:
https://liveandletsfly.com/alitalia-777-business-class-review/
What about Cayman Airways? Looks like the have a nonstop from LAX and no one ever reviews it.
I’d love to try it, but it’s fairly expensive. We’ll see.
As an ITA Volare Executive tier member, I’m delighted you’re planning to review ITA. Not because I’m proud of the airline, but because I know a lot of other Volare Executive members and none of us have ever flown ITA.
Great list Matthew. Is there something that you like to take home from every country? Many of us do. Just wondering…
Good question. I’ve considered collecting artwork (I find it fun to seek it out and barter for it), but that gets expensive and frankly I don’t need it. The only thing I generally bring back is amenity kits…goodness knows I have enough those. I’ll buy coffee beans to take home, when good. But I’m really trying to embrace the minimalist life in California…I’m more naturally prone to be a packrat.
Care to post more info about the Il-96 returning to the skies? I’ve been trying to get on that one for years now and would love to hear more info from your sources.