Best Airlines To Fly New York To London In Business Class

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Apr 24 2023, 7:38 am

The best airlines to fly transatlantic New York to London or London to New York in Business Class are American, United, Virgin, British Airways, and Delta.

When comparing their newest Business Class seats, the difference between United and American Airlines is close run. United is an excellent plane choice with its upgraded and new Polaris seat. American Airlines is also excellent with their new Super Diamond seat, slightly more spacious than the United Polaris seat but less flashy in design. I am not a very big person, so I prefer United’s stylish cabin as I am fine with the space available. My husband is more of a fan of American, which seems to offer more space.

American Airlines offers their new Super Diamond seat but also flies with another very decent lie-flat seat which we reviewed on their AA 777 in Business Class. These seats have been in circulation for a while and are also excellent.

Delta also has a new seat, although this one isn’t very widely available, so you risk getting an old seat when flying on Delta. We’ve discussed in more detail which of the American carriers offers the best new Business Class suites.

Talking of old and dated seats, Virgin Atlantic flies with a variety of Business Class seats, the older ones being quite ropey, but the newest and refurbished planes offer a better seat than British Airways in Club Class. British Airways used to be the market leader but have not upgraded their seats for years. Their current seats are lie flat but consistently narrow and do not have direct aisle access which is a real problem when trying to sleep while your neighbor climbs over you.

Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly between North America and Europe, between New York and London along with a number of other American cities. Both airlines feature in our top 10 best airlines for longhaul Business Class and we’ve also compared them directly in our best transatlantic airline for Business: British Airways vs. Virgin Atlantic.

In a nutshell, when comparing Virgin’s Upper Class to British Airways Club Class, Upper Class wins in almost every respect. The Clubhouse lounge is fun and has better food than British Airways Airport lounges. If you want privacy and direct aisle access, Virgin also wins. However, it is worth highlighting that if you are traveling in a couple or as a family, you will probably prefer the layout in British Airways. The Virgin seat pods are very private, making it difficult to share cabin space with your family or even see them. Having said all that, if you are unfortunate enough to book onto Virgin’s oldest Upper Class seats, you will find a rather tatty cabin and an experience that will disappoint, so choose your plane carefully

Below are our reviews of recent experiences on United Airlines, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and Delta.

Conclusion

You can’t go wrong with United Polaris or the American Airlines Super Diamond or reverse herringbone experience. These two are the winners and are the best airlines to fly from New York to London in Business Class. American Airlines flies with the very good reverse herringbone seats on its current Boeing 777-300 internationally from Dallas (DFW) and Los Angeles (LAX) to Hong Kong (HKG); New York JFK, Miami (MIA), LAX, and DFW to London (LHR); JFK and MIA to São Paulo (GRU); and MIA to LAX.

British Airways will be launching a new BA Club World seat over the next year or two which will bring them back into play. They may well pip the post on the best offering in the future, but for now, fly AA or United.

It is worth reading our tips on how to find cheap and discounted First or Business Class flight tickets to and from North America.

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