I’ve flown in over 30 Business Class seats around the world – here are the best and WORST experiences on luxury airlines

An avid traveler who has flown more than 30 business classes around the world has revealed which one he considers to be the best.

Drake Pooley, from New York City, used TikTok to share a series of slideshows to explain his thoughts.

He listed some of the most popular airlines in the world, rated them and highlighted his key takeaways from the experience.

Drake, who works for a venture capitalist, found that Qatar Airways’ Qsuite topped the charts, which he awarded 9.5 points out of 10.

Although he did not reveal which route he took, tickets for the Qsuite experience in Qatar cost thousands of dollars, while the price for a round-trip flight from New York to Doha totals around $14,000.

Drake, who has more than 56,600 followers on the video sharing platform, started with a brief introduction.

He wrote: ‘I’ve flown 30 international business class products on 20 airlines – often multiple times – these are my thoughts on which airlines are worth it.’

Drake then launched into his reviews, which were in no particular order, saying, “Lufthansa: 2/10. No privacy, sterile lounges, old technology, cold flight attendants, terrible food. I said what I said.

‘Air New Zealand: 4/10. Super outdated seat, but ANZ has a personality and at least it shows in all their service offerings. Really tight configuration, no privacy, difficult to sleep.

‘United: 7/10. Hands down the best bedding of any airline. Flight attendants on the best routes are often the most experienced and not the best at their jobs. I’ve had terrible flight attendants on $10,000 flights. Food good not great. Can be hit or miss.’

But the content creator didn’t stop there as he gathered even more insights.

‘All Nippon Airways (old seats): 5/10. I think a robot designed these chairs. So plastic and stiff. Animation very limited. Service great, food generally very good.

‘All Nippon Airways (new seats): 9/10. Absolutely the best chair available. Service always great, food very good. However, on my last flight all the TVs broke. Needs better bedding for western style sleepers.

‘Emirates 777: 7/10. People love to hate this seat because it’s skinny and doesn’t provide direct aisle access for everyone, but they pack a ton upon a ton of these seats and the service is always professional and high quality.

‘Emirates A380: 7.5/10. More privacy, but this thing is so flashy and ugly. The service can feel a bit impersonal because these planes have so many business seats.”

Delving even further into his experiences, Drake continued: “TAP Air Portugal: 4.5/10. This is a basic business class, but it is affordably priced. These chairs feel like sardines compared to other products. Food isn’t great and service isn’t elegant, but the Portuguese wine list is excellent.

‘Ethiopian: 5.5/10. Seat is fine, not all have direct aisle access. Entertainment meh, traveling through Addis Ababa is kind of crazy. Food is amazing, oh my god I have never had a bigger meal on a flight or felt more love from a flight attendant.

‘Hong Kong Airlines: 5/10. My first business class flight because I overpacked and my suitcase cost an extra $200 or I could upgrade for $210.

‘Fast service, great seat, felt like a huge language barrier among the staff and not nearly as polished as Cathay.’

And he was soon inundated with comments, as one viewer wrote: ‘I watched this with no money for flights in my account but taking notes.’

Another added: “I don’t read every slide if I can’t afford an economy anywhere.”

And a third said: ‘Good to know! Not that I can afford it, but good to know!’

After the encouragement, Drake decided to share another slideshow about some of the airlines he had previously missed.

He began, “Saudia: 5/10. It’s just… fine, I don’t know. Feels a bit sterile. Doesn’t really bring any Arabic or local influence, the service was good, not great. I understand why Saudi Arabia is creating a new airline to compete globally.

Qatar Qsuite: 9.5/10. I will do my very best to fly Qsuite. Incredible experience, great food, great service. I never want to leave again. The new chair from ANA is slightly better, but this is the best overall package.

‘Other Qatar: 7.5/10. Still great service, but so clearly different from the Qsuite.

‘Swiss: 5/10. I love all things Swiss, but this loses two points for the most egregious WiFi pricing I’ve ever seen. I felt insulted. I think this is very ‘Swiss’.’

Towards the end of his extensive list, Drake addressed the last few airlines, explaining: “Singapore: 8.5/10. My second favorite airline after Qatar. Even better service than Qatar, wider seats, but can be quite firm. World-class food, traveling in Singapore is a pleasure.

‘Etihad: 7.5/10. Somewhat plastic feeling, but they do have style in service. The soft touches are pleasant. Abu Dhabi airport was horrible but they just opened a new terminal, excited to see it.

‘Turkish: 6/10. These are their older seats, which are a little awkward, but plenty of foot room. Food is great, they have a “chef” on board. Hot take: Istanbul’s new airport is quite poorly designed and I don’t think the lounges are as good as everyone claims.’

He concluded with: “American Airlines: 5.5/10. United was a 7/10 – AA’s lounges are slightly worse and so is their bedding. They both have a flight attendant/service problem. AA just feels very generic, there is no cohesive brand here.

‘Air Canada: 7.5/10. AC lowkey shocked me. The Signature Lounge at YYZ was one of the best airport meals I’ve ever had and the plane felt very clean and fresh. I haven’t heard great things about AC and this is just based on one experience flying to Dubai.

‘KLM: 6/10. The whole experience felt a bit dated but to be honest you get a little Dutch house as a souvenir and I want them all.

‘Scandinavian airlines: 5.5/10. Interesting seat, food was okay, but SAS is in financial trouble and I think in general they are starting to slack off on everything.

‘EVA Air: 8/10. Seating is good, service is almost too perfect? They checked me, but maybe that’s just me. Bonus point for making a Hello Kitty themed airplane, it was fun.

‘Air Tahiti Nui: 5/10. The food was bland, very clearly a leisure airline, which felt like they were cutting corners a lot. Airport experience in Tahiti pretty awful.”