(Photo: Berit Watkin)
Last week a travel blogger for Forbes asked me to comment on what I feel are the two best U.S. airlines for business travelers.
You’ll find a snippet of what I told him here. But I thought my full answer would make for a good TravelSkills post.
So here’s what I wrote about my two current faves (which I’m sure will change over time):
I’m originally from Atlanta and have flown Delta extensively for the last 25 years (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Over the last 5-10 years, Delta has worked really hard to be the best US airline for business travelers and I think that it has succeeded. It finally has a world class terminal in New York City at JFK…. that old Worldport was something that was really holding Delta back from being world class.
It has upgraded and standardized Sky Clubs. Nearly all Delta jets have wi-fi– something near and dear to most business travelers and being able to count on having it on your flight (instead of wishing or wondering) is key. (Related: Delta’s progress on international fleet wi-fi)
Plus, it’s pretty easy to get into Economy Comfort with miles or dollars, which makes the economy flying experience better.
And even though everyone is groaning about new spend requirements for elite status, I think it’s going to make the experience better for frequent business travelers in the long run.
I’m one of the lucky travelers living in a Virgin America hub. Love those US flag winglets! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Those business travelers lucky enough to be based in a city with service from Virgin America should take advantage of the carrier’s stellar inflight product and outstanding service. It has nice new planes, decent legroom, good inflight entertainment, 100% wi-fi, all of which is now Gogo’s faster ATG-4 variety.
Something about flying Virgin America makes you feel good– not worn out or abused like you might feel on other carriers. Its terminal facilities at SFO, JFK and Dallas Love are state of the art– really nice, bright, modern, etc.
The problem is that most business travelers are hesitant to fly Virgin because they don’t want to give up on earning their legacy airline frequent flyer program miles, and they don’t see Virgin’s Elevate program as overly generous.
Another drawback is lack of frequency between some key city pairs (hello SFO-ORD currently 1x per day!) but that could be fixed with a slew of new planes coming over the next few years bought with IPO money.
How Emirates welcomes a new plane [Photos]
An outstanding, fresh & healthy meal in JetBlue’s Mint class (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
I spread my airline business around quite a lot, so even though I have favorites, I don’t get to fly them all the time.
For example, I was super impressed on a recent JetBlue Mint flight to New York (Trip Report coming soon), and would love to fly JetBlue more if it had more Bay Area flights. (It would likely be one of my favorites if I lived in NYC.)
United is the largest airline at my hometown airport (SFO) and I fly it a lot but my experiences, and those of many of my readers, have been uneven. Over the last year, I must say that my positive experiences have tipped in United’s favor, and I’m a fan of its lie-flat international business class product- especially upstairs on a 747. I’m also a fan of its new terminal at SFO.
I’m excited to see what American/US Airways are doing, but I barely fly them at all. I used to fly AirTran quite a lot when it was cheap and easy to upgrade to their business class seats. But now that upgrades are no longer possible on Southwest, I’ve shied away from the carrier, especially on long haul flights.
Everyone has an opinion about which U.S. airline is best. What’s yours? Why? Please leave your comments below.
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Are you crazy saying that you have “positive” feelings about United. Agreed the new terminal at SFO is a winner but the rest of United is pure crap, including the lie-down business class seats which are more than coffin beds. They are not very wide and very uncomfortable, wish United would bring back the very wide, cushy old business class seats that may not of reclined into a bed but were more comfortable. As for the 747 which was a great experience, especially upstairs, is about as rare to find as having a great experience flying United. The only airports that have United 747s are San Francisco and Chicago, they only fly to Asia which is a shame.
I didn’t stop flying Delta. I live in Atlanta..it isn’t possible. They just offer nothing additional and are cutting their benefits. This isn’t complicated…no loyalty to me, so I only fly them on price. I also spend a load of time in DC which offers choice. If you patronize me I fire you…simple. I find Delta very patronizing. Airlines having lost billions over decades has nothing to do with mega Delta or being a liar. I see all airlines as becoming the same. They see their loyalty programs as revenues streams for them now. It’s a business. I treat them all as the commodity that they are. Do you work for them? Sounds like you have skin in the Delta game. I still think Delta is very smug, very spin, with a long way to go.
Oh dear, I’m flying Delta SFO-Paris next month up front and I was looking forward to something special. We normally fly Virgin-Atlantic to London and head out from there, but I got seduced by the new N/S service SFO-CDG that Delta added.
I second Thai and Singapore, though I think Air New Zealand is actually my favorite. Their planes leave at reasonable times, the food and service is good, and the Kiwi accents don’t hurt!
And I’ve had some bad experiences but you won’t find me complaining about US airlines after taking a few budget airlines in Europe!
I’m also a fan of Southwest, and I think they get ignored by a lot of people who are too in love with their upgrades. While SWA doesn’t have First Class, Business Class, or E+, you will always get one comfortable seat (anywhere on the plane that you choose), friendly service, two free checked bags, no change fees, and in most cases, WiFi (which is a new system that they are still improving). I, too, would like to see power ports added, but I have to say that as I upgrade my devices and the batteries continue to improve, I find less need for power ports.
I’d even take SWA on long trips. The free TV, and ability to pick you seat are huge positives. I’ve flown them from PIT to PHX, and SAN to MDW. And as you stated, on shorter flights they cannot be beat.
I also fly SWA whenever I can. US/American is not far behind due to the ability to easily upgrade to 1st using miles/cash. SWA also has free TV on all of its Wi-Fi enabled flights, and the Business Select fares are decent. Even if you fly on the cheapest fare, add the Early Bird check-in and you can still find a seat with a decent amount of legroom by using seatguru.com. Plus, as JRSF stated, you can pour over dollars when changing flights, no bag fees, and the staff is by far the most friendly in the business. Delta is okay, but you still have to pay quite a bit for more legroom.
Hey Folks! Chris lives in SF now! And I shoulda given props to Alaska in this post, too, but I’ve only flown them twice in the last year– Seattle and Puerto Vallarta. Both experiences were stellar but it does not fly to enough cities from SF to make it one of my faves… yet! — chris
Chris lives in Atlanta now if I understand correctly, so Alaska is pretty invisible for him. 🙂
Agreed, Alaska is pretty solid.
Yeah, but most of this is on the OTHER pier (Delta’s). Virgin’s still on the older side; I haven’t seen reports of that pier being renovated, and the last time I flew through there it was small, crowded, and had terrible food selection. Would love to read reports suggesting otherwise.
They are near completing a $1.2 bn renovation of T4 and T2. Part of that was adding 11 gates onto T4. T4 check-in area, security checkpoints, skyclub and restaurants/shopping are all new.
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/where-we-fly/destinations/featured-locations/new-york-city/our-new-home-at-jfk.html
I LOVE the UA lie-flat seats on the sUA fleet. The upper deck experience on the 747 is a dream… so private, quiet and comfortable. I get great sleep on those seats, I don’t find them too narrow at all (and I’m a 6ft 190lbs guy).
Really hate the sCO seats, though, and I’m sad to see those are what the fleet will be moving towards. I’m not a fan of the ‘wedge’ shape of the footwell and the diagonal slant gives me vertigo when the plane is taking off! Neither do I appreciate having to reach WAY behind and over my head to plug in for power or audio. Once the 747s are gone, these will be all that’s left. But UA is a crappy airline these days anyway. Am status matching to DL so I don’t have to deal with that bs any more.
Oh Chris,
Here I was thinking you were going to praise Alaska and instead you embrace airline trying to wipe them off the face of the earth…Delta.
I understand that Delta is busy trying to be the 1%’s carrier of choice these days, but they have a really meager brand and are running into the real limits of their corporate strategy these days. They are wasting time in Seattle trying to build a transpacific hub there while American and international carriers keep expanding in LA and United stands pat in SFO.
Delta’s focus on affluence is better than having our biggest national carriers be the equivalent of (American) Bud, Miller (United) and Coors (Delta)…but not by much.
Hi Chris, I think you’re being a bit too generous with Virgin. I recently flew them SFO-LAS, and the plane actually felt tired, IMO. I’m happy to see they have upgraded their Gogo on all their planes, but the lack of E+ seating, the limited network, lack of upgrades (and very few first class seats) are serious downsides. Oh, and (lack of) lounges. The legacies (and JetBlue) are rapidly catching up, and have *by far* surpassed them for transcons. You need to try flying American’s A321 between SFO/LAX and JFK to get a flavor for what I mean.
Also, what do you mean by “new terminal” at JFK? Don’t they just have two gates on the older wing of T4? I haven’t flown them to NY in a few years but I assumed that was still pretty old.
Aside from consistently surly gate agents ( who needs em anyway) in Atlanta, DL is the class of mega-carriers in the US and probably better than all Euro national flag carriers, with BA being the most over-hyped. But JetBlue, pound for pound is the best airline in America for my money. I can’t fly as often because they don’t fly as often. But as B6 grows , my loyalty to them will grow.
Hi Chris. Always enjoy reading your column. Like you I am a former Atlantan. I used to be a Platinum Medallion flyer with Delta but they turned me off with their Skymiles (aka sky pesos) program and the pitiful availability of award seats at the “saver” level and the crazy high mileage requirements to score a non saver award seat..Did you consider that in your rating? I swore them off and fly United and American mostly now. Like you I find United to be just fine and for the most part have had pretty good experiences with them. I also think Mileage Plus the best program for Bay Area residents as award seats are much easier to secure. Makes sense as they have the most flights in an out of the area. As far as true favorites, I want to put in a plug for Alaska…I go out of my way to fly with them when possible and the in flight experience is always first rate – friendly crews, craft beers, good inflight catering, free video streaming. Reminds me of when airlines weren’t so big and impersonal. Just a great airline IMHO and a little taste of the Pacific Northwest. You should check them out. Anyway wanted to give you my two bits. Keep up the good work.
Mike, the 4M miles is amazing. Perhaps the difficult years Delta had have made you sorely disappointed. Justifiable, but not an experience that speaks to the present day Delta. My assessment is closer to that of Chris McGinnis. Maybe I’m living on an alternate planet? My flights are ontime or early (RJ experience can still be a bit spotty, but strides have been made there). DL rarely, if ever cancels any flight I have, the flight crews are generally friendly (always a few bad apples), the technology markedly cutting edge, Sky Clubs upgraded, new aircraft replacing RJs, and on and on. We in the USA have commoditized the airline expectations and it is really a time machine in my view: how do I get from pt. A to pt. B quicky, effortlessly, efficiently. Airlines have lost 10s of billions of $ for decades, trying to match each others pricing; at the same time, customer service and employee attitudes suffered, as the airline managements cut pay of the employees along with many other customer-impact areas. They are now making money and putting $ back into the product and employees, something that hasn’t been done in a decade or more. And as for pricing competition, there are no longer restrictions on domestic flying (except at a Laguardia, etc.), so any airline can pretty much start a new route. Southwest was going to do that in ATL when they started nearly 3 yrs ago, but decided against it. Frontier is now doing so and that competition will make DL more competitive on those routes. I guess we do have choice in life: another carrier, trains, buses, or our very own car. I’ll take the hometown airline hands down. My guess is that if you lived in Chicago, DC, Houston, Philly, DFW, or Miami, you would then see the real difference on what we have here. Give them another try.
Hi, Chris, I Have to agree that Delta is the best US airline, but that isn’t saying much. I am a longer-term DL Diamond/MM. DL’s competition is UA (still recovering from the merger w/CO) and AA/US who just merged as far as international carriers are concerned. I think Virgin America and Jet Blue have a better product, but as I fly 90% internationally, I don’t fly them much. As for DL management, they should insure the SkyMile rules are up to date regarding upgrades to 1st Class. While it is posted that Diamonds are upgraded five days before the flight, there are many occasions since January 2015 when seats are not clearing until 30 minutes before boarding. The reason is that DL is trying to sell upgrades to 1st Class. I know it’s a business and they are trying to make money while they can, but just state what the facts are for upgrades. And one last thing re:DL, stop these incessant downgrades of the SkyMiles program like death by 1000 cuts!
I fly Delta for most of my domestic flights but will only fly anyone but Delta international. Deltas in flight service is still inferior to almost all other international carriers. Food, flight attendants, quality of seats, ground service is all inferior on delta. I use Delta as a point of convenience and as long as I book my flights well in advance not many carriers can’t beat the price or convenience of direct flights.
I remember the good old days when frequent flyers meant something to an airline but no more. The airlines don’t care if someone had traveled 1mm, 2mm or 4mm, you’re just a number with a dollar sign on it. I am still disgusted with the Walmart attitude of the airline employees.
Agree with Delta for the USA. However, its a shame that the best USA airline is “miles behind”
Singapore Air, Emirates, Qatar Air,Cathay Pacific, and British Air. I also believe that Etihad is in the top group but I haven’t flown them in the last year.
I fly Southwest almost exclusively since I can pour over dollars for changing a flight, and they’re all big jets (and I fly West coast). Plus, I love the companion pass and accelerator promotions. What I loathe is their abysmal WiFi service. It reminds me of 14.4 dial up service. I really wish Virgin went more of my destinations, though. I’d consider giving up my miles for a better in-cabin experience (power ports and GoGo WiFi)
Chris — great post. Only thing I might disagree with is not including Southwest for relatively short flights. I use them for business and vacation trips if I’m west of Denver. The service is reliable, and for the most part, friendly and helpful. Yes, you have to get used to the lack of seat assignments and no first class upgrades, but I never looked back when I switched from United. For East Coast trips, Jet Blue is my favorite. Mint is truly awesome and so reasonably priced.
Chris,
Did you hear me groan from Atlanta? I can’t stand Delta. As a four million miler I have experienced their contempt for the common man on many an occasion. And I refer to Delta’s management policies here, not employees that work face to face with the public. I have stopped all loyalty to Delta as a small business flyer BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO LOYALTY TO ME, AND THEY NEED TO CUT THE CRAP. If you have a big corporate expense account and spend your company’s money without economic considerations, Delta has carved out a sweet spot for you. Who wouldn’t want to snuggle with a bad employee like that?
However, if you buy on price, then step right this way to the back of the bus. Never mind that they offer that price in the first place then smack you in the face for buying it. Never mind that Delta’s biggest Skymiles customer is Amex. Never mind that they chip away at mileage levels and award availability left and right. Never mind that flying internationally is like a week with Duck Dynasty. Never mind that as they cut everything left and right they smack you in the face with “this is better, really!” gaslighting communications. Never mind they have taken all power away from their employees and bow to their super sophisticated software analytics. Never mind that first class is so crammed you still can’t open your laptop if the person in front of you puts their seat back. Never mind that there is no food to buy on midrange flights. Never mind.
I am flying Frontier to DC Friday and US Airways back Saturday. I love the honesty. It feels so fresh and new. I don’t mean a damn thing to them and they admit it. ahhhhhhhhh….now that’s better. I love Qantas, Virgin, Jet Blue, Thai and anyone but Delta if I am going to London.
What is really hilarious is that their most premium product is a joke. I am done with the game. It’s all a mirage. There is nothing there on Delta Island.
My two favs are delta for sure, and then its pretty much a tie between alaska/horizon and southern airways express
Hey Chris. Long time subscriber here. Been following you for the last 10
plus years (or maybe more, time runs together). Enjoy your site very
much, thanks for the good work! I made Gold on DL this year, but must
say service on DL is not consistent. Flew ATL to SAN last week of
December, on a very old and dirty 757N. No screens on the seat back and the plane
was filthy (and sold out). They ran out of paid snacks by row 15. Also flew from ATL to
NRT on 747 in Economy Comfort in July. Each and every seat on the 747 was sold out. The
food was without an exaggeration inedible. I guess that was my fault for not
bringing food on board. The bread was wrapped in plastic and very hard, the salad was wilted
and
the chicken was rubber. The desserts used to be decent but it was 2
cookies. The snack after 9 hours in the sky: a turkey pita. My 5
seatmates and I ate
nothing for 14 hours. However, I also flew from
ATL-FLL & ATL-MIA numerous times last year and the service (and
equipment) was much cleaner and professional. Although the FA on the
Tokyo
flight were more senior, they were burned out in coach/Econ Comfort, and did nothing above
and beyond (2 rounds of drinks for a 14 hour flight, what is that)? So to me,
there are good crews but there are also some senior FA who are burned out
(people might not like to hear, but perhaps they are former NWA FA)? And those
old 757 they now fly to SAN and SFO have to go!
One last thing Chris you talk about how great United lie-down business class seats are. Our you kidding, they are way too narrow and very uncomfortable. Give me the old, wide business class seats that didn’t go all the way into a flat bed but were wide enough to make them ten times more comfortable than the very thin, flat bed seats. Everytime I try to sleep on United flat bed seats, I have to do it on my side because they aren’t very comfortable because they just aren’t wide enough.
Chris the problem I had about your take on the United lounge at Heathrow was you missed out on the biggest problem of Terminal Two, the long, very long walk from terminal to gates.
I also thought the lounge was nice and have been to it twice in July and September. But anything new is always nice the point is that Terminal Two is a joke. Getting off the plane it’s a 15 minute walk to customs and the same from the terminal to the gate.
They really need some form of subway or transporter, kind of like Dulles has from the terminal to the gate.
Even though the lounge is nice it’s ruined by the long walk.
Singapore & Lot……I understand that Virgin in the USA & that West Jet in Canada are also highly rated. I have little to no respect for any of the majors in North America any longer…..We are nothing but “cattle fodder” to all of them!
Have to say if I was able to fy first class all the time United would be my favorite also, they only care for the flyer that spends the big bucks. The rest they couldn’t give a crap about and we are treated very poorly.
Domestically, Delta fully deserves your rating. Its early push to total Wi-Fi alone makes it deserving. I love too the extra row or rows of first class seating for upgrades compared to United.
Very impressive was smooth and coherent way Delta handled Northwest integration.
My sole complaint has been several quality control problems with first-class meals and economy snacks (sadly, I only travel business or first class with upgrades). Brown fruit for breakfast in first class doesn’t cut it.
I will tell you this, it’s not United which in the Northern Virginia area I am forced to fly a lot.
Loved Jet Blue but they have just about left Dulles, so I have to say Virgin is also my favorite. My problem is bag fee, do I fly Virgin and have to pay an additional $50 because of baggage fees or fly United that gives by frequent flyer award of free baggage.
The all time best airlines is Emirates, not many have flown this gem but hands down the best airline in the world for value, treatment and service.
VA has always been top-drawer in my book. the flying experience and the employee attitude are indicative of a Branson venture; just sterling. (You’re right, the Elevate rewards and AMEX transfer are just way too dear.) Just flew Delta after a long hiatus and found it to be decent, though I was flying biz class, so that may have biased my experience. But better facilities and planes mixed with decent staff was better than previously. UA is “the airline that doesn’t care.” Avoid them like the plague tho’ I used to be a Continental upper Elite. Jet Blue will do in a pinch…I flew them often when they first began, but the planes and the staff seem worn out, tho’ JFK terminal is a pleasure. Have flown AA over the years as they own Miami and the Midwest…just a middle of the road experience. Wish you could upgrade with miles and/or cash in a clearer and easier fashion. That’s the domestic lot.
I’ve been guilty of letting off steam in past comments as well; so we can call it even! 🙂
OK. Thanks, Kirk! You allowed me to let of a little bit of steam in any case. 🙂
Hey Chris, I’m sorry, I actually did not mean any snark. You do have important travel connections and it’s the reason that I read your blog; there’s info here that simply isn’t available anywhere else. I understand the importance of the perks you get; it gives you the behind the scenes access that makes this blog worth reading and I don’t want you to lose them.
I believe you misunderstood by intent. The purpose of my comment above was to say that 1) I thought you were being too nice in regards to UA and 2) I understand exactly why you have to be diplomatic in your word choice. I get to be more blunt in my comments, cause I don’t have to worry about burning bridges.
I still have very good experiences overall with UA, which I fly most often (either in E+ or F domestically, GF or J for longhaul). But because I have UA Lifetime Gold status, I pick the airline that gives me the best price and routing and departure/arrival times from SNA/LAX to wherever I’m going. Usually, that’s still UA…but I fly AA LAX-MIA and I will fly Southwest next month SNA-MEX (avoiding the drive to LAX is always worth the effort, even if I have to fly in economy). I rarely fly DL–it’s been 3 yrs. And Virgin America, which I’ve flown 3x in the past, doesn’t fly enough from LAX to satisfy my needs. My one Virgin America LAX-CAN international flight on paid F was TERRIBLE, so it just goes to show that even better regarded airlines can fail you. (I’ve yet to fly JetBlue but look forward to trying out their Mint business product!)
Hey Kirk: Thanks for your comments and I’m glad you agree with my choices, but I would like to address the snark about “free trips” for you and others. When I accept comped trips from airlines, it’s like you saying “yes” to a business trip and having your company pay for it. The trips are far from “free” because I’m actually losing money when I’m on them since I’m not in my office doing the things that I make money at. Let’s examine the one “free” trip I took on United last year. United invited four writers to fly over to London for a first look at its new United Clubs at London Heathrow Queens Terminal. That trip went like this: I worked all day in SF and took an afternoon flight to Chicago where I arrived at midnight and spend the night at a 3 star hotel downtown. Early the next morning I had a full schedule of back to back meetings with United executives at HQ. Had a sandwich in the cab to the airport, then took an afternoon flight to London, getting a few winks of sleep onboard, arriving the next day at 6 am. Had two hours at the airport Hilton to freshen up, then it was another full day of meetings and tours of the new Queens Terminal and the United clubs. That afternoon I wrote the post below so TravelSkills readers could be some of the first to see and hear about the new United clubs. After spending a few hours on that, I had dinner back at the airport, and then a fitful jetlaggy night of poor sleep at the Hilton. Woke up the next morning and flew back LHR-SFO. So that’s a total of three days/nights away from my home and office. 3 days of dog sitters I had to pay for. Meals and airport transfers were on my dime, too. I hope this helps you understand my job better and sheds light on these so-called “free trips” that travel industry writers take. Here’s the post that came as a result of that trip. I hope you like it: https://travelskills.com/2014/06/04/feast-eyes-uniteds-new-london-lounges/
Thanks,
Chris
Agree completely on Delta and Virgin; they are my two favorites as well. I think you are too polite with United tho; it’s on-time performance, and customer service remains abysmal (I know you can’t be too mean or they’ll stop inviting you on free trips)