The Best First Class Airline in the U.S.

Picture this: You’re in row 1A, sipping a glass of champagne as the masses file past. In a few short minutes, you’ll be reclining your seat, popping on a pair of headphones and enjoying a steak with pomme frites.

So, which is the best first class airline in the U.S.? The short answer is that, according to our analysis, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines offer the top first class airline tickets to travelers.

From lie-flat seats to enclosed suites, let’s look closer at which is the best first class airline in the U.S.

U.S. airlines with first class

There are others, of course (including Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit and Southwest). However, each of these excluded airlines suffer from serious limitations when it comes to deciding the best first class. For example:

• Southwest doesn’t operate a business class or first class cabin.

• JetBlue has only just started its transatlantic flights.

• Alaska doesn’t offer any lie-flat seating.

• Frontier and Spirit are both budget airlines that strip down their fares to the basics.

This leaves the “Big 3” as the major contenders when it comes to luxury airlines in the U.S.

Factors we considered when picking the best first class domestic airline

So how do we decide which is best first class domestic airline?

• Amenities: Often called the soft product, amenities are things such as bedding, food, service and drinks on your flight.

• Seats: Each airline uses a different configuration for its seating, with top contenders featuring lie-flat beds and suites with closing doors.

• Ability to earn and use points: Unless you’ve got money to spare, the ability to redeem your points for first class seats is going to make a huge impact on your airline choice.

• Route network: This is how many destinations each airline serves.

• Lounges: Not all airline lounges are equal; each airline uses these differently to woo and delight their highest paying customers.

Airlines have upped their game in recent years as the fight for your loyalty rages on.

The experience varies depending on whether you’re traveling domestically or internationally, but each airline offers its own premium option. Delta features Delta One, American Airlines has its Flagship First Class and United boasts the Polaris experience.

Each airline offers chef-curated food and luxurious bedding on board, as well as premium spirits. Both United and American Airlines offer pajamas on select international flights, while Delta doesn’t.

When it comes to customer service, however, Delta is a clear winner. According to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report issued by the Department of Transportation, Delta had a total of 106 customer complaints across all categories during June 2021. Compare this to United’s 303 complaints and American’s 421 complaints, and Delta comes out miles ahead.

Each airline has a competitive soft product with high-end touches, but Delta far outstrips the rest when it comes to customer service, netting it a win for amenities.

First class airplane seats

Airlines often offer passengers different types of first class seats depending on where they’re flying. Most domestic routes will feature wide seats that recline. These are comfortable, but nowhere near as nice as the seats on premium transcontinental routes and long-haul international flights. On these routes, you’ll find American Airlines, Delta and United have installed beds that lay-flat — so you can arrive to your destination well rested.

So, which airline has the best first class seats?

United has done away with its distinction between first and business class on long-haul international flights, and has instead launched its Polaris-branded product. Updated Polaris seats feature a 1 x 2 x 1 configuration, which offer excellent privacy in a pod formation. Be aware, however, that United also operates an older Polaris product in a 2 x 2 x 2 configuration. You’ll be able to see this on United’s seat map when you’re booking your flights.

American Airlines offers both Flagship First Class seats as well as Flagship Business Class seats. Its business class product is similar to United’s updated Polaris product, with a 1 x 2 x1 formation that offers excellent privacy. Its Flagship First Class seats, meanwhile, have a much smaller cabin with as few as eight seats — but they lack high wall dividers, which leaves you pretty open to other passengers.

Delta has also eliminated its first and business class distinctions on long-haul international flights in favor of its Delta One product. While not all of its planes feature these, all A350 and A339 planes operate Delta One suites. These suites have full-height walls and sliding doors for complete privacy.

Although both American Airlines and United offer excellent seats in their premium cabins, Delta’s suites outclass the others with ultimate privacy.

Ability to earn and use points

Each airline will award you with miles when you fly with them, though the amount of reward miles you earn for any given ticket is actually based on the cost of the fare rather than how far you fly. However, this isn’t the only way to earn miles.

United, like American and Delta, offers no fixed award chart. However, its redemption rates are pretty reasonable, and it’s part of the largest airline alliance — Star Alliance — giving you the most options when it comes time to redeem your points.

More ways to earn miles, reasonable redemption rates and more airline partners means United is the winner here.

Delta makes it easy to earn SkyMiles with several different co-branded credit cards. It’s also a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. Combined, these methods make it very easy to earn SkyMiles for award flights.

Redeeming them, however, is another story. Delta has no fixed award chart and tends to charge a lot when using miles for premium cabin rewards.

The information related to AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.