International Air Timing

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, em-sk said:

When it sold as "Domestic First Class" in the US is called "Domestic Business Class" in the rest of the world.

 

2 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Careful.  There is a world of difference between longhaul and shorthaul "business class".  On most Euro airlines, intra-Europe shorthaul "business" only gets you a standard coach seat with the middle seat blocked off.  No lie-flat seating, no extra legroom.

 

And in Europe there are far fewer domestic flights. So it's actually rare to see it called "Domestic Business Class". And there plenty of international flights on which this type of short-haul product appears.

[cruising cockroach]

45 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

And in Europe there are far fewer domestic flights. So it's actually rare to see it called "Domestic Business Class". And there plenty of international flights on which this type of short-haul product appears.

 

Intra-Europe (at least within the EU/Schengen) can be considered domestic for the most part.  The front end of the cabin has slightly more seat pitch than the back.  Decades ago, european airlines used to have a separate first class with bigger seats but they found out a flexible configuration was better and that's what is largely used today.  As the small planes have increasingly-longer range, this product is being found in some pretty-long flights, equivalent to U.S. trans-continentals.

[Globaliser]

26 minutes ago, cruising cockroach said:

Intra-Europe (at least within the EU/Schengen) can be considered domestic for the most part.

 

That doesn't mean that anyone calls it "Domestic Business Class" in Europe. One would look in vain for that as a description.

[rbslos18]

The options I have from the cruiseline for the "Domestic Business" overseas flight are American, Delta or United. Is one product superior from your experience?

Thanks. I am learning a lot!

RB

[CruiserBruce]

Why would you be looking for "Domestic Business" that flies internationally? Don't you want International Business?

 

Rather than pick one airline, I would be looking for features. Lie flat is very common, so you shouldn't have difficulty finding that.

 

Look for seating configurations that guarantee aisle access, no matter what seat you sit in. United is heading that way, but all planes aren't converted yet. Think the same is true for American and Delta.

 

Food on board is very subjective...you will get a million different answers.

 

If flying out of ORD is an option, United has their new Polaris Lounge there...pretty nice...very, very competitive with other lounges.

 

Look for price and convenient  scheduling.

[FlyerTalker]

53 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Look for seating configurations that guarantee aisle access, no matter what seat you sit in. United is heading that way, but all planes aren't converted yet. Think the same is true for American and Delta.

 

On DL international, all business class seats have direct aisle access on all widebody aircraft.  International 757 do not have 100% aisle access.

[rbslos18]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Why would you be looking for "Domestic Business" that flies internationally? Don't you want International Business?

 

Yes, I have been talking about International Business Class all along. Somehow the wording switched to Domestic Business.

 

 

 

[3rdCoastFan]

21 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

The options I have from the cruiseline for the "Domestic Business" overseas flight are American, Delta or United. Is one product superior from your experience?

Thanks. I am learning a lot!

RB

As others have said, you may be better served to focus on schedules, connection times and connecting airports rather than the specific carrier. 

 

United's international business is called Polaris now - this includes improved soft products like better food, blankets, service, etc. It may also include an improved hard product, too. However, United's retrofit schedule is opaque and few routes (at this time) are confirmed to use the improved seat to go along with the improved food/service/etc. United has Polaris lounges in several additional cities, too, that you could access while connecting to your trans-Atlantic flight (provided you connect through O'Hare, Houston, Newark or - and this would be an unorthodox choice given your route - San Francisco). 

 

Delta is similar. Delta One is their international business product. Relatively few aircraft have the Delta One Suites even though all international flights offer Delta One options. 

 

My understanding is that American tends to use an even wider variety of configurations and seat types - some of the lie flat seats are better than others. Even if you know which type of plane you'll be getting, you still won't necessarily know if you get the good seats. For example, you may know that you're on a 777-200, but will it be recently refurbished (with B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats) or a non-refurbished plane (with Zodiac business seats)?