Here are 6 business-class awards I’m excited to book this year

It’s been an exciting few years for business class. After the doldrums of the pandemic, when many prognosticators thought business travel might not rebound, it seems to be back with a vengeance. Add in the droves of leisure travelers willing to pony up extra cash to sit up front, and airlines have seen a financial bonanza investing in their premium cabins.

We’ve seen airlines around the world update their offerings, from mild refreshes to full-on overhauls. And while we have seen old favorites, including Qatar Airways’ Qsuite and Delta One Suites take top honors at the TPG Awards recently, plenty of new entrants are nipping at their heels. That said, both Qatar and Delta have some new business-class suites up their sleeves … or assembly lines, as the case may be.

As we await the new bank of business-class suites to take flight, here are a few I’m most excited about and how I plan to book them.

United Polaris Elevated

United debuted its Polaris Elevated business-class suites at a splashy event in March, and I’ve been champing at the bit to experience them for myself ever since.

Related: Caviar, lie-flat beds and a cool snack bar: 17 hours in United’s swanky new Polaris suites

These sleek new seats have silvery upholstery, woodgrain and faux-marble finishes, textured paneling and closing privacy doors, not to mention 19-inch 4K entertainment screens. They also have closing doors and offer much more privacy than the current Polaris seats.

The handful of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with the new Polaris Elevated seats are currently flying from the airline’s hub at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).

Well … guess what? I actually already booked my ticket! I will be flying in Polaris Elevated from Singapore to San Francisco soon because I found plenty of award availability at a decent rate. You see, United offers discounted saver awards to its MileagePlus elite members and those with a United cobranded credit card.

Thanks to my United credit card, I was able to snag a seat that would have otherwise cost $4,150 or 250,000 United miles, plus $75 in taxes and fees, for just 90,000 miles plus the same taxes and fees. That got me 4.5 cents per mile in value, well above TPG’s August 2026 valuation of United miles.

If you want expanded saver-level award availability, you might consider getting one of the following United cobranded cards:

I didn’t actually have the United miles in my account at the time, so I was able to transfer them from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account on a 1:1 basis. To do that, you need one of the following cards:

Related: How to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United MileagePlus

I’ll report back on my flight, but if there’s anything you want to know, leave a comment below!

Air India A350 business-class suites

Air India has been undergoing a massive rebrand in recent years, including updates to its fleet and onboard service and amenities. Its new flagship aircraft is the Airbus A350-900, which sports all-new suite-style business-class seats in an ultra-private 1-2-1 configuration complete with closing doors and swanky finishes. I also love the airline’s menus, which feature classic Indian dishes, plus amenities like comfy pajamas and Ferragamo amenity kits, not to mention stenciled blankets I’m completely obsessed with.

The airline is currently flying Airbus A350s with the new business class suites aboard from its hubs at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) to:

• New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR)

Although award availability isn’t widespread, I’ve had good luck finding award tickets using Seats.aero‘s award alerts from both JFK and EWR for 88,000 United MileagePlus miles plus $9.80-$42, depending on the direction, or 90,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $61.

I can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt to United MileagePlus. With Aeroplan, I have even more options since the program is a 1:1 transfer partner of:

Related: Air India: New crew uniforms, website just the latest as big makeover gains steam

Swiss Senses business class

Like its sister airline, Lufthansa, Swiss recently introduced new business- and first-class cabins dubbed Swiss Senses, which you can find aboard the airline’s new Airbus A350s.

While you have to have Miles & More elite status to book a first-class award, business-class seats are subject to more standard availability, and I’ve actually found a lot of seats available on select routes when searching over a wide swath of months.

Swiss A350s have just 45 Sense business-class seats aboard, and like Lufthansa’s Allegris product, there are myriad seating type options to choose from, ranging from private window seats to ultralong beds to premium “suites” at the front of the cabin with a few extra amenities thrown in. Generally, you have to pay an extra fee to book a specialty seat, and the premium ranges from $100 to $700. All, however, have 18-24-inch entertainment screens and handy tablets that you can use to control everything from your seat position and cushion firmness to lighting and temperature.

Swiss currently flies its small fleet of A350s from its hub at Zurich Airport (ZRH) to:

• Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN)

My druthers would be to fly westward from Zurich back to the U.S. since it is a relatively short daytime flight where I could have time to tinker with and explore the seats’ many features, and I’ve actually found quite a lot of availability between Boston and Zurich for just 60,000 Aeroplan points plus $112.50 in taxes and fees, so that’s how I plan to book.

Related: ‘Swiss Senses’: Onboard the inaugural long-haul flight of Swiss’ luxe new Airbus A350

Etihad’s new A321 business and business plus

While wide-body jets tend to have the swankiest business- and first-class seats, many airlines are investing in premium seats aboard narrow-body Airbus A321LR and A321XLR jets that can handle lengthy flights on seasonal routes. We’ve seen exciting new seats debut on American Airlines, United, Air Canada and Iberia, not to mention JetBlue’s long-standing Mint Studios and Suites.

But perhaps the most luxurious of these is Etihad’s new A321s, which the airline took delivery of last July. Whereas other airlines have installed herringbone-style seats facing away from the window on their A321s, Etihad’s seats face the cabin wall for the best views while still maintaining an ultraprivate 1-1 footprint. They also have slimline seat profiles and shells, lending the cabin an elegant, pared-down look, while still sporting high-end finishes including marble accents and stylized sconce lighting, wireless charging and 17.3-inch 4K entertainment screens.

The airline currently flies its A321LRs from its hub at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) to:

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
• Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX)
• Copenhagen Airport (CPH)
• Dusseldorf Airport (DUS)
• Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU)
• Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
• Phnom Penh’s Techo International Airport (KTI)
• Phuket International Airport (HKT)
• Tunis-Carthage International Airport (TUN)
• Zurich Airport (ZRH)

As you can see, there’s no direct flight to or from the U.S., but I do have some flights between Europe and Asia, so I’m thinking of booking one or two legs to transit through Abu Dhabi. It looks like my best bet will be redeeming either 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus $36 in taxes and fees, or 30,000 Air-France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $116 in taxes and fees.

Flying Blue is a 1:1 transfer partner of the following transferable points programs, so there are plenty of ways to stock up my account.

Related: Etihad unveils new first-, business-class suites coming to single-aisle jets

Air New Zealand Business Premier and Business Premier Luxe

Air New Zealand has been revamping its business class for years now, starting with a retrofit of some of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and the delivery of new 787-9s with all new classes of service on board (including its economy Skynest bunk beds).

The new Business Premier seats are in a herringbone 1-2-1 layout angled toward the aisle, but they offer plenty of room since they’re 20.5 inches wide and recline to 79-inch lie-flat beds with 24-inch entertainment screens. The first row is a special business-plus seat category called Premier Luxe, with even more room and amenities, including sliding privacy doors, though you have to pay around $800 extra each way to reserve these seats.

Air New Zealand operates jets equipped with the new seats on various routes from its Auckland International Airport (AKL) hub, including San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR), but schedules tend to change, so you have to check your seat map carefully.

The airline also just announced it will update its 777-300ER cabins, with an even newer business-class seat featuring closing doors. The first plane is scheduled to undergo refurbishment in March 2027 and enter service in May, so it will be a little while before we see them.

Although Air New Zealand business-class award availability is hard to come by, I hope to book a one-way flight using 85,000 Aeroplan points since Air New Zealand and Air Canada are Star Alliance partners.

Related: Your guide to Star Alliance airlines, lounges and elite status

Starlux business class

It’s not new at this point, but I’ve been wanting to fly Starlux’s futuristic A350 business class since it debuted back in April 2023. In fact, I’ve flown the airline’s similar, but not-quite-as-luxe A330 business class between its hub at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) and Bangkok, and was blown away, so I can’t wait to experience the top-notch service on a longer flight.

The cabin has beautiful decor elements, while the seats have closing privacy doors, 24-inch entertainment screens and recline to 77-inch lie-flat beds. I’m also excited to try the colorful, destination-inspired cocktails like the electric-blue Sci-Fi Cosmo 2.0.

So far, I’ve got my eye on flights from Taipei to:

Business-class awards do not pop up often, but they tend to appear in two-month batches when they do, and availability to L.A., San Francisco and Seattle seems best. Starlux is not part of an airline alliance, but it partners with Alaska Airlines, so I plan to set a Seats.aero award alert and redeem 75,000 Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points for a ticket plus around $5.60-$50 in taxes and fees, depending on the direction of travel.

I’m running low on Alaska Airlines points at the moment, so I plan to stock my account back up in preparation for this redemption by applying for one of the following cobranded credit cards:

What’s next in terms of business class?

This was just a smattering of existing or soon-to-come business-class cabins I have my eye on, but there are even more on the horizon.

Top of my list is the new business class Qantas is developing for its “Project Sunrise” A350-1000 flights from Sydney Airport (SYD) to LHR and JFK. Like other popular seats, this one will have a closing door and be configured in a front-facing 1-2-1 arrangement. They will recline into 80-inch lie-flat beds and have 18-inch entertainment screens, among other bells and whistles.

Earlier this year, Delta unveiled plans for a new version of its Delta One Suites, which will debut when the Airbus A350-1000 joins the airline’s fleet. We don’t yet know which routes it will operate, but I am hoping we’ll see some flash sales on long-haul routes with award rates at 115,000 SkyMiles each way, so that I can snag one of the new suites for myself. The new suites, arranged in a reverse-herringbone orientation, will have privacy doors and should be more spacious than the existing Delta One suites, with longer lie-flat beds.

I’m also keeping an eye out for awards in one of my favorite recent entrants to the business-class battle, Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite, which flies on a handful of routes between Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and hubs like LHR, Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), LAX and SFO. These stylish seats are roomy, have 24-inch entertainment screens, wireless charging pads and closing privacy doors and offer passengers additional amenities like Bamford bedding and skincare products.

What new business-class seats do you have your eye on?

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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thepointsguy.com