The business class seats worth your points in 2026
Not all lie-flat seats are created equal—here's how every business class cabin I've flown stacks up
This is the Window Seat Travel Hacking series, your guide to turning everyday spending into five-star hotel stays and lie-flat flights. The goal? Help you make the most of the money you’re already spending so you can book the luxury travel experiences you used to only dream about.
When it comes to travel upgrades, most luxuries are simply nice-to-haves. A room upgrade or a complimentary spa treatment? Lovely. But none of them fundamentally change the experience the way a lie-flat seat does. Before you have flown one, you assume people are exaggerating. Dear reader, they are not. It is one of the most transformative upgrades in travel, if not life.
By being strategic about where and how I spend my money, I have been able to rack up credit card points that I have exchanged for these seats more than once. I do not take that for granted. But after flying a variety of business class cabins, I have realized that not all products are created equal. And because booking these seats is often a once-in-a-lifetime moment for many travelers, I want to make sure you are getting the best value possible.
Before we get into the rankings, a quick primer. People mix up cabin definitions all the time, so I want to be clear about what I’m talking about:
Domestic First: “First Class” on domestic routes. These seats usually do not go fully flat, and are more akin to a premium economy product on an international airline. For example, you can fly “First” on a tiny regional jet from New York to Ohio and your seat will essentially be just a very cushy, slightly wider chair. Tickets aren’t usually as expensive as international first class, and if you have status, you’ll probably get upgraded to this fare class at one point or another. Depending on the length of the flight, you’ll still be served a meal.
Business Class: These are your “pod-like” seats that allow you to fully lie flat. They’re typically on international or long-haul routes and in larger dedicated cabins. Usually, you’ll get an amenity kit (that might include things like an eye mask, socks, and small toiletries like lip balm or face mist), and meals are much more elaborate. Many airlines work with chefs to curate specialty menus for their cabins, and you can “book the cook” to reserve these limited meals in advance.
International First: Business class on steroids. Offered by only some airlines and not on every aircraft. Usually just 4 to 6 seats on the entire plane. Extremely spacious, multiple windows, far more room than business class. More amenities, more privacy, and sometimes wild extras like in-flight showers (which you can find when flying on an A380 with top airlines like Emirates). Very hard to book with points because availability is so limited.
Rather than scoring every detail, I ranked these cabins by the overall experience: how comfortable they were, how premium they felt, and whether the seat and aircraft actually lived up to the hype.
My part one ranking is here; this time around we have a few new contenders, so let’s see how it shook up the list…
Read on for:
Which business class seat I consider the worst on this list (and why)
The seat choice that will completely make or break your experience on a particular airline
The seat that shocked me with a built-in massage function
The only business class cabin that scored 5s across the board