Forget business class. For international travelers who truly want the royal treatment in the air, there’s always been only one option: first class. Besides the lie-flat beds and luxury-brand amenity kits, there's Dom Pérignon and chef-prepared meals, white linen dinner service and flight attendants making up your bed while you change into your complimentary pajamas.
And those are just the basics, the things you can expect to find on almost any first-class international flight. Then there are the airlines that truly go above and beyond in catering to their top-paying customers, the ones that provide first-class amenities so extravagant as to make flying economy seem like the aviation equivalent of hitching a ride in a boxcar. But first, a warning: After reading about these over-the-top perks, domestic first class will never seem quite as extravagant again.
Last year, Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad introduced The Residence, a three-room “penthouse in the sky” available only on its A380 and featuring a living room, a bedroom with a double bed, and a private bathroom equipped with a full-height shower. Easily the most luxurious cabin ever offered by a commercial airline, The Residence also provides passengers with a personal, Savoy-trained butler who serves gourmet meals prepared to order by an onboard chef. The luxury starts before you even board the flight, with separate check-in, access to a private lounge and the attention of a personal travel concierge. Of course, all that luxury doesn’t come cheap: Expect to pay about $32,000 for a one-way flight for up to two people from New York to Abu Dhabi.
If you don’t see yourself booking the Residence suite anytime soon, first-class passengers can still enjoy a shower in the sky on certain flights operated by Etihad and Emirates Airlines. Emirates offers two Shower Spas on the upper deck of its A380s, each attended by a shower attendant. Each first-class passenger can reserve one 30-minute session per flight, although that only comes with five minutes of actual water. (Even so, planes have to take off with 2.2 metric tons of water to meet the demand.) The shower suites are fairly luxurious, with heated floors, fresh towels and toiletries by Bulgari and VOYA. Etihad offers a similar shower on its own A380s, complete with a five-minute time limit and La Bergamote 22 toiletries.
Several airlines offer stand-up onboard bars in their premium cabins. The Emirates bar on the upper deck of its A380s is probably the best known, since it features prominently in the Dubai-based airline’s magazine advertisements. Manned by a trained bartender, the bar is available to both first- and business-class passengers, and has proved to be one of the airline’s most popular amenities. (In fact, Emirates just announced its A380 bar is getting a makeover this month, complete with soundproof curtains, L-shaped couch and yacht-like decor.) Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways also offer onboard bars, while Etihad features a circular lounge between the business and first-class cabins known as The Lobby. While it isn’t technically a bar, The Lobby does offer table service, which means you can order anything you want there, from cocktails to afternoon tea.
One of the biggest perks of traveling in first class is the food, which is often restaurant-caliber and sometimes prepared by an onboard chef. First-class passengers on Singapore Airlines can use a service called Book the Cook, which allows them to choose their main course from a wide-ranging menu up to 24 hours before the flight. Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Lufthansa and many other airlines offer à la carte service in first class, meaning you can order anything from the menu at any time; Cathay Pacific’s onboard chef will even cook your steak to order.
The next best thing to flying first class is having a private jet. And a few airlines have started offering private jets to take you the rest of the way. That’s an option offered, for an extra fee, by Lufthansa and Air France.
In Frankfurt, Lufthansa has a separate terminal for its first-class passengers, complete with access to a personal assistant and complimentary transfers to the other airport terminals in a private car — in this case a Porsche, because, well, it’s Germany.
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