I’m in a zone of making a lot of list.
Airlines I have Flown
I have included airlines that exist and no longer exist. I also noted the service class and my rating on a 5 point scale of the total experience as best I remember. Italics means the airline no longer exists.
For ratings:
1 = Way below expectations (for the class of service)
3 = Met my expectations
5 = Amazing
2 and 4 are in-between ratings
Airlines I Have Flown Internationally
- Aer Lingus
- Business
- Rating = 3
- Air Canada
- Economy
- Rating = 2
- Air France
- Economy
- Rating = 4
- Air New Zeland
- Economy
- Rating = 4
- Air Vanuatu
- Economy
- Rating = 4
- Alitalia
- Economy
- Rating = 2
- American
- Business, Economy
- Rating = 3
- Ansett
- Economy
- Rating = 3
- Bangkok Airways
- Economy
- Rating = 4
- British Airways
- First, Business, Economy
- Overall rating = 3
- Cathay Pacific
- First, Business
- Overall rating = 5
- El AL
- Economy
- Overall rating = 4
- Emirates
- Business
- Overall rating = 5
- KLM
- Business
- Overall rating = 3
- Lao Airlines
- Economy
- Rating = 3
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Economy
- Overall rating = 0 (and yes the lowest rating on the scale is 1)
- Pan Am Airways
- Economy
- My first international flight
- Qantas
- Business, Premium Economy, Economy
- Overall rating = 4
- Qatar
- First
- Rating = 5
- Singapore Airlines
- Business
- Rating = 5
- South African Airways
- Business, Economy
- Rating = 3
- Swiss (the old airline not the new airline)
- Business
- Rating = 5
- TAP Air Portugal
- Economy
- Rating = 3
- USAirways
- Business, Economy
- Overall rating = 4
- United
- Premium Economy
- Rating = 2
- Virgin Atlantic
- Economy
- Rating = 2
Airlines I Have Flown Within the United States
(I do not include the little regional carriers like Henson or Air Virginia)
- Piedmont (Rating = 5)
- Allegheny (I was young)
- USAirways (Rating = 4)
- Continental (Rating = 3)
- Delta (Rating = 4)
- American (Rating = 3)
- Jet Blue (Rating = 4)
- Southwest (Rating = 4)
- American West (Rating = 1)
- Alaskan (Rating = 3)
- Transworld Airways (I was young)
- Pan Am Airways (I was young)
- Eastern Airways (Rating = 4)
- United (Rating = 2)
- Virgin America (Rating = 3)
- World Airways (Rating = 5)
Airlines I Want to Fly But Still Haven’t
- Etihad
- Lufthansa
- Swiss (the new airline)
- I am sure there are many others
Airlines I Have No Interest in Experiencing
- Spirit Airways
- Hooters Air
- Aeroflot
- Egypt Air
- I am sure there are others
If any of you have an airline you recommend I add to the list to try or to avoid, then please let me know?
And tell me your favorites please and if my ratings are the same as yours.
Thank you for looking at this list.
Wow, I think you were pretty gracious with your ratings of American Airlines and US Airways. Since the merger of those two airlines, American has really gone down the dumper.
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Oddly, i consistently had great experiences on US Airways, but because of where I lived I was mostly on legacy US Aiways flights not America West tainted flights. AA suffers way too much of the America West influence I think but again I think a lot is route dependent.
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I found Aeroflot to be a great airline for intra-Europe business class flights. Most European carriers just block off a middle seat upfront and call that business class. And the food is pathetic. In 2015 I took four SU flights between Sofia, Moscow and Amsterdam. The seats were genuine business class though not full flat, the food was like on US TATL or TPAC business-class flight. And the service? Well, Russian flight attendants. Nuff said! The current political situation notwithstanding, I’d fly SU any day.
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Great to hear….the feedback I had from people I know was based on economy, but I will stay open minded. By they way, your review of “The Apartment” by Etihad really makes me want to try it.
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I fly with Air Canada a lot and I agree with your lacklustre rating. Their main domestic competitor West Jet is better, but they could both learn from the service levels of some of the Asian carriers. Maybe it was a fluke, but I used Air Egypt 4 times and it was consistently good. I have read lots of terrible reviews though.
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Lackluster is a good word to describe Air Canada. With Egypt Air, mine is a long, annoying story that ended at the airport in Cairo, but in the end I never flew them and will never desire to. Glad it worked out for you.
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Showoff! I need a vacation can you plan a good one for us.
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Sure. I have arranged a ticket on Spirit Airlines for you to fly in January from Dumdumville, NC to Topeka, KS. I hope you enjoy the trip.
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Delta a 4? I must have flown them in a parallel universe. Like the time in Atlanta when they told us go use the terminal restroom because the one on the plane didn’t work. On the other side, love Southwest.
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Interestingly most of my Delta experience is through Salt Lake City hub on west coast based routes, as opposed to the festival of Atlanta Hatfield Airport. My gut says the east coast experience is definitely a point or two lower than the west coast experience. I think Southwest and JetBlue ratings hold, so appreciate the concurance on Southwest.
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I flew Piedmont once and was stuck next to some guy who wanted to debate the merits of white hots vs. red hots and kept clearing his throat.
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Thanks a lot for sharing Paul. You’ve flown with many :O I’m surprised how you never flew with Lufthansa. For an instance from all the companies I flew with I believe my favorite ones were definitely Austrian and Air France. I’m interested in flying with Turkish Airlines, Emirates and Qatar. 😉
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Luis this is great thank you. I can not believe I left Turkish Airlines off my list of airlines I want to fly. I have heard they are very nice and their food is among the best. I have also heard great thinks about Austrian Airlines. I sincerely hope you get to experience Emirates or Qatar some time. Thank you sincerely.
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