A new year has dawned and with it, a blank slate for
business
travelers hitting the road. This year though, the game has changed
dramatically. Both Delta and United will now be both awarding miles and
assigning elite status based on how much a passenger spends with the
airline, shifting benefits away from the casual traveler and towards the
high-spend, frequent flyer. For the heaviest of business travelers,
this is great news. They’ll now earn miles faster and will achieve elite
status faster than casual travelers. Frugal or infrequent business
travelers, however, may not like the changes as much. For them, flying
on American or Alaska, two airlines with distance-based elite status and
awards is still a strong option.
This year also brings big improvements to the in-cabin experience.
JetBlue’s Mint product is
now fully operational on select routes, providing transcontinental
travelers with spacious, industry leading cabins including lie flat
seats, TV and WiFi. American is also now offering the only three-class
service from coast to coast with lavish first and business class cabins
(both with lie-flat seats) and upgraded Gogo ATG-4 internet. Later this
year, Delta is also
kicking off its cabin relaunch with quilted business class seats and a new fresh look.
The Best Airlines For Business Travelers In 2015
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First Class on a Delta 737
Based on their loyalty program and hard product, many consider
Delta to be a strong contender for the best business carrier.
Based on their loyalty program and hard product, many consider Delta
to be a strong contender for the best business carrier. “They run a
tight ship, have upgraded planes, lounges, have Gogo WiFi, lots of
frequency out of the busiest business hubs and reward their biggest
spenders with the most miles,” John DiScalia, the travel expert behind
Johnnyjet.com tells me. Seth Miller, who runs the popular
Wandering Aramean blog agrees. “
Assuming
that Delta can continue to deliver high levels of on-time flights and
low levels of cancellations it is hard to argue against putting it atop
the list for business travelers. The broad deployment of in-flight
WiFi on Delta’s planes is a nice benefit as well.”
Those who travel less frequently and are less concerned about miles
or elite status may want to consider the product over the mileage or
elite program. Most experts agree that JetBlue’s Mint has one of the
best transcontinental cabins, though Virgin America’s product geared for
shorter-haul business class has been widely lauded. “Those business
travelers lucky enough to be based in a city with service from Virgin
America should take advantage of the carriers stellar inflight product
and outstanding service,” says Chris McGinnis from
TravelSkills.com. ”It
has nice new planes, decent legroom, good inflight entertainment and
100% WiFi, all of which is now Gogo’s faster ATG-4 variety”
For most, however, the biggest consideration in choosing a partner
airline has to do with the routes served from their home city. After
all, it doesn’t make sense to select one particular airline when another
controls 98% of the volume in that particular city. Travelers in New
York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles thus have the benefit of
carefully considering the above criteria and picking an airline. For
much of the rest of the country, as Mr. Miller puts it, “the short
answer is ‘whatever airline actually flies where you’re going.’”
Sources : http://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2015/01/19/the-best-airlines-for-business-travelers-in-2015/
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