First class (aviation)

First class is a luxury travel class on some airliners that exceeds business class, premium economy, and economy class. On a passenger jetliner first class refers to a limited number (rarely more than 16) of seats or cabins located in the front of the aircraft which are notable for their comfort, service and privacy. Propeller airliners occasionally have first class in the rear.

Additional Benefits



First Class seats vary from large reclining seats with more legroom and width than other classes to suites with a fully reclining seat, workstation and TV surrounded by privacy dividers. International First Class seats usually have between 58 and 94 inches (147 - 239 cm) of seat pitch and between 19 and 35 inches (48 - 89 cm) of width while domestic flights may have between 34 and 68 inches (86 - 173 cm) of pitch and between 18 - 22 inches (46 - 56 cm) in width.

On the ground, First Class passengers are sometimes offered complimentary limousine service and usually have special check-in and security zones at the airport while some airlines operate private terminals. First Class passengers are often able to board the aircraft before other passengers, sometimes through their own jetbridge.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are complimentary and gourmet meals are usually served with a choice of wine, dessert, and aperitifs. Often these meals have been designed by leading chefs and are served on white linen table cloths and with real cutlery (often with the exception of knives for security reasons).

First Class passengers usually have at least one lavatory reserved for their exclusive use, with more than one on larger planes. Business and Economy Class passengers are not normally permitted into the First Class cabin. Normally AVOD (AudioVisual On Demand) entertainment is offered, although sometimes normal films, television programs and interactive games are provided on medium-large seat-back or armrest-mounted flat panel monitors.

Historically, First Class air travel has been very expensive. More recently, passengers have been able to upgrade their Business Class or Economy Class tickets through membership in elite frequent flyer programs and through the policies of some airlines that allow Business Class or Economy Class passengers to purchase upgrades on a space-available basis. First Class long haul fares regularly exceed $10,000 per person round trip, as opposed to $3,000-4,500 international business class tickets and $1,000 economy class tickets.

Cabin separation



Access to the First Class portion of the plane is usually restricted from those traveling in Business Class and Economy Class by curtains, although for security reasons, US-based airlines are increasingly removing these cabin dividers or installing transparent cabin dividers. Even though Business Class passengers are restricted from the First Class Cabin and Economy Class passengers are restricted from both the First and Business Class Cabin, airlines generally will allow a group of people traveling on the same flight in different Cabins to convene together in the lowest ticketed cabin amongst the group.

US Domestic First Class

On most domestic flights within the United States, what is normally Regional Business Class in the rest of the world is branded as "Domestic First Class" by the US Airlines. The service is generally a step below Long Haul International Business Class.

However, Domestic First Class does have two very different meanings on certain transcontinental routes such as LAX-JFK, SFO-JFK, and others. American Airlines and United Airlines both operate a special service on the JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO routes known as "American Flagship Service" and "United premium service" respectively. In these cases, First Class is actually a three cabin First Class which is different from two cabin First Class, both in comfort and price. In these cases, Domestic Business Class is generally equivalent in pricing to Two cabin Domestic First Class. The Three Cabin First Class is more of a true First Class rather than a rebranded First Class.

Occasionally, an airline will have an Internationally configured aircraft operating on a domestic route (usually to increase utilization or simply to reposition the aircraft) where the Domestic First Class customers will get to enjoy the nicer International Premium cabins as a free unexpected bonus.

For example, American Airlines operates a single Boeing 777 between Dallas Ft. Worth and Chicago every day in addition to the rest of the flights which are on the domestic MD-80 aircraft. The bonus for First Class customers on that particular flight is that they get treated to the International First Class Flagship Suites for no additional premium. Further sweetening the deal, AA only sells the particular flight as 2 class service, in which case, the International Business Class Cabin is sold as Economy, which means a few lucky Domestic Economy class customers will get to sit in an International Business Class product, though the service will still be standard Economy service.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/