The best seats to pick on your flights in and from Australia
![The best seats to pick on your flights in and from Australia](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:1200,675/503ac78acc9c4f72806b5917767f2254-cx-businessclass-seats-flipper.jpg)
We're often asked what the best seat is to pick on a reader's flights -- on Qantas, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and many other airlines from Australia.
We've pooled our collective decades of business travel experience, pored over seat maps and cabin plans, and snapped pictures across more than a dozen airlines from AirAsia X to Virgin Australia -- that's nearly A to Z!
So if you want more legroom, easier access to the aisle, a quieter flight, and undisturbed sleep, here's the full list of our insiders' guides to picking the best seats in first class, business, premium economy and economy on the planes you'll most frequently see on your trips.
AirAsia X
Air Canada
Air France
Air New Zealand
- "Business Premier" business class, Boeing 777-300 (LA, London)
- "Business Premier" business class, Boeing 777-200 (Hong Kong, London)
- Business Class, Boeing 767
American Airlines
British Airways
- Club Europe (European business), Airbus A319
- Club Europe (European business), Airbus A320
- Club Europe (European business, Airbus A321)
- Club World (long-haul business), Boeing 777-300ER
- Club World (long-haul business), Boeing 777-200
- Club World (long-haul business), Boeing 747
![Get some good sleep -- or relax quietly with your tablet or ereader -- on the very best of Cathay Pacific's new business class seats.](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:960,540/4ef101e2f7544a71ae677d0e767f2254-cathay-pacific-new-business-class-seats-planes-airbus-boeing.jpg)
Cathay Pacific
- Business Class (new seats), Airbus A330
- Business Class (old seats), Airbus A330
- Business Class (new seats), Boeing 777-300ER
- Business Class (old seats), Boeing 747
- Premium Economy, Airbus A330
- Economy Class (new seats), Airbus A330
Emirates
Etihad
![Garuda's new A330-200s on the Sydney-Jakarta route are generally great, but the bulkhead seats at the front give you extra legroom.](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:960,540/4ef1023c151c459b91b377d8767f2254-front-cabin-garuda-indonesia-sydney-jakarta-executive-business-class-flight-review.jpg)
Garuda Indonesia
Jetstar
Lufthansa
Malaysia Airlines
![If your seat doesn't fill you with joy, think how much comfortable and productive you'll be than the people in this Qantas 1979 business class seat!](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:960,540/502a766cba38456688b84a6a767f2254-best-business-class-pacific-qantas-business-1979.jpg)
Qantas
- Business Class, Airbus A330 (all versions)
- Business Class, Airbus A380 (new version)
- Business Class, Airbus A380 (old version)
- Business Class, Boeing 737-400
- Business class, Boeing 737-800
- Business Class, Boeing 747 (two-class)
- Business Class, Boeing 747-400ER (refurbished three-class)
- Business Class, Boeing 747 (four-class)
- Business Class, Boeing 747-400ER (four-class)
- Business Class, Boeing 767
- Premium Economy, Airbus A380 (old version)
- Premium Economy, Airbus A380 (new version)
- Premium Economy, Boeing 747 (all versions)
QantasLink
- QantasLink Boeing 717 (economy only, old version)
- QantasLink Boeing 717 (economy only, new version)
- Qantaslink Bombardier Dash-8 Q200, Q300 and Q400 (economy only)
Scoot
![Some Singapore Airlines flights from Australia have fully flat beds -- some of the best in the sky -- while others have these less spacious angled lie-flat seats.](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:960,540/4ef10287a0e84cf581327f4a767f2254-best-seats-singapore-airlines-777-300-business-class.jpg)
Singapore Airlines
- Business Class, Airbus A330
- Business Class, Airbus A380 (where there is upper deck Economy class)
- Business Class, Airbus A380 (all business class upper deck)
- Business Class, Boeing 747
- Business Class (long-haul fully flat beds), Boeing 777-300ER
- Business Class (regional angled lie-flat seats), Boeing 777-300
South African Airways
Thai Airways
![United has a unique forwards-backwards business class seating configuration on Australian flights, so pick well to max out your sleep and in-flight productivity.](https://www.executivetraveller.com/photos/view/size:960,540/4ef102dc62d44e97bb4d7ce6767f2254-united-business-class-upgrades.jpg)
United
- First Class (domestic business), Airbus A320
- "United Business" and "BusinessFirst" business class (domestic and p.s.), Boeing 757
- Business Class, Boeing 747
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Australia
- Business Class, Airbus A330
- Business Class, Boeing 777
- Business Class, Boeing 737-800 (refurbished)
- Premium Economy, Boeing 777
- Economy Class, Boeing 737-800 (new seats)
- All-economy class ATR 72 (Capital Connect service)
Get the latest updates for business traveller and frequent flyers: follow @AusBT on Twitter.
13 Feb 2011
Total posts 30
A great summary of ABT's excellent seat selection guides - it has gone to the top of my "favourites" list!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
I really love AusBT's seat guides. I always give a peak at reviews when I select my flights and if they haven't covered my plane, they have a guide that tells me how to choose the best seats on planes. This is one thing AusBT stands out from other Australian Airline Review websites.
01 Aug 2012
Total posts 30
What a great guide. Thank you! The only significant ommission I could spot was the absence of South African. They fly Perth-Johannesburg with fully-flat seats.
03 Jan 2012
Total posts 96
Having given up on Qantas, we're giving Qatar Airline a try on a trip from Perth to London at Christmas. 777 on both legs. Anything views on their seats?
China Airlines - Dynasty Flyer
22 Sep 2012
Total posts 73
Can i ask why all the north/east asian airlines were left out?(Ok apart from Cathay )
I am a frequent flyer for China airlines (Sky team). But also missing is the new routes by the big 4 mainland China airlines. Eva, JAL, Korean, Do I need to continue. Still was a very interesting article. But it does seem most of these airlines are ones you would take to Europe or the America's from Australia.
Thanks
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Hi Tristan,
Our prioritisation for airline picks is a mixture of the likelihood of Australians travelling on them for business, the number of the aircraft in the airline's fleet, the number of flights from Australia, the relevance in terms of partnership with Australian airlines, the availability of seat information and a bit of an X-factor in "is this an airline that's particularly bad at swapping aircraft at the last minute". We also try to keep a mixture of long haul trunk routes and short haul connections in there, and to spread airline coverage around -- so, for example, if we've been writing a lot about Qantas, say, we'd pick another airline to be next on the Best Seats list.
As you can see, it's a bit of an inexact science, but I hope that gives you some insight into how we pick them!
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