Flying domestically in the U.S. can be a hot topic, especially given that U.S. carriers' service standard lags behind other airlines worldwide.

However, flying in a premium class on your next domestic flight might not be a bad idea. Today, we will compare the First Class experiences among the "Big Three" U.S. legacy carriers: American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines.

American Airlines

Hard-product-wise, American Airlines is infamous for having the worst premium service out of the Big Three. American recently introduced its new "Kodiak" seats around four years ago, opting to strip out major amenities like seatback entertainment for device holders in its narrowbody aircraft.

Comfort-wise, you cannot go wrong with First Class. If you're flying one of American's widebody aircraft, be that on a domestic or international flight, having all of that space plus a lie-flat bed is a win.

Unfortunately, American is not known for having the best onboard service. You could argue that this is true for any U.S. carrier and that's true. However, the carrier's Senior Vice President for Inflight and Premium Services made a controversial statement claiming (and this is paraphrasing):

"It really doesn't matter what we serve [in terms of food] as long as we're on time".

If an airline's Senior Vice President of Premium Services is making such a claim, do not expect the best food or onboard service. 

That's not to say that all American Airlines service is bad. However, the airline definitely lags behind the other two concerning the premium experience.

American Airlines will soon offer only Business Class long-haul as far as premium products go. The airline is gradually removing its coveted Flagship First Class cabin from its 777-300ERs and Transcontinental A321s. However, the airline has revealed new Business Class Suites coming to its widebody jets and future A321XLRs. 

That should surely elevate the premium experience on American. Otherwise, you can expect free meals on flights over 900 miles, generous baggage allowance, and priority boarding.

United Airlines

United and Delta have both invested heavily in cabin retrofit projects. United in particular has gained admiration for its "Next" cabin retrofit program, where all of its existing narrowbody fleet will be retrofitted with new seats featuring seatback entertainment.

With that said, United is gradually rolling out the new "Next" seats across economy and First Class. On aircraft like the 737s, it seems that the seats remain the same with just a new IFE screen being added into the seatback.

However, United has among the best seat pitches when we take narrowbody First Class into account. These seats offer around 39 inches of pitch compared to American and Delta's 37 inches.

In contrast, the seat width is lower than the competition, coming in at 19 inches as opposed to 21 inches on American and Delta.

Unlike American, United has a specific brand for its long-haul premium service. The airline does not offer First Class long-haul. However, its international long-haul business class is known as "Polaris".

Polaris Business Class comes with lie-flat seats, dedicated lounges, and elevated amenities compared to a regular United premium class flight.

Delta Air Lines

Delta is widely regarded as the best airline in the United States. This sentiment has been fast-tracked by the fact that the airline began retrofitting its entire narrowbody fleet with seatback TVs and other amenities as early as 2017.

Today, the carrier's entire fleet of mainline narrowbody planes (excluding the Boeing 717) feature seatback TVs and power outlets.

As such, each First Class cabin on Delta's narrowbody jets (except those on the 717) have 13-inch seatback screens.

Delta's meal threshold is 900 miles like American. This means that flights longer than 900 miles will offer complimentary meals in First Class. Otherwise, passengers are entitled to various choices of complimentary drinks and snack choices.

Like United (and soon American), Delta does not offer long-haul First Class. Its long-haul Business Class product is called "Delta One".

Unlike United and American, who have more or less the same premium products across their entire widebody fleet (with minor exceptions), Delta is a bit different.

Delta's Boeing 767 fleet and older A330-200s and A330-300s do not have the newest Delta One Suites. This newest product can be found on the A350s and A330neos.

The Delta One Suites come with sliding doors for increased privacy along with elevated ergonomics. The older seats on the 767s and A330ceos are lie-flat seats with smaller inflight entertainment screens and no sliding doors.

Delta did not offer a dedicated lounge for Delta One passengers at first. However, the airline opened its first dedicated Delta One lounge at New York JFK earlier this year. This will surely elevate the premium experience for passengers experiencing this product long-haul. 

Commonalities

Fleet commonality is one of the first common denominators across the Big Three airline First Classes. You know what to expect when flying American, Delta, or United because all of the aircraft have (more or less) the same seat.

Furthermore, and unfortunately, having a first-class ticket in the States does not automatically grant passengers lounge access like it would in other parts of the world.

In the U.S., airline lounge access is usually reserved for the more elite status holders or passengers booked in international premium products.

In-seat power will be found across the Big Three premium classes. American is one of the more recent airlines to join the club as many of its regional jets and legacy U.S. Airways Airbus jets did not have in-seat power at all until a few years ago.

Otherwise, passengers flying premium classes on the U.S. Big Three can expect priority boarding, a larger seat, complimentary refreshments, and a generous luggage allowance. This includes two free checked bags up to 50 pounds each.

What do you think of flying First Class in the States? Should any changes be made (or do they need to be made)? We would love to hear your thoughts.