When you start flying often, you begin to develop a fondness for some airlines over others. It usually depends on what’s most important to you. If price is most important, you might be most comfortable on a no-frills budget airline like Spirit. Other deciding factors maybe how good the frequent flyer program is, how many destinations or routes are available, and of course, comfort level. When sitting up in a metal tube for several hours, it is nice to know how much legroom you will have or what will be available to watch on TV. WalletHub, a credit improvement company, compared the nine largest airlines based in the United States (plus two regional carriers) to find the most comfortable.
Photo: EQRoy
New Study Found the 5 Most Comfortable US Airlines
US airlines comfort level ranked
- JetBlue Airways 5/5
- Delta Air Lines 4.5/5
- Alaska Airlines 4.5/5
- Southwest Airlines 4.5/5
- United Airlines 4.5/5
- American Airlines 4/5
- Hawaiian Airlines 4.2/5
- Spirit Airlines 0/5
- Frontier Airlines 0/5
For years JetBlue has ranked supreme as the comfiest airline overall, ranking a five out of five. You can tell that JetBlue cares about the customer experience. Despite its relatively cheap fares, every single flight has free Wi-Fi and ample legroom, and all flights that are at least two hours offer complimentary snacks and beverages with premium versions available for purchase. This year, Delta, Southwest, Alaska, and United all ranked the same at a four-and-a-half out of five, while budget airlines Spirit and Frontier did not receive a score at all.
To find the most comfortable airlines, WalletHub ranked comfort levels using a score of 15 points. The amount of legroom was worth two points; entertainment options like movies, live TV, or radio were worth one point; the amount of free WiFi was worth one point, and complimentary food and beverages were worth one point. The 10 other points were awarded for the price — Wallethub took passenger revenue and divided that by available seat miles to decide what score to award in that category.
So the next time you’re looking to book, just know not all legroom is created equal. 