I am flying business class to New York (from Sydney) in September 2013.

I am flying business class to New York (from Sydney) in September 2013. Airline undecided as yet - would like some suggestions. Only criteria is a fully flat bed. Other than Qantas or Cathay, who would you recommend?

Don't muck around, go Australian and Qantas all the way. 

Perhaps you could try Emirates SYD --> DXB --> NYC. A380 the whole way, plus a fantastic lounge bar to relax in on both legs. And you'll get QF points, at least to DXB.

If you're happy to go the long way, Virgin Atlantic will take you to JFK via Hong Kong and London (so you can sample their excellent LHR lounge ( http://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-atlantic-clubhouse-london-heathrow-world-s-best-lounge ) both on the way there and on the way back), and you could include a stopover in London or Hong Kong as part of the trip?

If you were opting for a relatively direct route then I'd agree with QF for starters, although don't overlook United's business class or even Delta's - both are fully flat, although QF has the edge in meals IMHO and of course you get those points & status credits. Otherwise, yes, CX via HK would be a great way to go.

With United and Delta, note that you almost certainly *won't* get a flat bed for the US domestic sectors. The only way to get that is by flying on Qantas.

Ah, I was thinking mainly of flabed for the international legs. That said, United's new PS service which launched last year (aka 2012, LOL!) offers lie-flat in business class, so one could do SYD-LAX or SYD-SFO with United and then transfer onto a PS flight to get more lie-flatness to NY.

Virgin Australia Business Class is also very good and great service (have flown B777 SYD to AUH) but they only fly to LAX. But if you are happy to fly a US Transcontinental section without a flat-bed, I am sure there are some good US options for the LAX-NY flight!

VX in First Class would do nicely for LAX-JFK

Definitely recommend CX via HKG due to the product and the lounges in HKG and you will have international service all the way into JFK, and avoid the experience of clearing customs/immigration and baggage reclaim at LAX.  You also have a choice of 3 flights per day from Sydney.  CX sometimes do really good value fares

If you want a good value fare Korean via Seoul always offer good value and you can probably go first class with them for less than QF business (but no points), very good product with full flat bed, great airport in Seoul, and the return connection you will be on the A380 from NYC to Seoul with their onboard bar and lounge.  On the way from Syd the connection in Seoul is not onto the A380 unless you overnight

Definitely worth looking at EK as well as you will get the A380 the entire way, Etihad is another good option via Abu Dhabi

Singapore Airlines is another good option and you can use the A380 the whole way but you will have an additional stop in Frankfurt, or you may want to try their all business class A345 nonstop service from Singapore before it is retired

Totally agree with rcooper . If you want quality then there is no comparable choose to CX . It it so superior to any other choice there is no other choice . I cannot believe you would not put your money towards the best viable option . For me the descision is a forgone conclusion , ticket booked , flatbed seats allocated , and looking forward to the CX lounge in Hong Kong on the way !! FORGT the others .

How about JAL? There will be the option of their new "sky suite" 777 on NRT-JFK at that time. Not sure if it'll be on the SYD-NRT leg, although it is a 777 route. Pros: Oneworld, much quicker than HKG or DXB, could be cheaper plus transfers through Japan are underrated IMO. 

radiC00I, JAL is a great option if you are not in a hurry, you have to overnight in Tokyo on the outbound, which JAL pay for and it gives you a good nights sleep enroute, but it adds a lot of travelling time.  JAL definitely offer great value fares due to the overnight connection and are a good airline, especially with the new Sky suite

Flying via HKG, Seoul or Tokyo are all about the same total flying time, the advantage HKG or Seoul give you is you can connect straight through in both direction and connection time is normally less than two hours. 

With CX three of the Sydney flights connect to their 3 x JFK flights - so better flight choice than QF, and normally cheaper, KE is and JL normally 30 - 50% cheaper than QF

Cathay is a great airline, but to NYC from SYD QF offers 5-6 less travel time in each direction and for September their business fares are cheaper than CX.

To get to the US, I can't see why you wouldn't want to go straight over the pacific. To JFK, I'd suggest QF is the best choice.

Thankyou all for your suggestions/comments. I think it may have to be CX, their new business class looks really good and I like the direct aisle access.