Awards are only as good as the judges, and we've got the best—you! As the readers of Business Traveler, you are the savviest consumers of the products and services we survey each year. You know—and you tell us—who delivers, and who comes up short. Business Traveler enlisted a nonbiased third-party company that mailed out this year's reader survey in June (and again in July) 2006, to 2000 subscribers. An impressive 33-percent return rate signaled an extremely high level of reader engagement and involvement with the subject and the results. Each survey was numbered to prevent duplication, and return by mail was required. All questions were open-ended, with no multiple-choice options.

AIRLINES
Air transport occupies much of a road warrior's time, consideration and travel budget.The average Business Traveler reader takes 28 roundtrip flights yearly, so it's no surprise that airline ratings are a major focus of Business Traveler's annual awards. Singapore Airlines is once again tops with Business Traveler readers, this year landing in first place in four significant categories: "Best Overall Airline in the World," "Best Airline for International Travel," "Best Economy Class in the World" and "Best Business-Class Cuisine/Menu."

Demonstrating its commitment to serving its customers, the airline recently decided not to postpone a three-class full-passenger-cabin upgrade until the Airbus super jumbo A380 aircraft became available. Instead, the $360 million plan involves changes to six new Boeing 777-300ERs scheduled for delivery in early 2007. The new premium cabins will turn up first on long-haul services between Singapore and Paris and Zurich.

According to company reports, seats in business class will be laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration. (Its most loyal customers had requested immediate aisle access.) In first class, seats will be 35 inches wide with 23-inch LCD monitors. In business, seats will be 30 inches wide with 15.4-inch screens, and in economy, the airline is moving the in-seat entertainment controls from the armrest, to the seatback under the 10.1-inch monitors, allowing for narrower armrests.

"Best Airline for North American Travel" honors went to Continental Airlines. This carrier recently won kudos from its frequent flyers for going to battle with Boston's Logan Airport over wireless Internet access. They won—and can offer free wireless Internet to travelers in the President's Club lounge. Customers are voting with their dollars, too— the carrier's sales are up. The company says October 2006 sales at continental.com increased 26 percent over October 2005. Sometimes fare trumps all for the road warrior. Winning "Best Low-Cost Carrier" honors in this year's survey is Frontier Airlines. In November, the carrier joined forces with AirTran to create the industry's first Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) referral and frequent-flyer partnership. LCC includes a Web-based reservations system for destinations offered by both airlines, the ability to earn frequent flyer miles in both carriers' rewards programs, and the ability to redeem frequent flyer miles in both programs.With LCC, customers will be able to book tickets to over 80 destinations, drawing from both carriers'Web sites. Airlines vied for kudos in classes of service as well. Starting at the top, Emirates captured "Best First Class in the World."

Although wholly owned by Dubai, the twenty-year-old carrier is not subsidized by the government. Just one dozen pampered first-class flyers are accommodated on each flight of the largest plane in the carrier's fleet, the Boeing 777-200/300. Emirates also won "Best Business Class to the Middle East" honors. They're among the airlines refitting their entertainment systems to play movies and TV shows in-flight, according to Apple Computer Inc. (The others are Delta, United,Air France,Continental and KLM.) Virgin Atlantic Airways edged out both Singapore and British Airways to win "Best Business Class in the World." Calling that level of service  "Upper Class" doesn't hurt its chances, but neither does offering a complimentary limousine ride to the airport, an onboard bar, fully-flat beds and onboard massages.

Readers selected British Airways as "Best Business Class to Europe/Trans-Atlantic." This carrier recently announced upgrades to its ClubWorld service, including a six-foot-long fully-flat bed and electronically operated privacy screens. Rollout of the changes will take up to 18 months, and will be available across the airline's fleet of 57 Boeing 747s and 43 Boeing 777s. Lufthansa took top honors for "Best Business Class to Eastern Europe." One of the reasons is its location in the heart of the continent. Each week, a total of 5,352 flights take off and land at Frankfurt, the German carrier's largest hub. Second is Munich,with 4,678 flights, adding up to more than three fourths of all Lufthansa flights. Service between Hamburg and Moscow has been increased to four times per week. For service in northern Europe, SAS Scandinavian Airlines won the award for "Best Business Class to Nordic Countries."

Our readers evidently approve of the carrier's upgrades on flights to and from the U.S. The new seats are wider, recline more fully and include a built-in massage function. Easily accessible storage accommodates a laptop or water bottle. "Best Business Class to Asia/Trans-Pacific" went to Korean Air. The comfort of the carrier's business-class seats and high level of service are two key reasons, but another is the growing role of Incheon International Airport (ICN) as a hub for connecting flights to the rest of Asia. In addition to adding routes to China,Korean Air has picked up new destinations in Southeast Asia, including Kota,Kinabalu,Malaysia (BKI) and Pattaya, Thailand (PYX). Air New Zealand won the "Best Business Class to the South Pacific/Australia/New Zealand" award, in part because the airline offers more direct flights to the South Pacific than any other airline, including twice-daily flights from Los Angeles to New Zealand. Air Canada, which operates more non-stop flights on more routes between the U.S. and Canada than any other carrier, received the "Best Business Class to Canada" honors.The first air carrier in the world to introduce a system-wide no-smoking policy almost twenty years ago continues to explore innovative ways to better serve its customers.

The "Best Business Class to South America" was awarded this year to LAN Airlines. The two newest carriers in the LAN alliance, LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador,will become affiliate members of oneworld in early 2007, strengthening LAN's service commitment to the continent. AeroMexico won "Best Business Class to Mexico/Latin America." Flying from 13 gateways in the U.S., the carrier serves 30 destinations in Mexico, plus Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil in South America.

Taking the honors for "Best Business Class to Africa"in this year's survey of Business Traveler readers is South African Airways. In October, the carrier began introduction of its Premium Class lie-flat bed on all long-haul routes, as well as other improvements in all classes of travel.The new Premium Class seats are in a 2-2-2 configuration on the Airbus planes,with a 73-inch pitch. Included 110v AC/DC power plugs interface with normal European two-pin power plugs, so no adapter is required. Some carriers offer an intermediate category of service, between the perks of business class and the generic attributes of coach.Winning the "Best Premium Economy Class in the World" award this year is United Airlines. While there are, of course, extra amenities offered to passengers in these seats, the most prized is the extra legroom. Most of United's U.S. fleet has been altered to allow three to five inches more legroom in the Premium Economy Seats. Then there's the crucial matter of in-flight service and those front-line employees who are key to a passenger's comfort en route. Asiana Airlines takes top honors in this year's Business Traveler survey in two key areas:"Best Flight Attendants in the World"and "Best In-Flight Services in the World. "The carrier knows it's the unexpected touches that make a difference, such as offering complementary Incheon Airport Limousine service to first-class and businessclass passengers flying Asiana into Incheon Airport from Los Angeles, San Francisco,New York, Seattle, Chicago, Frankfurt and London. For domestic flights,Continental takes home both "Best Flight Attendants in the U.S." and "Best In-Flight Services in the U.S." awards. One of the carrier's recent service upgrades is food. In October,Continental introduced new BusinessFirst menus on its international flights. The gourmet meals, which first debuted on trans-Atlantic and South American flights Oct. 29,were created by members of Continental's Congress of Chefs, including: Michael Cordua of Americas of Houston; Paul Minnillo of the Baricelli Inn at Cleveland; Tim Keating of the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla.; and James Canora of NYC Culinary
Events in New York City.  Delta Air Lines made a clean sweep of three categories of awards in the Business Traveler survey. It won "Best Airport Lounge," "Best Airline Web Site" and "Best Frequent Flyer Program." With the recent hostile bid offer by US Airways to buy Delta for $8 billion in cash and stock, its customers will be watching for changes in these service areas. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 445 destinations in 92 countries.