Last month I traveled from New York to Zurich with Swiss in Business Class. This was the second time I traveled with Swiss in Business Class in a relatively short time and the previous time (from Zurich to San Francisco) I was not impressed at all. Food was mediocre and the service was below par. I was very curious to see whether that was just an incident or whether Swiss Business Class is really a product you should avoid. Please read my review below to find out!
Business Class Cabin Swiss A330-300
The Business Class Cabin Configuration in Swiss’s A330-300 is 1-2-1 mixed with 2-2-1. On the right site of the plane, next to the window, you always have 1 seat, while on the left site you either have 2 seats or 1 single seat.
These single seats on the left site are the so-called throne seats since they have more storage space around them. These seats come with a surcharge of – in this case 179 Euro – if you want to reserve them in advance. If you are an Elite member of Miles & More you don’t need to pay for the surchage. I don’t think it’s worth paying extra for these seats if you can get the same kind of window seat with direct aisle access to the right site of the plane. For this flight, I was able to get seat 10K.
I really like the understated luxury atmosphere of the Swiss Business Class cabin. In fact, it reminds me a bit of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Zurich. Let’s hope the service in Swiss Business Class this time is the same as the service of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Zurich!
Business Class Experience
Things start off good with a glass of champaign and some nuts. The menu shows a choice of 4 entrees and per the suggestion of the flight attendant, I go for the Red Shrimp Curry. Service on this flight is great by the way and very different than my previous experience with Swiss. What a difference a day can make!
The Thai Red Curry looks great and the dish tasted as good as it looked. This meal was the best one I had in the last couple of months and comes close with the meal I had with Ethihad in business class – what a surprise especially since the catering is from the US. Amazing!
After the meal, it’s time to test out the lie flat function of the seat. It’s a good thing you can pull down the arm rest on this seat because otherwise it would have been a bit cramped. But foot well is OK and overall, the seat is pretty comfortable. No matrass topper is offered which would make the seat even more comfortable but these perks are often reserved for first class only, with European airlines.
Shortly before landing, the crew is coming by with breakfast. And for the first time, I’m ordering cappuccino in a plane. I always skip coffee in a plane because it’s not something I can get very enthusiastic about, but I decided to make an exception this time and try out the cappuccino. And Swiss Airlines is continuing to surprise me on this flight. This cappuccino is not too bad. And so is the rest of the breakfast; fresh fruit, some croissants, and again a pretty good cappuccino. Not bad at all.
Conclusion
This flight with Swiss Airlines in business class is night and day compared with my flight a year ago with Swiss in business class. I’m not sure if Swiss Airlines made a dramatic turn-around with their catering or whether this flight or the previous flight was just an exception to the rule. But the meals on this flight were very good. Also, the service was very friendly and pleasant. This was how a flight in business class should be and I’ll give Swiss the benefit of the doubt that my flight a year ago was just an exception.
Please also check out my review of this flight on my Youtube channel and leave a thumbs up if you like the video! Also don’t forget to subscribe to the channel for more content like this.
My review of Lufthansa’s Business Class product, you can read using this link. A very underwhelming product which is very much due for an update!
Leave a Reply