I’m excited to report that I’ll shortly be reviewing SWISS’ Boeing 777-300ER first class, as well as SWISS’ First Class Lounges Zurich. Let me explain…
Continue reading: My SWISS First Class Upgrade Experience (Finally)!!!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I can’t wait for your full Swiss trip report. I imagine that it was a nice flight. Jetting off to MIAMI, sounds good to me.
"I absolutely wouldn’t ordinarily spend that kind of cash to upgrade a redeye, as it’s simply not worth it." Wouldn't a red eye make the most sense to upgrade as you can fully utilize the bed (which I would think is the most important part of flying first?)
All the lounges and airplane melas (which hare never really good) are only cool when they are free.
I recently redeemed British First Class LHR-IAD for 64k Avios + $700. I thought that was a splurge...
I get doing this for content for the blog.... but this feels like a terrible deal. You can often buy Swiss First cash ex-EU (Nordics or Eastern Europe) for that kind of price
There is one potential trick: spend money.
If that's not enough to revoke a points and miles blog license.....
Mirors my rencent experience. Was the same price and I declined. SWISS seems to be less flexible with pricing for upgrades these days. I figure they are starting to get people used to the price hikes when the cabins go down to 3 seats...
You often never give a firm response if an upgrade to first is “worth it” or not since it depends on so many factors. Curious why in this case you gave an absolute no (outside of your review purposes)
@ Alec-14 -- I'm not saying it's not worth it for anyone, but I think in general I'd have a hard time justifying a $1,920 upgrade under normal circumstances for myself, especially on an overnight flight.
Why? Because in business class I already have a flat bed, and on an overnight flight I'll get some amount of sleep whether I'm in first or business. Maybe the sleep is a bit better in first than business, but it's not $1,920 better.
For me, I think the upper limit of where I could potentially find a business to first upgrade on a flight like this to be worth it would be around $1,000, and that might even be pushing it. But that's just me...
@ Ann -- Hah, touche. But in all honesty, there are very few airlines that let you upgrade a partner business class award ticket to first class, so I do think it's at least noteworthy.
@ Joe -- Indeed, SWISS has some good first fares from Nordic countries to the Middle East and Asia, in particular. Neither the origin nor destination would be particularly useful for me for those fares, which is why I at least valued the convenience of this upgrade opportunity.
@ Dealguru -- I guess that's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it would be that you can enjoy the improved soft product a lot more on a daytime flight, where you're awake for most of the time. I guess it all depends on how well you sleep in business class.
@ T- -- Thanks! Though in this case I was originating in Miami, and jetting off to (much colder) Europe. 🙂
@ Morgan -- It depends on the market, because airline pricing is heavily dependent on the origin and destination. A one-way nonstop Miami to Zurich first class fare? That would have cost $14,388. Hopefully most people aren't booking those kinds of tickets, though.
I’m sooo excited for you! I know for Air France cash upgrades to La Premiere is also around $2000 for a transatlantic flight so the Swiss offer isn’t that bad. Yes I wouldn’t pay that much to upgrade for a red eye flight but I’m excited to read your review! Enjoy!
As the original booking was an award ticket, do you get any miles for the ~2K spend on upgrade ?
@ Ram -- Excellent question! Interestingly enough, the fare class still shows as being "I," which is for award business class.
And how do you plan to get back to MIA/US? I'd be keen on a UX 789 J review and I if memory serves me right, they deploy them to MIA 😉 Award availability with DL isn't the best, but I think it's alright with FB...
@ Ben Holz -- Europe isn't my turnaround point, so stay tuned, as there's more to my outbound journey.
I recently tried to upgrade my friend from JFK-ZRH during check in and I got the same price $1920, but I kept getting an error so he tried by the counter in the airport where he was told that he can't upgrade since it was booked in I class, but when he got onto the flight he asked again and they offered him to upgrade for a $1,000
Congratulations to get the upgrade and its worth it for the blog. But I would not pay this amount of money.
Just had a longer day time flight BKK - ZRH and snagged one of the throne seats. I would not even bother bidding the lowest amount (I think around 1200 CHF was the lowest allowed bid) to get into first class, upgrade price was 3090 CHF. I can sleep well in business class, was sitting alone and I drink barely any alcohol. Food is better but for the savings I can get much better meals on the ground.
Well, La Premiere is a completely different league than LH Group first, so I'd argue that offering the same price for both makes the Swiss offer pretty bad.
If people weren't booking these kinds of tickets, airlines wouldn't offer first class 😉 They don't waste the space on board so they can offer cheap upgrades.
what is the First class lounge situation in Miami? I assume you have to do the line for the Turkish lounge! 🙂
Data point: Paid CHF1790 (US$2000) to upgrade from J to F during online check-in, ZRH-NRT (12hr flight), booked with LifeMiles. Totally worth it!
Return it would cost almost $4000 - I agree with Ben - not worth it. Personally I often fly LX first ( cash only ) but somehow manage to book with reasonable fare.
Actually FCL gets escorted to the LATAM lounge where as J pax uses Turkish. It’s not great but not the worst.
At the gate or on the flight because once you board it’s impossible to upgrade “in flight”
Swiss double charged (949) 842-9543 me for my first upgrade. Nearly $2000. They ‘lost’ my first confirmed paid upgrade and then said they would no longer honor it. But said they would refund me. Then three weeks later I snagged it again and paid again. But never got the previous refund. Credit card dispute ensues but still fighting them. They have the most poorly managed ticketing and receipt system and trying to get help is tug of war with a pit bull. The seat and crew were fabulous though.
Most people aren't paying that. But... There are going to be sufficient corporate travelers who are authorized for F to cover the cost of having the cabin. I don't know the incremental cost, but I suspect that filling one or two paid seats per flight covers the cost of having the cabin and a few upgrades are 99% profit.
It does but they are skinny and not as comfortable as first. The cushions in business automatically inflate and deflate all the time which I found annoying. SWISS first is like a proper bed with an actual door on the suite. United Polaris I rate over SWISS business by a decent stretch.
"Aside from the US West Coast, the only destination in the United States to which SWISS currently flies its 777s is Miami"
Depending on the time of year the 777 flies out of ORD. I have flown it in 22, 23, and this year so it seems to be a regular service.