Good morning from Zurich! I’m in the middle of my review trip to Oman, and just flew SWISS’ Airbus A330-300 business class on the short seven hour overnight flight from Montreal to Zurich.
Continue reading: SWISS A330 Business Class: Not Very Good
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ironically, Swiss is positioned as the premium offering within the LH Group - at least it wasn’t ‘five star’ Lufthansa…
Yes indeed, the service in Swiss J has not been very good for some time, pre and post pandemic. Service level is bad and IFM's can't really solve issues. The whole LH Group sadly are not the best in my opinion and with the combination of their worst FF programs, I have managed to avoid them for years - even with some of their good promotions in J and F, I have not taken up their offer.
Swiss First was one of the best flights of my life. The service is sublime. the food is very good. The seat is wide and you can close the "door" which is not evident since it just looks like a place to hang your coat. Very good amenity kit. Only complaint would be small lavatory. Which they keep very clean. (first time in a plane I did not stick to the floor)
I agree wholeheartedly with this post, Ben.
Just flew ZRH-HKG with Swiss in business on their A340. Ok, the seats are a little more modern, compared to the 330, but jeez... the entire experience left me with a "meh?!" kinda feeling. Cheap ameneties when it comes to the kit and bedding, bare bathrooms, a very limited IFE catalog, an extremely robotic like service flow with little to no room for personalisation. I kid you not that I startled the crew by telling them I would be skipping the appetizer course. The reply I got was "ummm, ok, but we need to put your tray down now, so just know it will be an empty tray".. Serving the cheese course on a tray with the appetizer, cutting away the on demand "order at any time food" items,...
It was by no means an afwul flight, but it felt terribly average/forgettable. Considering the prices they charge for C class tickets, a total letdown.
And what also annoys the cr×p out of me is the service inconsistencies between the LH group airlines; PJs, matresspads, decent bedding on LH, but not on LX. No preorder of special meals on LH shorthaul (the very short routes), eventhough LX offers it. Etc etc.
You would think it would be a little more streamlined...
Sounds identical to when I flew this route in early 2020, but I atleast got a nice Victorinox amenity bag
Perhaps the saddest part of the flight was when they gave me a ramekin of pickles and olives instead of the nuts everyone else were given. Why? Because I had a vegetarian meal request. Figure that one out. lol
Agree 100% with this. I've flown this product several times over the past 11-12 years. It has not changed at all in that time and has gone from being one of the better TATL options to one of the worst.
The food is OK, the seat is OK but has not been updated in 10 years and now lags behind almost all competitors. The food and service has always been "fine". I've never had a crew who went beyond minimum friendly.
One other thing I really hate about Swiss Business Class is how open the cabin is. The seat/shell height are quite low compared to competitors and, especially on a day flight, you can see and hear everyone else in the cabin. It is not a relaxing business class experience.
TLDR; I would fly Swiss Business in a pinch but I would choose almost any other product over this.
Their product is definitely getting worse every year. I still like LX first, especially for the ground experience in Zürich and the special VIP touch to it, but the food apart from the Balik Salmon is not tasty at all. The red wines served are also very average. and retail for 30usd
European carriers continue to be the most overrated in the world. When flying to Europe in business class, I prefer an American carrier.
European carriers might have a slight edge in economy class, and win by default in first class. But if you're flying with miles, business class is the sweet spot we usually aim for,
Once flew a SWISS A340 from Chicago to Zurich, then the A330 onward to Dubai in Biz. A340 was noticeably superior to A330, and my catering for both even in February 2021 was way better than the pictures from this flight, somehow
I remember the old days; flying FC in a SR DC-10-30. HKG-BKK-BOM-CAI-ZUR-GVA. Where the ‘Chef’/FA, rolled a trolley down the aisle... and made Crepe Suzette by your seat.
really feel the ship has turned for American carriers with Polaris and Delta One. AA needs to catch up with something a bit more aspirational and consistent across flights but consistency is not easy!
I have to say, I fly almost all business class (paid tickets) and this is kinda the case for most nowadays. Seats are kinda meh, service is just a conveyer belt, for 80-90% of airlines, J now feels like Y+ with a flat bed.
Flew their 777 in J back in October. It's was mostly the same experience, but the crew and service was great on both flights. My thoughts were that the hard product definitely needs updating (though it was perfectly comfortable), but the soft product was the highlight.
I've found the crews on LX to be generally very pleasant and attentive, and the on-board service good. The LX products though are getting extremely tired and dated. The A330-300s need a refresh. Overall though, the airline is very mediocre.
Agreed. And, ground agents can't solve issues either. In spite of a medical device having pre-authorization papers from HQ Zurich in hand, a ground agent called the Zurich "just to confirm" . . . but it was after normal business hours . . . so, the person in our party was denied boarding. Haven't flown them since -- over 10 years.
Consider the overall Swiss Air business class experience and its price. To me, there's a disconnect. British Air's business class experience (other than the A380) seems equal or better . . . at roughly half the price. I know many criticize BA. But, I fly BA a dozen times a year (mostly F but sometimes J) and find it to be fine. It's not La Premiere. It's not a Krys Suite. And, yes, under former CEO Alex Cruz, quality suffered but that's changing under the current leadership.
I agree with most of the comments here. I just flew FRA-IAH on LH's A330-300 biz class a few days ago, and compared to a year ago when I flew ZRH-EWR on LX's A330-300 biz class, I think the LH flight is better than LX flight. I got the "throne" seat on LX A330-300 and found it to be very narrow, especially in sleep mode (definitely think the "throne" seat is overrated!). I felt like I was in a coffin around my head. The sleep quality is definitely better on LH's A330 as they provided mattress-pad while LX didn't. I also found the LH cabin crew is more friendly and attentive. The food were fine for both, but nothing really memorable. Overall, I think the LH/LX offering in Biz class is not as good as the AF/KL offering in my experiences over the last couple of years. AF/KL have newer planes/hard products (A350/B787) compared to the A330s of LH/LX that I flew (also flew the 747-8 biz class upper deck on LH on ORD-FRA in Dec 2023).
I had to fly it this time last year due to a family emergency and since it was short notice, I had limited choice. It wasn't awful but I wouldn't do it again unless I had to. I wasn't in a throne seat but a 2x2 biz seat and didn't feel crammed in. I slept most of the flight since I had been up for about 24 hours before departure.
First, McKinsey destroyed Swissair with its Hunter strategy. Then Lufthansa wrecked SWISS with insufficient investment and misguided common group policies. I love SWISS first but will fly United Polaris to Geneva or Zurich if I must fly in J.
My Swiss A330 experience I found quite good actually, the crew were very professional and got the details right and the food was excellent.
As for the flaws, your amenity kit was better than mine (a small green drawstring bag). The IFE screen was dim and small, yes, but I found it to have better touch sensitivity than the one on the (newer) Iberia A330 screen I flew outbound. The issue I had with the bed was mainly the armrest could not be moved so it made the seat feel narrow.
Not perfect but I would like to try them again either in F or in the newer J product.
I realize the amenities tin may seem sort of low-rent but given that one accumulates a lot of the little amenity bags, I actually don't hate the idea of a tin, especially with the sorta cool Victorinox logo on it. Some variety, could find a use for it!
My friend just paid 2k for him and his wife to upgrade from an I class to first from JFK-ZRH
Il loved my Swiss Buisiness experience. The lounge in Zurich was stunning, the food on the plan was delicious, the seat lies flat, the crew was great...I don't personally care about doors. Good service, food and lie flat is all I need.
SWISS is the most profitable airline in the Lufthansa group, so it seems to be working quite well for them...
Waste of money if I'm honest. It's a short(er) overnight flight and from JFK you don't get much first-class treatment on the ground anyway.
Just because they have a captive domestic market that is relatively wealthy. For anyone that actually has a choice, SWISS won't be on top of the list for TATL J.
SWISS' 777 has a more up to date cabin, and on that front is far superior to the very dated A330 one. The A330 business class' age is showing badly.
As for their crews I find they lack consistency. I have had some great ones on SWISS, but on other flights I feel like the crew is just going by the book and doing what they have to do. It's like AC who are also very inconsistent with their crews.
I must say though that I do like the breakfast card they give you on overnight flights. It's nice to be able to pick and choose different options for the breakfast service.
From the pictures it seems that no appetizer was served - strange. Usually that is one of better course, as it is generally hot heated. The food on this flight looks like Y+ on United. The meal service on Swiss used to be quite good when I last flew them in 2022. Hopefully the catering out of ZRH is still better.
Did you get the price of the upgrade had the flight been sufficiently catered?
My observation from my last couple of Swiss Flights (BOS-ZRH, ZRH-LAX, LAX-ZRH) was that they seem to have hired a lot of German cabin crew, most of them very junior. On these flights, I found the German flight attendants to be much friendlier and more proactive than their Swiss colleagues.
I flew ZUR LAX yesterday and food seemed a little better. Amenity kit was worse. Just a Victornox nylon bag. Staff was nothing special. Asked for a drink before the second meal service. It was never brought to me, had to ask during the meal service again. Service was almost no different from the CPT ZUR flight on edelweiss. Hard product was much better at least.
I agree that they aren't as competitive in Business Class right now. But Swiss Economy, Premium Economy, and First is still arguably better than a lot of carriers (both in Europe and North America).
"SWISS still has a better hard product than Lufthansa"
Unless you're in the reverse herringbone or staggered seats they acquired from other airlines...
"which was an herb-roasted chicken breast with mustard and tarragon sauce, and potatoes"
Hey now, there was a carrot on there too.
Great report, thanks!
How would you compare it to Iberia (newer configuration).
I fly them more often than others due to attractive pricing and availability.
Flew Swiss A330 Zurich-ORD last June when Lufthansa canceled MUC-ORD flight three hours before departure due to "wildfire smoke" at O'Hare. Worst business class experience possible - food was terrible and seating old and uncomfortable. The separators between seats made conversation impossible for the 9+ hour flight during the day. I guess we should be glad we got home only 6 hours late due to the layover in Zurich.
Nothing to regret: I did exactly the same trip a year ago - from Miami to Zurich via Montreal - Swiss First class and it wasn't good either: first of all seats are far worse than in 777/340, food was ok but nothing special
The product is outdated and overpriced. Look at competitors on the transatlantic route and you will find half a dozen of it lines offering a better service and product at the same or lower price. Look at the seats…privacy = 0. The only way this airline survives is because it’s got protection from competition. Once Swiss was at the forefront of airlines defining the standard of the industry, today it is a shadow of its former glory but still cashing in for the Lufthansa Group. If you have another choice you should consider taking it
Have thoroughly enjoyed TATL J on Air France, Iberia and Brussels Airlines. TAP was also good, in that I slept for the entire flight, therefore don't have much to say about the service or food...
Well Swiss has a relatively limited long-haul network that is primarily focused on O&D passengers, so the strategy of focusing on their captive domestic market is working well. They're not necessarily looking to appeal to large numbers of transfer passengers with multiple airline choices. Btw, having a "captive" domestic market is no guarantee of success, or profits, Lufthansa similarly has a strong domestic market but they're not as profitable. Theoretically Brussels Airlines should be very profitable as well given they have a very wealthy catchment area, the benefit of lots of government traffic, plus lucrative Africa routes, and yet they struggle. Air France right now probably has the best J of any major airline on either side of the Atlantic, a large and wealthy population in their catchment area, plenty of business and government traffic, the strongest inbound tourism market in the world, lucrative Africa routes, and yet they're always struggling with profitability. Running tons of flights to all sorts of far flung destinations with a great product (and a lucrative FF program as all the bloggers clamor for) is not a recipe for guaranteed high profits.
My wife and I flew JFK-ZRH-ATH late 2022
— don’t remember the aircraft — and had a similar experience. More important to us was that the seats were too hard to sleep on. Complaining about having a flat-bed on a plane seems pretty silly, considering most people have to sit in Y, but I’ll probably avoid SWISS J, if I can.
Pillows used to be down, now it’s artificial synthetic filler, which overheats.
BRAVO
I agree 100%, this airline and the entire corrupt LH-Group should not be supported at all.
ONLY real good choice to Europe is TK, no doubt at all.
On my last MUC-ZRH-MIA flight, it was such a chaos on C with the Service and also a lot of trouble with fellow passengers, that the Crew let that feel EVERYBODY!
That was and will be my last time, this airline will ever earn any money from me again, plus the seating was anything but acceptable! Also A330.
... not to forget, that back then SWISSAIR stole all 4 MD-11 from partner LTU Airlines, but still couldn't make it!
LTU was supposed to get 3 brand new A330 instead, but that never happened, instead SWISSAIR went down the drain, after stealing 4 aircraft from another company.
I think the payback was not there luck with these planes, later over Goose Bay.
THIS airline is just so NOT worth the money!
If i could, i would say YES, to eliminate it for good. 😉
Liars, Thief's and one of the worst in the business but think they are Kings!
I would say 100% of what you written is the norm as opposed to a one off. Especially now that Miles & More stipulate that code share doesn't count towards status (award miles only) then I have a choice of uncomfortable and not great food or service but at least a single seat when flying long haul Swiss, or 'nit quite as bad' but a 2-2 layout on Lufthansa and no single seat.
The Zurich Senator lounges are also awful.
As much as I love and am protective of SWISS, I have to admit this review is spot on. They are stuck in the 90s and are even cutting corners with respect to that standard. The same applies to their First Class product as well.
Hi
I have a question. From Montreal, what carrier has the best business class long haul on the way to Barcelona?
Why didn' t you fly direct with Swiss from MIA to ZRH? They fly with 777 and have 2 flights per day!
This review is spot on -- just flew from the US on the same config to Zurich -- really underwhelmed. Agree on seats, meals, wifi, entertainment, amenity kit (ear plugs the worst) -- all of this is PERFECTLY captured. The only redeeming factor were that the flight attendants were exceptionally nice, pleasant and helpful. Many smiles and seemingly genuine and human and interested in being there. I love flying direct, but would have preferred a one-stop on a different plane.
All the times i have flown with Swiss i have had good flights. The last flight last year from Athens to Zurich i found the middle of the seat a but hard but it was an older plane. The old planes need to be pensioned off.
You have to remember that they are part of the Lufthansa group and they control the finances.
Swiss First is not much of an improvement. I hope you’re flying Oman Air to Muscat. One of the best airlines in the world. Their First out of Muscat is amazing.
I flew that same aircraft on Business class from Zurich to Boston. The flat seats were shaky and the accommodations and accessories are quite old. I wasn't impressed.
The trip overall was a solid C...
Yeah, its getting old for sure. Aside from business trips, I fly with some friends every year with LX from YUL to go skiing and the general concensus is that its that these birds are very long in the tooth. The louges in Zurich are nice and Zurich is a fantastis airport (shopping, restaurants, easy of transfer..), but they really need to update the hard product.
This product is terrific a) flying from, not to, Switzerland, b) which will likely be on a daytime flight and c) when traveling with a family. Just had a lovely flight with my two young kids as a solo parent, and could not have been easier to help them, etc. Lots of families with kids on board. Food was excellent (flavorful fish, properly cooked steak, and a business class child meal that was actually fresh and appealing) and got a helpful and attentive crew. If the IFE system was upgraded, it would be a real win of course, but plenty of choices for watching. Plus easy and well priced Aeroplan redemption rates. Everything doesn’t *have* to be a cubicle in the sky, or whatever Swiss Allegris Senses will be.
After covid service sector totally changed. J class services, food&beverage, lounge catering everything is below how it used to be. I find paying extra couple of thousands worthless. I prefer to fly a day before to my destination in Y class and rest in a luxury hotel enjoy spa and massage better than flying in J.
Kann es mir bestätigen LX022 aus dem gefühlten Jahr 2010 einfach nur schlecht ..
Ich werde umstellen müssen