I fly SWISS' new A350 first class Suite Plus from Zurich to Boston, testing the double suite, dine-on-demand menu, and Wi-Fi to see if it lives up to the hype.
LX 1st Class on M&M award, always good to have friends! 😉
LX selling upgrades at the gate, who would pay extra for bargain fares on LX if bought abroad from D/A/CH to fly an average Business Class?
LX needs to learn badly how the travelers world really works.
Glad you could enjoy what you wanted! BRAVO
The upgrades sales specialist thing really surprised me. I mean, how is having to give away operational upgrades to a bunch of people across all cabins (including 2 F upgs) better than opening more award availability. The fact that even M&M members can only see availability just a couple days before departure is mind-blowing (and of course LH/LX F availability through partner programs is RIP).
LX usually only op-ups in conjunction with high booking class and elite status. They worked their system so it can intentionally overbook business, since most companies don't allow first-class travel. "Giving it away" for a lowly 500-1000$ for an award redemption is worse value than op-upping a high fare biz ticket. And that biz customer is more likely to rebook on Swiss in the future.
@ Maxi -- I hear you, but let's at least be accurate with the numbers. The carrier imposed surcharges (straight revenue for Lufthansa Group) are over $1,000, and that doesn't factor in the value of the miles, which Miles & More also sells, so the real "value" of an award ticket like this is closer to $3,000.
That’s still only a fraction of the cash price of the ticket. For those boomer retirees it may not be that high of an expense.
Swiss (and Lufthansa) has 2 35" suites, and 1 49" suite across the A350 cabin, JAL gets 3 48" inches suites across the same space. What's does Swiss and Lufthansa do with the space they don't use for passenger comfort? Aisles? Spaces between A and K seats and the cabin wall?
@ CPH-Flyer -- That's a great question, because the aisles aren't actually wide in this cabin, and neither is the wall between the center suite and the right suite. I'm using the official SWISS and Lufthansa numbers here, so does anyone have a theory?
I recall somewhere that the Swiss F product is heavier than other similar products out there. I’ve also observed a large space (covered) between the seat and the windows on board Swiss’s F. I don’t think they do anything with the extra space. It’s just there between the pod and sidewall, making it an awkward stretch to see out of the window. Not sure why they didn’t make the aisles wider to allow a nice big meal trolley and give a greater sense of space.
Confiserie Sprüngli (not to be confused with Lindt & Sprüngli) has excellent chocolate and is my favorite chocolate to bring back when coming from Switzerland (you cannot get it in the USA as far as I am aware - would love to be told I am wrong if anyone has a source). Their 65% and 70% bars are fabulous.
Panasonic wi-fi on the other hand is terrible. I don't think I've ever had that service be at an acceptable speed and it's hard to justify it when sitting in a brand new seat on an A350. It's like being asked to sit in a brand new sports car, being told you can take it out for a test drive, and then being told you can only drive it at 15 mph.
Perfect analogy on the WiFi! (I also feel that way about the Citi E-Bikes... 15 mph speed limit? But I wanna go 'weeee!' down the Williamsburg bridge!)
The bed appears like it had a good work-out in the tropics .
Ben, I really enjoy all your reviews. Your writing style combined with no bias is the best. However, many of the reviews are for products that are very expensive or difficult to access with points / miles for "regular Joes". This article is one of the prime examples. Good to know about this product but basically I would have move back to a Miles & More hub and get a job with an insane travel schedule to have a realistic chance of trying this product out myself.
@ texxx_ -- I'm happy you enjoy the reviews in general! I think I do a good mix of easily accessible premium cabin products, as well as ones that are rarer. For example, I redeemed points on the outbound for Lufthansa Allegris business class and Air India first class (both bookable with Aeroplan), and found a very reasonably priced business class fare on Turkmenistan Airlines.
The reason I review products like this is because I think it's interesting to keep a list of the world's top products across various cabins, and this was one of the experiences I was missing. That't why I went out of my way to book this.
Thanks, Ben. Makes all sense. I will keep checking your articles and one day I will look into redeeming for the best value international first class redemption.
This product is very much attainable for all Senator members or higher, as there will be both op-ups as described in the report or awards or evoucher or miles upgrades as well. Cash upgrade is the last option but they have. funny idea of what the value should be at LH group so the value is questionable.
Ben, the Lufthansa Allegris F suites do have gaspers (air nozzles). I flew it a month ago with my daughter. They are a bit discreet with the darker color tone on the LH scheme so that may be why you didn't notice them.
@ Kerry V -- Very interesting. I swear I study every aspect of seats very carefully, and I would've looked there for that. Is there a chance that maybe some of the earlier delivery A350s didn't come with them? Trying to figure out what explanation could be, because even when I zoom in on the pics I took (assuming it's in the same place on Lufthansa, which I imagine it is), I don't see it.
Could be possible. I flew on D-AIXW which is one of the earlier frames, but not the oldest.
Whenever an avgeek/travel writer tries a new product they ALWAYS proclaim that it is the best or up there with the best. That’s why it’s always good to try a product for yourself. More than once.
So given how similar this is to Lufthansa’s product, is one a better choice than the other, or are the differences negligible? You do seem more enthusiastic about the quality of the food on Swiss, but Lufthansa does give you a better double bed option…
I wonder if the single bed was simply due to its being the first Allegris First flight for the crew.
Aaron, I have flown both, LH and LX and I don't get all the hype that is created around LX. In 2025 I booked a F flight on LX from ICN to ZRH and had a - to put it mildly - disappointing experience. The cabin was full (also many operational upgrades) and the flight attendant taking care of me made it absolutely clear that she does not to be here. Also, the food was nothing compared to LH and everything seemed just boring and tasteless. So, I would prefer flying LH.
I know Bailik Salmon is supposed to be great but it cannot replace caviar.
Balik salmon is in fact amazing, I will take it over caviar if given the choice but my preference would be to pair them as I find they work well together.
I might be in the minority but I think I’d actually pick a window seat over the center double seat, given that the window seats are plenty large already!
Might depend on the length of the flight, and whether it was an overnight. On a long flight having a window would be nice, otherwise I could see feeling cooped up in that center seat. Conversely, if it's an overnight and I'm planning to sleep much of the flight then I wouldn't care as much, especially if the plane has a tail camera I can watch, which I expect it does.
I’d like to see a comparison in the service between LX F with 3 seats and 2 FAs, and you’re ‘world’s best’ AF LP which on a normal flight (not the launch flight your reviews are based on) only has 1 FA for 4pax. Service is consistently so slow on AF now when the cabin is full, I feel you don’t delve into this in your reviews or top 10 product lists.
I also really respect that you pay for your own travel so it’s unbiased, but we do need to remember your number 1 First Class product was based off an inaugural media flight (which by your own admission you don’t usually like to review) which had extra crew working LP.
Hmmm…. Food looks meh as usual…. But then again, Switzerland doesn’t exactly boast a culinary pedigree. Would expect a more curated menu for first class. Looks like a perfectly acceptable business class dining. Not sure that the interior is pleasing exactly either. The two tone with the dark ottoman and boring grey make for a fairly garish interior choice.
Used to love the prior generation of the LX first product. I’d go as far as to say that the current cabin is downright ugly. Food was never a strength on LX - especially compared to AF or any of the first class products on Asian carriers.
in last episode you came to Madrid from Riyadh, how you came to Zurich for this flight?
I have taken Swiss First many many times, all the way from JFK to Bangkok.
The Zurich First Lounge is great.
However, these new cabins really aren't that great. If you are on a Swiss 777, you get 8 First Suites with doors.
Now, they have reduced First to 3 seats. OK, so the suite goes all the way to the ceiling, with only 3 people in F, it's not that necessary. Ridiculous they don't make the middle seat into a double bed.
The food is the same, as is the service. The Balik Salmon is just salmon, not a big deal.
I would stick with the old configuration with 8 F Seats. Better price and availability. Once the fleet is changed, Swiss F will essentially be out of reach for most people.
SWISS uses Viasat’s Inmarsat GX Wi-Fi system on the A350, not Panasonic. If you pay for the Wi-Fi, the charge comes through labeled as Viasat. On the A330/A340/B77W, the charge is labeled as Panasonic. When I flew this route in June, I thought the speeds were quite decent and I got a lot of work done thanks to the spacious tray table.
You must have missed the tail camera option! I’ve got tons of photos of it in use on this aircraft from my recent flight with SWISS on the A350.
Is the single bed in the center significantly smaller than one of the window seats?
Agreed with the other commentor about AF LP service. It must have been incredible to have two FAs serving 3 pax! AF LP service is painfully slow. Even on flights with just one other guest, I've found the service to be extremely slow, even on overnight flights. Ben Smith promised us two dedicated FAs as part of the new LP rollout, and we are still waiting for this (along with the use of the 2nd dedicated lav).
I know I've said this before and I'm repeating myself, but I really don't see how these new Swiss first seats are dramatically different from the 'old' Swiss first seats. They look very similar and even lack some nice features that the old seats had, like the nice electric window shades. Yes, the door is a bit taller, but outside of that, it looks just like the old seat to me. Maybe I'm missing something. Oh yeah, and of course now there are only 3 instead of 8.
How did you get M&M miles?