SWISS has delayed (yet again) the refurbishment of its aging A340-300 fleet. But the plane will not be retired anytime soon. In an era of efficient, twin-engine 787s and A350s, four engine aircraft are on the decline. But after...
An Award Ticket Horror Story On SWISS

Let’s call this Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Award Ticket. Perhaps, with our collective deductive reasoning, we can get to the bottom of this. An Award Expert client was traveling from San Francisco to Milan with...
First Look At Beautiful New SWISS “Lounge Center A” In Zurich

SWISS has unveiled beautiful new Business Class and Senator lounges for short-haul passengers at Zurich Airport. The new Lounge Center A opened earlier this month and is intended to make passengers feel “genuinely” at home. The design and interior of both...
SWISS Giving Away Business Class “Throne” Seats for Free

I noticed something odd after completing my wife’s business class reservation on SWISS from Los Angeles to Zurich. Seat assignments that should have been complimentary were not…and seats that should have incurred a charge were complimentary. Heidi was traveling...
Review: SWISS A320 Business Class Zurich to Rome

This flight review is more about the journey than the flight itself. I was treated to incredible views of the Alps that made this one of the most beautiful flights I’ve ever taken. After an early departure from the...
Review: SWISS First Class Lounge Zurich (A Gates)

SWISS recently opened a beautiful new lounge in the A Gates area of Zurich Airport (ZRH). Here’s a detailed review. For questions on access, read this. The lounge is open daily from 5:30a to 10:30p and seats 86 people....
Accessing Lufthansa or SWISS First Class Lounge With a Double Connection

Can you access a Lufthansa or SWISS First Class lounge with a double connection? Depends upon whom you ask. I was traveling on a Lufthansa First Class ticket (LAX-MUC-ZRH-FCO) and had reached Zurich. Per Lufthansa’s lounge access guidelines, first...
Introduction: A First Class Business Trip

My next trip report will chart my recent trip to Italy and France. As I explained here, I took a rather circuitous route to reach Rome. All for you. All so I could review two first class lounges I...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 08, 2018

Buona sera from Milano. I’m in the midst of a fast-paced business trip through Italy. I’ll provide some detail on it in the days ahead…it will not be a typical trip report. It was a fairly light week of...
No Lounge? No Problem! A Creative Solution from SWISS

SWISS is currently remodeling its Business Class and Senator Schengen lounges near the A-Gates in Zurich. As a result, these lounges will be closed until at least July. But that’s actually a GOOD thing. In the interim, SWISS provides...
Stunning: Pictures from the New SWISS First Class Lounge in Zurich

Leave it to SWISS to create a sophisticated, beautiful new first class lounge now open in the A Gates (Schengen) area of Zurich Airport. Like the E-Gates First Class Lounge, the bar design resembles a plane fuselage–made of beautiful...
A SWISS First Class Settlement

I wasn’t the only one who took advantage of the incredible SWISS First Class award space made briefly available last fall. Hundreds did, including many other bloggers. Robert from Milenomics shares of his settlement reached with Aeroplan. He had...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: February 11, 2018

A pleasant Sunday evening to you from Los Angeles. It was a quiet week on the blog, but a busy week in life. I’m looking forward to the week ahead, but especially looking forward to a special family trip...
First Class: Lufthansa vs. SWISS

I’ve recently flown both SWISS and Lufthansa First Class. Which product is better? Certainly there is subjectivity in what I value and how I compare the two products, but I’d like to think this is not an arbitrary comparison....
Review: SWISS 777-300ER First Class Zurich to Los Angeles

After a nice meal in the first class lounge, it was time to board our SWISS First Class flight to Los Angeles. Unlike my usual reviews, where I line up to board well before announced boarding time, this time...
The Most Comfortable Bed I’ve Ever Slept in…was in an Airport Lounge!

One footnote to my SWISS First Class Lounge review from Zurich. The Hästens bed was truly the best bed I’ve ever slept in. There are many reasons to visit the SWISS First Class Lounge in E Gates area in...
The SWISS First Class Ground Experience

The day had arrived. It was time to fly SWISS First Class. This wasn’t my first time flying SWISS First Class, but it was my first time flying SWISS First from Zurich. Had I been flying alone, I would...
Aeroplan Sent Me a Certified Letter…

After traveling in Europe for nearly two weeks, I returned home to find a certified letter from Aeroplan delivered by FedEx. Here’s the unedited letter, concerning my cancelled first class tickets on SWISS: Dear Mr. Klint: Thank you for...
Update: SWISS Sends Second, Nasty Letter Blaming Bloggers

My ongoing battle over cancelled first class tickets on SWISS is a two-front war: one with with SWISS and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the second with Aeroplan. In the case of SWISS, recall that I filed a DOT...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: January 14, 2018

I’ve just begun my next trip…it will be a busy week and much of it is still unplanned. It has been a relatively quiet week in industry news, with Alaska and Virgin now operating under a single certificate. A...