A reader flew the brand new SWISS A350-900 in “Swiss Senses” business class from Boston to Zurich over the weekend. His thoughts are below and quite interesting.
Road Warrior Not Impressed With New SWISS A350-900 Business Class
This reader is a long-time friend and road warrior. He travels around the world each year for work and only flies business or first class on flights longer than a couple hours. When he told me he was flying from BOS-ZRH on the new SWISS A350 on its second day of service, I asked him if he could take some pictures and offer some thoughts. He (very bedgurdingly) agreed…he’s not a blogger!
I’m going to share the thoughts and pictures he sent (via text message) whilst onboard. He was assigned seat 3K:
Privacy is a 2 of 5. Actually, Polaris feels more private at the window. You can see how the one behind me is practically adjacent.
You can see how the one behind me is practically adjacent.
Nice area for feet though. Very roomy.
Can you explain to me this window?
Thank goodness. Interesting button controls though for the air vent. Toggle it for level of air.
The seat though is like sitting on a wood bench. It’s so hard! I feel like I’m waiting for a bus. They are clearly in trailing still. The FA had no clue what to do with coat. They left the PA going and I can’t access the screen for the tail camera. They don’t even know the PA is still on!
He complained about the internet as well, saying, “In the air…$40 for internet. Ugh.”
Later on in the flight he sent me:
Meh. Hard seat. No mattress pad. The cabin feels very tight. The toilets are strangely set up in the mid-cabin galley where it’s crazy trying to maneuver around carts and FAs to get to the toilet. God forbid you have to wait. Really awful galley for the crew to work.
The forward more private seats are nice looking but they wanted $588 to upgrade to. I might consider $300 on a day flight but I feel like $588 is really pushing it.
Then after the flight, he summed up his experience:
My take on The New Swiss whatever it’s called. First, I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. Certainly a huge improvement for the Lufthansa group but, surprisingly I like the OS new business on the 787 more. Sure, nice options with all the different TYPES of seats in J but it’s almost a bit overwhelming and I think came at a sacrifice for the overall ambiance of the cabin.
It felt very cramped to me, I can’t explain. The seats were so hard. Not having a mattress pad is not a good thing. Truly, felt like you were sitting on concrete. For crews, the galley is awful and it’s a wonder they can do anything meaningful. Stuck in between the forward and rear J it’s as if an afterthought and when there is a line for just two toilets it is insanity in passengers and crew in the way of each other.
I did manage five hours sleep so it was not awful, but still felt like the regular J seats lacked the privacy that I feel in, believe it or not, Polaris. The upgrade forward seats looked great but at a cost that I would only consider on a day flight. Not that they were ever offered….pretty sure they are held for HON members and they don’t even try to monetize as one went empty. Can you try TOO hard? I almost think they did. It felt like with so many variations of seats that they comprised a sleek and uniform feel. One thing I noticed was odd, they actually held the passengers in the rear J cabin from deplaning while those of us in front got off first. Seems odd.
Thanks for your impressions of the new SWISS A350…I’ll try it myself next year.
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