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.
I think people vary on how hard they want their airline seats (and hotel beds) to be. Some, including me, might prefer this. But I look forward to trying the new LX J, hopefully next year.
At least it had ral air vents.. A big plus.
When traveling by plane, regardless of class, window seats are always my preference…
Sounds good. Can’t wait to fly it.
Remember that SWISS’ 4 Airbus A340-300 jetliners (average age of 22 years) are soon to be replaced by the new A350-900 fleet…
Did Jacquart Mosaique Brut help with the sensation of the hard seat?
What is this creep doing that he needs to”privacy”?
Legitimate question.
2nd question, did the privacy involve Aaron?
If not, he’s obviously a public Jacker, hopefully he is caught soon.
This assclown has the credibility of the average Reddit poster.
Dave Edwards, take your meds. Good God, man, get a grip.
Let me guess, you enjoy hearing about cucks visiting 3rd world countries while their “wives” are banging Doctors because they are sick of their husbands claiming they are traveling around the world on “business”.
After all, it’s “brutal”, right?
Like a paid guy on Aaron’s a$$.
It seems on brand for LX that the 350 biz seats are hard. I disliked the 777 biz seats, too.
I’ve been writing it for years, good to see others understanding how sick and perverted Douchebag Dave Edwards is, and how he doubles down on nasty vile revolting comments which should be unacceptable in polite rational society, just like his hero: Dear MAGA Leader. The fact that he thrives on an anonymous forum is further evidence for severe addiction and/or psychiatric problems. Or maybe a severe case of TDS.
Douchebag Dave Edward, proving with your every (too frequent) comment that your nickname is absolutely accurate and completely deserved and that you have nothing better to do with your pathetic waste-of-oxygen life than to post abhorrent and revolting comments here over and over again every single day. Thank you for confirming again that you and other MAGAs are stupid hateful racist cretins. Trolling or not, the extent and frequency of your comments are indicative of severe psychiatric and/or addiction problems. Your insults, undoubtedly projection, speak much more to your lack of character than to anyone you attack. You should crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from you SHPOS.
I came looking for other thoughts on the Swiss seats. I got Dave Edwards. I remember how this used to be a travel site with a troll problem, but now it’s a troll farm with a travel prompt. Time to give up for good.
I am not someone who needs more privacy than your regular biz class seat. Eg i don’t have any problem with LH first, in fact I prefer it as it’s a nice relaxing seat.
Storage is becoming a bit of a game breaker for me recently! Have flown a few biz class seats (eg ana and old jal) recently that hav no storage. So annoying if you like to plant yourself with a book, iPad, headphones etc. seems such an oversight.
On behalf of your readers, I want to apologize to your friend for the stupid comments and thank them for their contribution. They’re not a regular paid writer, so I don’t think they deserve any of this drivel.
Well said Jerry! Agree with you.
Mind you, from the way Matt’s friend writes he sounds like a lot of the traders that I used to work with and prob couldn’t two effs about most of the drivel on here hahah
This is so unbelievably overengineered it’s absolutely wild!
That window covering is just odd. Anyone know why?
Douchebag Dave Edwards, looking at all the commentors who think you are a POS, your parents must be so proud of you (not).
Douchebag Dave Edwards, proving with your every (too frequent) comment that your nickname is absolutely accurate and completely deserved and that you have nothing better to do with your pathetic waste-of-oxygen life than to post abhorrent and revolting comments here over and over again every single day. Thank you for confirming again that you and other MAGAs are stupid hateful racist cretins. Trolling or not, the extent and frequency of your comments are indicative of severe psychiatric and/or addiction problems. Your insults, undoubtedly projection, speak much more to your lack of character than to anyone you attack. You should crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from you SHPOS.
Matthew: I appreciate your friend’s views on the new Swiss aircraft. But it’s a shame you continue to allow the vulgar comments to pollute your once fine travel blog.
The branding on the plane says Swiss but these days everything about it has been downgraded to Lufthansa. Expect Lufthansa and you won’t be disappointed.