I opted to fly non-stop in SWISS business class to Zurich last week rather than connect in Frankfurt and fly first class.
I’m not sure if that was a mistake or not, since first class was only 15,000 more miles each over business class, but it did save me over $1,000 in fuel surcharges and I did not have to change planes with a 9-month-old.
Four observations on my SWISS 777-3ooER business class experience.
1. I liked the seat very much
We were seated in the bulkhead row because we ordered a bassinet. I loved all the personal storage of the seat–I counted five different compartments in which to store items. None were huge, but each were helpful, such as a special cubby hole for shoes and an easy place to store my passport and wallet. I also appreciated that the firmness of the seat was adjustable, something I have not seen on other airlines. I slept very well.
This was likely Augustine’s final flight in a bassinet: he’s getting too big:
2. The crew was good…for the most part
The crew was quite friendly, efficient, and kind…with the exception of one member who worked my side of the aisle. I appreciated that the crew took the initiative to often check in on baby Augustine. It was also nice to see the crew work as a team throughout the two meal services. But the FA working my aisle refused to speak to me in German: I found that very annoying. My German certainly has an American accent, but every time I spoke in German she responded in English. Every time…and it’s not like she was from the French speaking part of Switzerland, for she spoke German to her fellow crew members while they were serving dinner.
After dinner I ordered a cappuccino and she forgot about it. 40 minutes later I flagged her down and asked about my drink and she responded, “Oh I forgot!”. It only took two more minutes to bring my drink, but she never apologized for forgetting. That’s just not professional.
3. Improvement Needed on Food
The appetizer of prosciutto with melon and green salad were fine, but both my main course and my wife’s main course left something to be desired.
My steak was served well-done, a far cry from the last steak I had in SWISS (first class) several years ago. Not only was the texture leathery, but the quality of the meat wasn’t that great either.
But I still made the better choice: my wife’s pathetic chicken breast was like a cafeteria meal and had that frozen dinner taste.
At least dessert helped to make up for a bit:
Breakfast was also nice, featuring both hot and cold dishes.
4. Wi-Fi Prices Outrageous
Unlike parent company Lufthansa, Wi-Fi is ridiculously priced and not free for business class passengers (like it is for first class passengers). I’ll have more details in the full trip report, but I stay disconnected during the 10hr overnight flight.
CONCLUSION
If the point of business class is just to sleep comfortably, SWISS wins: I certainly did that. But I was disappointed by the quality of food onboard (I’ve had better meals on United recently) and found the service of the FA who served me most often during the flight very disappointing.
Your wife’s meal looks like the generic rubber chicken and vegetables they serve at any awards ceremony or speaker luncheon. Disappointing…
Just a comment on the beef. That is probably the last option one should pick in any airline menu. Why? Because it is the most difficult dish to get done right. I like mine rare. My wife likes her well done. If we both order steak on a plane the chances ones of us will be disappointed is very high. Also, beef overall is the most challenging protein to get consitency. Go to your favorite supermarket. I can guarantee you the amazing steak you bought last time won’t be the same you buy now. That is just an archaic industry that has no way to keep consistency and that is the biggest challenge supermarkets and steakhouses face today.
I hear you, but there were only three choices and the third choice was macaroni and cheese.
Now I probably would have ordered that, but my wife said–“fat and carbs, are you crazy?” so I ordered steak…
Those meals do not look up to standard. I do however love the lampshade touches. Gorgeous. Flying with them a bunch over New Year, hope they heed your feedback.
I hope your flights go well. I dunno–if I had to do it again I probably would blow the extra fuel surcharge to fly Lufthansa First, but I am glad I tried SWISS.
Was she speaking in Hochdeutsch or using an Alemannic dialect ? She may not have taken her daily dose of happy pill. Sounds like one of those air grannies would have come in handy to let the FA unload her anxieties and frustrations in life and provide a sense of balance and perspective in life. 🙂
Definitely a strong Swiss-German accent.
Consistent with my LX experiences (decent hard product, not so much on the other stuff), except sounds like you didn’t have to argue with a phone agent about advance seat assignments 😉
One of the more overrated airlines out there IME. But the ZRH routings are often convenient and they offer quite a bit of P inventory for sale . . . so I will be flying them back from BUD next month. Will be my first time on the 77W after several flights on the 340. Plus I get to burn a free night cert at the PH Zurich.
Well, seat assignments are another post. It actually wasn’t so easy! 😉
I’m thinking of using a free night cert at PH Zurich as well — has been many years since I stayed there.
http://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2012/06/20/review-park-hyatt-zurich/
I got this flight coming up in Oct from Lax-Zurich. I hope I don’t have the same flight attendant
I hope not to if you want to speak German to her. Her English was perfect though…I’ll give her that. Perhaps she was just proud of it.
Are the seats another variation of the same staggered setup used by SAS? My wife and I felt that there is too much restricions on the foot cubby and we are not overly tall (6′ 1″) and 5′ 8″). Are there tips about which seats that are best. We actually much prefer LH business seats due to openness which allows lot of legs and knees movement.
I, too, just flew r/t on Swiss Business from ORD-ZRH-ORD, but a slightly better experience. Although we planned to arrive at O’Hare 3 hours before departure, due to unexpected construction traffic, we arrived 70 minutes prior — clearly the last ones to check-in (4 of us). The Swiss ground staff could not have been more cheerful and patient to help us, including fixing a ticketing issue (thanks United) whereby tickets were issued for the reservation but not attached to each passenger. Once check-in was completed, we were escorted over to security by either the station manager or supervisor to be processed more quickly through the crew lane.
On board, steaks to ZRH were served medium, tender with a nice char. However, what stood out to me was the chill of the cold items served at breakfast — so nice to know that the refrigeration on the new 777-300er aircraft were working so well. It was delightful to have cold butter for the warm croissant and spoon cold yogurt.
Food on the return was also business class satisfactory — highlights being the lime-tofu vegetarian dish catered by Hiltl, and the “snack” cheese ravioli with an artichoke cream sauce. Cheese courses both ways were delicious. Being able to select a chocolate from an assorted box is also a memorable Swiss trait.
The crew on both flights worked hard and as a team, although on the outbound appeared a little disorganized and slightly slow with the meal service. On the return, it was obvious that the Flight Steward was more active than on the outbound, introducing himself to, most likely, Senator level frequent flyers and assisting crew in meal service to speed things through.
I just did this flight the other day to connect into LCY, the bulkhead seats were definitely great for leg and knee comfort but seat 6G felt like I got very deep into the cubby. In a lazy Z position I kept sliding down so the screen ended up being rather close to my face compared to the distance when fully upright. The meal was disappointing but I knew that going in, so I ate at the lounge first. I just blame whoever they contract with for catering out of LAX.
It’s strange how I’ve had the EXACT SAME experience on Swiss 777 business. My FA was robotic and forgot my drink and didn’t apologise. And on another Swiss business flight (this time on the A340) my main course arrived 30 minutes after they took my starter away, and the FA said something like “oh we had a problem with the oven” without a shade of regret or apology. A better carrier would have informed the passenger that he/she would need to wait for the main course and/or use the oven from the first galley.
No more Swiss for me.
Hi Matthew, thank you for the comprehensive report. Since I’m planning to also take the Swiss 777 in C with my wife and 1,5yr old son I’m looking for some pointers on where to sit. From what I learned with the Swiss hotline, the bassinet is probably too small for the little one but still I think that 6DG you got might be our best option thanks to some extra legroom. Do you have any other ideas / recommendations?
I think legroom is great in 6D/G. I would hope that there will be a couple open seats leftover and your child can have his own seat. Have a great trip!