Why SWISS short haul Business Class makes BA Club Europe look good

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• Harry Hv says:

  1 Feb1 February 06:19

  Unlucky. My experience, the food is very good, the seats are no less comfortable and a great deal cleaner than BA’s. Plus you avoid the risk of BA’s spiteful auto-offloading of latecomers if there’s a hold-up at security.

  Best way to buy Swiss business class ex London is to start buying an economy fare on the Swiss website, they always offer a cheap upgrade. Example: London-Geneva June 1: business class is £222, economy is £59.00 and the upgrade is offered at £61 for a total of £120.

  • Concerto says:

    1 Feb1 February 13:09

    But remember, the restrictions of the original economy fare still apply.

• Chris L says:

  1 Feb1 February 06:24

  I took that 6am flight (ouch) a few months ago but in economy. There was a similar loading so I grabbed a row of 3 to myself. Not sure I could see the point of paying extra for business class – we got a little bun for breakfasts as well as coffee, orange juice and water – and, most importantly, some Swiss chocolate. I guess most of the people flying Swiss in Europe have Business class travel by policy so maybe they don’t need to try.

  The return flight was a fully loaded A321 and I felt very sorry for the poor chap in 1B who must have been kicked and trodden on by well over a hundred economy passengers as they passed him!

  • Lady London says:

    1 Feb1 February 13:30

    And that’s no better on EZ either.

    What a pity Rob that your flight departed from Terminal 2 at 6am. A later flight would have given you the chance to make the trek to the United, Singapore and maybe even the Maple Leaf lounge in Terminal 2 ! 🙂

    • Rob says:

      1 Feb1 February 14:33

      Been to all those, except Maple Leaf!

      • Steve says:

        2 Feb2 February 11:46

        You didn’t miss much

• Michael C says:

  1 Feb1 February 06:31

  Pretty much OT, but returning BCN-LHR in Club this week, over half the passengers seemed to be non-native English speakers (without wishing to profile!).
  I therefore wondered what they made of the “Ploughman’s or sandwiches? Ploughman’s or sandwiches?” offered, without being shown anything.
  The sandwiches were beyond a joke. Was that…FIG in one?!!

  • Mr Dee says:

    1 Feb1 February 21:58

    agree last sandwiches were rubbish, I think the Barcelona food is similar to the Madrid offering as it is not as far as some of the other destinations in Spain.

• Ben_mw says:

  1 Feb1 February 07:20

  I would also say unlucky. I’ve flown Swiss from Manchester a couple of times on a CS100, so if you are sat on the left of the plane there is no one else on your side of the aisle.. Food was good, drinks were plentiful, crew were very friendly and the time we arrived in Zurich at a remote stand there was a separate, very nice for a 2-minute trip, minibus for business class folk. I much preferred the lounge that I used near the B gates to any BA Galleries Club lounge that I’ve been in (not many admittedly) and on a very short onward flight to Stuttgart I was impressed that there was a decent snack and drinks served – on a flight that lasted 27 minutes. I would definitely use them again in preference to BA.
  I wouldn’t normally bother with Business for such trips, but in these cases the price difference between Economy and Business was tiny.

  • Dwadda says:

    1 Feb1 February 09:45

    Thanks for sharing. I was hoping for a review of the Bombardier business class. I look forward to trying it, from what I have read it is also extremely quiet. Was that apparent to you?

    I hope BA chooses to replace the Embraers at LCY with the Cseries rather than the E2. The planes are more comfortable (cabin wider) and it would support British jobs (the wings are manufactured in Northern Ireland).

    If the seats/cabin are better than Embraer (can anyone confirm) then they should choose the best ‘hard’ product.

• An says:

  1 Feb1 February 07:35

  Hi
  I travelled Swiss yesterday and once last week and I have to say it was most likely the best European short haul flight experience. The huge difference is the attitude of the crew vs the crew operating out of other airlines. They were happy doing their job and conversing with pax.
  On another note Rob I think you experienced perhaps a one off bad food?? Yes not blocking the middle is not great and the ultra thin seas but BA will shortly have those along with tiny toilets…

• Volker says:

  1 Feb1 February 07:45

  I am one of the (few?) guys who still chooses to travel in business class on short-haul European and domestic flights AND who pays with his own money despite being told regularly that it wasn’t worth it. I love being on planes so much that instead of taking a direct Lufthansa flight on a recent journey from Krakow to Frankfurt, I booked myself (and the OH) on SWISS KRK-ZRH-FRA.
  What I did like was the fact that I could pick our seats at the time of booking without being a *A status passenger. I also liked the choice of “surprises” you can arrange pre-flight online: I went for a box of SWISS chocolates for Mrs. Volker including a personal note.
  Looking at the whole experience, however, I was disappointed. I had never been on a SWISS flight before and with BA being slagged off by so many of my fellow travellers and given the Swiss reputation when it comes to hospitality, my expectations where high…
  Well, I knew about the thin seats on LH flights but wasn’t aware that SWISS had got them, too. I don’t like them at all, they remind me of public buses. The planes were NOT any cleaner than BA’s, they were actually pretty grubby, which was a bit of a shock given the Swiss reputation in the world. Food was okay but, again, not any better than BA. And the chocolate surprise? There was a delay before take-off, and while the plane was still waiting at the gate, a male member of the cabin crew said to my OH “I might as well do that now while we are waiting”. While Mrs. Volker looked at me, wondering what he meant, he went to get the chocolates and gave them to her: “Somebody has been thinking of you.” It’s all about timing, they say, and I thought that was a bit awkward, almost like “let’s get that out of the way first”. The chocolates were absolutely gorgeous by the way…
  Would I CHOOSE to fly SWISS on short-haul again? Not necessarily.
  I look forward to reading about your long-haul experience, Rob.

  • Cate says:

    1 Feb1 February 18:22

    ‘I am one of the (few?) guys who still chooses to travel in business class on short-haul European and domestic flights AND who pays with his own money despite being told regularly that it wasn’t worth it’

    Nope, we are the same. I like just walking in to the lounge, going through the priority lanes, siting down first, getting off first and all on my boarding pass. We had to get a Priority pass because we fly Norwegian a lot which doesn’t have a biz class and the first time we used it was when Gatwick had the electric problems and they were only letting ticketed pax in the lounge. They turned us away at the door – I was so embarrassed.

    • Tilly says:

      2 Feb2 February 12:57

      +1 we also pay for CE sometimes for the lounge access, fast track security and to be able to get off the plane first.

• Joan says:

  1 Feb1 February 08:00

  Well we flew Swiss to Zurich albeit economy , for Christmas and it was fine – a little brekki bun , hot drink and a chocolate ????. All very efficient .
  On the other hand I really enjoyed our club Europe mini holiday to Valencia in January … less than £600 for 2 club Europe return flights and four nights in a nice modern apartment right in the centre of the city – such a bargain ! And I thought the hot brekki on the way out was was very tasty and the four course lunch on the way back also really good . Plus we each got 80 tier points ????????

  • Tilly says:

    1 Feb1 February 08:30

    Joan we’re taking a CE break in March to Valencia. Similar good price. Rtn flights in CE and 4 nights in what looks like a lovely hotel in a good location for £1k for both of us.

    Any good tips you have for Valencia I’d be very grateful.

    • Rob says:

      1 Feb1 February 17:21

      Hi Joan
      Are you able to tell me the name of the centrally located apartments that you stayed in. It sounds nice and I’d like to check out such a trip. Thanks in advance.

    • Tilly says:

      1 Feb1 February 19:38

      Oooh. Thanks Joan! All sounds amazing! Will definitely check out your recommendations. I am such a foodie so will be hunting down what you have recommended.

      We’re staying at Hospes Palau de la Mar hotel. I hope it’s as nice as the reviews say.

    • Mr Dee says:

      1 Feb1 February 22:03

      Nice, the Hospes Palau de la Mar hotel looks like a good value SPG point redemption

    • Tilly says:

      1 Feb1 February 22:10

      I’m not enrolled in SPG. Tend to stick with Hilton Honors and don’t go away for business much anymore. Have an IHG account but all my points from work stays expired because I just didn’t use them and stopped spending so much time away from home.

      Just realised I said i paid £1k for us for this trip. Was clearly half asleep this morning. Was nearer £850 for the 2 of us.

      I am really looking forward to Valencia!

    • Joan says:

      2 Feb2 February 07:43

      You’re welcome Tilly – have a great time !
      Rob – here’s a link through booking.com for the apartments we used although we booked through BA… they were very modern and comfy and clean – they have a kitchen but not much in the way of cooking utensils but we didn’t want to eat in anyway

• Nigel says:

  1 Feb1 February 08:14

  I think Swiss is very good indeed in Business. Generally food is better than BA, wine is substantially better. The crew are highly professional and consistent. The water, the chocolate, the clearly marked Business Class luggage bins. It all feels more premium than BA.

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