Review: Swiss Airlines 777-300ER Business Class ZRH-MIA

This past week I got the pleasure to travel on Swiss Airlines for the first time and after reading about their food, their service and their airport I was ecstatic. Come join me for this long travel day starting in Rome in business class on Swiss’ A320.

In keeping with European short haul flights business class seating, Swiss’ A320 has regular economy seats with extra leg room, so more of a premium economy option, with just the middle seat blocked off. That is the European “business class”. The service was business class status and the food served was incredible. I would suggest if you have a dairy intolerance to avoid traveling Swiss as cheese is kind of their thing!

The light lunch we were served on this hour and a half flight from FCO-ZRH consisted of cheese, cheese, and more cheese and honestly I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I truly could not tell you what any of the cheeses were but they were all so delicious and the little apricot chia pudding and croissant were also incredibly tasty.

Swiss also hands out little cute branded chocolates that taste heavenly. I asked for an extra one, they asked where my final destination was and I said Miami. I guess out of kindness for having such a long upcoming flight they felt the need to give us several extra, of which I think I still have a few in my bag.

Zurich airport was stunning, I could have spent hours there, though, we had a short layover and were in a bit of a rush (which proved to be unnecessary). They have all the shopping you could want, great restaurants, beautiful lounges, unfortunately our layover was short and we didn’t get a chance to go to the iconic Swiss business lounge. They even have an outdoor viewing area which I prioritized over the business lounge because I wanted a little fresh air and I’m an airplane lover. Passport control took about 15 minutes and afterwards to get to E, the international terminal, you take a little metro that gets you there in about 5 minutes.

One of the views from the outdoor viewing deck at Zurich. Despite it being an airport, the air felt cleaner than most places I’ve ever been. I love the recycled glass they use that you can see in this photo. There is plenty of seating, a little Swiss airplane slide for the kids and a beautiful view of the runways and all the taxied planes.

As seen in the title, our 10 hour international leg was on a 777-300ER (extended range). The triple 7 is one of my favorite planes aside from the king and queen of the sky and the dreamliner (787). The size is perfect and the ride is always so smooth.

Business class seats on Swiss are a bit strange, if you’re traveling with someone I would suggest you shoot for the D and G seats, as seen above, as they have more room more stowage than A and B and J and K (not the solo seats). They also do not all have direct aisle access so if you are traveling solo definitely go for the solo As and Ks or the D or G seats. The above photo is sourced from seatguru.com, an excellent tool for checking which seats you should get on our next flight. Hover over the seats on their website to see why they are marked green, yellow, and red!

We booked through Amex Travel and didn’t have the seat selection you would have if you booked directly through Swiss, which is always something to consider when booking through directly through Amex. The seats on Swiss all look a little vintage but they are actually quite comfy. The pillow is decently firm and the blanket is actually long and wide enough to cover your whole body. The only thing about these Swiss seats is you have to kind of tuck the shoulder strap into the seat to sleep comfortably without it jamming into your head.

The remote for the TV is in the little hidden compartment on your armrest. Also in there is an option for a massage, don’t get your hopes up on this, it is the lightest massage you could possibly receive. A lumbar support adjustment option, and a cushion adjustment option all of which, aside from the massage, work pretty well. The other buttons on top are for adjusting your lie flat seat. The adjustment is a bit odd to get used to as you kind of have to play with the buttons a little but once you get there the seat is quite comfortable.

Shortly after they hand out the welcome drinks of either champagne or elderberry soda they hand out the menu for the meal options during the flight.

This Swiss flight was in German, French, and English, as I assume most or all Swiss flights are as Switzerland speaks Swiss-German, Swiss-French and Swiss-Italian. The menu had a brief description of the chefs that were the inspiration for this meal service and then food, wine, and non alcoholic drinks.

The service started with your choice of beverage and nuts, unfortunately, not warmed (you don’t know you need warm nuts till you have warm nuts).

Then we moved onto the appetizer which consisted of, you guessed it, a good bit of cheese. Swiss airlines take on a caprese with buffalo mozzarella, tomato, rocket, and an unidentified orange blob that was pretty tasty. On the side was more cheese, obviously, and a tiny bit too hard roll.

For the main course I chose to have the chicken curry with basmati rice and bok choy, a strange offering on this airline but it was good nonetheless!

Dessert was this delicious apricot frangí pane tart with white chocolate and thyme ganache. I didn’t ask questions, I can’t tell you what a frangí pane is but I will say it was quite nice.

About an hour and a half before landing we had a light snack. I had the grilled courgette salad with more cheese, rocket, olives and tomato. It was actually pretty good, nothing to write home about (as I sit here writing about it) but not terrible at all. The fruit on the other hand was not so tasty, it tasted like one of those that you get out of those little fruit cups, not impressed.

Overall the flight experience was excellent, I would highly recommend Swiss airlines as their service was incredible, their food was very good, the airport (I assume all of them are) is immaculate, and the seating was decently comfortable. I hope you enjoy your next journey wherever it may take you and don’t forget to enjoy the ride!