Hello from the United States (at last), as I just flew SWISS’ Airbus A350-900 first class on the 7hr30min flight from Zurich (ZRH) to Boston (BOS), for the final sector of the return portion of my review trip.
I’ve been wanting to update my list of the world’s best first class airlines, and trying SWISS’ new first class has been the missing piece of that, as I had only flown the carrier’s old first class. For those curious how I booked, a friend who is a Miles & More Senator member helped me out with an award booking, as first class awards are otherwise restricted.
In terms of hard product, this was very familiar, as it’s the same as Lufthansa’s new A350 Allegris first class, just with different finishes, and I had flown that before. In terms of soft product, I had an excellent crew on this flight, and I’d say the soft product is good, but nothing that’s going to blow anyone’s mind. I’m actually struggling to decide if I prefer the Lufthansa or SWISS soft product.
In this post I’d like to share my initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full review…
SWISS’ A350 first class seats are great but variable
Copying Lufthansa Allegris, the SWISS Senses first class cabin consists of three to four seats. There are two standard window seats, which are spacious, with sliding privacy shields (you could call them “doors,” but they’re very thin and flimsy, but accomplish the same purpose).
Then the most interesting product is the middle suite, which is technically for up to two people. The thing is, it’s not as wide as two first class suites combined, so this would be a very snug fit for two people, considering that the airline was initially trying to either sell this to two passengers paying the first class fare, or for an upgrade cost of nearly $3,000 for a solo passenger.
Nowadays the product can be assigned for free by any first class passenger, so getting this kind of space in a first class suite is sort of unreal.
The one thing I’d say — and I’m not sure if this is just because SWISS has stopped monetizing the double bed — but there was only bedding for one of the seats, and not for the full double bed. When I flew Lufthansa’s Allegris first class, they had the entire bed made up.
Of course it was still comfortable and I guess I’m not “entitled” to two seats, but you’d think they’d spend the extra $5 on bedding to really “wow” someone.
I think SWISS really went from one extreme to the other here when it comes to monetizing this product, but I’m not complaining.
Here’s the biggest difference I noticed between Lufthansa Allegris and SWISS Senses — the SWISS product had individual air nozzles in the suite, while the Lufthansa product didn’t. That’s super valuable… or did I somehow miss those in the Lufthansa suite?
SWISS’ first class catering is high quality but not overly fancy
SWISS is generally considered to be the “premium” airline in Lufthansa Group, though I can’t say that the first class catering is anything out of this world. I’d say the food on SWISS is well executed and there’s a lot of it, but it doesn’t necessarily have the little bells and whistles, like caviar.
On this flight, lunch was served after takeoff, with an amuse bouche trio, which I accompanied with a glass of Pommery Cuvee Louise Millesime 2008 Parcelles champagne.
There was then an appetizer trolley, with the balik salmon being the staple on the menu, and then the choice of up to three additional dishes, and I opted for the artichokes with lemon and cream cheese mousse, fried capers, and lemon cremolata.
Next up, I had the soup course, which was a chilled smoked bell pepper soup with tomatoes and goat cheese praline.
Then there was a salad course, which was a summer salad with roasted broccolini, strawberries, radish, and puffed buckwheat strawberry vinaigrette.
Next up was a palate cleanser.
For the main course, I opted for the black cod with pepper, saffron beurre blanc, beluga lentils, zucchini, and pepper drops.
Then I had a cheese course, and just asked for a small quantity of each.
At this point I was honestly so full that I couldn’t even think of having a dessert, so I just gave up. I’m sorry. But hey, it was a great, well executed meal.
SWISS’ first class amenities are solid
SWISS first class offers all the standard amenities you’d expect in first class, starting with an amenity kit. The kit had Sisley products, so it doesn’t get much higher end than that. What I found interesting is that the amenity kit had a limited number of items, and then more were available from a basket during boarding (including the Ricola, socks, mouthwash, brush, etc.). I have no issues with that, since it cuts down on waste.
There were also pajamas from Zimmerli, which I liked, but didn’t necessarily love. I’m a sucker for airline branded pajamas (otherwise I hate branded clothes), and these didn’t have much visible branding.
The bedding was what you see above. Wi-Fi was free, but was rather slow. And the headphones weren’t very high quality, but thanks to bluetooth audio, that wasn’t a big deal.
SWISS’ first class service was great on my flight
I’ve flown SWISS a good bit over the years, and I find service on the airline to be… hit or miss. In my experience, SWISS crews range from excellent to borderline curt or rough around the edges. Comparing it to Lufthansa, I think Lufthansa has less variability when it comes to service quality, and crews range from professional to excellent, at least in premium cabins.
So along those lines, I have to say that my crew on this SWISS flight was phenomenal, among the best I’ve had — there were two ladies working first class, and they were charming and attentive. For both of them, it was their first time ever working the SWISS Senses cabin, and they did a really great job, in light of that.
Bottom line
I’m so happy I had the chance to fly the new SWISS Senses A350 first class. Admittedly the hard product is nearly identical to the new Lufthansa Allegris A350 first class (minus the cabin finishes), so it was a familiar product.
The double suite that I was able to assign is quite something, and easily one of the most spacious first class seats out there. I also appreciated the presence of an individual air nozzle, which I don’t recall having on Lufthansa.
Beyond that, I’d say this is a very well-rounded product, though there’s not any one thing that stands out as being absolutely industry leading. The food was pretty great. The service was friendly. The amenities were good. The entertainment was fine. The Wi-Fi was free (but not terribly fast). This is definitely a huge improvement over SWISS’ old first class product…
What’s your take on SWISS’ A350 first class product?