Sarah
Are you thinking about flying with Swiss Air and are wondering if that’s a good idea? Hopefully, our Swiss Economy Class review will help you decide this question!
I flew Swiss Air from Zurich to Dubai – given that this is 4800km and 6hours it’s on the border between being a long-haul or a medium distance flight. The flight was operated on an Airbus 330-300 with a 2-4-2 configuration in Economy class (and an unusual 2-2-1 in Business).
Swiss is part of the Lufthansa Group, as are Eurowings, Germanwings and Edelweiss. The later one brought me to Zurich from Berlin in about an hour.
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Swiss Economy Class Seats
One of the most important points in every Economy Class review should be the Economy class seats – because this will determine so much if you will enjoy your flight.
The seats on my Swiss Air flight were comfortable (despite having heard the opposite). The neck cushion is really nice and makes snoozing on the plane a bit easier.
The legroom was sufficient for me but is probably already a bit short for tall men. Swiss Air does never excel here (Qatar Airways was really good) but it also doesn’t lose (Air China…!).
The seats seemed to be really narrow though – my hips are wide, but I think for long-haul this was borderline tiny. Room to improve here 😉
The design of Swiss Economy Seats seemed really outdated to me – all beige and brown. Like some elderly people wear. I don’t know if it was a very old plane – it certainly looked like it though. It’s not really important – but it was impossible for me to not notice it.
What I liked was the USB power plug to charge mobile phones or other items. Another minor detail caught my attention as well: there was a drink holder. It might be a small thing to some but I love them as they give me the option to have drinks at my seat without having to pull down the table.
Swiss Economy Class Amenities
Next up in this Swiss Economy Class Review: The amenities!
The amenities provided were absolute standard service: Cushion, blanket and some flimsy in-ear headphones (expected low audio quality – better BYO). Nothing special, but nothing missing.
No refreshment towels were handed nor was a menu with food and drinks distributed prior to food service. It would be easy to gain some bonus points here!
In-flight entertainment system
Swiss’ inflight entertainment system had a selection of movies (including some recent ones) as well as TV series. There is also a chapter about your current flight. No games though (not that I would really play them – or anyone would since 2000 or something).
I think the selection of movies/series was okay – not impressive but also not bad. Definitely fine for a flight of six hours.
WiFi Onboard
On most longer Swiss flights you can connect to onboard WiFi for a price. Prices are steep (as they always are for onboard WiFi) starting with 9CHF (~10$) for 20MB. You can pay by credit card or PayPal.
Normally I wouldn’t do this as it is also refreshing to be offline for a few hours – but for the sake of a full Swiss Economy class review, I opted for the 20MB package! Yes, I did that for YOU, guys! 😉
So, and now to the question: did it work? How long did it last?
Yes, it worked. But it took only less than 12min to be used up. Mails synced, WhatsApp sent, one Instastory and it was gone. Maybe my phone was syncing anything in the background – however, I tried to stop this before.
My verdict: if you absolutely need to get some message out, buy it. Type all messages before, connect and then mourn your 10$.
Swiss Economy Class Food
Shortly after we reached flight altitude Swiss was serving the first round of drinks together with a small snack (rosemary crackers). I think this was a nice gesture to start the flight!
The main dish was served about an hour later (not exactly sure as I snoozed for a few minutes) together with drinks again. I was given the choice between chicken with rice and veggie pasta and opted for the later one.
I was really surprised, how tasty the pasta was! It was a bit soft already but really yummy! I also liked the little bread roll that came with it (and the fact that they were walking around offering a second one from a basket for the hungry ones).
Only the desert was weird – I don’t know what it was even after trying. But who cares – there was a portion of Tete de Moine cheese (one of my favorite cheeses!) as well. Paired with the Syrah from France this was anyway more my type of dessert! 🙂
One hour before landing, a pleasant surprise arrived in the form of ice cream!
Initially, I thought Swiss flight attendants would only serve another round of water (which they also did) – but then they presented some vanilla ice cream from Mövenpick! It was still deep frozen when I tried to eat it. But after some patience, I could indulge in the sweet pleasure! 🍨
Oh, and then you will even get a piece of Swiss chocolate afterward! 💕
Swiss Economy Class Service
As expected, Service quality onboard Swiss Air was excellent! I love the Swiss dialect of German anyway – but the stewardesses were also very friendly as well.
Whenever I chose a drink like wine or tomato juice they also asked whether I would like to have a glass of water as well. With some airlines, you have to beg for a second drink!
Also, kids could choose from a small selection of toys and plushies as a preset. Even though I don’t have kids (yet) I love to see those little details that make traveling with kids more fun!
When we started, the captain also greeted all passengers and explained that we are still waiting for the last luggage to be loaded. Again, this is a minor detail – but I like it when I know why nothing is happening.
Swiss Economy Class Review wrap up: Was it a good choice to fly Swiss?
Well, yes, in my opinion, Swiss Air is definitely worth considering for an Economy Class Flight.
Was it my favorite Economy Class product? No. There are other Star Alliance carriers that offer a better Economy Class Experience (Singapore Air, Air New Zealand, Turkish Airlines).
And then there are the non Star Alliance Airlines – especially Qatar Airways has a really good economy class and so has Emirates.
But there are certainly a lot of airlines that are worse than Swiss Air when it comes to Economy Class flights. So if the price is right, go for it!
Have you flown Swiss Air Economy Class already? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments below!
