SWISS Business Class 777-300ER (ZRH-MIA) Review

SWISS Business Class on the Boeing 777-300er is a very comfortable way to get across the Atlantic. My 10+ hour flight from Zurich to Miami was met with attentive service, good food, and a spacious lie flat seat. This was one of my favorite business class flights to/from Europe to date.

How I Booked on Points

This flight was part of a larger connecting itinerary, starting in Türkiye. The route was NAV-IST-ZRH-MIA, and I was able to experience the Turkish lounge in Istanbul and the SWISS lounge in Zurich.

This entire itinerary was booked through Avianca LifeMiles for 68,310 miles and $112.21 in taxes and fees, with the majority in business class. I used a mix of Capital One miles and buying points on sale from Avianca Lifemiles.

It was nice that Capital One let you move the miles in increments of 100 once over the minimum transfer, so that way less miles were wasted. I was also happy not to have to piecemeal together different flights, but rather have them on a single itinerary in case there are any delays or cancellations.

Even if I didn’t have any transferrable points available, the cost of buying points for the business class redemption was close to the cash price for economy flights. This is prime example of flying business class for the price of economy.

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Pre-Departure (SWISS Lounge ZRH)

Since I was arriving on a connecting itinerary, I had plenty of time to enjoy the SWISS Business Lounge before my flight. My flight arrived at around 10 am and my next flight wasn’t until 1 pm, so I had at least a good two hours to explore the lounge.

The SWISS Business lounge had a nice food selection with a live cooking station and many drink options. I loved all the natural light which helped me to adjust from the jet lag. The highlight though was the terrace to soak up the perfect weather and amazing view of the planes.

When I finally headed to the gate, there were some announcements over the speakers that our flight should check our passports with the agents near the gate. This was essentially a passport control check to stamp us out of the Schengen area. It was a bit chaotic during this time but I was able to get it done fairly quickly in the business class line. The rest of the boarding proceeded normally.

SWISS Business Class Seat (777-300ER)

The SWISS Business class cabin is made up of 62 seats arranged in a 1-2-2 and 2-1-2 alternating pattern. The single seats are called throne seats and only available for free to elite members before check in. You can pay extra to secure these seats or see if they are available for free at the time of check in.

The middle seats also alternate being closer to the aisle vs the center. The seats closer to the center have an extra side console of space, which is the seat I chose as you’ll see below.

The division between the seats is not ultra private, but suffices. I was glad to have the extra space with that side console, and think I made the right choice over picking a crammed window seat without direct aisle access. I was in seat 11D.

The seat was spacious and had a few hidden storage compartments that helped for putting shoes and small items away. The entertainment screen was bright and modern. It could be operated either by touch or remote.

If you had a jacket, you could choose to hang it and give it to a flight attendant to store during the flight. The headphones were noise cancelling, and worked quite well. The shelves were nice to keep your tech accessible.

There are a variety of modes, including lie-flat. The seat coveted to a lie flat without any gaps and was pretty comfortable, despite not being provided a mattress pad. The chair also had a massage function which I thought was exciting, though it seemed very to work very gently if at all on my chair.

SWISS Amenity Kit

The blanket was pretty thick, which I appreciated since I/m used to the weight of a comforter. The amenity kit doesn’t seem like much at first, but when you open it you’ll find out that the little bag converts to a packing cube. I thought this was very innovative and practical over another zippered pouch.

Inside the amenity kit you’ll find all your flight essentials, earplugs, socks, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste, and eye mask.

SWISS Business Class Food & Drink

The crew was very attentive throughout the flight to always be offering drinks. I was very pleased with that, because I had thought I would be overlooked in such a large business class cabin. So no need to rush and order several at a time for fear that it will be a while until they get to you again.

I had a gin and tonic first. Then when trying to elect a wine to pair with my dinner, the stewardess was kind enough to let me try them all and then served me whichever I liked. Life is too short to drink bad wine!

For the first course I choose the slow-cooked beef and for the second course I choose the veal. Neither one looked at all like I imagined when they came, but they were fine nonetheless. The dessert stood out as particularly good out of the whole meal.

Before landing, they went around to take our order from the Bistro menu. I was recommended the sourdough panzanella salad, and it was really good! In fact, it was my favorite plate on the whole flight.

Bottom Line

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on SWISS Business Class. Although some of the food wasn’t stand-out, I think other things on the menu were probably better. Overall, the dining experience was very nice and ended with a fantastic dish.

The staff was very attentive and requests were met promptly despite the large business cabin. I typically have trouble sleeping on planes, but was able to get a good amount of shut-eye on this flight (even if it likely due to pure exhaustion) so that was great. I arrived feeling refreshed and ready to go when I got to Miami, so I would happily fly this product again.