Review: SWISS Business Class (A330-300)

SWISS Business class is a solid product with great hospitality that brought us back to North America in comfort after the trip of a lifetime to the JW Marriott Maasai Mara and JW Marriott Crete. While the seats are pretty dated, it’s a reliable way to redeem Aeroplan points, which are readily available in Canada.

Let’s dig into my review of SWISS Business Class to see everything it has to offer.

Booking SWISS Business Class

Award travel can have some interesting quirks. Considering a round-trip costs twice as much as a one-way, award travellers will often book outbound and inbound segments separately when award space becomes available, rather than waiting until a round-trip becomes available. 

That’s precisely what happened here, as I knew I needed to get home from Europe on a specific day, but it didn’t really matter from what city. I booked this flight first, Geneva to NYC, for 60,000 Aeroplan points per person, and then had to figure out the best way to get from Crete, or more specifically, Chania, to Geneva.

I could have paid $900 CAD on EasyJet for two people and our baggage with a direct flight from Chania (CHQ) to Geneva (GVA), but I was able to piece together segments from Chania to Stuttgart on Eurowings, then Stuttgart to Zurich on Swiss, and finally Zurich to Geneva also on Swiss. 

Yes, it resulted in a long travel day, but for an extra 10,000 Aeroplan points per person, a $200 CAD change fee ($100 x 2), and some small airport taxes, I was happy to avoid flying EasyJet and save about $700 CAD. The best part was that all flights, except Eurowings, were available in premium cabins. The only hiccup we had was that Eurowings could not check our bags through to our final destination, so we had to retrieve them in Stuttgart and recheck them at the Swiss counter. 

It was a great example of the Aeroplan award chart being super flexible, and all of the different partners coming together to make a complex but cost-saving itinerary. If we had more time, we could have stopped over in any of those cities as well for an extra 5,000 points per person. 

There is no shortage of credit cards that earn Aeroplan points in Canada, and the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card is one that stands out with its welcome bonus of 85,000 Aeroplan points, plus additional benefits on Air Canada, including priority Air Canada services and Maple Leaf airport lounge access.

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TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card

The TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa* Infinite Privilege* Card offers a variety of Air Canada benefits including priority boarding, free checked baggage, and Maple Leaf lounge access.

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OFFER
85,000 Aeroplan points

MINSPEND
$24,000

EST. VALUE
$1,785+

ANNUAL FEE
$599

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

Ground Experience

Since we had so many connections, we didn’t have much time for layovers or lounging. But Swiss business class passengers can access the Swiss Lounge in Geneva. If you’re flying from Geneva to a non-Schengen destination, you’ll need to prepare for long immigration lines.

We left the lounge an hour before our flight took off, but we still felt stressed about making it to our gate before the boarding doors closed!

Cabin Arrangement

Swiss has a unique configuration for its business-class seats, alternating between 1-2-1 and 2-2-1.

Swiss has always charged business class passengers for the “Throne” seats on the left side in even-numbered rows before check-in opens, as they are highly desirable seats. It’s usually somewhere around $200 CAD, but I don’t think the experience is worth the cost. 

I was lucky: at check-in, a throne seat was still available, so I decided to snag it for free. Having sat in the “honeymoon” seats before in the odd rows on the left side, I was excited to give it a try. 

While it was undoubtedly more private and had extra counter space, when travelling with a companion, the best seats would be the window seats on the right side of the plane. The Swiss cabin design is still very open, and you can see the entire cabin when seated.

Seat

The seat was very nicely arranged with a menu set out for me at my arrival, along with the amenity kit, blankets, and pillows.

The attendant saw me taking pictures and said, “The seat will look even better with a glass of champagne!” They were not wrong! The rest of the seats in the cabin were also well-appointed and nicely organized.

Taking a seat, you can see a difference compared with a standard premium seating setup, just how vast your infrastructure is. And the white stitching on the brown fabric is a very aesthetically pleasing setup.

Under the display screen, you’ll find a bottle of water and the headphones. The foot compartment is very narrow in all seats, but it’s especially prevalent in the throne seats.

Looking to the left, you’ll find the more “functional” side of the seat, which includes the windows, seat controls, entertainment system remote, reading lamp, headphone jack, and universal plug.

The tray table may be the most complicated I’ve ever seen on a business class product. It takes four steps to bring it out and secure it! First, press the small tray table button, and the tray table will swing out from the armrest.

Following the directions in the small cupholder indent to pull out and lift, you’ll be left with a setup that looks like this, with all of the arrows lined up. You can then move the tray table around and customize it, even covering the seat controls. When completely unfolded, it’s substantial!

However, it’s pretty tricky to get back into the armrest unless you have all of those arrows lined up, like in the pictures above. The right side of the seat doesn’t have much going for it, which is why I think the throne seats underwhelm. But there is a neat brochure for an exclusive Breitling Navitimer available only on Swiss flights. As a Breitling owner, I found this pretty cool!

Bed

While the throne seats are great for privacy, if you’re an average-sized person, you’ll find them to be pretty tight in lie-flat mode. The one benefit to a throne seat is that if you’re a side sleeper, you’ve got room for your knees on either side.

I love the shortcut controls built into the seat wall that are accessible even when lying down. Considering how old this product is, this feature is excellent! However, the footwell is relatively tiny.

Amenity Kit

While this amenity kit won’t wow you with designer brands or lovely packaging, there’s no denying it’s useful even after the flight! Victorinox is, of course, the legendary manufacturer of the Swiss Army Knife, and they’ve partnered with Swiss Airlines to make a useful packing cube from your amenity kit.

In the amenity kit, you’ll find socks, a dental kit, earplugs, lip balm, and an eye mask.

Bathroom

The bathroom is pretty standard business class with maybe some nicer finishes and a few Swiss-branded beauty products.

Dining

The meal service started with some nuts and the welcome beverage, which I chose to be champagne. An excellent detail on the glassware is the Swiss tail wing on the base.

The menu for this flight was quite extensive. I opted for salmon to start and beef for my main course.

The Balik salmon seemed like a small portion, but after a bit of research, I was happy to get the chance to try the delicious Balik or “best piece of the fish” salmon! The salmon was followed by a cream of celery soup with truffle.

The beef didn’t have the prettiest presentation, but it was delicious!

The first service was finished with some cake, and I asked for an espresso, which was promptly delivered. The chocolate served with the espresso was also Swiss-branded!

After a nap, I decided to try the signature cocktail, which came pre-mixed in this cool bottle. While it was nothing to write home about like the SAS signature cocktail, I kept the bottle as a souvenir, and it’s worth ordering for that alone. I then ventured into the galley and found some “movie snacks,” as the menu put it!

The final meal before arrival was an excellent dish of momos, or more commonly known as dumplings.

The chili sauce served on the side was fantastic, and pairing the spicy dish with a crisp Swiss lager was the perfect refreshment.

Entertainment

Entertainment Console

As discussed a few times before, this plane is quite old, and the entertainment system is probably the weakest link of the Swiss business class seat in terms of age. The screen resolution is relatively poor, even though the user interface has been updated.

There was a good selection of new movies and TV shows, though! And some unique options, such as Paramount+ programming and TED Talks.

The headphones were perfectly comfortable, and the connection was excellent with no static.

WiFi

WiFi was free for messaging, but for anything else, there was a steep price to pay. I didn’t even bother connecting to the messaging WiFi.

Conclusion

The Swiss Business class experience on the A330 is consistent, with warm hospitality and some excellent food. The Balik salmon is a fantastic luxury I would never otherwise splurge on. While the seats and entertainment system are a bit vintage, it’s nice to have this as a readily available option for all Canadians without too many hoops to jump through.