Swiss Air A330-300 Business Class Review (BOS-ZRH)
There are two daily flights on Swiss between Boston and Zurich, one departing around 5PM on the new A350-900 and the other closer to 9PM on the legacy A330-300. The first leg of my journey took me on Swiss's A330-300 plane, which departs at the later timeslot of 9PM. While I'd have loved to fly the Swiss Senses product for both legs of my first segment, the times were simply better to fly later and I get to write a review for a totally different product for you. You're welcome!
Posts from this Trip Report:
- Introduction: A circle tour around Asia
- Swiss Air A330-300 Business Class Review (BOS-ZRH)
- Swiss Air A350-900 Business Suites Review (ZRH-ICN)
- TBA
Lufthansa Lounge BOS
All passengers flying in Business or First at Boston on a Lufthansa Group flight have access to the Lufthansa Lounge at Boston Logan. That includes airlines like Lufthansa, Swiss, Austria, etc. While you could theoretically access with Star Alliance Gold or business class on another Star Alliance airline, access may be restricted to Lufthansa Group passengers in the evenings (when most flights to Europe depart).
The lounge itself is on the 4th floor of Terminal E. It's a small but mighty lounge, with a small buffet, but perfectly sufficient while waiting for your flight. It can get crowded during peak hours, but I arrived right after the Munich flight boarded and the lounge emptied out quite a bit then.
The buffet was small and had a few hot food selections, a cold charcuterie and salad section, a soup section, and a dessert section. There's also a staffed bar available to pour beverages. I opted for a little bit of all hot food items (which were unfortunately a little bland or lukewarm), a cup of New England clam chowder, and a plate of charcuterie.
A big highlight though, in class Deutsche fashion, is the dedicated pretzel bar. Boy oh boy was I in heaven!
Otherwise, don't expect any special amenities here. There's a restroom inside the lounge, but there aren't any massage suites, showers, anything of the like. Maybe I'm just too spoiled from the Chase Sapphire Lounge :)
One of the biggest perks of the Lufthansa Lounge at BOS is that it is directly connected to gates E10 and E11. Flights will most likely use one of these two boarding gates, which means that you get to board the plane directly from the lounge itself! What a cool, niche little perk! Always check with the staff though on whether you need to go back to the concourse or can board from the lounge.
Face removed at request of subject
Boarding & Seat
The aircraft arrived from Zurich nearly 20 minutes late, and we also started boarding around 20 minutes late. The Business Class passengers get to board first from the concourse, but board around the middle of the pack from the lounge. I actually liked boarding a little later because it meant fewer people walking by you as you were settling into your seat. While the gate was equipped with multiple jetbridges (in part to accommodate A380s), only one was used for boarding today.
The A330-300 Business Class cabin is arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 and 2-2-1 configuration. Swiss uses their own (outdated) product for these seats, and there's a bit of variation between experiences depending on where you sit. Some seats along the left don't have direct aisle access. Some seats are hugging the aisle. the seats along the right side are single seats (but again some are closer to the aisle and others the window). See below for one of the "twin" sets of seats - as you can see there's a lot less space.
Like I mentioned before, I was lucky to be able to switch into seat 12A, which is one of the limited "throne" seats along the left side of the plane. Waiting at each seat was a basic amenity kit, a kit of mixed nuts, noise cancelling headphones, and a simple bedding set. Unfortunately no individual air nozzles on this plane (Airbus seems to hate temperature controls). There is a charging port and a reading light at each seat.
Unfortunately, the reading light only has three settings: super bright, super duper bright, and brighter than the surface of the sun. Not great on a night flight :)
Now let me talk a little more about the cabin configuration. When a row has a 2-2-1, the row behind can't copy the same layout with the seats facing forward. Because this wasn't a reverse herringbone, the next row could only fit 1 seat. The seat's legrest area was in between the 2 seats ahead of it. But it provides the best of both worlds in terms of privacy as you're both sitting alone and spaced away from the aisle.
And that brings me to the biggest downside of this seat in my opinion. When in the lie-flat position, the bed felt very much like being in the so-called "seat coffin". Your legs can only go straight out - there was no room to bend your knees or shift your position in any meaningful way. Being over 6 feet tall, it definitely wasn't the most comfortable sleeping position ever.
Anyways, the seat was a little worn, but still fully functional with a massage option. I never used the option but I felt my seat constantly moving...not sure what that's about. I tried pressing it once, twice, double-tapping, and it wouldn't stop. It's as if the seat firmness kept adjusting itself over and over again.
The bedding was, for lack of a better term, minimalistic. The small pillow is closer to something you'd find in a PY seat. The blanket was simply just a single sheet. There was no mattress pad, no duvet, nothing else. Boy do I miss United's Saks Fifth Avenue bedding right about now...
We had a VERY short taxi (might be the shortest taxi I've ever had on record) and were soon on our way to Zurich.
Food & Drink
The menu for dining on Swiss is pretty extensive and read as follows:
Unsurprisingly, multiple pages were dedicated to wines and alcoholic beverages:
The appetizer of grilled artichokes and side salad came out rather quickly:
For my main course, I opted for the Farro risotto, which was piping hot and surprisingly flavorful:
The crew also handed out a breakfast card to fill out. You have the option for them to either wake you for breakfast, or you can choose to just sleep as long as possible. Either way, below are the options to choose from:
In total, the dinner service was finished by around 1.5 hours into the flight. Talk about efficiency!
After I finished watching The Devil Wears Prada, I quickly tucked in for a short 2.5-hour nap. I woke up somewhere over the English Channel just before the French coastline. Although I filled out the breakfast card, I requested the staff get me just a cup of tea and a side of fruit. I wasn't feeling hungry at all and I typically don't eat breakfast much anyways.
As we descended through the clouds, the beautiful Swiss countryside came into view. I can never get sick of the views here - it's just so pretty and so special!
Overall Ratings
- Hard Product: 6/10 - the seat is decent, but not at all comfortable to sleep in
- Soft Product: 6/10 - poor bedding and a very basic amenity kit
- Meals: 8/10 - definitely beats the food served on most US airlines
- Service: 8/10 - the staff was attentive without being overbearing!