Europe - flying from LAX to Zurich in July

looking at business class tickets. i want a flat lying bed for the long haul. several airlines have come up - air france, air canada, united, british air - but i read too many bad reviews by customers. any suggestion of which would be most comfortable? doesn't need to be non-stop. one-stop is ok.

thank you!

It is hard to go by the reviews.
There are equal number of disgruntled travelers than happy ones.
The entire experience of flying Business or First depends very much on your expectations and previous experience.
If you always fly coach then almost any Business class is an improvement.
If you always fly business or First then you may be more picky.
Also the entire flight experience may depend on one bad flight attendant who made your trip miserable.
Having said that and since you do not require a certain airline alliance then:
1. Air New Zeland has a great reputation and you can flight LAX to London and then to ZRH
2. Air Canada to Toronto and then to Zurich
3. You can also try Swiss either from San Francisco or take UA ps to JFK in business (not flat but fairly comfy for a transcon flight) and then connect to ZRH; only the Airbus 330 is lie flat in business; the 340 is not.
4. Starting in June Turkish Airlines will fly to Istambul and from there you can connect to ZRH. Their 777 is lie flat but I am not sure what they are using on the new LAX to Istambul route
5. I know KLM has angled beds and I know their business product is not the best but I like the service and I love the airport in AMS.

I'm confused, why not just fly LX LAX-ZRH? Contrary to what keisari says, LX's A343s also offer full lie flats in C. I've had the pleasure of flying a few times with LX last year and enjoyed all of my flights with them, including SFO-ZRH in C. Good service, good food and the bed was pretty comfortable.

thanks to both... i got so confused in my research i finally called a travel agent who claimed to know, & booked on british air through him. he said one could not be sure on most airlines, but he was sure i'd get a lie flat bed on british air. so, there i go. i'm also looking forward to the waiting lounge in london heathrow.

<...> i finally called a travel agent who claimed to know, & booked on british air through him.

If he really knew, he would have given you the same advice as kevincrumbs and booked you on LX. They have a good C-class product, and why connect through LHR if you can go direct?

simple answer: half the price. i paid $3400 on BA & swissair was over $6,700. good enough reason for me.

I'm confused, why not just fly LX LAX-ZRH? Contrary to what keisari says, LX's A343s also offer full lie flats in C. I've had the pleasure of flying a few times with LX last year and enjoyed all of my flights with them, including SFO-ZRH in C. Good service, good food and the bed was pretty comfortable.

According to seatguru.com, LX A343 is an angled bed; even though it reclines to 180 degrees it is at an angle; it is great for relaxing and chilling but is a little strange when you try to sleep since you slide down.
BA on the other hand, both the 777 and the 747 are completely horizontal which makes it better for sleeping

thanks for that confirmation.

i'll report on my experience at the end of the summer, since i'm flying to zurich in july & home in august.

According to seatguru.com, LX A343 is an angled bed; even though it reclines to 180 degrees it is at an angle; it is great for relaxing and chilling but is a little strange when you try to sleep since you slide down.
BA on the other hand, both the 777 and the 747 are completely horizontal which makes it better for sleeping

Seatguru is wrong (in this case). LX now has flat beds in C on their entire fleet (for months already).

good to know, but for me it's worth the stop in london to save a lot of $$$ on the ticket. maybe next time...

good to know, but for me it's worth the stop in london to save a lot of $$$ on the ticket. maybe next time...

And you are absolutely right. I did not react to your post about the $$$, but with that price difference I'd also fly BA instead of LX. (I made the comparison thinking that the prices were about the same.)

Enjoy your trip! ^ :)

thanks, koby. and safe travels to you!!!^:)

this was fun.

For future reference, I like the AC beds, you are in a little pod which is very private, and tons of room to sleep, watch movies etc.

thanks, emma. i also like the pods. maybe next time!

happy travels to you.