Trip Reports - Swiss - my best shorthaul Y flight ever

Thu 7/11 LX 338 ZRH-LHR

A321

Myself: Qualiflyer TC Gold, KLM Royal Wing, and still but not much longer CO Silver.

Before the flight: Was informed via SMS of scheduled on time dep. and gate. Check-in with no line. Flight was full, but with 3 empty seats in Y, just not enough for an operational. I get an OK window seat in 14F. In the end, I didn't even mind. Nice, short stay at the not too crowded Swiss Lounge. Arrived at the gate just as the last folks were boarding. Plenty of newspapers were readily available on a large stand. Refreshing towels (wrapped) passed out before taxi. 15 min wait for ATC-allocated time-slot. Takeoff uneventful. Then: After only 12 min (estimate) I have my meal. Yes, you read correctly. A Meal. Nice cold plate with "Siedfleisch- und Kartoffelsalat" (cold-beef-salad and potato-salad), a wonderful cheesecake, butter and a roll. Real glass. Real silverware, except for the knife. Almost porcelaine-like plastic dish. Shortly after the meal I get an excellent "Appenzeller Bier". Shortly thereafter coffee. And extra rolls, plus a selection of Camembert or Appenzeller Cheese. And a second beverage service. I have a free baileys. Another coffee. And then: I didn't believe it. The crew passed out ice cream, 20 min before landing. Mövenpick. Excellent. Just after I had finished they collected the trash. No, that wasn't it yet! Now they passed out little chocolates. And then: Prepare for landing. On time. Not bad for a 1'20 h flight, hu?

Flight back was just as good, except that they lacked the time for the second beverage service. Plus, no ice-cream. (Time of day, I think.) Both flights were way better than most C class flights in Europe I've been on. Say with KLM, for example. Or Lufthansa. Swiss C is better, but not much better, than their Y. Warm meal, preflight drink, desert served separately. That's about it.

I can definitely recommend this airline for intra-european travel.


Edited for typos and extra information.

[This message has been edited by ch_usa (edited 07-16-2002).]

Thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to flying on C from ZRH-ARN. Flight time about 2 :30 hrs. I'm sure meal service is going to be nice.

My sister flew ZRH-MXP in C and she received sandwiches, drinks and chocolates for a 1 hr flight. Not bad at all.

Maybe in Y Swiss is bearable on short intra European flights but on long distance flights I have to rank them at the bottom. Except for the crews who are the best.

Great trip report, can't believe the amount of food for a 1'20 flight, wow.

Definitely taking a closer look at their routings from now on.

Thanks for your report. So far I've only flown SWISS on very short "sandwich only" routes or longhaul flights. But this next weekend I'll do ZRH-ARN r/t in Y and am now very much looking forward to it...

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airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli), the Swiss Air Line. ;)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ch_usa:
Thu 7/11 LX 338 ZRH-LHR

Refreshing towels (wrapped) passed out before taxi. 15 min wait for ATC-allocated time-slot. Takeoff uneventful. Then: After only 12 min (estimate) I have my meal. Yes, you read correctly. A Meal. Nice cold plate with "Siedfleisch- und Kartoffelsalat" (cold-beef-salad and potato-salad), a wonderful cheesecake, butter and a roll. Real glass. Real silverware, except for the knife. Almost porcelaine-like plastic dish. Shortly after the meal I get an excellent "Appenzeller Bier". Shortly thereafter coffee. And extra rolls, plus a selection of Camembert or Appenzeller Cheese. And a second beverage service. I have a free baileys. Another coffee. And then: I didn't believe it. The crew passed out ice cream, 20 min before landing. Mövenpick. Excellent. Just after I had finished they collected the trash. No, that wasn't it yet! Now they passed out little chocolates. And then: Prepare for landing. On time. Not bad for a 1'20 h flight, hu?
</font>

Indeed. Our major carriers have justified not giving the same service on short flights because the other carriers were subsidized by their governments.

It wasn't true "competition" they balked.

A scant 10 days after 9/11 and guess what...they are now subsidized, and most of them asking for more the next go around.

Did they increase service or meals? No they cut them. Food is almost nonexistent in Y, and ever declining in F.

What's their excuse now?

LLZ a friend told me he flew Delta Y from New York to Ft Lauderdale and they now give pretzels on a 2 1/2 hr flight. A few years ago they used to serve a hot meal. On CO at least they are generous as they serve a sandwich.

Swiss is one of the best airlines in the world. Their long haul service should be getting a lot better as they retire their MD-11s and replace them with Airbus 330s.

I've just returned from a ZRH-ARN RT in coach on SWISS. Both flights were operated on an A320 and took about 2 hours, and I will just describe the service here:

The outbound leg was a lunch flight (LX1254). On the ground, prepackaged refreshing towlettes were offered. About 20 minutes after takeoff, lunch was served. It consisted of chopped veal in a creamy sauce (Zürcher Geschnetzeltes), served with beans and semolina. A roll and butter were already on the tray, and a bread basket was passed around twice again, the last time together with little cheese slices to emulate the cheese board. Later on, little boxes of Mövenpick Caramel ice cream were offered, along with tea and coffee. Before landing, little SWISS chocolates and yet more refreshing towels were served. Everything was very good.

I only had water and apple juice, but red, white and sparking wine from 75cl bottles were available. Seconds were served on all beverages.

On the inbound flight (LX1257), there was a breakfast service. This time, no refreshing towlettes before the meal. Breakfast was a hot quiche, sausage, tomato and spinach, along with warm croissants and rolls. A bottle of orange juice was also on the tray. The bread basket was passed around several times during breakfast. This meal was less spectacular, but this time too alcaholic beverages were available. My seat neighbor had sparking wine. Before landing, more chocolates were served.

I am very impressed by this service in coach, especially when considering that on flights of comparable lenght in the US (AA, JFK-ORD) nothing at all was served...

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airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli), the Swiss Air Line. ;)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chitownflyer:
Swiss is one of the best airlines in the world. Their long haul service should be getting a lot better as they retire their MD-11s and replace them with Airbus 330s.</font>

Just a little detail: they will replace the MD-11s with A340s.



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airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli), the Swiss Air Line. ;)