Here is my experience from this week. LX39 SFO-ZRH on 77W, there were two kinds of advance J seating restrictions in place. Paid premium seats ($199), which on this flight consisted of all thrones, except for 5A, seats which were "blocked" for HON/SEN which included , 5A, several other seats in the mini-cabin, and all but three of the desirable center aisle seats (console to the aisle).

At T-48, all of the thrones opened (5A had already been taken). None of the other blocked seats opened. I scored 10K (great seat). Within a couple hours most of the thrones had been snagged.

That is the exact flight I will be on (LX39). I will report back with my experience. But you probably saved me, Kacee. I was not going to call in until T-24, and by then, I am sure all the good seats (including thrones) would have been gone as you said. T-48 is really, really important! Thanks you, sir!

I was able to select (and then change) seats on the website.

Good luck. I had my first "good" long-haul LX crew and a very pleasant flight.

Called again after making the reservation and spoke to a wonderfully friendly agent who immediately got us in 1D/1G. The first agent said that seat reservations with infant was sent somewhere else (backoffice?) for processing, but the new agent seated us at once.

Anyway, problem solved and faith in SWISS restored by the second agent!

I wanted to report back in case anybody else had similar problems. Bassinet seat is 1A, but our kid will be too big for the bassinet anyway.

Looks like Swiss "overdid" it with their attempt of squeezing even more seats into their A320 fleet:

20 Minuten - Swiss blockiert Sitzreihen wegen Kipp-Gefahr - News

3 last rows can't be used anymore "in some situations" (from what I read within the article, probably if there isn't enough freight in the front areas to offset)

" Die Swiss hat mit ihren zwanzig A320P-Maschinen offenbar Probleme mit der Balance. Wie die «Schweiz am Wochenende» am Samstag berichtete, hätten Insider die Zeitung darüber informiert, dass auf gewissen Flügen bis zu drei der hintersten Sitzreihen für den Verkauf blockiert werden. "

Guess that's some backfiring of both making your own crew as well as your passengers angry at further tightening things up ;)

"Die Swiss hatte die betroffenen Maschinen vor vier Jahren umgebaut. Zwölf zusätzliche Sitze kamen dazu, um die Renditen zu steigern. Dadurch wurde auch der Bereich der Bordküche verkleinert.Die Crew kritisierte deshalb den Umbau von Anfang an, da für sie der Arbeitsraum deutlich enger wurde. Dass nun auch noch Probleme mit der Weight-Balance auftreten, sorgt für weiteres Ungemach."

Sorry if this has been asked already, but is there a difference between 'preferred' biz seats on the A330 that are blocked for SEN/HON and the available 'privacy' seats which are sold for EUR ~99?

Does anyone know how to get a seat choice to stick when flying LX on a UA award?

I'm flying ORD-ZRH in J next month and no matter how many times I pick a seat on swiss.com, I keep getting moved back to 4J.

You must call in. Cannot be done online.

Thanks, good to know.

I just had my ORD-ZRH seat automatically change too. I noticed the seat changed and the operator is now listed as Swiss Global instead of Swiss International Airlines. I don't see any change in aircraft, and the seat was set for months.

I'm embarrassingly proud of myself for logging in at exactly 48 hours prior to a departure to get 4A on a flight. Maybe if I think of all this as a sport, it is less embarrassing.

I'd probably pull a muscle patting myself on the back if I managed to score 4A at T-48.

On an up-coming flight I have the choice btw. 4K and 5K on the A343. What would you suggest? I think I might prefer 5K, but the lav is just behind and I wonder if I would wake-up with every flushing?

Always 4K for me - much, much better legroom. And it's further away from galley and lav noise and light emissions.

Gonna be flying on an A330 & A340 in J on an upcoming flight, both of which will be overnight. I understand that throne seats have a small footwell while aisle seats are more generous, but what about D/G seats that have the table between the seat and the aisle? Are those footwells closer in size to the throne seats or the aisle seats? Thanks!