We flew in SWISS 777-300ER business class from ZRH to LAX and found the comfortable seat to be one of the best features of the flight.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Cheese and Chocolate in Western Europe
• United Club LAX: Better Than Your Average United Lounge
• A Great Stay Outside the City Center: The Thompson Chicago
• The Beautiful Air France Lounge ORD
• The Best Inflight Service: KLM 787-10 World Business Class ORD-AMS
• Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht: A Great Stay But Now Pricey
• Perfect Dutch Comfort Food at The Pantry Amsterdam
• Smelt It and Loved It: Restaurant Smelt Amsterdam
• Amsterdam with Kids: Plenty of History, Cheese, and Sweets
• Zaanse Schans: You Must See This Idyllic Spot Near Amsterdam
• NS Lounge Amsterdam Centraal: Sadly, Not Much Here
• Eurostar Premier: Better Than Economy But Still Pretty Basic
• Hilton Brussels Grand Place: A Great Location in Central Brussels
• Le Clan des Belges: One of Our Favorite Meals Ever
• Fin de Siècle: Great Food But Can Have Long Lines
• Mini‑Europe in Brussels: Top Highlights From Our Experience
• Belgian Beer World Experience: Surprisingly Fun for the Family
• Brussels with Kids: History, Chocolate, Fries, and Fun
• Winter Wonders: The Wonderful Brussels Christmas Market
• Brussels Airlines The Loft Lounge: Plenty of Drinks and Smurfs
• A Bit Too Simple: Brussels Airlines A319 Business Class (Intra-Europe)
• Great for Whisky Lovers: SWISS Senator Lounge E ZRH
• SWISS 777-300ER Business Class: A Comfy Seat and Good Service (this post)

Booking SWISS 777-300ER business class

We obviously need a way to get home from Europe. One of the most available ways of getting home that I know of is actually through the Miles & More program. Not as many know about the program and they also don’t partner with most transferable currencies, making it easy for it to fly under the radar a bit. I originally booked the routing as BRU-MUC-LAX, with the first segment on Brussels and the second on Lufthansa.

This booking cost us only 56,000 miles per adult, 42,000 miles per child with the 25% award discount for the kids. Granted, each ticket also came with a €537.90 cash copay, so it’s not completely cheap. But the flights are available and it beats paying cash for them outright, so it could certainly be worse.

However, months after booking, the flight times changed slightly. Lufthansa gave an email notice to us that our connecting flight would instead depart two hours later, giving us a 4-hour layover in Munich. Yuck. But thankfully, they gave a list of alternatives that included United Airlines connecting in the US, Lufthansa in Frankfurt, or SWISS in Zurich. Jenn and I haven’t had a chance to fly SWISS before and that option wasn’t available with points when we first booked our award. So, we switched the flight for free. Sweet!

On top of that, I obtained Senator status in the Miles & More program. SWISS wants to charge $200 per seat in their throne seats. But, fortunately for me, they allow HON Circle and Senator members to choose them for free. The kids wanted to sit next to each other, so I snagged a throne seat for both me and Jenn. If we didn’t have status, we would have otherwise taken two in the middle and two by the window. SWISS used to consistently give away the throne seats for free at check-in, but recent reports suggest it’s not free anymore.

Earning Lufthansa Miles & More miles

If you reside in the United States, there are limited ways you can quickly earn Lufthansa Miles & More miles.

• Apply for the Barclays Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® credit card (not sponsored) and earn 60,000 miles for $3,000 spend in the first 90 days.
• Transfer in points from Rove, the only bank program that allows transfers to the Miles & More program.
• Buy miles from the program, either through the bundles they release or through ASMALLWORLD.

You might scoff at purchasing miles, but honestly, there are situations where it can be advantageous to purchase. Just don’t go overboard and buy more than you can use.

First impressions of SWISS 777-300ER business class

We arrived at our gate (E22) a few minutes before boarding. Ahead of us was a long line of business class customers waiting in line to board. As a passenger, I’ve always liked how much natural lighting there is in Zurich airport. But as a blogger, I can’t say I like the double window approach as it adds too much glare to the photos of planes.

After clearing the line and scanning our tickets, we were on our way to the jet bridge.

On the jet bridge, we got one more look at the plane that would take us home.

Onboard the SWISS 777-300ER

We boarded the SWISS 777-300ER through the second door. In fact, everyone would board through this door, so it got a little crowded in business class as everyone took their seats.

Seats in this cabin alternate in a 1-2-1, 2-2-2 arrangement. This is needed because all seats face forward and the legs of one passenger end up underneath the console of the seat one row up.

The kids made their way over to their seats and they were excited for the flight ahead. They’ve become pretty good at helping each other out during the middle of the flights.

Once everyone was seated, you could get a sense of how open the cabin is. There are overhead bins for the center seats, but they don’t make the cabin feel cramped.

The team of flight attendants working our aisle warmly welcomed us onboard and asked if we wanted a predeparture beverage. Choices included:

• Champagne (Jacquart Mosaïque Brut)
• SWISS Alpine Essence, their signature cocktail
• A non-alcoholic apertif
• Water

Jenn and I went with a glass of champagne to start.

The SWISS 777-300ER business class seat (throne seat)

The throne seat in SWISS 777-300ER business class offers an impressive amount of space. There are no doors in this cabin, but if you’re flying in the throne seat you’ll find a door simply isn’t necessary. I can certainly see why SWISS wants extra money for this seat. YMMV if you think it’s actually worth the additional price tag.

Regardless of the whether you’re in the throne seat or not, the seat itself is pretty comfortable for a lengthy flight like this 12.5 hour journey. It has almost a gel-like cushion that makes it incredibly relaxing.

Directly in front of the seat is a video monitor. Compared to what’s becoming more of the norm in business class cabins, it’s not too large. But it’s more than large enough to still enjoy movies.

Immediately under the screen is a small counter that folds down in case you want to store something small. I wouldn’t put a drink here because there’s no indentation for one. Hit some turbulence in the air and it might fall in your lap.

The footwell under the monitor had enough room horizontally but not vertically. Those who prefer to sleep on their side might find the footwell rather limiting.

The console closer to the aisle has a couple of lights, a bottle of water, headphones, and a coat hanger. I found the headphones to be fine enough but not noise-cancelling.

On the arm rest right underneath are the seat controls and the video controls. With everything moving to touch screen, these cute PSP-like controllers just aren’t needed these days. But, hey, there is a massage feature in the seat and you can change the firmness. Not bad for personalizing it the way you like it. The massaging element is enjoyable.

Hidden behind the coat hanger is the meal tray. You just pop it out of its home…

…and rest it in front of you. When I first sat at the seat, I wondered if it came from under the monitor but I’m glad that wasn’t the case.

Behind the meal tray is a storage area. It’s a nice place to put your wallet or purse during flight.

The other side of the throne doesn’t have much other than an open space that looks like a fat magazine holder.

And underneath that is another storage area. This one is much larger with a cover that slides up and down. If you wanted to place a backpack or laptop case here to easily access during flight, that should work. All part of the extra space you get for being in a throne seat.

Above the seats is just some extra lighting. There are no individual air nozzles, which is unfortunate because I found the cabin to be on the warmer side.

Life in the double seats

Since I sat behind the kids, I could spy on them easily from time to time. If you’re not in a throne seat, you’ll have less personal space. The seats work very well for couples (assuming you like the person you’re sitting next to, but that’s your problem if not). If you’re traveling solo, you do not want the seat closest to the window. Climbing over someone else to go use the restroom or stretch your legs is not ideal. Either get a seat in the center section or spring for a throne seat.

These double seats have less storage than the throne seats but much of the functionality otherwise remains.

Amenities in SWISS business class

There are a few goodies you get in business class aboard SWISS. The first thing you’ll find at your seat is a large, impressive assortment of bedding. A pillow, two blankets, and mattress padding. If the cabin weren’t so warm, I might have found more use for the blankets.

The mattress pad adds some extra cushion to the seat when you’re laying down. With how comfortable the seat already is, it’s hard to say it materially changes the seat comfort. But we still used it and thought it helped somewhat (but could be a placebo effect). You can’t have the mattress pad on during takeoff or landing as it interferes with the shoulder strap.

When you lay the seat flat, it’s fairly comfortable. But again, it’s better for those who lay on their back and not for side sleepers.

Also at the seat is a rather bulging amenity kit.

Inside the kit is all the essentials: eyeshades, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, and earplugs. One thing that would have been nice to have is a pen, but thankfully we didn’t need it on this journey.

So what makes it puffy and bulging? Well you can transform the shell of the amenity kit into a large clothing bag. I think the intent is so you can use it to put your dirty laundry but I’m sure clean laundry works too.

The food in SWISS 777-300ER business class

Thankfully on this flight, I had enough vision to pre-book meals for everyone, including a child meal for six-year-old Char. It’s nice being able to pre-order meals just to make the process move a bit more smoothly and to ensure you get your choice.

The menu

The flight crew handed out menus to everyone as we were getting seated. One nice thing is that you can specifically request a quicker first meal service. That wasn’t necessary on this daytime flight but it’s great to have as an alternative on a redeye.

Drink service

At 45 minutes after departure, flight attendants stopped by to deliver a hot towel to each business class guest.

This was immediately followed by a drink and a snack, either some nuts or cheese. I chose their special drink, the Alpine Essence, and some nuts. The drink is pre-mixed; you just need to pour it over ice. There is some sweetness to the drink, but not overly so. As a starter to the meal, it’s a good option.

The kids went with orange juice and some cubed dry cheese. Between the nuts and the cheese, we preferred the cheese.

Dinner

About 50 minutes after the drink service started (1 hour, 35 minutes after departure), it was time to eat dinner. The flight attendants came back through and handed out another drink while distributing the table cloths.

There are two options for the appetizer course:

• Marinated Balik salmon with sweet potato and ginger relish
• Beet carpaccio with walnut and balsamic dressing, horseradish cream and pears

Both come with a salad. I ordered the salmon, which was light and not too filling. As an appetizer, it works well. The salad that came with it was pretty simple. And it came with some fresh bread. Who doesn’t like pretzel bread?

Jenn went with the beet carpaccio, which was similarly light in nature. She is a big beet fan, so I’m not surprised she opted for it. You can’t go wrong with either option.

About 20 minutes after the table cloth was set, we received the soup course (cream of celeriac soup with truffles). I think it’s more fair to say that the truffle oil in the dish overpowered it. But if you remove the truffle oil, the rest of the soup is divine.

At this point after another 20 minutes (2 hours, 15 minutes after departure), I switched things up and went with a red wine. Why? Because beef burgers are fancier that way. You can only get this burger by preordering, and in that way it reminds me a little of the Shake Shack burger on Delta. However, this one came with actual fries and was thicker and juicier. Between the two, I prefer this one. The pretzel bun helps.

Nine-year-old Alex chose the beef tenderloin. It’s a big chunk of meat and is sure to fill you up if you are hungry. It’s tender and not overcooked.

Char went with the kids meal, which didn’t specify what it was. Turns out it was a macaroni and cheese dish. The cheese has a sharp taste and doesn’t taste overly processed.

Desserts

After another 30 minutes (2 hours, 45 minutes after departure), dessert was served. There are two options for dessert:

• Lychee, black tea, and rose slice
• Caramelized chestnut mousse with raspberry and Gruyere cream

I went with the mousse, which was on the sweeter side. I probably didn’t need the dessert and could have just stuck to the glass of port. But, thankfully, it was a smaller, lighter dessert despite the sweetness, so it wasn’t a bad end to the meal.

On top of the desserts on the menu, the flight attendants handed out chocolates to all passengers in business class. Personally, I’d prefer just to have a piece of chocolate and call it a day than the mousse.

Midflight snacks

Should you get hungry in the middle of the flight–and I can’t blame you for it being over 12 hours in length–head over to the galley to find some snacks. Most of it is packaged chips or crackers, but you can also get Movenpick ice cream if you chat with the flight attendant. They leave the lids to the ice cream containers in the snack basket as a way to remind you it’s available.

In the middle of the flight, flight attendants also came through to hand out sandwiches if anyone had the munchies. I didn’t see the sandwiches anywhere on the menu, but seems like they had a few they wanted to hand out. This one was a chicken sandwich, which looks like it would be dry, but it’s actually more moist than you would think.

You could also grab a cheese tartlet if you wanted. These had a little bit of sweetness to it from the caramelization on top but it’s not too sweet. Certainly not as sweet as an egg tart.

Second meal service (lunch)

At 2 hours before landing, the arrival meal service began. There are two options you can choose from for this quicker meal service:

• Creamy fregola sarda salad with pears, roasted butternut squash and lamb’s lettuce, smoked duck breast
• Momo dumplings with beef, chicken and mushroom in Asian broth, spinach, spicy radish salad and pickled pumpkin

I didn’t have a meal–instead opting to sleep a bit more–but Jenn had the dumplings. The texture was a bit too mushy, which isn’t what you would hope with an Asian dish. The midflight sandwiches might be a better choice for your calories but the fruit was refreshing.

The kids meal was… a sandwich and a cheese tartlet with some fruit. The flight crew already stopped by to give the kids some ham and cheese sandwiches in the middle of the flight, so it’s not surprising to see it show up again as a kids meal. The ham and cheese sandwich tastes fresh and not a bad meal for kids. A little heavy on the carbs but overall satisfying.

Wi-Fi and Entertainment

You can connect to SWISS inflight Wi-Fi once airborne and choose from the following options:

• Messaging (free for the duration of the flight)
• 4 hours of Wi-Fi (25 CHF)
• Full flight Wi-Fi (35 CHF)

There’s not much of a discount choosing the 4 hour option, so if you have work to do, you might be better off paying for the full flight. We didn’t purchase Wi-Fi and so cannot comment on the speed.

The monitor at your seat is large enough to suit your needs. There aren’t any cameras around the plane that you can view (sad!) but there is a decent collection of movies and shows.

We found there was a decent selection of shows that worked to keep us entertained. It would have been nicer if they had more episodes for the TV shows, but that’s my only real complaint.

There’s also a good variety of programming for children, including movies from back in the day (yeah, I remember when Babe came out). For a 12+ hour flight, there’s enough in here for entertaining the kids, but you might want to bring your own entertainment anyways because who knows if the system won’t work at your seat.

Service

We thought the service was quite good on this flight. In particular, the two female flight attendants working our aisle loved interacting with the kids. They stopped by frequently to check in on us and ask if there was any way for them to help improve our flight. Case in point, they kept them stocked up on sandwiches in between meals and even chatted with them from time to time. Everyone we interacted with had big smiles on their faces all flight long, so kudos to them for an excellent job.

Timing of flight

As mentioned, this is booked as a 12.5 hour flight. You leave around 1PM local time in Zurich, Switzerland and arrive around 4:30PM local time in Los Angeles, California. If you’re traveling with children, you will need to make sure they get between 2 and 4 hours of sleep. Basically, a good enough nap that will get them to about 7PM and then get real sleep afterwards. Get too much sleep and it will be hard to sleep at a normal time.

Thankfully, the kids are used to flying on daytime flights from Europe or from elsewhere over the years.

Adults could decide to stay awake the whole time themselves. If you have a lot to do, you could just stay awake to tire yourself out. That works for adults who are able to ensure they stay awake. But I don’t trust kids to stay awake under their own power.

Arrival to LAX

After half a day, we started our descent into the Los Angeles area. From our seats, we got a nice view of Downtown LA as we were touching down.

Once on the ground, everyone had to exit from the forward door, which meant we all got a view of the first class cabin on exit. Most of the seats appeared untouched. Perhaps someday we’ll travel in here.

After landing, it was a quick walk over to customs and immigration as luckily didn’t land at the Midfield Satellite Concourse.

Recommendation: Yes, if the price is right

This is a perfectly enjoyable flight across the Atlantic in business class. Good food, good service, and plenty of time on this route to get some sleep and still enjoy the flight. On top of that is one of the most enjoyable seats I’ve sat in on a plane in years. Not the best for sleeping, but for sitting, it’s hard to beat.

It helped that Jenn and I got throne seats for this journey thanks to my matched Senator status, but I think we still would have found it enjoyable if we sat next to each other. And I’m not just saying that because I would get slapped if I didn’t.

The price we paid for the journey honestly wasn’t all that bad. Again, people like to complain about fuel surcharges perhaps a little too much. Yes, it’s great to avoid paying them if you can do so without driving up the cash price excessively. But just because they exist doesn’t make it a bad deal. Miles & More has a decent amount of availability, including on coveted routes to West Coast US destinations. Maybe you need to give it a try too?

Have you flown SWISS 777-300ER business class?

Suggested reading:

• Why You Need to Collect Lufthansa Miles & More Miles
• Seats.Aero Review: An Excellent Free Tool For All
• Is Business Class Actually Worth the Upgrade?