Review Swiss International Business-Class, Bangkok-Zurich
Paul‘s 204th Flight Review
Flight: LX181
Route: BKK - ZRH
Flight Time: xx hours xx minutes
Travel Class: Business Class
General Impression: 
Before the Flight :
Check-in Process:
Security Control:
Lounge:
Information:
Boarding @ Gate:
Staff @ these points:
Boarding in Cabin: 
Welcome Drinks:
Punctuality: , 36min delay
, 36min delay
During the Flight :
Food presentation:
Food quality:
Drinks:
Service Procedure:
Amenity Kit:
Entertainment System:
Seat Quality:
Legroom:
Lavatories:
Cleanliness:
General Atmosphere:
Announcement Pilots:
Announcement Cabin:
Cabin Crew:
After the Flight :
De-Boarding:
Baggage Delivery:
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
= poor, you will be busy with corrections
= good & normal, nothing special
= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here! = Half a Point/sheep
—-
On the Ground:
We took a Grab to Suvarnabhumi Airport and it took us around 35 minutes to get there. Thanks to our Saturday departure this was actually quite fast.
He dropped us at entrance 5 which is the entrance for Swiss.
Check-in was a breeze. At the Business Class counter there was no queue at all and we could straight walk up to the desk. The agent was super friendly and the whole process was done in no
time. The agent chatted with us during the check-in and gave us all the necessary information.
Since our last travel, BKK Suvarnabhumi airport has a new fast track area for security and emigration. The new fast track is at the beginning of the Terminal right next to entrance once
opposite the priority lines of Thai Airways International.
This new fast track makes life much easier. There was no queue at all at the security check point. You could basically walk through and staff was friendly and helpful.
Same thing with emigration. Not a single person waiting in line and we could walk directly to the counter.
From arriving on the curbside of the Airport to get into the transit area it took us a maximum of around 15 minutes.
Well done BKK airport and great service for such a big international airport.
As we were quite often in Bangkok and also a friend told us not to use to Thai Airways Business Class Lounge (apparently nothing has changed since our last visit and they only offer packed
snacks), we also used our priority pass in Bangkok.
We decided to use the Miracle Lounge right next to gates area C. The lounge was nice, on the small side but we were almost the only guests. So no problem to find some seating space.
The lounge offered a nice choice of non-alcoholic drinks as well a alcoholic drinks.
The food option would have been good, but unfortunately the quality of the hot dishes wasn’t really good.
They serve cold snacks such as sandwiches and crisps and warm snacks such as little salty puff pastry. The warm snacks were actually cold and so the puff pastry became chewy. There would have
also been a small but good buffet with hot food. Unfortunately also here the food was just cold.
The C gates area does not have the option to board directly into a lounge area. Boarding is now taking place like at all other airports when entering the aircraft. The lounge and waiting area
is still segregated into a priority waiting area and a regular waiting area.
Boarding started around the indicated time and priority boarding was conducted exactly as per procedures. People in the wrong boarding group were sent back.
Gate agents were present and did their jobs like robots. No smiles or interactions and everyone was just stressed.
At the aircraft door we were greeted by the Maitre de Cabine who also checked all boarding passes.
Once at our seat, they were already equipped with a small but fluffy pillow and a blanket. The headphones were ready, and a bottle of water and the amenity kit were ready on the armrest.
The cabin crew was super present in the cabin whilst boarding. They interacted with the customers and helped where help was needed. They collected jackets of customers and hang them in the
wardrobe.
Once the majority of the business class guests were on board, they startet with a welcome drink and you could either choose between champagne and flowder (and elderflower drink).
As soon as all business class customers were on board, they distributed the menu cards and also took the orders for the main service.
Inflight:
The Swiss business class product on this Boeing 777-300 is good, but it isn't the newest product anymore. I am really looking forward to when Swiss will be introducing their new business
class in 2025.
The seats are rather on the tight side compared to other carriers. Our aircraft had 62 seats in business class. Each row is equipped with 5 seats. Either in a 1-2-2 or 2-2-1 abrest, always
alternating.
For this flight we did choose two seats in the middle of the main business class cabin. Like this everyone of us has direct aisle access. If you get the window seat with the two seats on the
aisle, one has no aisle access and you really need to climb over the other if you need to use the bathroom inflight and your neighbour is sleeping.
The seats are fully lie flat. Once you make the bed, they go down so low you are actually almost sleeping on the floor. As said the space by the shoulders is very limited. I was not able to
lay down on my back and keep my arms on the side.
After take-off, the cabin crew started with the service. Compared to our last flight with Swiss where the departure out of BKK was in the middle of the night, this departure time now offers a full day flight back to Zurich. This means the crew also has more time.
They started with an aperitif service with mixed nuts and offered a full beverage service.
Then they set up the table with a tablecloth and started lunch service.
First, the first course was served on a full-size tray which also included some condiments like salt and pepper, some butter and olive oil to dip bread, bread and the famous Swiss cheese and
of course the first course.
I did try the Tuna tataki with wasabi mayonnaise, green mango salad and pickled ginger. My better half went for the goat cheese and cucumber roll with avocado puree and asparagus. The first
courses were both simply wowww. The tuna was super delicious, fresh and tasteful. The cucumber roll was super refreshing. Both were stunning starters for inflight catering.
Together with the first course another full drink service was offered and on the way back to the galley the crew already offered a refill.
The empty plates from the first course were collected and the crew plated the main meals and brought them out.
Followed by anther full drink service and a second helping of bread.
The main meals looked great and had a very good taste. Careful if you don’t like fatty beef as the braised beef brisket 50% consisted of pure fat. Otherwise a delicious main course.
The crew then offered refills of drinks and cleared the table. They offered the dessert and asked for tea, coffee and digestives.
Last but not least they passed with some chocolates to close the main meal service.
The cabin crew in Business Class (except for the Main M/C more to that in the summary) were simply fantastic.
They offered an amazing service, were smiling, interacting with the customers and you could also see that they had fun with what they did and they worked perfectly together as a team. Simply
an outstanding service.
Bathrooms were checked throughout the entire flight and always refilled. They were always super clean. I love the modern look of the sink in the Swiss Business Class lavatories.
The amenity kit which is offered in cooperation with Victorinox is okay. It offers the regular content such as socks, toothbrush, earplugs and an eye mask. The creams (lip balm and cream)
have disappeared since our last travel with Swiss from its amenity kit.
Swiss was the first airline of offering amenity kits which could be reused in the daily life for other things. Todays amenity kit box for example can be reused as pencil holder.
The inflight entertainment is good. The screens interact well, have a great size and a great resolution.
The screens are touch screens but you can also choose the handheld devices to navigate. The system reacts very fast and is super reliable.
The aircraft is equipped with WiFi.
New since August this year, Swiss offers a free connection to all customers on board if you simply want to send text messages and pictures on the most popular messaging channels.
Otherwise they have reduced the price as well for this service.
A 4 hours package now costs 25.00 CHF (app. 27.50 USD) or for the full length of the flight it costs 35.00 CHF (app. 38.50 USD)
Also new is, that the inflight magazine can be read via the WiFi connection.
In between the two services, the crew passed through the cabin with either drinks or asked the awake passengers if they would like to have something to drink.
There were also some snacks available throughout the entire flight in the galley. In between the two services the crew passed actively in the cabin once with ice-cream and once with
sandwiches.
Around 2 hours prior landing in Zurich a second service was carried out. The crew calls it the Arrival service and it is a light service prior arrivals.
On this flight we had the choice to choose between a Chickenburger or a pomelo coconut salad with garlic prawns. The dishes were accompanied by a fruit salad and the crew did a full drink
service. The meals may look small but it was definitely sufficient after all the snacks during the flight.
The pomelo salad was super fresh and tasty. The burger was nice too and we liked that Swiss is leaving you the option on the toppings.
The crew again did a fantastic job and worked again hand in hand.
Welcome announcement by the captain was okay. It was to silent but somehow understandable.
The arrival announcement by the flying pilot was good. Much clearer, louder and more understandable as the one from the captain.
Announcement from the Maitre de Cabine weren't really understandable on departure and inflight. Arrival announcement was much better. She would have been loud enough but you could not understand her pronunciation.
After the Flight:
We got a parking position in Terminal E.
No queue and waiting time at immigration.
Baggage delivery in Zurich was a mess. Swissport International AG what the heck are you doing?
First bags were on the belt 45 minutes after arrival. At least priority bags were delivered first.
One of our bags arrived taped and damaged and it took us another hour to sort things out.
Absolutely terrible customer service of Swissport.
Summary:
All in all a fantastic flight with Swiss.
The Airport experience from Swiss in BKK was great.
The cabin crew in business class was simply top notch. They offered a fantastic service and interacted with the customers. They were friendly and always smiling. It showed once more that the
crew makes the difference. They lived the Swiss hospitality.
The main Maitre de Cabin, the lady in charge of the entire flight was not really appropriate. She was running around, was loud and boorish to customers. She isn't what you would consider a
warm-hearted hospitality professional.
The main meal service was super delicious and tasteful. The snacks during the flight were plentiful. The arrival service was sufficient, fresh and tasty. The drinks services were plentiful
and the crew always asked for fill ups.
The seat was okay, everything worked well but I am definitely looking forward to the new product.
A fantastic flight with a great cabin crew. By todays experience we can highly recommend Swiss International for future flights.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
-If you are interested in more details, please send me a private message and I will be happy to share