In premium economy with Swiss, review flight from Bangkok to Zurich aboard 777/300
I am always looking to try new booths and when I can do it while spending little it is even better. In the last period I have [...]
Swiss
Star Alliance
ZRH
Thailand
I am always looking to try new cabins, and when I can do so while spending little it is even better. In the last period I have reviewed several flights paid cash for different reasons. One out of all that you do not have infinite points, but mainly because wanting to renew status you also have to fly by paying for the ticket and not just flying with points.
Reservation
In this article:
- Specifications
- Aircraft:
- 777/300
- Class:
- Premium Economy
- Treat:
- Bkk - ZRH
- Price:
- 400€ + 180€ upgrade
- Book
The best bonuses
This is a multi-leg ticket I booked on the American Express travel portal, outbound from Malpensa to Tokyo, via Munich and back from Bangkok to Malpensa via Zurich.
The total cost was less than 950€., and this route cost me about 450 euros. Like I had a chance to explain I constantly monitored the price for an upgrade in PE, and when it dropped from 450 to 180€, I snapped it up.
At the airport
I arrived in the main airport of Thailand's capital city and I was greeted by a flood of people, This is my fifth time leaving BKK post pandemic and from the first time to now The world has changed, and we're back to what we were before.
Lots of people, lots of departing flights, queuing at security and immigration checks THAT'S GOOD! I have not gone crazy, but I am happy that the world is once again on top of a plane.
I was worried that at the gate they would also let me board my trolley, which was a tad over the 8kg allowed, but no checks and no problems either with my suitcase slightly over the 23kg allowed.
I was traveling heavy because it was a 2-week trip up and down Asia and the Middle East with Marika. However, this time I traveled alone because. she left a few hours before me with Finnair destination Riga.
The check-in counters opened on time, I spent about ten minutes watching the attendants adjust the aisles, via the poles and extendable belts. It sounds easy, but to do this job you have to be raised on bread and mazes. If for First and Gold Star Alliance passengers the road was all straight, for all other travelers it was worse than on Gardaland's Velociraptor.
Tickets in your pocket, photo ops and off to security checks. As mentioned for the first time, post pandemic, I found queuing at the escalators leading to level 1, the one housing the scanners.
Every time, every damn time I go from BKK to the scanners I get "selected" my battery pack Is borderline, and every time they want to see to check. Always know what you can and cannot take on board, otherwise it all goes into the dustbin and you throw money away too.
Queue also at immigration. Thailand still stamps passports in and out, while many nations from the US to Singapore to Australia have stopped taking up valuable space on the document.
Double stamp, double footprint, double photo. What could be done with machines like in Hong Kong here generates almost 40 minutes of queue time.
Just outside I headed for the Singapore Airlines lounge. Flying aboard a Star Alliance airline I had many lounges available at this airport, in addition to the independent lounges accessible with Priority Pass.
I tried the Silverkris Lounge, because I missed it in the list of lounges at this airport, but I was disappointed. Tiny, impersonal, and with a really small bathroom. So I finally decided to move to the lounge at Thai the Royal Orchid that I reviewed last year.
It is located right in front of gate D3 where my plane departed, a perfect locatio to admire the arrival of the 777/300 Swiss and observe, from above, the disembarkation of passengers.
Aircraft turnaround, even on long haul, is now fast, less than 2 hours to disembark cabin and hold, clean and tidy up, and a new crew arrives ready to board and depart. The less the machine sits, the more money the company makes. Ryanair docete.
A couple of minutes before boarding, I asked the gate agent if the seat next to mine was still free; I had seen that it was when I checked in. Receiving an affirmative answer.
Boarding for dummies
Who saw my video with ITA from New York to Rome. noted how he criticized the Italian (and other) passengers who created the usual chaos at the gate, what doesn't work though in ITA's case is also the choice to board by rows and not by zones.
LH, on the other hand, has a very clever procedure, divided into zones. The order of boarding basically arises based on where a passenger is seated. Zone 1 is reserved, if any for those traveling in first. Zone 2 to business passengers and those with Senator status or higher, or an equivalent In the Star Alliacnce program.
Zone 3 is for premium economy passengers, while for tourist the zones are. 4,5 e 6. It does not vary by price, but by seat. Those who are seated near the window have zone 4, those in the middle zone 5, and last the passengers seated on the aisle side. This way there are no traffic jams in the aisles and the procedure runs faster.
Simple and beautifully explained with banners in front of the gate doors.
On board
As a Gold Star Alliance I boarded before all PE passengers, But upon my arrival at the place the nasty surprise. The seat next to mine was occupied. I had noticed some non-uniformed people boarding with the crew and one of them was sitting in seat 22J.
I didn't even have much time to understand what was going on, Because then also came the request for change of place. So not only did I waste time and couldn't take pictures of the cabin, but under the eyes of half the crew I didn't feel like saying no, but I swear I won't do it again.
I left the best PE chair for a mediocre one, since row 21 has only one window and not two like the one I had chosen.
I don't know if the two friends were Swiss employees, but more likely they were crews from some company that took advantage of the opportunity to take a trip, almost scrounging, to Zurich.
If you don't know one of the best benefits that airline workers, all over the world, have is to be able to fly for free, or nearly free, all over the world aboard all companies not only those where they work and any subsidiaries, but really on all of them. It's not just a benefit for traveling personnel, but really for all employees even clerks and service personnel.
So not only did I lose my time advantage, but I also traveled in a less beautiful seat.... So if there are fewer photos of the cabin than usual on this review, that explains the reason.
PE is configured with a 2-4-2, classic on the 777, there is one thing out of all that I don't like which is the fact that the three rows of the premium economy are in the same cabin as the tourist. There is no separation of any kind between the two cabins,
The chair is comfortable and spacious. There is leg support and it tilts, or perhaps it would be better to say slides. The seat is in fact inside a shell that doesn't move, to make the seat tilt you have to make the lower part of the seat crawl, I couldn't do it and had to get an assistant to help me.
The coffee table does not come out of the armrest, but as per tradition from the backrest before it. It is solid and split, so comfortable in various positions.
Little storage space, or should we say nothing but the envelope in the front seat.
Adjustable headrest in different positions and very comfortable restraining flaps so you don't jolt from one side of the seat to the other.
The shell structure, allows the rear passenger not to be disturbed when tilting the seat, in practice the legroom for those in the back does not change according to the position of the passenger sitting in the front row.
What I don't understand is the point of having a part of the armrest that lifts up, as is the case for example in KLM's PE chair, but underneath there is no compartment to put personal items, it is a kind of dead end.
I realized what was needed a few days later, when At the presentation of Lufthansa's new EP., which will be an evolution of this chair, I saw that under the armrest there is a wireless cell phone charging base.
Food & Beverage
A menu is distributed during boarding and orders are always taken before the plane leaves the ground. The choice was between Beef Stroganov, Chicken with Vegetables, and Pasta with Mushroom Sauce was the vegetarian option. There is also a small wine list.
A welcome drink is also served, in a beautiful glass flute, moments after the boarding complete is given.
Less than 15 minutes after takeoff, a bag of pretzels and a drink was served.
Shortly thereafter the table was cleared and about an hour after departure lunch was served. Tray service, nice and larger than the classic economy tray. Lunch included: Salad, the beef, some cheese with grapes, and a cake. Gastronomic offering more than worthwhile, sure the beef Stroganov style was accompanied with dumplings, chewy and tasteless, but at least after mixing them with the meat sauce they let themselves be eaten.
The cheese looked like it had just been cut, sometimes even in business dishes you don't get that feeling. I had no desire to drink alcohol today, so both services I settled for a glass of Coke Zero.
About halfway through the flight, the crew stopped by to offer water and a bowl of ice cream. A yogurt with blueberries. I'm going to mermoria, but in-flight ice cream I remember only on board Star Alliance carriers. Air New Zealand and All Nippon Airlines are two carriers where I was served ice cream in economy.
About 60 minutes later an attendant passed along the booth offering a glass of water and a reminder that there was a small selection of snacks in the galley in the center of the cabin. Unfortunately, I don't have photos because I didn't want to wake my neighbor.
Another 90 minutes later, with 3 hours to go before landing, staffers again came by to offer water to all passengers. I have no idea in the first 4 hours of the flight if they passed because I was asleep, but I think at least once there was a pass.
Finally about 90 minutes after landing, dinner was served. There was no choice this time and everyone was served the same tray with the same items. Noodle with some vegetables, cucumber salad and some fresh fruit.
The last treat was Swiss chocolate.
"I WILL NEVER CHANGE MY PLACE AGAIN" this one I should get tattooed. I say this because the two girls who took my seat were hardly seated, but always in the crew areas. Had I not switched I would have had plenty of time and space to do what I wanted.
Service
At the seat is a pouch with the cover and pillow and a small beauty. Inside the pouch is the bare essentials, but there is a beauty for PE as well, as in all PEs where I have traveled so far, except ITA Airways.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs and face mask. In a recycled plastic bag with all the material inside environmentally sustainable.
As mentioned, the crew was very present and attentive to the needs of all passengers, not just PE passengers.
IFE
The screen is large, not like the one in ITA's new Premium Eco, but it is close. The resolution is high. Disappointing, however, is the interface, on a 4k monitor is like having put a wallpaper on the basic template that comes by default.
As soon as they took off, after the very sad security video, passengers were forced to endure about 10 minutes between commercials and service information about the company, possible inconveniences related to the large airport crowds, and some upcoming events in Switzerland.
The contents are many. There are more than 230 movies, many new releases such as Avatar, Babylon, or Creed III. There are about 120 loose episodes among TV series, documentaries, and other TV titles. Above all, there is the Box Set section with as many as 26 complete seasons of different shows such as White Lotus.
Each passenger has a USB outlet, hidden under the armrest, a universal power outlet under the bottle holder, which is definitely inconvenient to reach.
The headphones are already in place and are the over ear type, medium quality. There is a reading light on the headboard of the chair. I, as usual, have attached my bluetooth adapter and connected my headphones, waiting for Swiss to also activate the Bluetooth connectivity of its IFE.
The biggest disappointment, however, comes from the wifi, which is pay and traffic. Even worse than ITA and Oman Air with the aggravation that the price is only in CHF, if one has no idea how much the exchange rate is how can one estimate the cost of wi-fi without asking an assistant?
In any case, congestion pricing should be illegal, and if we add to that the prices were throttling, the picture is complete.
In conclusion
Really good product this Premium Economy from Swiss. The cabin is new, and it shows, the service gives the right feeling of being treated better than the rest of the economy passengers.
Of course being in the same booth doesn't give that premium feeling that it would be logical to find, if not a dividing galley at least a bulkhead with a curtain would give more exclusivity.
Wifi at gourmet restaurant prices, where you then pay a lot and eat little, I just don't understand it. If on service it is right for companies to hold different standards and products within the group, on wi-fi it just doesn't make sense to have such a clear difference between the LH and LX product, not to mention that you can't even pay with Miles&More points.
Pro
- The chair
- The service
Against
- I left my place and will never change it again
- Wing View
- wifi at an obscene price