Thứ Hai, 22 tháng 7, 2013

SWISS Business Class: The Seats That Offer The Most Privacy On Long-Haul ...

db3dc Swiss Single Seat 2 300x2261 Excl: Via.com founders launching new travel search venture Trip Factory   


Swiss International’s single business class seat, practical, comfortable, private.


A business or first class flight to Europe from the U.S.—or any overnight flight in the front cabin for that matter—is a case of booking a hotel with wings. One of the odder aspects of such flights is bedding down next to someone you don’t even know, even in first class. (The exception is first-class suites on Singapore and Emirates, the current equivalent of a hotel room in the sky.) Major international carriers have addressed this problem with flip-up privacy screens between seats and by designing business class cabins divided into adjacent quasi-compartments, with the seats themselves some distance apart.


Having flown business class on Swiss twice in the past two months, The Hotel Detective can say that the airline has taken the solution a big step farther by doing something simple: creating single seats in business class on its A340 and A330-300 aircraft. They are used for long-haul international flights to and from Zurich and Geneva, the airline’s international gateways in Switzerland.


When you book business class, ask for an Einselsitz or a single seat. On A330-300s and A340s they consist of 6A, 8A, 10A, 12A, and all of row K. Really want to show that you know? The A330-300 and A340 business class cabin is divided in two, with a two-row section in front of the galley. (Go to Seat Guru to see a cabin map.) They are the ones to get because the space feels so private. Request 4A, 4K, or 5K. The first two are single bulkhead seats, and the last-named is nicely tucked against the back wall. To my mind, they are like having a small junior suite.


Whether you get an Einselsitzor not, Swiss’ business class seat is very comfortable and well thought-out. It has a built-in power outlet that is multi-national when it comes to plug formats, cubbyholes for shoes, and a small countertop to put things on when the tray is not extended. The seat itself turns into a 78-inch/two meter flatbed that lowers into a space carved out for it in the seat in front. I had one of the best nights ever in the air on the JFK-Zurich flight.


08337 Swiss Single Seat1 300x212 Excl: Via.com founders launching new travel search venture Trip Factory


The SWISS business class seat as it appears when fully extended.


The Hotel Detective almost never writes about business class airline food because the challenges of just getting it done are so great that it’s a case of Samuel Johnson’s dancing dog: not a matter of good or ill, but the fact that it is done at all. That notwithstanding, THD thought the food on his flights, from recipes by Thomas Amstutz of the Villa Honegg in Ennetburgen, was pretty darn good. The wine list had a racy, under-the-radar 2012 Riesling-Sylvaner from Weingut Nadine Saxer near Zurich that made a fine aperitif and partner to the lemongrass marinated king prawns, and a very good 2010 Chateau Haut-Faugeres to go with the main course. And THD liked the fact that before takeoff, the chief flight attendant came down the aisle to offer a personal greeting and ask if one had any questions. It’s one of those little, low-cost touches that personalizes (and rationalizes) the cost of business class.



SWISS Business Class: The Seats That Offer The Most Privacy On Long-Haul ...

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