“You gotta try Swiss 777-300ER business class” they said. So I did!
They told me that it would be a great experience with an attentive and proactive cabin crew. It was.
They told me that it wouldn’t be the most gourmet food I’ve ever eaten on an airplane, but I’d probably like it. They were right.
They told me to choose one of the single seats. They didn’t need to tell me this, because I would’ve done it anyway.
Finally, they told me to write a review about it. Ok, sure. I’ve got nothing better to do, so here goes nothin’…
LX64
Zürich, Switzerland (ZRH) – Miami, FL (MIA)
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Aircraft: 777-3DE/ER
Registration: HB-JNI
Duration: 9 hours 12 minutes
Seat: 4A (Business Class)
My full review of Swiss 777-300ER business class from Zürich to Miami
This was an Aeroplan award redemption for 70,000 points. It’s worth noting that this also included the flight down to Zürich from London in Swiss A320neo business class the same morning. A big fat two-fer if you will.
Arrival at ZRH
I only had 1 hour and 5 minutes to make this connection once I got off the plane from London. I was slightly majorly concerned that it wouldn’t be enough time considering that I still had to go through security and passport control.
If you recall from my Air France 777-300ER business class review, I had 1 hour and 15 minutes to get through security and passport control (at CDG) for that one. And I darn near missed the flight.
Long story short, it only took me 60 seconds to get through security here at ZRH. Passport control was simply a booth next to the departure gate, and it took all of 30 seconds to get verified. Easy peasy!
The boarding process
Boarding commenced at 12:22 PM. First class passengers got to go first (they always get to go first). Once they were taken care of, they let us lowly business class peons go next.
We boarded through the mid cabin door, which required turning left (instead of right) once onboard. Just like Delta 757-200 first class. Sort of. But not really.
Business class seat and cabin overview
Business class on the Swiss 777-300ER is broken up into two separate cabins. The forward cabin consists of 10 seats in an alternating 1-2-2 layout. The rear cabin has 57 seats in that same alternating / staggered layout. I had seat 4A for this flight, which was the single seat in the bulkhead row of the forward cabin.
The only seat that I’ve sat in similar to this was in Singapore Airlines 737 MAX 8 business class. JetBlue Mint (the domestic version) is kinda the same, but nowhere near as fancy.
The amenity kit
An amenity kit was at my seat when I boarded the aircraft. It didn’t contain much, but at least had the basics (toothpaste, toothbrush, socks, and earplugs). I always feel guilty throwing away the stuff that I don’t need, so I actually prefer simple amenity kits such as this anyway.
The departure from Zürich
They said that we would depart at 1 PM. They missed it by 9 minutes unfortunately, so I am withholding the complementary comment I was going to make about precision Swiss timekeeping. At least it was close.
It took 17 minutes to taxi out to runway 16. And let me tell you: it was probably one of the most beautiful ‘taxi to the runway’ scenarios I’ve ever been a part of. Have you seen how beautiful Switzerland is lately?
We took off at 1:26 PM, which was 16 minutes behind schedule. I bet they just love me for pointing out little tidbits of information like this.
The first meal service
Sitting in the very first row of business class has its advantages. I was the very first passenger to partake in the initial cabin service immediately after takeoff.
By the way, the following pictures of the menu are high resolution. Clicking on any of one of them will open a large larger version for your viewing pleasure.
Drinks and a light snack came first. There were two options for the snack: roasted nuts or cheese cubes. I went with the cheese cubes because, well, cheese cubes.
Lunch was served immediately after. I quite liked the fact that they served it in courses at a fairly nice pace. I didn’t feel rushed at all.
The food was pretty good. For some reason or another I was expecting this to be catered by Do & Co (as I got to experience in Austrian Airlines 777-200 business class once). It was not, but no biggie. The food was well prepared and delicious anyway.
In-flight entertainment
The noise canceling headphones they provide are some of the best noise canceling headphones I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to on an airplane. I was unable to determine what brand they were, but let me tell ya: they good!
The in flight entertainment system was decent. I’d describe the user interface as minimalist, and the catalogue of content as just OK. They did offer Disney+ and Paramount+ though. Can’t beat that.
Testing out the lie flat seat
This is a really comfortable seat for sleeping in IMHO. All the right ingredients for it are included: a very thick blanket, a cushy mattress pad, a fluffy pillow, and a completely lie flat seat with decent(ish) privacy.
Footwell space was a little tight for me (I’m 5’-10”). But at least the seat was wide enough that I could flop around like a dead fish without feeling as if I had been stuffed into a compact (and smelly) styrofoam cooler.
Business class lavatory
If you’re the kind of person who thinks the toilet should match the seat, you’re gonna love the business class lavatory! OK, yeah, it was a little small. But it did feature many of the same materials and textures of the seat that I was sitting at. I like that kind of attention to detail.
The pre-landing meal
I found it interesting that they waited to what seemed like the very last moment to serve the pre-landing meal. They turned the cabin lights on with only 1 hour and 20 minutes of flying time remaining, and then began serving the meal shortly after that. They certainly weren’t in a hurry.
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed this meal more than I did the initial meal service just after takeoff. It wasn’t too heavy (nor too light), and the flavors were just about perfect.
The descent and arrival into Miami
Let’s just say that the Weather Gods were in much more of a party mood back in Zürich than they were in Miami. It was pretty gloomy all the way down (and all the way in).
We touched down on runway 12 37 minutes early at 4:38 PM. From there, it was only an 8 minute taxi over to Concourse J. BTW, these numbers are absolutely worthy of the complementary Swiss timing comment that I withheld earlier in this review. They earned it, so here we go: yay Switzerland!
Pros and cons
Am I glad that they told me to give this a try? You’re darn right I am. It was a great experience overall, and perhaps my only major complaint is how open and exposed I felt sitting in the seat. It’s private, but not that private.
Pros
- For a solo traveler, the single seat is a phenomenally good choice.
- I like the wood and metal textures. It really helped to make it feel like a high-end experience.
- Pretty good food! The highly attentive and friendly service from the cabin crew made it taste even better.
Cons
- Yeah, seat privacy (or the lack thereof). The semi-open layout felt slightly dated IMHO.
- Those of you who prefer interacting the screen instead of the remote control (for in-flight entertainment) might not like having a lean so far forward to interact with it. It’s pretty far away from the seat.
The “patchwork” is actually a sharkskin technology from Lufthansa Technik that they put on the plane that reduces drag.
I knew it had to be something like that! Them Germans are a crafty bunch.
Except when the folks at Volkswagen were busy gaming emissions data…
Well, technically, it was a crafty idea lol
I’ve flown Swiss business class from ZRH-LAX on the B777 and agree with your assessment Scott. It was fine but not my favorite.
For some reason or another Swiss 77W business class has been one of my most requested reviews of the past several years. Not sure why, as it was quite good, but not phenomenal. Perhaps it was everyone’s way of telling me that they’re sick and tired of American and Frontier economy reviews lol.