Flight Review: Swiss Business Class – Athens to Zurichfeatured
When you consider all of the places you can hop to from Athens, it seems kind of random to end up in Switzerland, doesn’t it?
We could have gone to Santorini. I still dream of Santorini with a heavy heart and the memory of hot sun and high winds, of being so, so close, but not close enough. We could have spent more time in Italy, or gone to Prague. We could have jetted over to London. But we went to Switzerland.
Gale force winds prevented us from tendering into Santorini in 2015
The original plan was to use Zurich as a gateway to visit Colmar, a small town in the Alsace region of France. Stephanie found Colmar on Instagram and immediately fell in love. The train ride from Zurich was short enough to be able to make a day trip, and one of my old bosses was spending the year working out of the company’s Zurich office, so stopping in Zurich for a couple of days would allow for a quick visit with an old friend.
So after we disembarked the Vista, we hopped on a transfer to Eleftherios Venizelos, the international airport in Athens. The airport was buzzing in the mid-morning hours, with heavy lines just about everywhere. We weren’t really sure where to go or what to do, so we lingered outside for a bit, enjoying the warm, sunny day. We walked around the ticketing area (and joked about the Victoria’s Secret that was just beyond the agents) and we settled into a forming line to check in for our Swiss Air flight. Someone had mentioned that agents wouldn’t be available until 11:30 am for our 1:50 pm flight, so we weren’t even sure if they’d let us check in, but we had nothing else to do but wait.
Some of the check-in lines wrapped all the way around departures
It always amazes me how easily you can pretend to be in a shopping mall in some of these European airports
Our options for flights to Zurich were limited to a few carriers and we ultimately went with Swiss for a few reasons: recommendations from friends, safety record and partnership with a major alliance. Our flight from Athens to Zurich ran around $100 per person one way (including one checked bag each) and we were also given the option to upgrade to Business Class for $40 each a few weeks before we left, which would not include the mileage multiplier or the extra luggage, but would get us priority at ticketing and security, as well as access to the Lufthansa business class lounge. I hate waiting in lines and lounge access sounded like a better way of spending a few hours before our flight so I upgraded all of us.
No $40 I’ve spent has ever been more worth it.
Not only did we skip ahead to a separate line that checked us in right away at 11:30 am on the dot, but the Lufthansa lounge was super swanky. We’re talking a hot food bar, primo champagne and liquor (including a whiskey cart), fresh salads, super comfy chairs and working stations and premium Internet good enough to download the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
Swiss doesn’t have it’s own lounge in Athens, but our business class tickets gained us access to the Lufthansa lounge
A self service bar offered just about any libation
If whiskey is your thing, the Lufthansa lounge has an entire cart for you
Baskets of fresh rolls, muffins, croissants, baguettes and pastries were replenished frequently
So much better than any airport meal I’ve had at O’Hare, that’s for sure!
We even had the lounge (and the bar!) to ourselves for awhile!
We passed our day in the airport enjoying the lounge, wandering through the duty free shops and making as many drinks as we could sip from the cappuccino machine. Before we knew it, it was time to head through security.
The duty free shops had a robust selection of gourmet Greek goodies
College Nicole would have gone crazy in a duty free Juicy Couture shop
Security in Athens made me a little twitchy because it was so incredibly lax compared to the screening we go through in the US, and given not only the current state of affairs in Greece, but in Europe in general and really across the world, I would have felt more comfortable with a more comprehensive screening. As it was, my bags were fed through the x-ray machine (my camera, laptop and liquids had to be fed through separately) and screened by a woman who was just hanging around the security line before we entered it. Our shoes and sweaters didn’t need to come off before we went through an old school metal detector. We literally just walked right through.
European airports are a bit different from US ones in that you don’t hang around the gate before your flight. You don’t even go through security until right before your flight. Instead, you just kind of hang out in a pseudo shopping mall/lounge area until about a half hour before boarding and then you go through security and head to your gate. Our gate was busy when we got there about 20 minutes before boarding. Everyone started lining up early and when boarding time had come and gone and things still weren’t moving, they made an announcement that there was a mechanical issue with the plane and we’d be boarding as soon as they could fix it.
The departure gates at Athens International are small and cramped
Our delay ended up being short (around 45 minutes), caused by a hole in a tire near the wing. Boarding was quick and efficient, and before we took off, the pilot came on to apologize for the delay and let us know it was something that came up in her preflight checks that they just wanted to get squared away before we departed. I used to suffer from a serious fear of flying (thanks, Tropical Storm Barry) and this is the kind of thing that makes me feel a little better about sitting in a metal tube as it hurdles through the sky: it’s such a minute thing that was easily detected and fixed before I even stepped foot onto the jetway.
Swiss business class isn’t much different from their economy section on their short and mid haul aircraft. The seats are the same, but in business class they leave the middle seat empty. We found them to be comfortable, wide and offering excellent pitch (but I’m the tallest of us at 5’4, so pitch is almost never a problem).
Leg room was perfectly adequate for us, and the empty middle seat gave additional comfort to the otherwise standard seats
The overhead bins are clearly marked for business class usage only
Business class seats on Swiss Air’s short and mid haul flights are the same as the economy seats
As we pushed off, a flight attendant came around to pass out small bottles of water and a packaged wipe before the safety demonstration began.
Before takeoff, we were handed small water bottles and a moist towelette
The flight to Zurich was short, just under two and a half hours, but business class was offered a full meal service. Drink service began as soon as we leveled off. While we had our choice from a wide range of boozy libations, I was still nursing a sinus infection, so my glass of champs in the lounge earlier was just about all of the boozy stuff I could handle with my Sudafed. Instead, I watched the Greek isles pass outside the window with a glass of orange juice and a package of snack mix. The attentive flight attendant servicing the business cabin made sure to check back to make sure we didn’t want champagne with our juice more than once.
Until next time, Greece!
The beverage cart was rolled through our cabin as soon as the plane leveled off
Snack mix was handed out with our beverage selections
Our meal options were a beef dish with schnitzel or a cheese ravioli dish. Both were served with a crusty roll, a fresh salad, a chocolate mousse pot and a small cheese board. Stephanie and I opted for the beef while Mom opted for the ravioli, and while the presentation left a bit to be desired, everything was surprisingly delicious.
A full hot meal was served despite the short 2.5 hour flight
Coffee, tea and cordials were offered after our meal, along with a small bar of Swiss chocolate. We started hitting some heavier turbulence over the Alps, but even turbulence is a little better when you have some Swiss chocolate in hand.
My sinus infection meant hot tea instead of cordials, but I had a nice selection of premium teas to choose from
We were excited to spot the Alps breaking through the clouds in the distance
Before we knew it, we were breaking through the clouds and beginning our descent into Zurich. Hills and valleys, large stretches of green broken up by meandering rivers and small clustered towns appeared below us and just as soon as we could get a picture, we were on the ground.
The descent into Zurich was so beautiful!
Switzerland is so lush and beautiful in the spring time
The in flight service was so wonderful — we weren’t ready for the flight to end!
Because Greece and Switzerland are both Schengen countries, we didn’t need to pass through customs or immigration when we landed at Zurich. We went straight to baggage claim just as if this were a domestic flight.
Flying between two Schengen countries was just like flying domestic — no need to pass through immigration or customs between Athens and Switzerland
Our bags were the first ones out by the time we got to baggage claim, and we stopped at an ATM to grab some Francs before catching a taxi to our hotel.
While opportunities to fly on Swiss are few and far between for us, I can’t say enough good things about the in-flight experience. Everyone from the check in agents to the lounge attendants to the flight crew were professional, pleasant and our flight was beyond comfortable.
And, you know, any flight that includes a cheese board and Swiss chocolate is already three steps ahead of any flight I’ve taken on American. A+, Swiss Air. We’ll be back.
