RobynFrance

We are planning to travel to Budapest and return from Prague starting from either Miami or Charlotte. Have started hearing about uncomfortable seating in business class on Swissair, possibly Lufthansa on recent international flights.

Can anyone please let me know of recent experience on any of the above--main routes considered are Charlotte-Munich (Lufthansa), Miami-Zurich (swis) and Miami-Paris (AF).

Many many thanks--we have to do our final booking by midnight tomorrow.

Take care,
Robyn France

Gardyloo

I can only speak to Swiss' longhaul business seat (Johannesburg - Zurich but comparable flight length.)

We found it wide enough but not especially comfortable - flat but not horizontal, but quite hard and - more a problem for me than my wife - the seat bottom was rather short, hitting my thighs at a quite uncomfortable spot.

It's not Swissair, BTW - that company is history. It's Swiss International, controlled by Lufthansa.

Gardyloo

Meant to add, we transferred at Zurich to Prague, and that flight on Swiss (early morning) was quite nice.

DonTopaz

I believe that the best choice is Lufthansa (from Miami). They offer angled-flat seats that are very good, and their business-class service and lounges are both among the best between the US and Europe.

Swiss flights from Charlotte (they don't fly from MIA) are on the Airbus 330, which has the old-style, uncomfortable business class seats. These are not the same new-style seats that Gardyloo would have had on his flight from Johannesburg.

RobynFrance

Rizzuto--
Thanks for telling me about the Airbus 330--they do fly from Miami to Zurich and that is the aircraft they fly. We will avoid that one. We really appreciate the tip.

Robyn France

travelgourmet

You have no idea how uncomfortable business class can be until you fly on a Swiss A330. The leg rest is designed only for those less than 5'5". Honestly, it is dumbfounding that anyone ever greenlighted this monstrosity. A bit of a shame, as the wine and food and service is good, but the seat is so awful that you will regret spending the money.

Fly anybody else.

Lufthansa is not necessarily to be avoided, as they have largely upgraded the entire fleet to their new standard, but if you want to guarantee a decent experience, go with AF.

travelgourmet

As an aside, why is BA not on the list? They fly out of Miami and Atlanta, and would be among my top choices for a trip to Europe in biz.

rdskier2000

We are flying business class on Swiss from LAX to Zurich. I think it is on an A340. I hope it is more comfortable. We are using our frequent flier miles from United.

travelgourmet

Yes, the LAX-ZRH flight is on an A340. These are pretty well-regarded and the seats should be decent. I think they are comparable to the new Lufthansa seats.

Like I said, I found the service, food, wine, etc to be quite good, so I would think that the flying Swiss on an A340 should be a pleasant enough experience.

moremiles

I just booked a Lax-ZRH-NBO trip on Swiss with mileage and from seatguru, it looks like the 340 should be pretty good, it's their flagship and has the slanted almost flat seats. Unfortunately, the 332 on my 2nd leg does not sound too good for sleeping.