AirFrance vs. SwissAir business class
 

Author: cyberUK
Date: 01/18/2005, 03:10 pm
Message: I have 2 for 1 certificates through Amex for business class travel from JFK to Nice, and return to JFK from Paris.

My choice is AirFrance to Paris in Business, then coach to Nice.
or SwissAir to Zurich, and then on to Nice, both in business class.
Can anyone compare/contrast these two airlines for quality/comfort?

The fare is within 50 dollars, so cost is not a consideration.
THANKS

No contest. Take the Swissair flights. Good luck.

cyberUK

Both airlines are good in business class, Zurich is an easier airport to connect at than CDG however.

If you are planning on stopping over in Paris on the way back (do I understand that correctly?), I would go for the nonstop flight home from Paris to JFK so choose Air France. If just connecting, go for Swiss (SwissAIR has long gone to that great airline cemetery in the sky - or is it the Mojave desert?).

If flying Air France, try to get a flight with the new seats, if flying Swiss, go for the A340 (it only flies the route 4x a week - scheds at www.swiss.com).

Finally, don't neglect the mileage earning opportunities: Swiss flights accrue miles on AA while Air France will give you CO, DL or NW miles.

Hope this helps,
Andre

CyberUK: Swiss! Swiss!

Because you do not want to fly coach if you can help it. I love Air France Business Class but if you have to switch for the connecting flight it would be much better to stick with Swiss and fly Business the whole way.

I recently flew to Europe First Class on Delta from SFO to JFK and then Business Class on Air France to CDG. There was no discernible difference in the comfort, leg room, etc.

However, once in Europe I flew Coach to Madrid and then to Prague and it was awful. I'm not a large person but the man next to me was and I felt like a sardine. The service was also lousy. I would do anything to avoid having to fly Coach!

Thanks Andre,

We will be flying into Nice, training from Avignon up to Paris, and flying back to JFK from there.
So Air France is 1 less connection.
How can I find out if my flights have the new seats?
I am reserved on flight#7 equipment is listed as 77W
connecting flight to NCE is listed as Airbus
REturn flight is flight # 12 to JFK but the equipment is listed as only "Boeing"

Does Airfrance have a site where I can check on their seats?

Thanks Andre

Thanks gualalalisa,

The flight in coach between CDG and NCE is 1.5 hours, so that is not really too big a problem, and I don't have to connect through Zurich on the return.

To your knowledge, is Swiss business up to the same standards as AirFrance?

Friends will be on the Swiss flight

Thanks for any info

Unfortunately, Air France hasn't published any schedule for the retrofit of their aircraft. I believe there's been a delay in getting the new seats from the manufacturer. You may want to check this flyertalk thread which is devoted to the new AF premium class cabins for any updates:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=18562

BTW the biggest complaint about the old AF business cabin is the seat pitch which I believe is around 48" whereas many other transatlantic carriers have 55"-60" of seat pitch in their business class cabins. I don't know how Swiss compares. It's my understanding that AF has increased the seat pitch on some of their aircraft but still using the old seats, while waiting for the new seats. So you have 3 possible business class configs on AF:

1. old seat/old pitch
2. old seat/new pitch
3. new seat/new pitch

And you just have to find out which flights have which, not the simplest of tasks.

Just FYI: There isn't any difference in Swiss' business class and its coach sections on inner- European flights apart from them serving food (and probably the seats being leather).
However, they have a 3-3-3 configuration on their small Airbus aircraft and not much of a pitch.

This is not to say that flying Swiss in general wouldn't be recommendable, just want to keep everything in perspective.

cyberUK:

Patty gave you the best online source for info on the AF cabin improvements - I would assume that you could also get the info by calling AF though.

Another thought: there's a nonstop flight from JFK to NCE 5x weekly operated by Delta that AF codeshares on (flight nr. AF 8703). Perhaps you could get a seat on that and not have to connect at all!

Hope this helps,
Andre

Read the boards at www.flyertalk.com for plenty of opinions about both products.

I have not flown Air France in many years, but IMO living in Switzerland and often flying Swiss and most other major airlines, Swiss has without a doubt the MOST UNCOMFORTABLE BUSINESS CLASS SEATS IN THE WORLD. (I have yet to see a leather seat.) Also, their service is not anything to write home about. The above posters may have been thinking about Swiss many years ago, not lately.

The coach class flight from Paris to Nice is very short and you won't notice any real difference between business and coach on those smaller airlines, IMO, other than food which is bad in all classes. . . .

Sorry, have to qualify my own post. Swiss's business class seats on intra-Europe flights (small planes) are nice and are mostly leather. However, their jumbo planes for intercontinental travel are the ones with the uncomfortable seats. Not at all fun to try to sleep on one. . .

cicerone,

when talking about leather seats on Swiss, I was referring to the intra- Europe flights only.
Apart from that, I agree with you. Even on the A340 planes, the color scheme in business class was so early eighty-ish that it made my eyes hurt...:(

My thanks to all.

Flyertalk is a wonderful resource, I am spending WAY too much time there.