Which airline(s) fly non-stop from L.A. to Zurich?
 

Calling all well traveled Fodorites!

I am trying to help friends arrange air travel to Switzerland this coming summer. They have some particular criteria, which include a non-stop flight on an airline with flat beds in first class! Since this is a manner in which I have never traveled, nor am likely to in the future, I am looking to others for recommendations. Which airline(s) do you suggest I research? As always, thank you for your insight.

Hi, Iregeo.

I hate to tell you this, but something's gotta give. I did a search on Orbitz and found no non-stops from LAX to ZRH at all. However, let me make a suggestion. British Airways has the flat beds in Business Class. The service and food are fantastic in BA's Business Class, and while on layover in London, they will have the use of the Business Class lounge. The lounge will have showers, snacks, drinks (alcoholic and not), comfy sofas, etc. and it's all free. Since non-stop is not an option, I think this is the next best thing.

I am going to be flying from San Francisco (in the back of the bus unfortunately)to Switzerland in Sept and have been looking for a good fair for about a month now and have NOT seen any non stop flights from this coast...

Just for the heck of it, I searched LAX/Geneva also. Sorry, no dice, but do consider BA. Through a strange twist of fate I was upgraded to Business Class on BA last summer, and it that flight was a pleasure.

Irego, I did a very quick search at itasoftware.com. If you do one of their 30-day searches you can specify the number of stops. In the list of flights that came up, there were two non-stops from LAX to Zurich, one on Swiss and one on American. I think the American flight might meet their flat bed criterion.

OK, I might have to eat my words. It looks like Swiss does have non-stops to/from LA, but I don't know about the flat beds. I am a frequent flyer on American and have never seen flat beds on AA, but it's worth a call to ask.

Thanks. Betsy, I found the same results in a Sidestep search. Now, I'll get to work. My goal is to beat $10,000...PER TICKET!! Maybe one day I'll have worries like this, too!

Poor things, they can only afford $10,000 each for tix. :-((

Once again, do call the airlines and ask about flat beds. Heck, for that kind of money they should have king sized beds with massaging capabilities!!

One last question -- these folks have lots of miles on United. For argument's sake, assume I talk them into using their even though the flight will not be non-stop. Do you know if United's first class cabin has the flat beds? I called United, but the agent I spoke with didn't know. Thanks again.

Swiss and American are code share partners and it looks like that American flight may actually be operated by Swiss.

Yes, United has flat beds in first (not that I've ever been able to have one; I've only looked longingly at them in the past). I think to get there from LAX with one stop, they'd have to connect through Dulles. You might also check Lufthansa from LAX to FRA. I think some of LH's planes have flat beds, but I'm not sure about all of them. I've done the hop from FRA to Zurich and it is very short. You can use UA miles on LH, subject of course to availability (which is not a given).

Clarification: UA has flat beds on 777s and 747s, but I'm not so sure about the 767s. That would probably mean going via Frankfurt.

http://www.united.com/page/middlepag...3,1131,00.html

I started a reply that was going to propose your friends are "trolling" you (you have been around for quite a while, so it seems safe to say that you are not a troll yourself) - - but I got interrupted - - and it is interesting to see the spectrum of tools and answers they provide. Expedia didn't yield any non-stop flights on the dates I first arbitrarily chose. I see that someone else got a similar answer from Orbitz - - I didn't check there, and rather, went to Travelocity next.

Travelocity readily yielded the answer that Swiss is the only airline that flies LAX-ZRH nonstop (American codeshares this flight, though I could not discern this on travelocity readily - - got it from the www.aa.com website). But I found no inkling (initially, on Travelocity) that they offer a <i><b>first</b></i> class, only a business class

Determining the availability of what classes of seats is a more interesting challenge... (or it has been in my search of 15-20 minutes)...

The swiss.com website quickly shows that they do have a first class, and they show, in fact cabin maps of their A330 and A340 airplanes - - but it didn't really indicate the operation of the first class seats.

I had hoped that I could find an answer at http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/seat_intro.htm - - but it told essentially nothing about Swiss - - though it did tell about other airlines with fully flat seats.

But the internet yields answers if you keep looking - - and http://www.firstclasstickets.com/swiss-air.html shows that Swiss clearly does have flat beds.

Back to my initial reaction - - it still seems to me that people who can afford these kinds of seats either have the basic computer skills to use Travelocity (but maybe they tried Expedia or Orbitz first) - - or they have &quot;their people&quot; who know how to find a nonstop flight on one or more (of the many, as we see now) tools that can find the non-stop first class service on Swiss.

Oh, and since the question has been answered (at least in part) about United and its sleeper seats, you may wish to refer your friends to the same website to see http://www.firstclasstickets.com/united.html

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex, I can assure you that I am not a troll, nor am I being &quot;trolled,&quot; to use your phrase. In fact, these friends are an elderly couple, who happen to be quite wealthy. In his younger years, the gentleman was a physician, as I understand you are. Upon retirement, he has made a fortune in the real estate market. But frankly, this is none of your business, is it?

Yes, I am certain this couple have the computer skills to search travelocity, as you so smugly suggest. They also could ask &quot;their people&quot; to arrange their travel. But I offered, as it it something that I enjoy and these are lovely people who have done a lot for me and my family.

I wonder, why did you even bother responding to this post? Please, go back to searching out inadequate thread titles.

Best wishes,

Iregeo

Swiss offer first class LAX-ZRH; around US$10,400 RT in April/May.

They also have flat bed seats in business class, price around $2300 for the same flights.

Most major airlines would discontinue first class service to LA last of all - way too many entertainment industry types who don't flinch at those prices. Who knows, ride in first to Zurich and you may sit next to Tina. Sure.

I'm sorry that the re-write of my reply still was bothersome to you. Most of the post was about the different internet resources that <i><b>I</b></i> needed to come up with definitive info.

And I labeled my next-to-last paragraph as my <i>initial</i> reaction; clearly my error was using the phrase &quot;it still seems to me&quot; - - and for this I apologize.

And I hope that the website info I provided is helpful in some way to you or your friends.

Iregeo,
As a few have said, Swiss does indeed have non-stop LAX-ZRH service with flat beds in First. Seats in Business are flat but at a slight angle and are more like flat seats, not flat beds.

Speaking from experience only with Swiss First service ORD-ZRH, and comparing it to other First Class service I've experienced in recent years (since the cutbacks), I would rate Swiss near the top. They might even be the best carrier to Europe in the premium cabins.

Again, though not as great as it used to be, the Swiss First Class experience is truly special from check-in all the way through bag retrieval. Seats, cabin service, meals, etc. are quite good.

You can recommend this option to your friends without reservation or regret.

<b>as posted by P_M,


&quot;I am a frequent flyer on American and have never seen flat beds on AA, but it's worth a call to ask.&quot;</b>

I guess you don't fly internationally?

AA has wonderful suites on their Atlantic configuration 777s. They do go totally flat and actually are one of the best available. Unfortunately AA doesn't finish the product with nice pillows and duvets. They basically give you a little bigger blanket and the regular first class pillows.

BTW, AA will reconfigure all their 777s into the private Atlantic suite configuration by the end of this year. That's the rumor. We'll see.

The AA LAX-ZHR is a Swiss operated flight and if it's the 340 they do have wonderful suites but you do pay for it.

I do fly internationally, but I am usually on a 767. I have not seen flat beds on those, but I'm glad to know they have them on their 777's. I knew BA had flat beds, but I was unaware AA had them too.

AAFF, do they have the flat beds in business class as well as first?

Not AAFF, but the answer is no beds in J. Coming soon... maybe... er...