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I flew with Swiss Air for the very first time last Friday, and it was without a doubt THE best short haul flight experience I have ever had. And it only cost me £112 return from London Heathrow to Geneva in Switzerland. It was just such a nice flying experience, so I thought I’d tell you all about why it was so great and why it was so different to the likes of BA, Easyjet, and even Virgin Atlantic’s Trans-Atlantic service…
1. They fly from a decent airport
I can’t stand Luton. Hate hate hate it. Most low cost airlines and European flights go from Luton, Stansted, or Gatwick, so to fly from
Heathrow was just the cherry on top of a really great flight. Heathrow is also the closest airport to where I live, as it’s only a 30min drive away, so this made me very happy. If you’re interested you can read all about my
behind the scenes experience at Heathrow.
2. You get two pieces of hand luggage as standard
So many low cost airlines only allow you to take one small cabin case as handluggage. I’m so sick of having to put my handbag or camera bag inside of my already small cabin case whenever I fly with Easyjet, so to be able to pack more into my cabin case because I didn’t have to fit all of my camera equipment in there was a refreshing change!
3. You can choose your seat for free when you check in online
I chose an emergency exit window seat so I had slightly more leg room. On my return flight this wasn’t available though so I had a standard seat, and even in a standard seat the leg room was amazing.
4. My flight wasn’t delayed
Ok slight lie. On the outbound flight it wasn’t delayed. On my return flight I was delayed by about 15mins, but to be fair it didn’t make much of a difference to me and it made a nice change to being delayed by 3 hours as I recently had with Easyjet.
5. The staff were super friendly
Like, super friendly. They literally couldn’t do enough for you and it was nice that their skin colour were normal shades and not your usual shade of Easyjet Essex Orange.
6. The leg room was insane
Just LOOK at it. It was even better than the leg room you get on long-haul flights with the Gulf Carriers (
Emirates,
Qatar,
Singapore etc), and it was so much better than the leg room on Virgin Atlantic Economy which is akin to sitting on an Easyjet flight for 10 hours (I refuse to fly VA Economy now because it’s so miserable – their premium economy offering however is awesome). I was in total shock! Even on my return flight when I wasn’t sat in an emergency exit aisle, it was still enough for me to stretch my legs out in front of me no problems.
7. The food & drinks were all free (even the alcohol)
This made a nice change. A very nice change. And it was nice that the food was free even on a flight that was only about an hour long. On the way out we had some sort of delicious Swiss bakery goodness, and on the way back we had a really delicious fresh chicken baguette. They also bring round little Swiss chocolates which is a really lovely touch!
8. They play Warner Bros. Cartoons In-flight
This made me so happy! I was obsessed with the Warner Bros. cartoons when I was younger (I even had a denim jacket with the loony tunes covering the back of it), and being able to sit for an hour on the plane and watch them was awesome. I felt like a kid again – except this time I questioned how the hell Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote survived all of those crazy falls and accidents!
9. The seats were comfortable
So. Comfy. They’re classic leather seats and I just found them nice and comfy, and large. You didn’t feel as though your personal space was being invaded by the person next to you!
10. I got Star Alliance airmiles from my flights
I have frequent flyers with
Singapore Airlines, which is part of
Star Alliance. Because Swiss Air is part of Star Alliance, it means I get the
airmiles from my Swiss Air flight automatically added to my Singapore account. Yay!
11. It was cheaper than Easyjet
Yep. Despite all of the above and the awesomeness of this flight, my flight actually cost less than Easyjet. From what I can remember the Easyjet flight was £150, and I paid £112 for my Swiss Air, but I did book around 2 months in advance.
I’ve flown with Easyjet, British Airways, KLM, Air France, Monarch, and Wizz Air on short-haul routes from London to Europe, and Swiss Air was my favourite out of all of them (with KLM a close second and Air France coming in third place). Obviously I know that there are big differences between Easyjet and Swiss because Swiss Air is not a low cost airline, but if you book far enough in advance the flights can be cheaper than the low-cost airlines, and even if it’s slightly more expensive, personally I think it’s worth it for all of the above!
What’s your favourite low cost airline?
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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Find me on: Web | Instagram
Looks like Swiss Air is firmly on my list for when I *finally* get to Switzerland one day! xx
I'm genuinely pleased to hear all this, esp the free alcohol bit! Haha. And Heathrow, yes. I'll keep this airline in mind when I next book a flight!
I split my time between Geneva and London and use Swiss Air a lot. I recently bought a one way flight from Geneva to London City with 4 days notice at CHF39 (£30) which is insane! I love the fact that the leg room is so generous, the service efficient and that there are very rarely days. If you're lucky they sometimes give out Movenpick ice-cream on some of their afternoon flights 🙂 xx
So good to see something positive about an affordable airline, especially after our recent disasters with Tiger Air! x
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
That is an AMAZING amount of leg room! And I can't believe that Swiss Air is cheaper than Easyjet. After my last two frustrating experiences with them I'm so glad that there's a competitively priced option that actually has DECENT SERVICE. If they flew from London City airport (that's the one closest to me) I will actually dance with joy…hang out, I'm off to check…x
Daydreaming With…Stanley Kubrick – Posh, Broke, & Bored
Paul and I are fans of Swiss Air, they're so friendly!
Sometimes it really makes more sense flying a better airline! After you count the addtiional charges it might not make sense to go by Easy Jet! I am definitely going to check out Swiss Air – have never thought of using them and I wonder why!
Yep definitely! Do it, they're such a great airline and the prices are so cheap if you book far enough in advance! x