Swiss Business Class To Europe, Up To 9 Seats
Swiss has a good chunk of business class award space available in early 2024 as well as some space from Montreal this November/December. You can even take advantage of a 20% transfer bonus to Aeroplan to save some points.
Remember, you can connect to other destinations from Zurich or Geneva. In some cases, it won't even require more miles.
You can earn $10 when you refer your friends to STTP Premium!
Now, let's get into it!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: BOS/EWR/JFK/MIA/ORD/SFO/YUL-ZRH, JFK-GVA
Operating airline: SWISS
Class of service: Business class
Dates: July - August 2023, November 2023 - April 2024
Seats available: Up to 9
Cabin layout: 1-2-1/2-2-1
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan:
- BOS/EWR/JFK/YUL: 60,000 points
- MIA/ORD/SFO: 70,000 points
- ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 56,000 to 63,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- Lufthansa Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer: 81,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 88,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- From US: $5.60
- ZRH to US: ~$55
- From YUL: ~$50
- ZRH to YUL: ~$40
- Surcharges:
- One-way: ~$868
- Round-trip: ~$1,718
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- United MileagePlus: Bilt, Chase, Marriott
Check out the latest transfer bonuses!
Let me know if you book!
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Available Dates
BOS-ZRH
July: 24-26, 29-31
August: 1, 2, 5-7
January: 9, 15, 16, 22-24, 29-31
February: 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 25-27
March: 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26
April: 1, 2, 8, 15
ZRH-BOS
September: 6, 7
November: 15, 22, 29
December: 6, 13, 25
January: 10, 30, 31
February: 7, 13, 14, 21, 28
March: 6, 13, 20, 27
JFK-ZRH
July: 21, 24-26
August: 8, 14, 21
January: 22, 23, 29
February: 5-7, 12, 13, 19-21, 26, 27
March: 4, 5, 11, 12, 19, 26
ZRH-JFK
November: 7-9, 14-16, 17, 21-24, 28-30
December: 1, 5-7, 12-14
January: 9-13, 16, 23-26, 30, 31
February: 1, 2, 5-9, 12-16, 20-22. 27-29
March: 1, 5-9, 12-15, 19-21, 26, 27
April: 2, 4, 9, 11, 16
EWR-ZRH
January: 23, 29
February: 5, 6, 12 ,13, 19, 20
March: 4, 5, 11, 12, 19, 26
ZRH-EWR
November: 23, 29, 30
December: 6, 12, 13
January: 10, 16, 23, 24, 30, 31
February: 6-8, 13, 14, 20-22, 27-29
March: 5, 6, 12-14, 19, 20, 26, 27
ORD-ZRH
July: 23-27, 30, 31
August: 1-10, 12-16, 18-23, 27, 28
October: 16, 23-25
ZRH-ORD
August: 22-24, 30, 31
October: 18, 19
YUL-ZRH
October: 29-31
November: 6-30
December: 1, 2, 4-8, 10, 11, 13, 25, 27-31
January: 1, 8-31
February: 1-28
March: 5, 10-22, 25-31
April: 1-7, 921, 24, 25
ZRH-YUL
November: 1-5, 7-13, 15-18, 20-22, 24-30
December: 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11, 27, 29, 30
January: 1-3, 5, 6, 8-31
February: 1-29
March: 1-3, 5, 6, 11-22, 25-27, 29, 30
April: 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27
MIA-ZRH
N/A
ZRH-MIA
August: 23, 24, 29
January: 11-13, 16, 18-20, 23, 25-27, 30
February: 1, 2, 6, 8, 15, 27, 29
March: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 14, 19, 21, 26
SFO-ZRH
July: 23, 24
November: 11-13, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27
ZRH-SFO
N/A
JFK-GVA
July: 26
August: 1, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21
November: 13, 14, 16, 20, 28
January: 16, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30
February: 4, 7, 11-13, 21, 26-28
March: 3-5, 11, 13, 18-20, 24, 26, 27
April: 3, 4, 7, 8, 15, 16
GVA-JFK
August: 8, 12, 13
November: 4, 7-30
December: 1-14
January: 9-13, 16, 18, 19, 24-26, 29-31
February: 1, 2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-22, 26-29
March: 1, 4-8, 11-16, 19-21, 26-28
April: 2-4, 8-11, 15, 16, 18, 22-25, 29, 30
May: 1, 2, 6-11, 13, 14:
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Flight Experience
The food and service are both solid. If you can get one of the throne seats, it's even better as you'll have tons of space -- the armrests are like small tables. If traveling with someone, you might want to choose seats in the middle section.
Unless you have Miles & More Senator or Hon Circle status, you won't be able to select the throne seats for free until 24-48 hours prior to departure (if available). However, you can pay ~$150-200 for a throne seat.
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Best Ways To Book
Air Canada Aeroplan: Great option from most airports + Chase transfer bonus
If you have Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Chase points, Aeroplan has the advantage at 60,000 points for a non-stop from the east coast. With Chase points, you can even take advantage of a 20% transfer bonus which means you'd only need to transfer 50,000 points.
If you connect within the US or Europe, you'll quickly get bumped up into the next distance tier which requires 70,000 points. With the 20% transfer bonus, you'd need 59,000 Chase points which is still better than LifeMiles.
From the west coast, you could jump to the distance tier which requires 90,000 Aeroplan points (75,000 Chase points). LifeMiles is a better option in this case.
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance. A stopover requires 5,000 additional miles on a one-way award.
Avianca LifeMiles: Best option beyond the east coast
LifeMiles is a great option at 63,000 miles one-way if you have Amex, Capital One, or Citi points. If you need a domestic or intra-EU connection or aren't flying from the east coast, this could be a better option than Aeroplan.
United MileagePlus: Possibly Better Than Aeroplan
If connecting from the west coast, United could beat Aeroplan at 88,000 miles vs 90,000 Aeroplan points. However, this only applies if you have Bilt points right now. If you have Chase points, the 20% transfer bonus to Aeroplan makes it a better option.
If you book a round-trip award ticket, you can use United's Excursionist Perk (a free one-way flight within a single region) to see another city in Europe. Practically speaking, this is United's stopover program.
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How To Book
Unfortunately, United has removed the once useful flexible search option that allowed you to see a snapshot of award space for two months. However, you can still see a calendar of 30 days (even if it's not always accurate).
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates
- Select nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Show flights from "Star Alliance airlines"
- Run the search
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
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Final Thoughts
Whether you want to lock in space for next year or visit Christmas markets in December, Swiss provides a solid business class option to get there. If you have a layover or fly out of Zurich, check out the observation deck at the lounge overlooking the runway if it's not to cold.
Happy Booking!
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