Swiss Business Class To Europe For Up To 9
Business class award space continues to be tough on many routes to Europe. However, Swiss' flight to from New York to Geneva regularly has space so I thought I'd share an update. There's also space from Chicago to Zurich which will be easier for those in the midwest and western US.
Don't forget, you can often include a connection to other cities in Europe. For domestic connections, domestic first class award space on United can be tight so you might need to connect in economy.
Now, let's get into it!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: JFK-GVA, ORD-ZRH
Operating airline: SWISS
Class of service: Business class
Dates: May - August 2023
Seats available: Up to 9
Cabin layout: 1-2-1/2-2-1
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan:
- JFK-GVA: 60,000 points
- ORD-ZRH: 70,000 points
- ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 63,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer: 81,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus:
- JFK-GVA: 73,000 miles
- ORD-ZRH: 75,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: ~$55
- 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
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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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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Available Dates
JFK-GVA
January: 8, 10, 11, 17, 19, 22-25, 29-31
February: 1-9, 12-15, 19-23, 26, 27
March: 1, 2, 5-9, 12-15, 20-22, 24, 27-29
April: 2-5, 10-13, 17, 24-26
May: 2, 3, 9, 10, 15, 19, 23, 24, 29
June: 14, 27, 28
July: 3-5, 9-12, 14, 16-19, 21, 23-26, 28, 30, 31
August: 1, 2, 4-9, 11, 13-16, 18, 21
GVA-JFK
January: 5, 10-14, 17, 18, 23-27, 30, 31
February: 1-3, 6-11, 13-17, 20-24, 28
March: 1-3, 7-10, 13-16, 21-24, 28-30
April: 29, 30
May: 1-6, 8-20, 22-27, 29-31
June: 1-3, 5-9, 12-16, 20-22, 27-29
July: 3-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28
August: 1-4, 8-12, 14-19
ORD-ZRH
May: 10, 14, 15, 22, 24
June: N/A
July: 15, 21, 23, 26, 29, 30
August: 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 21
ORD-ZRH
May: 2, 4, 5, 9-27
June: 6-9, 12-15, 22
July: 13, 19, 24
August: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13-18, 20, 21, 25, 31
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Best Ways To Book
Avianca LifeMiles: Best Overall
LifeMiles is a great option at 63,000 miles one-way if you have Amex, Capital One, or Citi points. If your total flight distance will exceed 4,000 miles, this will be a better option than Aeroplan.
If you need a domestic or intra-EU connection or are just flying the ORD-ZRH route, LifeMiles will be the way to go.
Air Canada Aeroplan: Best For A Non-stop From JFK
If you have Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Chase points, Aeroplan has the advantage at 60,000 points for a non-stop flight on the JFK-GVA route.
If you connect within the US or Europe, you'll quickly get bumped up into the next award tier that requires 70,000 points. If you're flying from the west coast, you'll be look at 90,000 points for a one-way.
You can include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles on a one-way award.
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart.
United MileagePlus: Possibly Better Than Aeroplan
If connecting from the west coast, you can expect to need 75,000 United miles. This will be a better option than Aeroplan if you have Bilt or Chase points since the Aeroplan rate will jump to 90,000 points once you exceed 6,000 flight miles.
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.
Note: Additionally, if you book a round-trip award, the return leg is often set at around 66,000 miles. However, this lower rate is not available of booking a one-way from Europe to the US.
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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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Bottom Line
I've been harping on this a lot but now is a good time to lock in flights to Europe for next summer. Keep in mind that award space for summer travel this year dried up by March, just as many were starting to plan trips. If you're able to book now, you can avoid the mad dash when most people start booking.
Happy Booking!
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