Introduction

I spend a leisurely day sightseeing in Singapore. I visit the Marina Bay Sands Towers and the gardens located behind them. It‘s a nice way to spend a lazy day. But, goodness me, the humidity is something else!

Getting to the Airport

My flight to Zürich departs from Singapore at 23h35. At 19h00, I figure I might as well check out of the hotel and make my way to the airport. It‘s just a short walk from Raffles Hotel to City Hall metro station, which is located in the basement if the Raffles City Complex.

I catch an eastbound train from City Hall to Tanah Merah, which is nine stops. There I alight, cross to the other side of the platform and catch a train to Changi, another two stops.

Check-in at Changi Terminal 2

SWISS and Lufthansa check in on row 4 in Terminal 2. There‘s a long queue when I arrive for check-in, which is hardly surprising. In addition to our B 777 to Zürich, they‘re also checking in the A 350 to Munich and the B 747 to Frankfurt. The problem is that there are only two counters open. One for Economy and one for First and Business Class passengers. As a result, the wait to check in is rather long and tedious.

Once I finally manage to obtain my boarding passes and get rid of my luggage, I decide I might as well kill some time and check out the infamous Changi Jewel, which is supposedly the world‘s largest indoor waterfall. But I still don‘t get it. I mean, I don‘t get why it‘s such a big deal. It‘s pretty, but how long are you going to stand there watching it? I’m not impressed. And I’m pretty confident that nobody is ever going to book a flight via Singapore simply for the chance to see the warerfall. But perhaps thatt’s just me.

The Silver Kris First Class Lounge in Terminal 2

I don‘t think I‘ve ever been to this lounge. Having said that, it‘s so spectacularly unspectacular that it wouldn‘t really surprise me if I had visited this lounge but simply can‘t remember.

As it‘s already getting late and SWISS catering ex Singapore can be a bit hit or miss, I decide to have something to eat in the lounge. Just in case. They have a wide selection of local dishes, but hardly any vegetarian food. So eventually, I settle on the biryani rice and the laksa noodles.

Boarding

At 22h40 one of the gate agents enters the lounge to inform me that boarding will be starting shortly and that there will be somebody at the entrance to the gate area to escort me through priority security. What this means in practice is that said agent asks me to follow her. She then rather unceremoniously pushes the other passeners‘ things on the belt aside and instructs me to but my things on instead. I think the whole queue gives me a collective stink eye, and I don‘t blame them. It‘s awkward and embarrassing. But there‘s nothing the airline can do about it.

We wait in the lounge for about ten minutes before the gate agent comes to collect all of the First Class passengers and guides us on board the aircraft.

The Cabin & Seat

The flight is completely full this evening. I‘m seated on 1A again. Most passengers appear to be travelling alone.

I find myself mentally comparing this seat to the Suites cabin I had on Singapore Airlines on the flight from Sydney. And although the SWISS First Class seat is much smaller, I notice that I don‘t actually miss any of the additional space provided in the Suites, which suggests to me that it‘s mostly useless.

In the sleeping position I also appreciate that the SWISS seat is much wider than the bed in the Singapore Suite, and you don’t have to worry about accidentally falling out. I‘m not Suites bashing, I‘m just stating that I prefer the SWISS seat over the Singapore Airlines Suite.

Amenities

When I reach my seat, there‘s already an amenity kit and the fluffy slippers. A short while later, one of the cabin crew inquires if I‘d like pajamas. I tell her I‘ll have a short sleeve pj in XL. A short while later she returns with two. She tells me an XL will be too big, so she brought the L and would also have an M, which she thinks would also fit. So I take the L, and she‘s right. It‘s still slightly big. The XL would have been huge! She returns a short while later with a selection of goodies. I take a pair of socks and the cleaner for my glasses.

The Crew & Service

There are two cabin crew working the First Class cabin. Both of them are attentive and friendly. However, the young lady working my aisle is really quite something. She‘s so charming and goes out of her way to accommodate passengers. I notice she addresses me by my family name whenever she approaches me, but it doesn‘t seem forced or unnatural. She does it with all passengers, which is quite impressive.

As soon as I‘m settled, I ask for a glass of sparkling water with lemon. A short while later the amuse bouche is served, which is absolutely disgusting. Supposedly it‘s polenta on a tomato coulis with mushrooms. Words cannot describe this dish. The polenta is just a big tasteless lump with not enough liquid. It‘s like eating a spoonful of sawdust. And why are the mushrooms slimey? I’m also brought a hot towel for my hands. Maybe I can use it to scrub my tongue clean after that vile abomination.

As we taxi out, the crew hand out the menus. It doesn‘t sound bad, but I think I‘ll pass and go straight to bed.

Noddyland

As soon as we‘re airborne and the fasten seatbelt sign is off, I go to the toilet to change. I ask one of the flight attendants to make up my bed in the meantime. She looks despondent when I tell her I won‘t be having dinner. She‘s quite funny to watch. I return to my seat and settle in for the night. And then, miraculously, I fall into a deep sleep from which I awaken nearly eight hours later. We have slightly under five hours to run until Zürich.

Second Service – Breakfast

Two hours out of Zürich, the cabin begins to stir and the crew start preparing for the second service. We start with a coffee with milk and another hot towel.

Next, the table is set and the crew bring out all the dishes at the same time, serving each passenger individually. There‘s a breadbasket with a selection of warm breads and rolls, which is served with butter and a selection of jam. Then there‘s bircher müsli and fruit salad. And for the main dish I have the cheese omelette in a Hollondaise sauce, served with a potato cake, tomato, asparagus, and sausage. To drink I have an orange juice and coffee. A lot more coffee. The breakfast service is a treat and a delight. The food is excellent and the huge choice ofdishes is a nice touch.

Arrival into Zürich

The crew clear my table away as soon as I‘m done and I raise the blinds to watch Europe slowly wake up. It‘s nice to be back! In the distance there is a cloud cell with a lot of activity. The lightning won‘t stop. It‘s spectacular to watch in an otherwise mostly clear sky.

Just before they are instructed to return to their seats for landing, the female cabin crew appears from the galley holding a tray with chocolates. She and the maître de thank me for flying SWISS and hope I enjoyed the flight. They hand me one of the chocolate parcels and tell me it‘s a parting gift from SWISS to celebrate Switzerland‘s national day.

We land and taxi to our stand at the midfield pier E. The First Class shuttle to take us over to the main building is already waiting. The door opens and we are handed over to the ground agent. I now have about forty minutes before my next flight starts boarding.

Conclusion

This really is the best kind of flight you can have in First Class. I maxed out on the rest I got and ended the flight with a lovely, sumptuous breakfast to revive the spirit. The crew on this flight were great. I think they did an outstanding job of making passengers feel welcome. And the B 777-300 is just such a sexy beast!

With the new Allegris product being rolled out, I guess flights in SWISS First Class will eventually become rarer and rarer, as capacity in the premium cabin will go from the current eight seats to just three. This will allow the airline to raise its fares, and will limit the availability of miles seats. The only consolation is that with how slow Lufthansa has been to roll out the new product, it‘ll probably take them a few decades to get there. On SWISS, the new seat will be introduced on the Airbus A 350-900. And it is unclear whether the B 777 will be refitted.