business class

Tranquility_NL_CA_EN
Received an email from Swiss International Airlines this morning announcing that starting January 27, 2011 their flights between Montreal and Zurich would be operated by their "new" Airbus A330-300.

Why does this matter? The interior of this plane is absolutely stunning, and their service is top notch! This is a pretty bold statement to be making seeing as I have only flown on this plane, operated by Swiss once, in 2009. For that flight my wife and I were in First Class between New York and Zurich, and although that might skew my feelings about their product, it was the best all around experience I have had in the air!

Swiss is promoting in the email I received (attached at the bottom of this post) their new business seats that are on this plane, and from talking to people who have flown in them, they are some of the best in the business. Couple that with better than average food, a great IFE system, and friendly flight attendants, and I would say you have a great combination.

In economy, the seats are a little bit slimmer than those we are used to, which is supposed to give you a bit more leg room. I didn't wander that far back on my short flight to Europe, but I did notice that they have seat back TVs and power at every seat.

Air Canada Offers Upgrades
Air Canada quietly introduced a new feature to the flying public with so little fanfare, I can't even tell you when it happened! Something that you have been able to do on various US airlines for some time, is now available on Air Canada flights... Last Minute Upgrade Purchase.

You have always been able to go up to the desk at the gate and purchase an upgrade, but you would be charged the difference between the fare you paid, and the cost of a full-fare business class seat at that moment. In other words ridiculously expensive. But with this new announcement, although no pricing examples were mentioned, it appears that the costs of the upgrade will likely be fairly reasonable.

As with all promotions or offers there is some fine print, such as having to be departing from a US or Canadian airport, be ticketed on a Tango Plus or Latitude Fare, and it looks like you have to decide at time of check-in, either on-line or at a self-serve kiosk.