SWISS A321 Business Class: Hamburg – Zurich

Hamburg to Zurich is a route I know better than most. Only recently I flew it on the SWISS A321neo and came home impressed (read that review). This time SWISS operated the older Airbus A321, and the day had a few surprises in store long before boarding. This SWISS A321 Business Class review is the story of a flight home that began with a queue, continued with a long delay and featured the most unusual lounge guest I have ever met.

Check-in: a Queue Where There Should Be None

I checked in at the Lufthansa First Class counter in Hamburg, which also serves Star Alliance Gold members. Normally this is where you walk up and are on your way within a few minutes. Not on this day. At least 15 people were waiting in front of me, and it took more than 20 minutes before I reached the desk. Perhaps it was the holiday season. Whatever the reason, I have never experienced anything like it in Hamburg, and I was annoyed that it could happen at all. A premium check-in that keeps you waiting this long has missed its purpose.

Great-circle distance between the airports.

Then it was my turn, and the agent at the desk turned the situation around completely. He addressed me by name and apologised with genuine courtesy. He told me that my flight was running about an hour late and invited me to spend the time in the Senator Lounge, pointed out that I could use the Fast Lane at security, and apologised once more before I left. Charm and good manners cannot give you back twenty minutes, but they can take the anger out of them, and he managed exactly that. It was a small lesson in how service recovery works.

The Lufthansa Senator Lounge in Hamburg

On my last flight home on this route, I used the Lufthansa Business Lounge. This time I had access to the Senator Lounge, and the difference is obvious as soon as you walk in. The Senator Lounge is generous: considerably larger than the Business lounge, with leather armchairs spread across several zones, a row of semi-private work booths along the wall, and a rack with the day’s newspapers and magazines. Its special feature, however, is outside: a terrace.

I ended up spending almost three hours in this lounge. The flight had built up a considerable delay, apparently because of an air traffic control outage in Italy that afternoon. With that much time on my hands, the terrace became my office, my dining room and my viewing platform. From the table, the view goes straight across the apron: two Eurowings jets at the gates, a Pegasus Airbus at the neighbouring pier and the runways in the distance under a heavy northern German sky.

The buffet kept me going through the wait. Indoors I started with a bread roll, cheese, tomatoes and a creamy dip. Later, on the terrace, came a warm dish of chicken in a curry-style sauce over rice, and as dusk fell, a slice of crusty bread with tomato and cheese. Nothing elaborate, but fresh and perfectly fine for a lounge. With flowers on the table and aircraft moving below, it tasted better than a lounge buffet usually does.

An Uninvited Guest

And then there was the guest nobody had invited. A mouse had found its way into the Senator Lounge. I have never seen anything like it in an airport lounge. The reactions were a small study in human nature: some guests left the lounge in a hurry, others took it calmly. It is not an appetising sight in a room where food is served, and I hope Lufthansa takes it seriously. But I could not resist filming Lufthansa’s newest Senator.

Despite the mouse, the Senator Lounge earns four points: plenty of space, a terrace with a view over the apron, and food that did its job across three hours of waiting.

Boarding and Seat

By the time boarding was finally called, evening had fallen over Hamburg. The flight was fully booked. SWISS Business Class in Europe follows the familiar formula: leather seats in a 3-3 layout, with the middle seat kept free. My seat was in the first row, facing the bulkhead with the SWISS logo, which meant legroom to spare: I could cross my legs and still had space in front of me. A QR code on the bulkhead leads to SWISS Connect, and the safety card and the SWISS Saveurs menu sit in pouches on the wall.

Waiting at the seat were two bottles of Valser water, labelled for SWISS, and refreshing tissues with a natural scent by Soeder. Small things, but they set the tone of a Swiss airline before the doors are even closed.

The A321 cabin does not have the fresher feel of the A321neo I flew last time, and the seat itself is the same slimline leather seat you find throughout the SWISS European fleet: good for a flight of this length, nothing more. The bulkhead legroom made up for a lot. Four points, half a point less than on the A321neo.

Catering: a Daring Choice With No Alternative

Once airborne, the tray arrived. The main dish was a bowl of prawns on couscous with orange segments, fennel, pomegranate seeds and pea shoots. Beside it, the Swiss cheese I have come to expect from SWISS: a rosette of Tête de Moine and a bar of hard cheese. A crusty bread roll, and for dessert a glass jar with a creamy layer under fruit compote and crumble. With it, a Coke with a slice of lemon.

On the tray table, it looks inviting, and the ingredients were fresh. But the main dish was a daring combination. Prawns with orange and fennel on couscous is a dish some passengers will love and others will not touch, and there was no alternative. When I asked, the question was brushed aside with the remark that one could pre-order a different meal. Well. If there is only one dish on board, it should be one that most people are happy to eat, or there should be a second option for those who are not.

The catering gets 4.2 points: fresh, well presented and with the cheese that makes SWISS recognisably Swiss, but half a point below the tuna tray on the A321neo, because a Business Class meal should not be a gamble.

Crew: Average, and No Chocolate

The crew was average: correct and friendly enough, but without the warmth and attention to detail I have experienced on other SWISS flights, including the A321neo on this very route. One detail stayed with me. The SWISS chocolates were handed out in Economy Class, but not in Business. Why remained unclear. It was not a lack of time: although the flight was fully booked, there was enough time for the service. It is a small thing, but the chocolate is part of the SWISS experience, and it is strange to see it skip the front of the cabin. Four points.

As usual on SWISS European routes, there are no seatback screens. Bring a book or a tablet. On an evening flight, the window offers little to look at, so the entertainment gets three and a half points, as last time.

Arrival in Zurich

We landed in Zurich well after dark, with the delay from Hamburg still on the clock. As we taxied in, the control tower glowed blue above the apron, a sight that tells me I am home faster than any announcement.

Then and Now

Set side by side with my last flight on the same route, the ratings tell a clear story:

On my last flight home from Hamburg, SWISS got almost everything right. This time, the best moments happened on the ground: a check-in agent who knew how to apologise, and a Senator Lounge whose terrace made a long wait bearable, mouse or no mouse. In the air, SWISS was solid but unremarkable. A daring meal without an alternative and chocolate that skipped Business Class are small things. But premium travel is made of small things.

About the author

Roger Hohl

Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.