Best Ways to Book Swiss International Air Lines Business Class with Points and Miles

Star Alliance member Swiss International Air Lines is the national airline of Switzerland and is known for punctuality, efficiency and hospitality, qualities that are integral to Swiss culture. However, this airline isn’t known for offering ultra-luxury premium-cabin products like those available on other European airlines, such as Air France or Lufthansa. Nonetheless, Swiss business class still includes industry-standard business-class amenities, such as lie-flat beds with a massage function, gourmet in-flight dining, an amenity kit designed by Victorinox, airport lounge access and more.

Unfortunately, Swiss business-class tickets can come at a hefty price when purchased with cash. But by redeeming points and miles, you can experience Swiss business class at a low out-of-pocket cost.

Since Swiss is a member of Star Alliance, there are several partner frequent flyer programs through which you can book Swiss business-class awards. However, each program prices these awards differently. Likewise, some programs make it much easier to earn miles than others by allowing transfers from U.S. credit card rewards programs.

In this article, we’ll identify some of the best programs through which to book a Swiss business-class award. Plus, we’ll let you know what to expect when flying in Swiss business class.

What to Expect in Swiss International Air Lines Business Class

The Swiss International Air Lines fleet consists of both Boeing and Airbus aircraft, some of which are used for short- and medium-haul flights and some which are used for long-haul flights. The following table includes each of the aircraft types in the current Swiss fleet, the number of business-class seats on each aircraft and the configuration of seats in the business-class cabin:

It’s also worth noting that, according to a press release from Swiss International Air Lines, the airline will be adding several Airbus A350-900 aircraft to its fleet to replace its remaining Airbus A340-300 aircraft in the operation of long-haul intercontinental flights. This replacement process will begin in 2025 and may take several years.

Of course, the best business-class product is available on Swiss long-haul intercontinental flights. In the business-class cabin on these flights, you’ll enjoy a lie-flat seat with a length of about 79 inches and a width of about 20.5 inches. Business-class seats on Airbus A330-300 aircraft also have a built-in massage function.

Aboard Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A340-300 aircraft, you’ll enjoy a large 16-inch personal entertainment monitor. On Airbus A330-300 aircraft, you’ll have a smaller 12.1-inch monitor. All personal entertainment monitors are equipped with a wide variety of films, music, games and more.

All long-haul business-class seats offer complimentary Wi-Fi for messaging, a 110-volt outlet and a USB outlet so you can keep your devices charged and use them to work or enjoy media throughout the flight.

Business-class passengers on long-haul intercontinental Swiss flights receive a blanket, a pillow, an eye mask, socks and an amenity kit designed in collaboration with Victorinox (the best-known manufacturer of Swiss Army knives). These amenity kits are contained in stylish aluminum boxes and contain self-care products such as toothbrushes, lotions, soaps and more.

In the bathrooms of the business-class cabin on Swiss intercontinental flights, you’ll find a trio of lotion, face spray and face cream developed in partnership with Soeder. These products all feature an “Alpine Valley” scent developed exclusively for Swiss International Air Lines.

You’ll also enjoy gourmet meals from the “Taste of Switzerland” menu, which is developed by Michelin-star-awarded Swiss chefs and is meant to showcase the country’s cuisine. The menu rotates every three months. Some past offerings have included smoked trout with marinated leeks and slow-cooked beef with mustard vinaigrette. Each main course will be followed by a selection of Swiss cheeses as well as a dessert.

Upon boarding the plane, business-class passengers on intercontinental flights will receive a welcome drink of Jacquart Mosaïque Brut Champagne. And, of course, there’s a wide selection of beer, red wine, white wine, cocktails, aperitifs, soft drinks, juices, teas and coffee to accompany your meal. You can also request a beverage at any time throughout the flight free-of-charge.

Whenever flying in Swiss business class, you’ll be entitled to plenty of baggage allowance, including two pieces of hand baggage of up to 8 kilograms each and two pieces of checked baggage of up to 32 kilograms each. You’ll also have access to priority check-in desks, priority security lines (when available), priority baggage and priority boarding at the airport.

And, of course, all Swiss business-class passengers have access to Swiss Business Lounges before their flight. And, since Swiss International Air Lines is a member of Star Alliance, Swiss business-class passengers also have access to Star Alliance partner lounges around the world. To see if there’s a Star Alliance lounge in a particular airport, you can use the Lounge Finder tool in the My10x web application.

Swiss business-class passengers on short- or medium-haul flights within Europe will enjoy many of the same amenities as long-haul business-class passengers. However, business-class seats on these flights may not convert into lie-flat beds and amenity kits aren’t offered on these flights. You will, however, receive meal and drink service, be entitled to lounge access and receive priority treatment in the airport.

Air Canada Aeroplan

One program through which you can find Swiss business-class awards at excellent rates is the Air Canada Aeroplan program. Up until March 2025, this program priced partner award flights according to a series of fixed region-based award charts. However, the Aeroplan program now prices partner awards using a dynamic pricing model.

Nonetheless, this program still offers some outsized-value redemptions for Swiss business-class award flights, particularly on transatlantic routes.

For example, we found a round-trip Swiss business-class itinerary between New York (JFK) and Geneva (GVA) for 120,000 points and about 190 Canadian Dollars (about $139) in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same flights on the same dates with cash through the Swiss International Air Lines website, you’d have to pay about $3,495.

Thus, factoring in the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would yield a value of about 2.8 cents per point, which is great.

It’s also easy to earn Aeroplan points, since this program is a 1:1 transfer partner of many of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

It’s worth noting, though, that Swiss business-class availability on transatlantic routes is relatively scarce through the Air Canada Aeroplan program. So, you may need to use a third-party award search tool such as AwardTool or Seats.Aero to find availability.

Avianca LifeMiles

Another program through which you can find Swiss business-class awards at great rates is Avianca LifeMiles. However, Swiss business-class availability is also hard to find through this program, so you’ll probably want to use a third-party award search tool such as AwardTool or Seats.Aero to locate these awards.

Using these tools, we were able to find a round-trip Swiss business-class itinerary between Montreal (YUL) and Zurich (ZRH) for 126,000 Avianca miles and about $97 in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same flights on the same dates with cash through the Swiss website, it would cost you $9,368.

Thus, factoring in the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 7.4 cents per mile, which is amazing.

While this value is excellent, it’s very difficult to find a round-trip Swiss business-class award itinerary through the Avianca LifeMiles program. So, if you want to get this kind of value on a Swiss business-class award, you’ll need to be very flexible with your travel dates.

However, one major advantage of the the Avianca LifeMiles program is that it’s a 1:1 transfer partner of several major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. So, if you have a credit card from any of the aforementioned issuers, you can easily earn Avianca miles.

United Airlines MileagePlus

Another partner frequent flyer program through which you can find Swiss business-class awards is United Airlines MileagePlus. This program may be particularly relevant for U.S. travelers who fly with United often and already have a balance of MileagePlus miles.

Unlike the other two programs mentioned in this article, Swiss business-class awards are fairly abundant through the MileagePlus program. Unfortunately, the MileagePlus program prices partner award flights using a dynamic pricing mode. So, award rates are tied to cash prices, making it difficult to find high value per mile.

Nonetheless, you can still find decent value on Swiss business-class awards through the MileagePlus program. For example, we found a round-trip Swiss business-class itinerary between Chicago (ORD) and Zurich (ZRH) for 176,000 MileagePlus miles plus about $68 in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same exact flights on the same dates with cash through the Swiss website, it would cost you $4,018.

Accounting for the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 2.2 cents per mile, which is decent for a business-class award.

So, if you already have a balance of MileagePlus miles or you can’t find your desired Swiss business-class award flight through either of the other programs mentioned, you could search for your flights through United MileagePlus.

The United MileagePlus program is also a 1:1 transfer partner of both Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, making it easy to earn miles with this program if you have a credit card from either of those two issuers.

The Bottom Line

Swiss International Air Lines isn’t necessarily known for offering the best business-class product in the world. Nonetheless, if you want to travel to Switzerland in luxury, you can still find premium amenities in Swiss business class, such as lie-flat beds, complimentary champagne to welcome you on the plane, gourmet meals designed by Michelin-starred chefs, airport lounge access, an amenity kit containing self-care products and more.

Unfortunately, purchasing these flights with cash can be costly. However, if you’re able to find Swiss business-class awards through either Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles, you should be able to experience Swiss business class at a low out-of-pocket cost while also getting great value for your points for miles. To find Swiss business-class award availability through these programs, we recommend using third-party award search tools like AwardTool or Seats.Aero.

You can also find Swiss business-class award availability at decent rates through the United MileagePlus program (though these awards typically don’t offer as much value as Swiss business-class awards through the other two programs we mentioned). But, for U.S.-based travelers who already have a lot of MileagePlus miles in their accounts, this could be a great option.