Review of SWISS flight Dubai → Zurich in Business

LET'S FLY TO DUBAI

Back in late 2021, my friend and fellow Flight-Report contributor, MichelG told me he found a great deal to go to Dubai for 990€ in Business ex - CDG. I couldn't resist and decided to join him on this trip.
I added connecting flights to CDG from BSL and as the return was to ZRH, will simply drop the last leg and get back home by train (1H30 from ZRH)

This was then the final routing :

the michelg failure, dubai terminal 3

Again, we booked a taxi for 100AED, leaving 11PM for our flight at 02AM. Michel tells the driver to drop us off at T3. After 40 minutes we arrived there:

The FIDS:

OK Michel, have a quick look at the FIDS, do you see LX flights? Or do you see the same as me, only EK?

I asked an employee that smiles and tells us that our flight is leaving from Terminal 1 but at that time the only way to go is the taxi. Since taxies at the airport have a surcharge of AED25, that will be an expensive ride, thanks Michel :)

We had luck since another passenger was dropped of at the wrong terminal and we decided to share a ride for AED40 (around 10€).

terminal 1 at least

Here we are :)

Yes, confirmed :)

With a SEN card you are allowed to check in at First class counters, so did we :)

We then went to the manual police control to get an exit stamp :)

Train to the terminal:

The lounges are all upstairs:

Marhaba wasn't an option for us, although you can access it with Priority Pass but it has been reported a lot here.

Gulf Air Lounge, no access here but anyway, was closed :)

We should have been going to the LH lounge:

business / senator lounge lufthansa

And we gave it a try, but it was so crowded!

Plus it is small, hot and the food offer was absolutely not to our taste ;(

Thank you but no thank you :)

After 2 or 3 minutes we left :)

ahlan lounge

Priority Pass holders are welcomed, then let's try it. We were warmly welcomed. The lounge is huge and almost empty, great!

A wonderful bar:

The Korean beef was to die for:

Spiced rice:

More traditionnal dishes:

Pumpkin soup:

And delicious sweets :)

Indian and local dishes:

Breads and sandwiches:

Slush machine:

Salads and dates:

First selection:

Second selection:

I loved everything and really liked this lounge. Shortly before boarding I left to the gate while my friend Michel promised to wait for the "very very very last call" and eat more food :)

We could also have paid a visit via PP to the SkyTeam lounge but the detour via T3 cut that short :)

This one also accepts PP, but we should have been at the airport 5H before to try them all :)

the flight

I arrived as boarding just started:

The steward that was in charge of welcoming the guest was awesome and greeted everyone with a big "masked" smile. My throne seat:

The cabin:

The throne is really a great seat, free of charge for SEN and HON, available against a fee for others.

The tray table is huge:

The only downside is the IFE that is really but really small :(

Safety card:

The pillow was really too small, I had to ask for another, but this wasn't a problem, was brought within a minute.

The welcome drink was either Champagne, Water or a drink with Elderberry. I took that one and loved it.

FWD view:

The purser desk:

The lavs are huge:

Ok we can close the door, Michel arrived 12 minutes before departure :)

The menu which was Bistro style. Perfectly adapted to the time.

And "à la carte" breakfast:

The kits were in a box that I loved:

 777-300 KL:

And changed for a 330KL that arrived shortly after the 773 left:

Push back and take off on time:

The WiFi was available but the prices ways to high. Michel decided to skip the service and I just had a salad that was served with hot bread and perfectly adequate:

The IFE was really a pain: for a Swiss airline, with 4 national language including German, French and Italian, not a single movie in French!

I took a decaf together with a "Biberli" a sweet delicacy to conclude the snack service:

Eating just took a bit less than 30 minutes, time to sleep :)

This was clearly the best business seat I experienced, I had a solid 4H sleep.

Unfortunately the breakfast service started 2H prior to arrival and since I am a light sleeper I was awaken when they started. I was still full from our lounge dinner, and skiped the hot option :)

And was also really good and adequate. The remaining flight time was still 1H45 so I tried to rest a bit more.

We docked at terminal E:

And train to the main terminal:

Michel went to his connection flight while I skipped it to take my train back home.

It took only a few minutes to clear immigration and made my way to the train station:

You can even check in for your flights next to the train station:

train back home:

The train FIDS:

The Swiss train system is perfect. Trains are always on time, and are quite cheap. The seats were available for 20CHF in coach and only 25CHF in First Class. The train was almost empty:

Arrived at Basel, I took a regional train back to Saint Louis, the closest station to my home:

Here's Basel SBB station: