Swiss first class awards are a unicorn, and people go to sort of crazy lengths for it.
Swiss first class is usually only available using miles for elite frequent flyers in the Miles & More program. The ability to use United, Aeroplan, and other Star Alliance miles — or even Miles & More miles without elite status — ended in 2014.
Credit: SWISS
Sometimes the space opens for a very brief window, for instance June 2, 2016 and February 8, 2017.
However Live and Let’s Fly reports that Swiss first class awards are wide open right now for partner booking. Hurry and book!
- Aeroplan: One way first class costs 70,000 miles each way and Aeroplan does not add fuel surcharges to Swiss awards
- United: One way first class costs 110,000 miles each way
- Swiss flies from Boston, Chicago, Newark, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.
I haven’t checked availability from each gateway but I’ve definitely seen it from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. I’m burning Aeroplan miles in advance of that program’s expected implosion in 2020.
Space won’t last.
Cheers Gary. Cheeky short break in Dubai in the diary. I was looking back at an old Swiss F review the other day and thinking it was a shame I wouldn’t be able to do it again in a hurry ….
I booked with M&M miles so not just partner availability.
Sample dates? I searched entire months on United. I see nothing available on UA.
Boom! Thank you Gary!
Two tickets from ORD-BKK, 18 hours in Swiss First.
First isn’t showing nearly as widely for me on United as it is on Aeroplan. I found spotty space but it was wide open on Aeroplan, even some with FOUR seats.
@ Gary — Seems to have been pulled or maybe ticketing, because my M&M SEN space has vanished on dates that still show F8 for sale. I hope that Swiss has intervened and stopped these bookings, as the only reason I earned SEN was for the ability to book LH and LX F. It will be kinda hard to use that benefit if all the non-flyers take all the space.
Thank you Gary!!! Booked ZRH to SFO this morning in F for 59,000 miles since I transferred them over with the AMEX 20% bonus.
These booking confirmations are being cancelled (deleted) by the operating carriers after ticketing and seat assignment, while remaining intact on Aeroplan.
@mileshusband I’m seeing the same thing with mine. Not good.
I agree with Lucky @onemileatatime, i dont get how they can back out of these when they were charging the regular rates. I transferred Amex pts for this, got a ticketed deal, now possibly having no way to even get the amex pts back???