UPDATE (December 1): It seems as though many First Class awards that were booked yesterday – including mine – are showing up as “deleted” on the Swiss website. Some Aeroplan bookings have been deleted from members’ Aeroplan profiles as well.
On the phone, Aeroplan has so far been ambiguous. I’ve heard reports of all tickets being cancelled (with miles and fees refunded, of course) because the Swiss First Class flights “were not supposed to be bookable”, but also some words that the tickets may be honoured. There’s also been reports that those who transferred American Express Membership Rewards points to make these bookings can have their miles returned to Amex.
This is definitely a developing story, so check back for frequent updates.
Get out your mobiles and tablets, folks, because a very early holiday present has arrived. An extremely rare opportunity to book Swiss First Class is available on Aeroplan!
Quite a while back, Swiss stopped releasing first class availability to partners completely. Award travel on one of the world’s leading first class products went from being quite attainable to nigh-on impossible.
Since then, there have been a few instances when Swiss First Class award space “leaked”. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES!!
Swiss First Class is one of the world’s top first class products, and should be on any enthusiastic luxury traveller’s checklist. You get a modern-looking suite, restaurant-quality food and drink, and of course an incredible First Class Lounge in Zurich featuring in-lounge hotel rooms and sweeping tarmac views.
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Right now, I see availability on Aeroplan for quite a few routes that feature First Class, including North American gateways like Montreal, Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.
First Class between North America and Europe costs 70,000 Aeroplan miles, and Swiss is one of those airlines that don’t collect fuel surcharges, so you can expect to pay a pittance out-of-pocket for your troubles.
You can also book flights between Zurich and Asia, including cities like Singapore, Bombay, Delhi, and Tokyo.
You could even string two flights together to book a mini-round-the-world trip in First Class! In fact, that’s exactly what I just booked. A mini-RTW trip to Singapore (Asia 2) costs 215,000 Aeroplan miles per person, and remember that you get two stopovers or one stopover plus one open-jaw.
Availability is pretty wide open throughout the schedule until next summer or so. Be sure to look out for flights on Swiss’s new Boeing 777 aircraft (whose business class I’ve reviewed before), as those are the flights that feature First Class cabins. But above all, BOOK FIRST and then ASK QUESTIONS LATER!
There’s very little chance that this will last for long, given that Swiss has kept their First Class availability hidden away for years. Therefore, don’t worry too much about the exact details of the rest of your trip, or which airport to fly from, or even whether your partner is on board… if you want to fly Swiss First Class, and you have the miles, BOOK NOW!
Remember, transferring Aeroplan miles from American Express Membership Rewards is virtually instant!
You can always make changes or cancel the booking later on, but I’d be hugely surprised if the availability remains past this morning.
What did I book? Since I was planning to go to visit Russia in the summer of 2018 for the World Cup, I decided to turn it into a First Class mini-RTW:
The above itinerary was booked effortlessly on the Aeroplan search engine, and my e-ticket arrived within a few minutes. I’m probably going to change the return portion to a different airline, so that I get to experience First Class on, say, ANA or Asiana as well. Or I might switch it to Lufthansa First Class at the last minute.
I’m so excited for this! This was my first time scrambling to book a “mistake deal” and I gotta say, it’s a huge adrenaline rush. The deal has been live since the early hours of the morning Eastern Time, and I didn’t get into action until I woke up in the morning to hundreds of messages about it. From there, it was straight to the Aeroplan website to book!
Conclusion
Don’t miss out! The opportunity to book and fly on Swiss First Class doesn’t come around often, so it’s important to act quickly and get that e-ticket issued. I greatly look forward to experiencing and reviewing these flights, and I hope to see some of you out there with me!
(tip of the hat to Pekflyer)
