Dubai: £2,055/€2,349 SWISS First Class from London (Save €170 with a Zurich Stopover)

Star Alliance member Swiss is offering rare discounted first class tickets from both Heathrow and London City airport. You can get to Dubai and back for as little as £2,075 (~€2,388) with a stop in Zurich both ways. Similar to their First Class tickets from Sweden, you can save £150 (~€173) by adding a stop of more than 24 hours in Zurich.

Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to Lufthansa with your preselected flight dates. Availability from London City is much broader than from Heathrow.

For the flights to Zurich, you will either be sitting Swiss’ European business class, while you’ll be on board an Airbus A330 aircraft on the long-haul flight to Dubai. A longer stop in Zurich may be advisable, as you can enjoy Swiss’ dedicated first class lounge at the airport.

SWISS First Class

In SWISS’ first class, you’ll be served excellent food in a comfortable seat that can be turned into a flat bed. Usually, the 8 first class seats are in a 1-2-1 formation, meaning that every seat has direct access to the aisle. You’ll be allowed to check in 3 pieces of luggage and bring 2 carry-ons. In Zurich, you’ll enjoy the first class lounge, which was recently named the best in the world. You can read all about SWISS’s first class in this review.

Search & Book

The fare rules for these tickets offer no sales or expiration date. You need to stay at least 6 days or one night from Saturday to Sunday in Dubai to get the cheapest tickets. The lowest fares show up for travel between in August and September 2023.

You can find additional flight dates on Google Flights. For tickets that expensive, we strongly recommend purchasing them on the airlines’ website.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Adding a Stopover

By adding a stopover in Zurich, you can save roughly £150 (~€173). The best way to do this is searching for a cheap First Class roundtrip, then switch to Lufthansa’s multistop search and add a flight from London to Zurich the day before your Zurich to Dubai flight. Or let our Go2 tool forward you to your destination.

With a stopover in Zurich, prices drop to £1,907 (~€2,195) (+a hotel in Zurich, which are not that cheap).

Mileage

Swiss issues first class tickets in booking class A, the business class segments between London and Zurich are booking class J.

Destination

Hotel prices in Dubai usually start at €40, depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is searching on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:

Information & Tips for Dubai

Dubai is known for its modern architecture, luxury shopping, and major attractions like the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and desert tours. The currency is the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), and card payments are widely accepted. Prices can be high, especially for accommodation and attractions, though budget options exist. The weather is hot for most of the year, with extreme heat from June to September, while the cooler months from November to March are more suitable for travel.

We’ve compared various esim providers, such as Airalo and Airhub. To see which plan is best for your travel needs and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:

The best eSIM for Dubai & Abu Dhabi 🇦🇪 Compared (United Arab Emirates)

→ All Dealz for Dubai