Does anyone understand how once weekly airline service works?

Here’s a completely random question that’s going through my head on a Friday afternoon — does anyone understand how once weekly flights work?

Edelweiss (a Swiss subsidiary) flies once a week between Zurich and Tampa. The schedule is as follows:

So perhaps this is a stupid question, though I’ll ask anyway. The flight is only once a week, so does the crew literally stay in Tampa for a week? Do they deadhead back to Zurich? Do they somehow work both directions?

I never understood the economics of once daily domestic flights or once weekly international flights, though this specifically is one thing that boggles my mind. Anyone have any insight?

Posted on November 16th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Swiss | 19 Comments »

The Last Aeroplan Hurrah: Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich, Swiss First Class Zurich to Bangkok

Introduction
United Global First Lounge San Francisco
Lufthansa First Class San Francisco to Munich
Le Meridien Munich
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich, Swiss Business Class Munich to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich, Swiss First Class Zurich to Bangkok
St. Regis Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
United Club Hong Kong and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Hong Kong
Asiana Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon
Hyatt Regency Incheon Airport
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon
Asiana First Class Seoul Incheon to Frankfurt
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Seattle
Four Seasons Seattle

The Swiss First Class Lounge in Zurich definitely ranked among my top five lounges in the world, though after this visit I kind of have to wonder why. In terms of design it’s somewhat similar to Lufthansa’s first class lounges, though the décor is different. That being said, the lounge is spacious and has several seating areas, a restaurant and bar area, as well as nap rooms and shower rooms. While there are waiters roaming around offering drinks, they’re not nearly as proactive and attentive as those in Lufthansa lounges.

Seating

Bar

Since we knew we’d be having dinner aboard a few hours later, we decided to have pre-flight dinner sooner rather than later. I’ve always enjoyed Lufthansa’s first class dining experience on the ground, so was curious to see how the Swiss experience compared.

Restaurant

The menu was definitely, erm, interesting, consisting of quite a bit of rabbit.

Nothing really appealed to me, though I ordered the white tomato soup. While I realize they’re going for more of a “gourmet” dining experience, I really think this fell just slightly short of fast food quality. The soup was watery and tasteless. Or maybe that’s just what refined palates crave?

For the main course I ordered the “Rossini Burger.” I don’t like foie gras, though I figured the beef would at least be decent. Unfortunately it was way rare for my liking.

Burger

While my friend napped for a couple of hours I tried to catch up on work. I also decided to take a shower about an hour before our flight. While the shower rooms themselves aren’t very nice, they do have Bulgari amenities, which more than makes up for any shortcomings.

Shower

Swiss has a rather half-assed car transfer service in Zurich, which we had arranged for 10PM. While Lufthansa drives you to the plane from their lounges (assuming your gate is in a different terminal), Swiss drives you in a van to the terminal. No, there’s no escorting you to the gate or onboard, but rather they drop you off in a service elevator which leads to the terminal, and then you walk to your gate from there.

The cool cars

Minivan we got

Tarmac views

We were departing from gate E34, where boarding was well underway. Fortunately they had a priority boarding lane, so we were aboard pretty quickly.

Departure gate

Swiss 180
Zurich (ZRH) – Bangkok (BKK)
Sunday, March 18
Depart: 10:45PM
Arrive: 3:30PM (+1 day)
Duration: 10hr45min
Aircraft: Airbus 340-300
Seat: 2G (First Class)

Once aboard we were directed to turn left to the first class cabin, which already had five of the other six seats occupied.

While the aircraft operating this route is the A340-300 featuring Swiss’ old first class product, I still find it to be very comfortable, especially when traveling with someone. The seats are spacious with a separate ottoman and plenty of storage space.

Our seats

Cabin view

Ottoman

Center console

Seat and entertainment controls

Once settled in the two flight attendants working the cabin offered us amenity kits and pajamas. Swiss has some of my favorite pajamas, and they make up about half of my home wardrobe.

Amenity kit

Pajamas

About 10 minutes later we were offered pre-departure beverages, and I ordered a glass of champagne. This was served with a starter consisting of some sort of fish and breadsticks, which were delicious.

Pre-departure offerings

While the flight attendant working my friend’s aisle was reasonably nice, the one working my aisle could only be described as a “matron.” It was obvious she wasn’t happy to be working, and she made sure everyone knew it.

As departure time approached the captain advised us of our flight time of 10hr30min, anticipating an on-time arrival in Bangkok.

We began our pushback as the safety video started playing, and after a 10-minute taxi we began our long takeoff roll. It never ceases to amaze me how weak the A340-300 feels on takeoff.

About 15 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off and service commenced. During the climb out I tried to choose a movie to watch, and eventually decided on “The Big Year.” After about an hour I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Airshow

Entertainment system

The flight attendants set up the bar in the front of the cabin, and quickly began the service. It started with the purser distributing the menus and welcoming us aboard.

Bar setup

The dinner menu read as follows:

And the wine list read as follows:

Service began with drinks, and I ordered a Diet Coke with lemon.

Diet Coke

This was quickly followed by the tables being set. Swiss has some of the classiest table settings of any airline, in my opinion, including full sized salt and pepper mills, as well as a breadbasket.

Table setup

Service began with Balik salmon. It might not be as “high class” as caviar, but hey, it actually tastes good.

Balik salmon

Friend’s appetizer

The next course was a delicious salad including apricots and cheese shavings.

Salad

That was followed by a white asparagus cream soup, which was much tastier than the one I had in the lounge.

Soup

Then for the main course I decided to go with the tagliatelle, which was supposed to be served as an appetizer. It was delicious, so I had no regrets choosing that over the other options. The flight attendant came around with a separate tray of vegetables, and I took a little bit of everything.

Pasta

My friend had the sea bass, which he enjoyed very much.

Friend’s dinner

Then for dessert I had cheese and then a rather gross strawberry apple gazpacho (I had actually ordered the cake, but the flight attendant wasn’t a very good listener).

Cheese

Dessert

Meanwhile my friend had the other dessert, which actually looked pretty good.

Amaretti cake

To finish off the meal I had a cup of tea and also some pralines.

Tea

Pralines

On the whole the service wasn’t good. The flight attendant serving my aisle didn’t smile once, didn’t once use a polite phrase (you’re welcome, my pleasure, thank you, etc.), and made sure I had to ask for every possible drink refill.

After dinner she informed me she was doing turndown service now, and asked me if I wanted it (as opposed to asking me when I’d like turndown service). When I said yes she already threw the packaged duvet and comforter on my seat before I could even get up.

Turndown service

Fortunately the bed was really comfortable and I managed to sleep for about four hours, waking up with about four hours to go to Bangkok.

I’m an iced coffee addict, and the menu clearly stated that they had iced coffee. When I asked the flight attendant for an iced coffee she simply said “we don’t have it” and walked away before I could say anything. I ended up asking the other flight attendant for an iced coffee, and she had no problem making one for me.

Iced coffee

Chugging along

I wasn’t especially tired so decided to watch a few sitcoms. Before long we were 90 minutes from Bangkok and the breakfast service began, starting with hot towels (notably the first time during the flight that towels were offered).

Hot towel

The breakfast menu read as follows:

A cart was rolled around with the breakfast offerings, and I went with some fruit, yogurt, cereal, and a croissant and roll. For the main course I went with scrambled eggs.

Breakfast

Breads and coffee

You’ve gotta love how generous their hashbrown portions are.

Scrambled eggs

Shortly before landing I changed back into my jeans and shirt and restowed my carry-ons. They still hadn’t passed out landing forms, and the rude flight attendant informed me there weren’t any for Thailand. I asked the other flight attendant, and sure enough she brought us the forms and priority immigration cards.

Immigration form

Cabin before landing

The seatbelt sign was turned on about 20 minutes before landing, and after a smooth descent and landing we had finally made it to our destination.

The funny thing is that it took them about five minutes to open the aircraft door, and during that time the flight attendant that was rude the entire flight became friendly and engaging. She went from not saying a single unnecessary word to asking us about our travel plans, and even smiling. Very interesting…

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Swiss has an arrivals service in Bangkok, which I thought they only had for HON members (their top tier elites). Each first class passenger was met by an agent and escorted through customs and baggage claim, and brought all the way to the curb. That really makes the arrivals experience pretty painless, especially in a city like Bangkok. From there it was off to the city.

Baggage claim

Our escort

Posted on April 4th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Swiss, Travel, Trip Reports | 38 Comments »

The Last Aeroplan Hurrah: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich, Swiss Business Class Munich to Zurich

We made it to the airport around 3PM and headed straight to first class check-in, which is partitioned off from the rest of the terminal. The agent had a good sense of humor, and when he saw we were going to Bangkok he said “oh, is it time for Hangover 3 already?”

Terminal

First class check-in

In no time we had our boarding passes, and proceeded to the dedicated premium security line located right next to the first class check-in area. We were through in less than five minutes, and took the three-minute walk to the First Class Lounge.

Terminal

FCL entrance

Unfortunately our flight was leaving from a gate today, meaning we had to walk there (as opposed to the remote stands, where they’ll drive you to the plane).

For once the FCL was fairly empty, which is a rarity given how small it is. The lounge is designed almost the same as the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, with lounging areas, a restaurant area, a bar, a cigar room, and shower suites.

FCL

I checked out the buffet area though in the end only grabbed a pretzel, since I knew there would be lots more food that evening.

FCL restaurant

Buffet

I worked for about an hour, and at 4:30PM we headed to our departure gate, G44. Our flight was going to be operated by an Avro RJ100, which is one adorable little plane.

Departure gate

Mini-jet

Business class boarding was called almost immediately, so we headed aboard.

Swiss 1109
Munich (MUC) – Zurich (ZRH)
Sunday, March 18
Depart: 5:05PM
Arrive: 6:00PM
Duration: 55min
Aircraft: Avro 100
Seat: 4D (Business Class)

For those of you that haven’t flown intra-Europe business class, it’s simply coach with a blocked middle seat and better service. They do this in order to allow flexibility for revenue/inventory management, given that you can change the size of the business class cabin from flight-to-flight based on demand.

The RJ100 is unique in that it’s in a 2-3 configuration, so if you’re seated on the “2” side you don’t get a blocked middle. As a result we selected the “3” side, so we would have an empty middle seat.

Business class

I found the seats to be a bit more comfortable than Lufthansa’s, and certainly nothing to complain about on a 30-minute flight.

Within a few minutes of settling in the purser offered us a bottle of water and refreshing towel.

Water and towel

As our departure time rolled around the captain came on the PA to advise us of our flight time of 30 minutes, anticipating an on-time arrival in Zurich.

Sure enough we had a quick taxi to the runway, and within moments were airborne. The RJ100 is one heck of a powerful plane.

Shortly after takeoff

There was some chop on the way out, though within about five minutes the seatbelt sign was turned off and service commenced.

Unlike Lufthansa’s intra-Europe catering, I found Swiss’ to be excellent. The snack was a cold plate with chicken pesto, tomato and mozzarella, zucchini, two hot rolls, and some sort of custard dessert. I accompanied it with a Diet Coke. You really can’t beat the quality (or quantity, for that matter) of food on such a short flight.

Snack

Just about as soon as we leveled off we began our descent, and about 10 minutes before landing the seatbelt sign was turned back on.

On descent

Unfortunately we were arriving at a remote stand, though this turned out to be a good thing. Swiss has business class only buses, which leave almost immediately and are very comfortable, not to mention they drop you off in the area of the terminal where the first class lounge is. So less than five minutes after the aircraft door opened we were already in the first class lounge – can’t beat that!

Our plane

Business class bus

First class lounge entrance

And this is the part of the journey where it’s supposed to get more fun…

Posted on April 3rd, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Lufthansa, Swiss, Travel, Trip Reports | 19 Comments »

My first class flight on Swiss: great food, good seat, awful service

Since the following post is about service in international first class, let me start with the disclaimer that below I share some “first world problems.” With that disclaimer out of the way…

I flew Swiss first class last night from Zurich to Bangkok. Swiss is one of my favorite airlines in the world. I find that their in-flight catering is probably the best of any airline, along with Asiana, and generally I find their service to be excellent as well. They also have a very nice first class lounge in Zurich, so the whole experience is solid.

My flight from Zurich to Bangkok was operated by their Airbus 340-300, which features their “old” first class product. While it’s not the most modern product, I still find the seat to be very comfortable for sleeping and the cabin to be elegant, so I only have good things to say about them in that regard.

As usual, the food was phenomenal. Swiss’ catering just can’t be beat. The food is almost always beautifully presented and equally delicious, and this flight was no exception.

Since the flight is over 10 hours I also managed to get about five hours of “real” sleep, which is perfect for me since the flight arrives in Bangkok in the afternoon.

But the one aspect of the flight that was really disappointing was the service. I’ve flown Swiss first class a handful of times, and for the first several trips the service was flawless. On my last flight in December in Swiss first class from Chicago to Zurich the service was acceptable, though by no means great.

The service on this flight, though, was really bordering unacceptable. There were two flight attendants working first class. One was reasonably nice, while the other likely graduated first in her class from the Carol Beer Charm School.

As luck would have it, she was serving my aisle. I understand she would probably rather be sleeping than working a 10 hour flight departing at 10:45PM, but does she really have to make it known?

She didn’t smile once. She didn’t address me by name once. She didn’t communicate with me even once with more words than absolutely necessary – “what do you wanna eat?”

When my glass was empty I had to ask her for a refill, despite her walking by my tray and noticing the empty glass several times.

The menu lists “ice coffee” as one of the drinks, so I pointed to ice coffee on the menu and asked her if I could have one. She said “we don’t have that” and walked away without asking me if I might like something else (or explaining why it’s not available despite being listed on the menu). Those are only a few examples, as I could go on and on.

Anyway, while my flight was still incredibly enjoyable, I guess it’s worth pointing out that even my favorite airlines aren’t perfect and have off days. I suspect this flight attendant had an off decade as opposed to an off day, but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.

The funny thing is that as soon as we landed and were waiting for the door to open she was the friendliest person ever — all smiles, wanting to know about my holiday, etc.

To me this raises an interesting question, though. Swiss (like most European and Asian airlines) has an inflight supervisor. US airlines have pursers, who really only get paid a couple of bucks extra an hour to do the paperwork and make the announcements. They’re in no way “in charge,” and therefore don’t really “supervise” the other flight attendants, as they can’t really boss them around or discipline them.

That being said, Swiss does have an in-flight supervisor that is in charge of supervising service, ensuring everyone is happy, etc. They come around to first class passengers at both the beginning and end of the flight to ask how everything was. In general I’m all for being honest, so I would say “the food was good, though the service really wasn’t,” though at the same time I’m not really sure if the inflight supervisor can be “trusted” in that sense. In other words, if I tell her that I thought the service was subpar, is she going to go tell the other flight attendant “the guy in 2G was talking $%*& about you,” or will she actually forward the comments to management.

Would you have said something?

Posted on March 19th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Swiss, Travel | 36 Comments »

What Swiss serves in business class on a 29-minute flight

To keep things in perspective I think it’s always funny to compare business class on European or Asian airlines to their US counterparts. In this instance I’m not even talking about what they actually offer, but rather the number of times I’ve been on an hour-long flight in the US in first class, where the flight attendant announces that “due to the short duration of the flight there will be no service.”

Compare that to my 29-minute Swiss flight from Munich to Zurich, where they served the following in business class:

Yes, that’s pesto chicken, tomato and mozzarella, grilled zucchini, two hot rolls, and a dessert. Swiss intra-Europe catering beats Lufthansa by a long shot, given that I find Lufthansa intra-Europe catering to rarely be well executed.

So the tangential point here is to always choose Swiss over Lufthansa intra-Europe if you can. Their catering is substantially better, in my experience.

Posted on March 19th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Swiss, Travel | 15 Comments »

Chasing the A380: Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich

Introduction
Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago
Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Lufthansa Business Class Zurich to Frankfurt
InterContinental Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 First Class Frankfurt to Tokyo
Park Hyatt Tokyo
ANA First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita, Lufthansa A380 First Class Tokyo to Frankfurt
Westin Grand Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Orlando

Upon arrival we headed down the long corridor to the transfer area, where we had to switch terminals by train. The trains at Zurich Airport are pretty awesome, since they make cow noises and have animated scenes of the alps. You can always tell who’s an American in the airport train, since they’re usually giggling uncontrollably (that includes me)!

Upon arrival

The Zurich terminal is beautiful and airy (everything I’m not), though we headed straight for the first class lounge.

Terminal

First Class Lounge entrance

We were welcomed at the entrance of the lounge and tried to find two seats together. The first class lounge isn’t especially large, though very nicely appointed. It has a main seating area overlooking the tarmac, a restaurant area, several sleeping rooms, and showers. In a way it’s very similar to the Lufthansa first class lounges, though I’d say just a notch below in terms of service and the food/drink offerings.

At the time we arrived the lounge was packed, as several flights were leaving to the Middle East, India, and the US. The pictures below were snapped at the end of our layover, when we had the lounge to ourselves.

Lounge

After briefly checking my email I requested a shower room. The showers feature Bulgari amenities, which happen to be my favorite.

Shower room

Bulgari amenities

After a shower I snagged one of the nap rooms for a bit of shut eye. The lounge attendant asked what time I wanted to be woken up, and I requested 1PM, which was 45 minutes before our departure.

Swiss nap rooms are a lot better than Lufthansa’s, since they’re actually beds, unlike Lufthansa’s day beds. They also have pretty cool lighting.

Day room

Sure enough, with Swiss precision there was an angry sounding Swiss lady outside my door at 1PM sharp — “VAKE UP ITS VUN PEE EMM YOU VILL FLY SOON.”

After waking up and getting ready to leave the lounge we were informed that our flight to Frankfurt was actually delayed by about 20 minutes due to fog.

Knowing how crappy Lufthansa’s intra-Europe catering is, I had a look at the buffet.

Buffet

Who cares about the rest, I see Fanta!

Salad bar

I settled for a bit of salad and lasagna, accompanied by an almighty Fanta.

Lunch

At around 1:30PM we left the lounge and headed for our departure gate, which was a 30 second walk away.

Posted on January 20th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Swiss, Travel, Trip Reports | 14 Comments »

Chasing the A380: Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich

We made it to our departure gate at around 6:45PM, 25 minutes before departure, where boarding was well under way. We headed straight for the priority boarding lane, where our passports were checked and we were wished a pleasant flight.

Departure gate

Swiss 9
Chicago (ORD) – Zurich (ZRH)
Monday, December 26
Depart: 7:10PM
Arrive: 10:55AM (+1 day)
Duration: 8hr45min
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 1D (First Class)

At the door we were greeted by the purser, who directed us to our seats in row one. There was only one other passenger in the cabin today, so it was a light load. Last time I flew this route I had the cabin to myself, so while it wasn’t quite as empty, I’m not complaining!

First class cabin

Within moments of settling in we were greeted by our two flight attendants. The one working the galley was super-friendly, while the one working the aisle was a bit less enthused to be there.

We were offered an amenity kit along with some Christmas cookies, and also asked what size pajamas we wanted. Swiss has my favorite airline pajamas. I find it funny that they very clearly state “SWISS FIRST” where a logo would normally appear on a polo, just to make sure everyone’s aware of where you’re seated.

Amenity kit and cookies

Pajamas

This was quickly followed by a glass of champagne and small starter, consisting of some sort of crab dish, which was delicious.

Pre-departure service

Swiss has one of the classiest first class cabins, in my opinion. I especially love the world map on the wall at the back of the cabin.

First class cabin

Our seats

After the drinks and snack were cleared, we were offered hot towels.

Hot towel

As departure time approached the captain came on the PA to welcome us aboard and advise us of our flight time of eight hours, anticipating an on time arrival in Zurich.

The flight attendant working the aisle took our dinner orders before takeoff. I ordered the fillet of beef, while my friend ordered the sea bass.

She then asked which appetizers we wanted. My friend had never flown Swiss before, and I wanted to make sure he had the full experience. Last time I flew Swiss the appetizers were brought around on a cart and I could pick and choose what I wanted, and it was plated at my seat. I asked the flight attendant if we could see the appetizers on a cart, and she somewhat begrudgingly agreed, stating she doesn’t usually do it on overnight flights, but since the load was so light it wouldn’t be an issue.

After a rather long taxi to the runway we were number one for takeoff, and moments later airborne. About 15 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off and flight attendants sprung into action, starting immediately with the meal service.

This started with the purser coming around to welcome us aboard. She was charming, engaging, and had a great sense of humor, and joked that we could practice our “proper” German together in the galley later on if I couldn’t sleep.

The dinner menu read as follows:

And for those of you that are interested, the wine list read as follows:

There are no two ways about it — Swiss has the best in-flight food of any airline I’ve flown. Asiana is perhaps a very close second, but Swiss still has the edge. To say their meals are spectacular would be an insult. And keep in mind that this flight is catered at an outstation — their food is even better departing Switzerland.

Service started with a glass of champagne and peanuts, follows quickly by the flight attendant setting our tables. Swiss has massive tray tables in first class, which can comfortably accommodate meals for two passengers. Swiss also has full sized salt and pepper mills they place on each table, which I love.

Champagne with nuts

Table setup

Since we had asked for the appetizers to be put on a cart it took a bit longer than usual for them to be brought out. Just about everything looked good, and since there was a ton of food, I requested a little bit of everything. The flight attendant happily obliged, and her attention to detail with plating was phenomenal.

Salmon and king crab legs

Air-dried meats and artichoke hearts

Once those plates were cleared the salad was served, which was equally delicious.

Salad

The fillet of beef was served next, accompanied by a baked potato, butternut squash, and roasted parsnip. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had a baked potato in-flight, and it was excellent.

Fillet of beef

My friend ordered the sea bass, which he enjoyed.

Sea bass

For dessert the flight attendant brought around a cheese cart, and I once again ordered a little bit of everything, though was stuffed at this point so barely even nibbled.

Selection of cheeses

For dessert I had the ice cream with mixed berry compote, which was simple and delicious.

Vanilla ice cream with mixed berry compote

Given that I was flying Swiss, I had to order an espresso after dessert, which was served with a praline.

Espresso

The whole meal service took a bit over two hours, and at this point we had about 5.5 hours till landing in Zurich. We both requested that our beds be turned down, which was taken care of promptly.

Turndown service

Swiss has excellent bedding, and I got a solid three hours of sleep (about as much as I’ll ever get on a transatlantic flight).

When I woke up the flight attendant quickly appeared to offer me something to drink. I ordered a glass of apple juice, and moved over to seat 1A to enjoy the sunrise.

Apple juice

Sunrise

I watched a couple of sitcoms on the entertainment system, and about 1.5 hours out of Zurich breakfast service started with a berry smoothie.

The menu read as follows:

Berry smoothie

The flight attendant first set my table, including the bread basket, and then came around with a cart consisting of several cold options. I ordered some berry yogurt and fruit, and had a mimosa to drink.

Breakfast

Bread basket

For the main course I ordered an omelet, which was delicious. They even had Tabasco sauce in a full size bottle!

Breakfast

To finish off the meal I ordered another espresso, which the flight attendant served (unsolicited) with a cinnamon roll, the same ones Continental has.

Espresso and cinnamon roll

At this point the cabin was bright so I snapped another quick picture before landing.

First class cabin

As we began our descent I changed out of my pajamas and stored my carry-ons.

It’s no surprise that the views on approach were spectacular, as they always are in Switzerland.

View on approach

As we continued our descent the visibility was very limited, and we didn’t break out of the clouds until about 500 feet above the ground. After a smooth landing and quick taxi we parked at our gate next to a United and Thai plane.

Foggy weather on final approach

Turning off runway

Plane being deiced

Reaching our gate

As usual, my Swiss experience was spectacular. The food is always the highlight with Swiss. I have to be honest and say that the service wasn’t great. It was acceptable and by most airlines’ standards on par, but by Swiss standard sub-par. The flight attendant was perfectly happy to fulfill any request we had, though at the same time didn’t go above and beyond in any way.

Nonetheless, Swiss remains one of my favorite airlines, if not my favorite.

Posted on January 19th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Swiss, Travel, Trip Reports | 21 Comments »

Chasing the A380: Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago

I got to Terminal 5 about 75 minutes before departure, only to find Swiss check-in completely deserted. I briefly had one of those “oops” moments where I questioned whether I didn’t convert the time properly, showed up on the wrong day, or something else.

I weaseled my way up to the check-in counter, where the agent had my boarding pass waiting for me and said “you’re the last passenger to check-in.” I was surprised so asked if I had missed the cut off, to which she responded “you’re in first class. What cut off?” Love it!

Check-in counter

I headed straight to security, where the regular queue was a mile long, though fortunately the premium security line was a more reasonable 15 minute wait. I was in line behind the rather spunky Aer Lingus crew, and I have to say, I kind of want to fly them now.

Security line

I was chosen for the full body scanner, and as usual requested a private pat down instead. When you get a private pat down the TSA agents carry your belongings to the screening room for you, and one of the agents tried to place my bag on top of my laptop. I asked him nicely not to do that and explained it could damage and scratch my laptop to which he responded “really, your laptop is going to be damaged?” At this point the other TSA agent snickered at him to be quiet, and I asked “am I being unreasonable to not want my laptop to be scratched?” The other guy quickly jumped in and said “of course not.” At least one person was reasonable…

After a most pleasant three minute massage (the only thing missing was spa music and a relaxation fountain) I was on my way. The Swiss lounge is located just past security. At the entrance I was pointed left to the first class section, where I met my friend since he had a different inbound flight.

It’s worth noting that I took the same exact flight on Swiss back in 2009, and you can read that review here. Last time the lounge was pretty awful, featuring nothing more than rabbit food (not that you really need a meal before boarding an international first class flight, but it’s still nice to be given the option if you want to sleep aboard).

This time they had changed the setup of the lounge. Not only was it remodeled, but they changed the layout as well. Instead of just having a few seats, they added some dining tables to the lounge, and substantially improved the food selection.

First Class Lounge

Dining table

The lounge now also featured a real buffet, including salad, appetizers, and even a menu with a handful of options.

Buffet

Drink selection

Snack selection

Wine selection

The menu read as follows:

Obviously the menu isn’t worth ruining my appetite over prior to an international first class meal on one of my favorite airlines, though the waiter convinced me to go with some shrimp, and in preparation for heading to Germany I figured I had to have a pretzel roll.

Pre-flight snack

Given how late I got to the lounge we had only about 20 minutes before boarding was announced.

On the whole I was impressed at the improvements they’ve made at this lounge since the last visit. Kudos!

But the real highlight would be awaiting us aboard the flight to Zurich.

Posted on January 15th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Swiss, Travel, Trip Reports | 20 Comments »

A flight on my favorite airline

Dear Etihad:

This is how you serve meals in international first class.

Love,
Lucky

(Don’t worry, I didn’t eat all of it)

Posted on December 28th, 2011 by lucky
Filed under: Swiss, Travel | 24 Comments »

Swiss to start nonstop service to San Francisco!

I love Swiss. They’re easily one of the best airlines in the world, so naturally I’m happy when they expand their route network. Starting June 2, 2010, Swiss will begin 6x weekly service to San Francisco operated with A343-300s. The schedule for the flight will be as follows:

San Francisco-Zurich (SFO-ZRH) LX 39 dep. 7:25 p.m. arr 3:40 p.m.+

Zurich-San Francisco (ZRH-SFO) LX 38 dep. 1:15 p.m. arr 4:30 p.m.

+following day

Even if you don’t plan on flying this particular flight, you should still be excited about this. It will ease up the bookings a bit (at least among connecting passengers) on the Los Angeles to Zurich flight, which can be tough to get award seats on.

Posted on December 2nd, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Swiss | 16 Comments »

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