Swiss International Airlines - LHR-ZRH-VCE in J. Seats and Lounge Questions

Hi. In a few weeks time I fly LHR-ZRH-VCE return. I booked on swiss.com but was never offered a choice of seat. I called Swiss and was advised that seats had already been reserved (although they are showing neither in my booking or as reserved on expertflyer). On the ZRH-VCE-ZRH legs on a Contact Air F100 I was given 1F both ways. According to the seating thread, this is a bad seat? The guy on the phone said that this seat had extra leg room - is this correct? Any reccomendations?

On the LHR-ZRH-LHR I have seats resered in row 2 (A32S, not sure which, have different info from phone agent, swiss.com and expertflyer). I've heard that serving starts from the back of the J cabin - is this a problem if seated in row 2? Is there a choice of meals in shorthaul J? Is it better to be seated towards the back on J?

Flying out of LHR T1, swiss.com says I can access the Star Gold lounge with a J ticket. I also have a FTL card (LH Silver), which apparently gets me into the BMI No.1 lounge (no other cards or status gives access, only FTL). The BMI website does not mention FTL access, only Star Gold - who is correct? Which lounge is better, BMI or Star Gold? How accurate are the lounges lists on the internet? For HKG it says there is a lounge for Y pax!

Any info on the Venice Marco Polo Club? Has anyone ever used the dayrooms in ZRH?

http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/services/airport/Pages/lounges_worldwide.aspx#ll

Thanks for any info/advice!

With a J ticket you are allowed to enter the C lounge in LHR, the lounge in ZRH, Business side, and the contract lounge in Venice, no need to show your FF card (there are only 2 lounges in VCE, the AZ lounge for ST passengers, and the contract lounge for everybody else, where you will be directed. Go upstairs with the excalator past security. At the top of the escalator you will see the AZ lounge, make a right, then a left - at the Bose store - and follow the hallway to the lounge). The ZRH-VCE-ZRH is almost always operated by Contact air for Swiss, so you'll get a small plane. C service is nothing to write home about. I think they start serving from the front on Contact air, but I'm not 100% sure.

Flying out of LHR T1, swiss.com says I can access the Star Gold lounge with a J ticket. I also have a FTL card (LH Silver), which apparently gets me into the BMI No.1 lounge (no other cards or status gives access, only FTL). The BMI website does not mention FTL access, only Star Gold - who is correct? Which lounge is better, BMI or Star Gold?
At LHR your J boarding pass gives you access to the Star Gold lounge while your FTL card and an LH/LX boarding pass give you access to the bmi No.1 lounge. The bmi No.1 lounge is a *G lounge so SENs and HONs also have access. Access by FTLs (regardless of the class of travel) is by special arrangement between LH/LX and bmi, so may not be mentioned on the bmi website.

Take a look at this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/838311-departures-super-lounge-lhr-t1-now-open.html) in the BD forum about the Star Gold lounge and this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/926679-new-bmi-no-1-international-lounge-t1-lhr-opened-1-june-reviews-pictures-29.html) for reviews of the bmi No.1 lounge at LHR. The general consensus is that the Star Gold lounge offers better food and the bmi No.1 lounge provides more pleasant space. The bmi No.1 lounge is quite a long way from the departure gates for most international flights.

...The general consensus is that the Star Gold lounge offers better food and the bmi No.1 lounge provides more pleasant space. As I had to spend several hours at LHR I decided to compare the two lounges. You are grosso modo correct, although I must say that even the slightly better food at the former is certainly not worth the roomier and emptier bmi lounge, which also offers a good view on the runway and much better seats. As a matter if fact, when asking the LX agents they say that although they "must" send you to the *G lounge but they recommend the bmi one ;).

Sorry to dredge this thread up...

At LHR your J boarding pass gives you access to the Star Gold lounge while your FTL card and an LH/LX boarding pass give you access to the bmi No.1 lounge. ... Access by FTLs (regardless of the class of travel) is by special arrangement between LH/LX and bmi, so may not be mentioned on the bmi website.

Can anyone point me to the rules surrounding FTL access to the No 1 lounge. Is it a LH benefit, or a M&M benefit? Do I need to be flying LH/ LX, or just hold any *A boarding pass?

Second question... which other lounges (outside CH & DE) can I access using my FTL card?

Sorry to dredge this thread up...



Can anyone point me to the rules surrounding FTL access to the No 1 lounge. Is it a LH benefit, or a M&M benefit? Do I need to be flying LH/ LX, or just hold any *A boarding pass?

Second question... which other lounges (outside CH & DE) can I access using my FTL card?

Regarding your first question:
At the entrance of the A* lounge in LHR there is a sign saying, FTLs with LH or LX tickets are pleased using the bmi lounge. Seems to be restircted to FTLs with LH or LX boarding passing.

Second question:
Except the LH or LX owned lounges all over the world? I'm not aware of any other exception for FTLs like the LHR bmi lounge.
But as FTL on a LX (economy) flight you will be always invited to a lounge at the departing airport. If there is no LH or LX lounge, LX provides a voucher for a partner lounge at the check-in.
Depending on the airport this is a *A partner lounge or an other partner.
E.g. in NRT the United Red Carpet Club or in HKG the Cathay lounge (although there is a SQ lounge). Or in ATH the former OA lounge, although LH owns there lounges.
But this is a special feature for FTLs on LX flights and requires a LX boarding pass.

Best regards,

taigatrommel

But as FTL on a LX (economy) flight you will be always invited to a lounge at the departing airport. If there is no LH or LX lounge, LX provides a voucher for a partner lounge at the check-in.

I think the same applies for FTL on LO (eco) flights.

Thanks for the help, taigatrommel and Lack.


Except the LH or LX owned lounges all over the world?

Where can I get a list of the ones owned by LX/LH? Is it a case of going through city by city on the LH website (http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/uk/info_and_services/at_the_airport/lounges?l=en&cid=1000243&blt_p=GB&blt_l=en&blt_t=Info_and_Services&blt_e=Info%20und%20Service&blt_n=At%20the%20airport&blt_z=Lounges&blt_c=GB|en|Info_and_Services|Info%20und%20Service |At%20the%20airport|Lounges)? For a lot of them - even FRA - the wording says 'to access the lounge, you need to possess a valid Lufthansa boarding pass for same day departure', whereas the M&M website says I only need a *A BP. :confused:

It seems a lot of airports have a generic * lounge. I don't have access to these, right?

as FTL on a LX (economy) flight you will be always invited to a lounge at the departing airport. If there is no LH or LX lounge, LX provides a voucher for a partner lounge at the check-in.

That's great news. I didn't know that. So any time I have a Y ticket on LX, I have access to the same lounge as their business class pax? EG the new * lounge at BCN?

this is a special feature for FTLs on LX flights and requires a LX boarding pass.

I think the same applies for FTL on LO (eco) flights.

So LX/ LO only, not LH?

Thanks again.