rcs85551

SWISS will once again fly from Zurich to Beijing - I am happy to announce that we can offer a "ZRH-PEK Inaugural Flight Do" in cooperation with SWISS.

Planned Schedule:

• SAT 11.02.2012
  morning - fly into Zurich with SWISS
  during the day - program with SWISS in Zurich
  evening - inaugural flight ZRH-PEK (departs ZRH 17:30)
• SUN 12.02.2012
  morning - arrival in Beijing 10:20
  during the day - relax after the long-haul flight, refresh; spontaneous activities
• MON 13.02.2012 + TUE 14.02.2012
  tourist program
• WED 15.02.2012
  noon - return flight PEK-ZRH (departs PEK 12:05)
  afternoon - arrivla Zurich 16:00
  evening - lounge visit & return flights back home

Beijing? In winter?

• Well, you get to experience an inaugural flight
• You should have a good time with other fellow frequent fliers
• You can have a look behind the scenes at SWISS in Zurich
• You can see the sights in/near Beijing without the masses that frequent them at other times
• Something out of the ordinary in winter
• ...

Cost:
For travellers originating from Germany, we have a special group deal (181 EUR net, plus taxes and fees). It books into G class, thus eligible for 100% mileage credit with Miles&More. Feeder flights from all German airports served by SWISS (= DUS, FRA, HAJ, HAM, MUC, STR, TXL) are included. If you need to originate from a different airport served by SWISS, just let me know and I'll check if there are any add-ons to the group deal we have.

Ex Germany, the all-in fare is between 620-650 EUR per person.

For those who want to experience the new business class from SWISS, there is an upsell opportunity to business class for 1.000 EUR per way. Business Class seats are limited however, and will be assigned on a "first come, first serve" basis.

Information on hotel + program in Beijing will be added as soon as possible, but given the huge number of FT DOs, I thought it does not hurt to announce this do as early as possible.

Other information:

• Only those flying on the group fare will be able to participate in the program in order to allow for a high-quality program. As you can imagine, SWISS folks are busy on a day with an inaugural flight, so we need to keep the group size within a manageable range. There is a limitation of 20-25 participants.
• If you want to participate, but wish to travel on a different ticket (paid or award), please check with us first before making any plans. We might have a few spots open for this, but we can only accomodate you after prior re-confirmation with all parties concerned.
• Pretty much all participants will need to get a visa to China for this trip.

rcs85551

List of interested users from both Flyertalk and Vielfliegertreff (including airport & class of service requests):
rcs85551 (MUC)
Mantegna (MUC / C)
flospi (ZRH / Y or C)
oweign + romana (VIE or MUC - C/Y)
fischköpfle (STR - C/Y)
YuropFlyer und YuropFlyer+1 (ZRH - C/C)
Oli20 (LCY)
fly4free und fly4free+1 (ZRH - C/Y)
Starbucks (MUC bzw. ZRH - Y / early return)
thyeri (GVA/ZRH)
foxyankee
Bingham und Bingham+1 (MUC - C/C)
sbm12 (NYC)
G_G (FCO/MXP)
Wombert (MUC)
Theisener (FRA or LUX - C or F)
matzedd (MUC - C/Y)
RCyyz (NYC)
Douglas (MUC - C/Y)
asahi (MUC/TXL - Y)
Eva + LFCorsten (MUC - C)
fuller (MUC - Y)
fredl (MUC - C)
urmel (NUE - Y)
noclue (FRA - C)
NewbieRunner (MAN - C or Y)
Weltenbummer42 (TXL - Y)
FLYGVA (DUS/MUC - Y)
Oliver2002 (MUC)
HON Circle LS (ZRH/BSL - F)
arj85 (MUC - Y / early return)
Circumknowitall (MAN)
on_tour (FRA - Y)
CDG1 (NCE - Y)

Tentative local guest in PEK:
moondog

rcs85551

*also reserved*

thyeri

Interesting! Is it possible to get a good fare from GVA or ZRH?

rcs85551

Yes, the fare from Switzerland should be similar to the one from Germany. As soon as we know who's interested from airports other than those in Germany, we'll compile a list and get the details on any difference in pricing.

A few people from the German Vielfliegertreff forum have also indicated that they might want to start from airports like ZRH or VIE too.

sbm12

What about starting from NYC???

G_G

that sounds interesting ^
I'd be happy to participate

rcs85551

If you're seriously considering to come, I'll definetely try to get something worked out for you. Would be more than happy to have you join...

RCyyz

Tempting ... very tempting ...

Fare info from North America would be appreciated! JFK / EWR / YUL would seem to be the logical choices if we try to keep this an all-SWISS thing. (I think PrivatAir operates EWR - ZRH which could be rather fun, if somewhat expensive!)

NewbieRunner

Please add me as interested ex-MAN, C or Y / Y. I'm about to apply for a visa to China for the Shanghai DO. I'll see if I can make it double-entry.

rcs85551

OK, I got NYC, YUL and MAN on my list for which we need to determine the fares...

RCyyz

Danke! ^

G_G

Please don't forget TUN

oliver2002

That service goes away the same time PEK starts and is replaced by a regular A330 service.

Currently working on a surprise in Beijing from the LH group, more details as they develop!

rcs, please put me down as a maybe.

thyeri

Do you work for LH?