The Litts tick-off Europe before Brexit- 1)Majorca- LHR-ZRH-PMI Swiss Euro Econ & Biz
Aug 22, 2016, 2:50 am
#1
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The Litts tick-off Europe before Brexit- 1)Majorca- LHR-ZRH-PMI Swiss Euro Econ & Biz
1)Majorca, Spain
Hi Ladies and Gents, welcome back to another Litt family journey. This time we are off to the island of Majorca. Previous Litt family journeys can be seen below:
Previous trip reports:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...y-ba-a380.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-amritsar.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...evy-tahoe.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...90-review.html
Background:
Its been an interesting year since my last trip report. Father Litt had decided to leave the world of Management Consultancy behind and move on to pastures new. Whilst this had many many benefits, the main downside was that he had less leave to use this summer. This meant that our planned jaunt to Palm Springs, had to be postponed. For me, this was my final year of A-Levels, and having turned 18 in July, with many different birthday functions I had to attend, the only real week that we could travel on was after A-Level results day.
Having booked this trip, a week before we left ( who is seeing the pattern here?
), Swiss air was our best bet for getting to PMI, without paying the same kind of ticket price that one would pay for the trip to LA or to the Far East. We were receiving quotes of Ł2,400 in Club Europe with BA (SHOCK HORROR). Swiss air was coming it at a full Ł1,000 cheaper with the return leg being flown in Short-Haul Biz. So we took it.Brexit has hit the UK quite hard, I think the reality of the decision is finally beginning to sink in and we were quite disappointed about the fact that many people felt so disenfranchised they decided they wanted out, but fair enough! So we thought we would take advantage of being able to travel across Europe whilst we still could and slowly but surely tick off countries that we hadn't been to before... by starting with a country we had been to before
Thats the Litts for you.
The rough overview of what to expect from this trip:
1. The day before the trip
2. LHR-ZRH-PMI
3. The Villa
4. The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
5. Island activities
6. Lounge hoping
7. Flying home- PMI-ZRH-LHR
The day before the trip:
As per my last trip report, which was exactly one year ago, where we drove to Geneva, this year I collected my final batch of A-Level results, with the hope of reading law. Once finding what position I was in and my grades, I began the process off putting the stress of the summer behind me and focusing on the one week of relaxation I had planned, before it all kicks off again.
I began the process of online check-in...
Finished my packing, had one final gym session...
And finally was able to relax.
The Day of the Trip:
We left home at 10:30 and made the short drive to Heathrow T2.
Not as cool...
After pulling up, grabbing our luggage and taking the lifts to departures, we had arrived at bag drop.
My trolley
Rather (un)amusingly, the DIY bag tag machine wasn't working so we had to queue for 25 minutes and go through the standard check-in malarkey.
After finally dumping our bags, we went through an incredibly empty security and were airside.
Our lounge today was the Plaza Premium Lounge, where we gained access using Amex Centurion.
The food options here were actually pretty good.
Tea and Coffee
My preferred beverage of the day
Bit of reading...
I went for the 5 Bean Chilli, which was basically not that chilli and some potato wedges...
How it was meant to be done...
Lavatory.
By 12:45, we hadn't been assigned a gate and I decided to check whether our inbound aircraft had landed yet.
HB-JLT
Lounge Overview:
Overall it was a pretty good lounge to spend an hour and a half. It lacked a variety of non-alcoholic beverages and had no tarmac view or any view for that matter so felt quite dreary. Food was pretty good though!
After leaving the lounge we headed out to do some airside shopping:
I LOVE LEGO!
We eventually checked the information boards once again and our flight gate was available
And after letting the gate lice go through, the Litt Family Brexit Tour had finally begun!
Aug 23, 2016, 4:09 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Congratulations on your achievements. Nice TR! I might have missed it, but, weren't you flying in LX J? If so, then why didn't you try out one of the many *A lounges? Thanks!!
Aug 23, 2016, 6:01 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
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Posts: 6,776
Aug 23, 2016, 1:49 pm
#7
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LHR-ZRH Swiss Euro Econ
Sch. Departure:13:45
Actual Departure:14:17
Flight time:01:10
Aircraft type: A320 Sharklets
Aircraft Reg:HB-JLT
Sch Arrival:16:40
Actual Arrival:16:45
Load: 90%- 160 Pax, 4 Cabin Crew, 2 Air Crew
After scanning our boarding passes, we proceeded to walk down some escalators towards our jet bridge.
Wonder how much these guys spend on advertising at Heathrow?
-JLT
We boarded through one door and as we began moving down the aisle heard the cabin crew request that all boarding passengers move quickly to ensure that we can request a departure slot- new experience for me!
My view *Our* view for the next 1 hour and 10 minutes
The seat
I tried to get my Go Pro working but once again it turned into a "stay" pro as it didn't really want to work.
Taxing out for departure
Budgets are running tight at BA- Only 1 meal for Econ pax and now paint is scarce...
Not today
Need to get on one of these before the final flight!
More BA
Waiting to get on the Runway
27R was the departure runway for today
Airborne
To take a line from Queen "I Want to break free"
Legroom was quite tight.
At 16,000ft the Crew began service and the vegetarian option on this flight was a cheese roll
Still climbing
They then proceeded to give us these chocolates
View from the front
Very rarely were these screens showing a moving map. Most of the time, it was just advertising new Swiss routes and the new CS100.
By the end of the flight I could tell you everything you wanted to know about the new Edelweiss short and medium haul flights to Birmingham
Quite soon after the crew began to collect our rubbish and momentarily after the seatbelt lights switched back on
Gates for connection
In awe at how stunning the outskirts of Zurich were
Don't get any of this at LHR
Touchdown!
Happy Swiss Gentleman
We pulled up at the gate, said goodbye to our crew, (or so we thought) and began our 55 minute connection at Zurich.
Exactly one year later I was back on Swiss soil. Great to see you too Switzerland, its always a pleasure :-:
Aug 24, 2016, 10:07 am
#8
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Connecting at Zurich
Connecting at Zurich
As previously mentioned, we had a 55 minute connection and with boarding being called in 30 minutes, going to the lounge, dare I say it, seemed pointless.
We began walking up the stairs to immigration, with our A320 still in sight
After clearing immigration, we began looking for our Abflug gate
Quite like this
Whilst I was walking to our new gate, B36, I saw a plane with a bunch of faces on it. Ignoring it initially, it began to stick our like a sore thumb when put next to a bunch of A320's, it was this...
-HB-JNA Swiss's first 777-300ER!!
(More pictures of that later)!
Anyhow, boarding was called at 17:10 and we began walking down Zurich's corridors, which seemed like they had run out of budget and were unable to finish...
Makes you think...
More 77W
Our second A320 today, subbed in instead of a A321
As I was busy taking pictures,I heard a lady say "Oh Hello again." Bit peculiar seeing as how I had never been to Zurich before. It turned out to be the crew from our first flight.
As previously mentioned, we had a 55 minute connection and with boarding being called in 30 minutes, going to the lounge, dare I say it, seemed pointless.
We began walking up the stairs to immigration, with our A320 still in sight
After clearing immigration, we began looking for our Abflug gate
Quite like this
Whilst I was walking to our new gate, B36, I saw a plane with a bunch of faces on it. Ignoring it initially, it began to stick our like a sore thumb when put next to a bunch of A320's, it was this...
-HB-JNA Swiss's first 777-300ER!!(More pictures of that later)!
Anyhow, boarding was called at 17:10 and we began walking down Zurich's corridors, which seemed like they had run out of budget and were unable to finish...
Makes you think...
More 77W
Our second A320 today, subbed in instead of a A321
As I was busy taking pictures,I heard a lady say "Oh Hello again." Bit peculiar seeing as how I had never been to Zurich before. It turned out to be the crew from our first flight.
Last edited by louislitt; Aug 24, 2016 at 10:37 am
Aug 24, 2016, 11:08 am
#9
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 205
ZRH- PMI Swiss Euro Econ
Sch. Departure:17:35
Actual Departure:17:33
Flight time:01:55
Aircraft type: A320
Aircraft Reg:HB-JLT
Sch Arrival:19:25
Actual Arrival:19:23
Load: 48%- 68 Pax, 4 Cabin Crew, 2 Air Crew
We were met with a welcoming hello, from the same cabin crew and flight crew that flew our first leg, I think they were more surprised to see us than we them!
Our aircraft today "Basserdorf"
We proceeded to take our seats until boarding had completed and then the Cabin Crew member from Hong Kong, came up to us and said that we could move before take off. I quickly sprang for an exit row ^^
I got comfortable and spread my tech out on the seat next to me
HB-JNA off to Athens on a crew Famil flight. Lucky passengers on that flight!!
Exit row 4 Ever!!!
Lets hope I don't have to use that
Safety video, nothing done manually
Suppose it makes a change from HSBC
Full glory
Pushback
Time to climb
Mountain Ranges in the distance
At 16,000 ft, exactly like the last flight, the seat belt signs turned off and the crew sprang into action. I was hoping that I wasn't going to get another Cheese roll but sadly my wish was not granted.
If my parents see this, sorry for playing with my food guys
Sparkling water for this flight
In love.
Love these chocolates. Made by Frey Chocolates.
Looney Tunes was playing on todays flight
Always important to browse over the safety card
I opened up Swiss Magazine on this flight
Useful article...
Also interesting to look at the Swiss fleet
At this point, we crossed landfall over the North of Majorca and began final descent
Dividers being opened for landing
Really enjoyed this flight
"Every breath you take, every move you make, the Estee Lauder lady will be watching you..."
If my window wasn't steamed up, these pictures would have been ^^
Whilst these A320's seem so incredibly dinky, when sitting on the wing you actually realise it is actually quite big!
We have touchdown
Taxiing to gate
Time to hit the road!
Huge thank you to the Swiss Cabin Crew and Flight Crew for giving me a quick glimpse inside the cockpit!
Thats a lot of paper
Bye Bye JLT!
And with that the Litts were free... minus going through customs and grabbing their bags and the rental car. Oh yeah the rental car. Stay tuned for that bit.
Actual Departure:17:33
Flight time:01:55
Aircraft type: A320
Aircraft Reg:HB-JLT
Sch Arrival:19:25
Actual Arrival:19:23
Load: 48%- 68 Pax, 4 Cabin Crew, 2 Air Crew
We were met with a welcoming hello, from the same cabin crew and flight crew that flew our first leg, I think they were more surprised to see us than we them!
Our aircraft today "Basserdorf"
We proceeded to take our seats until boarding had completed and then the Cabin Crew member from Hong Kong, came up to us and said that we could move before take off. I quickly sprang for an exit row ^^
I got comfortable and spread my tech out on the seat next to me
HB-JNA off to Athens on a crew Famil flight. Lucky passengers on that flight!!
Exit row 4 Ever!!!
Lets hope I don't have to use that
Safety video, nothing done manually
Suppose it makes a change from HSBC
Full glory
Pushback
Time to climb
Mountain Ranges in the distance
At 16,000 ft, exactly like the last flight, the seat belt signs turned off and the crew sprang into action. I was hoping that I wasn't going to get another Cheese roll but sadly my wish was not granted.
If my parents see this, sorry for playing with my food guys
Sparkling water for this flight
In love.
Love these chocolates. Made by Frey Chocolates.
Looney Tunes was playing on todays flight
Always important to browse over the safety card
I opened up Swiss Magazine on this flight
Useful article...
Also interesting to look at the Swiss fleet
At this point, we crossed landfall over the North of Majorca and began final descent
Dividers being opened for landing
Really enjoyed this flight
"Every breath you take, every move you make, the Estee Lauder lady will be watching you..."
If my window wasn't steamed up, these pictures would have been ^^
Whilst these A320's seem so incredibly dinky, when sitting on the wing you actually realise it is actually quite big!
We have touchdown
Taxiing to gate
Time to hit the road!
Huge thank you to the Swiss Cabin Crew and Flight Crew for giving me a quick glimpse inside the cockpit!
Thats a lot of paper
Bye Bye JLT!
And with that the Litts were free... minus going through customs and grabbing their bags and the rental car. Oh yeah the rental car. Stay tuned for that bit.
Aug 28, 2016, 1:59 am
#10
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Location: London
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Posts: 205
LL
They went well Taking a gap year though, and currently trying to find an internship for the year, hence the slow updates of the trip. Hope this one lives up to the rest of them LL
You should. Having just done three of the Swiss air Business lounges at Zurich, from a food perspective the Plaza lounge beats it hands down
LL.
LL.
It is indeed
LL.
Aug 28, 2016, 3:50 pm
#12
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Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
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Letting the holiday begin... or does it?
We got off the plane at Palma and began our walk to passport control
Just a quick note, it was quite surprising to see departure passengers and arriving passengers being able to interact with each other, i.e there was no separation between the two. First time I have seen this and was an interesting surprise.
We didn't have to clear immigration because we were in the Schengen Zone, and so we went straight to baggage reclaim. Being honest with you all, I wasn't expecting our luggage to come out. With a 50 minute connection I just didnt have high hopes.
But it must have been the Litts day because it did make it
We grabbed our luggage whilst dad went to the Hertz desk to get the car info.
Waiting for dad
You come out of Palma airport, which is full of holiday reps and walk to a separate building to collect your car, having already been given the key at the desk in the terminal.
Released into the sweltering heat
Pushing and photo-taking
Not us...
Ah this is us...
Just about managed to get the luggage in the car...
A BMW 218 D Active Tourer was our car for the trip. Basically a larger 1 series.
Sadly not enough room for my rucksack in the boot
My job as navigator was to well um... navigate so I had to program in the address
Its a hard life
Auto Gearbox
Standard BMW control panel
Father Litt turned on the car only to find the entire thing was in German
We wasted a good five minutes trying to change the language with multiple yells of "DIDN'T YOU DO GCSE GERMAN" from Mother Litt... No mum I did French and Spanish and boy do I regret that decision now
Soon we rocketed out onto the Motorway heading north to the area of Creastaux at the North of the Island where our Villa is located
It took us 35 minutes to get from the South of the Island to the North and by 21:00 we had arrived at our Villa
Whilst we waited for the owner to arrive and give us the keys, we got out to look at the BM
And the most obvious thing was this...
And um this...
How prey tell did we miss that?
We decided to put dealing with that on the back burner and whilst waiting for the lady, I took more pictures
Anyway after she arrived, we went inside to our villa and after spending the next hour unpacking and becoming familiar with our home for the week, we decided to order pizza because we had no food.
The pizza was meant to be delivered and after an hour after being order, bearing in mind its now 22:55 we find out the pizza guy can't find our house.
Of course, Dad and I decide its time for a mini-road trip and rush off to collect it.
I get dressed and tie, what is without a doubt the worst turban I have EVER tied and we head out into the town of Sa Pobla
13 minutes drive
Back on the road again...
10 minutes later and after being seen in public with my poorly tied turban
we had collected dinner!
A derelict restaurant, well what else was I expecting at 11:15 on a Sunday evening to be fair?
The Sa Pobla square
Reminds me of Geneva
All the streets in this town were incredibly narrow. Had we a larger 4x4 we wouldn't have fit
20 Minutes later I found myself eating this pizza, drinking yet another Sprite and I was struggling to stay awake. What a start to this vacation...
Aug 28, 2016, 6:14 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
Excellent TR; thanks for sharing!
A friend of mine got me a tank top that I think is hilarious: "Made in the UK Destroyed in Magalluf". I think it was for a hen week-end. Apparently, it's rather wild there.
Enjoy the vacation!
A friend of mine got me a tank top that I think is hilarious: "Made in the UK Destroyed in Magalluf". I think it was for a hen week-end. Apparently, it's rather wild there.
Enjoy the vacation!
