If OP has Gold status in *A or traveling in C, s/he will be granted lounge access. Otherwise, OP needs to check if RCC membership will gain entry in lounges. The lounge people (guards?) over there tend to be quite strict about admittance.
Assuming you want a shower upon arrival, your should go to the transfers area first, then to the lounge then exit the airport to go into the city.
Ordinarily, I would think that your bags would be checked through to ORD unless you direct otherwise. LX does have an arrival lounge in bag reclaim for C/F pax.
Originally Posted by
EnvoyBoy
The train from ZRH to the main city terminal is less than ten minutes and something like 8Euro. While there may not be much open yet, it's a very walkable, compact, easy city. In less than 20 mins you can walk down to Lake Zurich if you like. Lots of great side streets, alleys, churches (including the largest clock face in Europe). It's easy to poke around and return to the train station and trip back to ZRH.
Agree 100%. 6 1/2 hours in Zurich is plenty of time to go into the city and walk around. Zurich HBB (main station) is about a 10-15 minute walk from the lake. Pick up a city map at the tourist agency upon arrival. There won't be much open very early AM, so try to find a cafe or something, buy a coffee and go sit by the lake or Lindenhof until things open up.
Swiss Bahn airport station is underground of the parking garages directly across from departures exits. Signage is excellent. If the lines aren't too long, buy your ticket at a counter instead of a kiosk and ask the agent about a day pass that would cover the trams and buses; I think the cost is about CHF 8. (I am not sure if you can get one that combines airport trains with trams.)
Assuming you have your return boarding pass, I would plan to be back in the airport 1 hour before departure, unless you want to spend time in the lounge.