FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Lounge ZRH [merged Q&A thread]
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Old Oct 8, 2016, 12:50 am
  #1008  
televisor
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
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Posts: 2,110
Originally Posted by lhioseddy
Hi folks, I've read the last few pages of this thread and the whole clean unclean schengen non schengen has me totally confused on what to expect.

I'm flying Delhi-Zurich-Bucharest in C. No status so I suppose I'm limited to the "business" lounges. I figure the one in the E section is the best one. This is a non-Schengen->non-Schengen route so I figure passport control shouldn't come into play but now I'm not so sure.

Now:

I suppose my flight will arrive at an E gate. The departing flight will go from a D gate (at least based on what I've checked so far...).

1. Do I need to go through passport control to access the E business class lounge? I prefer to stay in this lounge for ~5 hours before my departing flight to Bucharest. Is it as simple as arriving into E, going through some sort of security and then making my way to the lounge?

2. Is the wifi really limited to just 60 minutes?

3. Am I correct in my assessment that the E business lounge would be the best choice for a morning (6:20AM) arrival and ~5 hour stay?

4. When I go from my E lounge to my D gate, will I need to go through any passport control?

All the trains, maps, clean, unclean has me a little confused. I'd prefer not to go through passport control if possible. Security is ok.

Please advise
So: both Delhi and Bucharest are outside of the Schengen zone, so there's no need to go through passport control (but you might want to go through, see later).

The E lounge is probably the best choice, and won't be hard to access.

I'm guessing the Delhi arrival will be in the E-gates, and will be non-clean. To get to the E-lounge you can follow signs for "E-gates" after disembarking, you'll go through security (should be quite quick), and you're in the E terminal - then just look for the Swiss business lounge.

I'm not 100% sure where Bucharest departures are from: it looks like they're usually from D. If from E it's easy, you can go directly to the gate. If from D, you have two options: this is where you have the choice of going directly to D - this means you have to go through security again since the corridor to D involves walking through a non-clean area, or going E->A/B->D, which involves entering and exiting the Schengen zone, but avoids going through security since you can remain in the clean zone at all times. If you have an EU/EFTA passport then that option is OK, you might not be able to enter Schengen without a Visa on certain other passports, and it's likely to be slower if they have to stamp you in/out.

Now the simpler alternative is not to bother with the E-lounge, in this case after disembarking the Delhi flight you'd follow signs for D, you'll go through security once, and you end up at the D-gates with the D lounge close by.

The E lounge is definitely much nicer, so with multiple hours to spare I'd recommend the E lounge option. Security at ZRH for transfers tends to be not busy, i.e. I the transfer checkpoints are often completely empty (especially when there's not a recent arrival, which will be the case if you've been at the E lounge).
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