Russell Corr

Just a quick heads up on this. It's ok but I wouldn't plan spending too long in there. It's currently run by Aspire and is shared with a number of other airlines. It's quiet and that all indeed but they only give you one hour of Internet access and then you have to pay. I was in the middle of doing some work and it cut out. Cathay could do a better job here really.

Justinroundtheworld

You need a drink more than wifi

alphaod

Just stayed in a number of five-starred hotels in Italy.

Limited me to 200MB of data with 250kbps cap and then I have to pay €19 for continued access and higher speeds. This is after paying like €500/day for the room. Talk about being cheap. 250kbps means video chats don't work.

Russell Corr

Usually I would agree ( though I am sure there are many passengers who use the wifi amd see it as an advantage), but yesterday I happened to need it for a situation that arose. Offering it free for one hour only is just not good customer service imo.

Quite simply, this lounge is not up to standard for either F or J lounges and I think they can do better. Disappointing start to a trip in F as a decent lounge is part of the whole experience and Zurich is way below what it is should be for CX premium passengers.

cxfan1960

Airlines usually try to find lounges near their usual departure gates. That is not easy, especially if the airline has limited presence.

ZKOKA

Free WiFi in lounges is generally not offered for more than one hour in non-LX lounges at ZRH in my experience. In fact, third party lounges do not even offer the one hour of free internet, it's the airport. Quite puzzling I ended up buying a daily package for my mobile (EU provider) at 30% of what ZRH airport was going to charge me for an additional hour

boarding_pass

It's sad not having any OW lounge in ZRH!

swiss_global

Well, the Aspire lounge was initially branded as OW lounge. Indeed it is predominantly used by OW airlines, but due to capacity constraints some OW have moved to other lounges since.

For any longhaul flight departing from E gates, the Panorama lounge is best suited, but not all carrriers offer it (e.g. AA does not, you have to use the OW/Aspire lounge.

The Wifi at ZRH is a different story ... yes, it's poor especially due to the 1h time limit. But apparently lounge providers are not allowed any third party providers and apparently the airport is also reluctant to offer them 24h access (it took a while even for LX to get it). Thus, while I share your frustration, there's nothing CX can do about it ...

s0ssos

Technically Cathay has their own section. For the regular Aspire lounge you go to the right. For the Cathay lounge you go behind the registration desk and to the left.
If you have PriorityPass you can use the Swiss lounge, which is much bigger and nicer.

Flythe96flag

I would also go for the Swiss lounge, the CX lounge is quite depressing in comparison.

nldogbert

Hi,

Just to confirm, indeed, for CX they use the Aspire lounge to the left. I am not sure what the access rules are, but I noticed for business passengers they do have access (not sure if it is in combination with Emerald orDiamond status).

The lounge is called Aspire First. It is very close to the First lounge of Swiss, with an attendant and dining tables with to order meal.

At least when I am using now, there is hardly anyone using the lounge, so far since entering @ 1030 am, only 3 other guests have used the lounge.

Service is top notch and walk to the gate is not too far.

Only gripe is toilet is outside and there are no shower facilities. Internet is for 2 hours and up to 3 devices. Speed is rather fast (at least for me)

Cheers!

airoli

Huh? Did I miss something? Is there another lounge?

I was departing in CX F from ZRH two weeks ago, and they sent me to the "regular" Aspire lounge which is not adjacent to the LX First lounge, and certainly did not have a meal-order section with an attendant. It was just a very generic and underwhelming contract lounge in the Airside center.

And it was a long way from the departure gates at E (had to go through immigration and on the Heidi train to get there).

athomas76

The new Aspire lounge opened a few days ago, around April 1st - there's a business and a first section, both with terrace and first section with decent Deutz Champagne and dining service. Located near Emirates Lounge close to gate E52.

airoli

Bugger - missed it by a few days, then!

nldogbert

Hi,

Sorry if I gave a wrong impression, I meant that from services wise, it's very close to lx first. Location is indeed just opposite the Emirates lounge.

I guess I was lucky to have used it since it was just opened.

Cheers!