Currybelly

Hi,

I'm looking at using the current FC companion fare offer to book flights from UK to JNB to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We have options of using both LH and Swiss or a combination of both. I'd welcome people's thoughts on how they compare? I believe the Swiss A340's have all recently been re-fitted with the same FC product as you find on the B777.

My initial thoughts are to travel out with LH on the B747 and back on Swiss more so we can experience both the LH FC Terminal at Frankfurt and the Swiss FC Lounge at Zurich but I can't find any real info on Swiss A340 FC.

Also on returning to Zurich, do you know if it's possible to go to the lounge for a few hours and then leave the airport to return later, or would you need to leave the airport straight after deboarding the aircraft? That sounds like a really dumb question and I can only think the answer is NO, but thought I'd ask. We want to meet up with friends in Zurich but I'm not sure they'd be up for meeting at 5:30am. Our onward flight will be in the evening so don't really want to spend the entire day at the airport just somewhere to relax for a couple of hours before heading to meet our friends..

Many thanks for any input.

Nick Art

This is what the Swiss First Class on the A340 looks like:
As for the question in ZRH: Are you allowed to enter Switzerland? If yes then there is no issue with going to the F lounge for breakfast. I believe the arrival service is available again, so you'll be picked up at the plane and driven to the private passport and security check, from which you can then enter the A F lounge. Not sure if they serve eggs Benedict atm, but would recommend those for breakfast. After that you can go in to the city and then return later and visit the F lounge again before your connection. Just make sure you keep your arriving F boarding pass for entry.
As for the 5:30 arrival time, flights only land from 6 am onward, the earliest you'll be out of the airport would be 6:30.

What partner special are you booking? The LHR one?

lhrpete

The F terminal at FRA is indeed a special experience but will you have enough time to enjoy it? If you have less than a couple of hours, I would choose Swiss both ways simply because I find the experience more consistent and generally better.

Unterwegs

A few additional aspects:
- The 748 has the seats in the nose, where there is less foot traffic. On the 340 you have more people moving between the cockpit area and the back which might disturb your sleep.
- Swiss seats have doors, so you have more privacy. Especially row 3 on the 748 has almost privacy and the aisles are relatively small

Currybelly

This is amazing info, thank you so much. We won't be flying until Oct so I'm hoping most services will be back to somewhere near normal. You're right about flight times, I think it is due in at 06:10am. In terms of the partner special I am looking at either ex-MAN or ex-DUB which is quite a bit cheaper. Anyway thanks again, I didn't expect all my questions to be answered in one post, I really struggled to find anything on the A340 experience!!

FeWi

ghosh that seems like the most annoying travel blogger ever to me… I would not enjoy flying with him saying stuff like this during the flight. Anyway there is a bit more clear review and comparison at Live and let’s fly if you search for compare Swiss Lufthansa first (I just joined and can’t post links yet)

For me the ground experience at LX is subpar compared to LH with FCT etc. seats are more modern at LX and private but the cabin more packed. Food wise it’s salmon vs. Caviar. Same same but different. If you can do one either way and then enjoy comparing but when in doubt I’d go with LH and try to connect allowing some time in FCT.

Currybelly

Thanks lhrpete, great advice. Yes if I book the companion fare through the Lufthansa site it only gives me one flight option which would give us just 1.5 hours connection at FRA, however I can get the companion fare through OTA's that offer me much longer connections, the one I'm looking at gives us 6:45 hours which sounds ideal to be able to enjoy the FC terminal experience. I'll just make sure to use a reputable OTA

chris63

A lot depends on when your travel is ….


LX onboard service in F is excellent but currently their E FCL lounge is closed with no date for it to reopen & the A FCL is a Zoo….

LH F on the 748 is very nice, for two if you can get 1A & K is great. At least LH are trying to provide the full F service during the pandemic, at LX you can only rely on the onboard service & product.

chris63

Don’t go near OTA’s during a pandemic, let alone other times….

If you search on google flights U.K. they should link you to longer connections that you can then book on LH or search individual flights on LH.com

Currybelly

Thanks FeWe.....I haven't watched the video yet but I try to respect all opinions and make a choice on balance. I will check out the LALF reference. Yes my inclination is just to be able to compare as long as they are both a truly FC experience, plus it would be nice to hook up with our friends in Zurich and add to the trip. Thanks again for the response.

FeWi

if you manage to get the FCT experience with a nice layover for that and also time in Zrh on the way back then this would be a win win win win so fingers crossed it all works out the way you decide it to be in the end and would be nice to hear about the trip

Currybelly

Thanks unterwegs, yes seats 1A and 1K are available on the 747 flights I'm looking at which would be cool

Currybelly

Thanks chris63. I have booked several LH flights through Expedia during the pandemic that haven't gone to plan but have been able to deal with LH direct to re-book as required. I think the tickets are non-refundable anyway so it would just be a case of changing travel dates. I did have one terrible experience with BudgetAir with Qatar flights during the early days of CV-19. Qatar were very accommodating but getting a refund from BudgetAir was impossible. I spoke with Amex and they refunded me there and then and took up the issue themselves without question.

Maybe it's me, but I cannot get GoogleFlights to show any of the companion fare prices, just full price tickets (even with the 2 x pax input). If you have any suggestions on that front I'd be all ears, else I guess I could contact LH direct about alternatives to see what they say?

Thanks again!!

Currybelly

Oct'22 chris63 so fingers crossed things will be back to some kind of normal. 1A & 1K currently available both ways

chris63

Use the exact flights & dates that the OTA is offering & input that to LH.com on a multi city search, usually works.

Calling them could take longer than flying to JNB currently, without at least SEN status…