LH1351

hello together,

I'll be flying on Contact Air Fokker 100 several times (STR-ZRH-WAW). I recognized all the very bad experiences with this airline here in this forum, although I'll to try make these flights as comfortable as possible. Perhaps you could help me to minimize the "bad experience"....So you experts could help me a lot by answering me the following question:

- Which seat in the first row offers the most legspace / comfort (I know middle seat is not free...)? Give me your preference.
(unfortunately the contact air seat map doesn't show the full seat number (only rows): I think the two seats left side should be A/C, right side D/E/F)

- I think catering service will also not be the same with the regular Swiss Europe- Business Class standard?

- load factor in Y / C on flights like STR-ZRH-WAW?

THANK YOU!!

mh492

I just did ZRH-AMS with ContactAir. If you have a choice, don't do it. That plane is just not worth it. The seats are highly uncomfortable. Don't worry about the leg space, you will hate the seats themself to begin with. If it is fully booked, it is even worse.

The catering is the same as on Swiss. Bottle of water, really nice food and a proper big cup of tea. So that part was nice, but the plane. Never again if I can help it.

pilatusguy

Just did LHR-ZRH with ContactAir (since when are they flying that route??) and I agree with mh492, the seats are just horrible, the backrest didn't even reach up to my neck (and I am only 1.68 tall). The legroom is ok in my opinion, however you will need all of it because everybody automatically "slides down" in the seat so you have at least minimal backrest.

IAN-UK

Nasty Nasty Nasty - it's hard to believe that this is SWISS's idea of brand integrity. Arrive in ZRH from GRU after a comfortable overnight in A340 C-class, only to be transferred to a perfectly horrible seat on the connecting service.

hch

And Contact Air is rumored to get more Fokkers, also to operate for LH

YuropFlyer

Sorry to hijack this thread, but are the Fokker 100 operated by Helvetic for Swiss any better? I'm thinking if I should upgrade or not to C on them? Or is Y ok?

GVA

Y & C are the same on Helvetic. No empty middle seat on Helvetic in C. Your essentially paying for a better meal & more miles. The service isn't attentive at all as there are only 2 FA's who quickly serve business class then go to economy and only resurface 15-20 minutes later.

capetonian

I suppose the reason is the usual LX "plane-shuffle". I had the dubious pleasure of flying LX operated by Contact Air twice on routes where they normally don't fly - TXL and VIE. Just as much as I have been dumped from A320's to Jumbolinos on several occasions.

FelixB

I too was lucky to experience the ContactAir flight adventure. On my flight a passenger asked at the gate what ContactAir was and whether it was safe. The gate agent replied, it's a nice, pleasant aircraft. Flight was full. Before the doors were closed that same passenger ran down the aisle totally frightened and screaming that she would not stay on board, then exited and was never seen again.

Seats are horrible. Too small and the backrest easily flexes. Lots of passengers were not amused, the lady next to me wondered, as did I, what kind of biz class this is?? In the end, I forgot my passport in the seatpocket. Still haven't heard anything as it was never found(?). Apparently they did not care to clean and check all the seats.

IAN-UK

Y is best because you'll have lower expectations. In practical terms C gets you nothing more than a faster exit and faster service (of a better meal, but don't hold your breath).

In fact, Y feels pretty good in terms of leg room, and it's the same 2-3 seating as in C.

But on the C-rows you get the distinction of a white anti-macassar thingy on your headrest. There's no cabin separator.

The total downer is that 5 C-class passengers can be crammed into the first row.

TPJ

Flights on ZRH-WAW-ZRH are normally packed, 100% L/F is not something unusual (only the first flight from ZRH and the last flight from WAW are quite empty - these are non-connecting/non-hub peak hours flights). LX is normally the cheapest option from WAW, especially if booked in the last minute (when other airlines normally hold only their full fare buckets open).

Aircraft are dirty! (Helvetinc aircraft are at least quite clean!). Business class is a joke - no middle seat empty, no cabin divider.

Use LO if you can, which on short haul flights (other than Polish domestic segments) is quite an acceptable option.

ILS2

I'll be doing ZRH-WAW-ZRH in C next week. After reading all this, my expectations are less than moderate How's the drink service on board? Only one round of drinks before they take care of Y? Need to make sure I have enough supplies to last the whole trip...

FelixB

WAW is often flown by Contact Air. Did you check?

In case of a LX operated flight, there will be one F/A assigned to business. If it's light they might help in the back but usually they do care about the C pax. They will ask if you need anything and you can also request additional drinks after they have served the meal.

TPJ

Actually, I do not agree with Felix, there is no F/A assigned to Business (there are only 2 F/A's for 100 passengers, OS has 3 F/A's on the same equipment type), IMHO the service routine looks as follows:

- bottle of water & cold towel before take off,
- meal and a drink after take off,
- then both F/A's rush to distribute sandwiches/drinks in Economy,
- on their way back from Economy your meal tray will be collected and you will be asked for another drink (there is no cup for tee/coffee on the tray, they will bring you a cup if you want a hot drink).

There were complaints on this forum about how rude Contact Air F/A's are (never happened to me).

ILS2

Slightly OT, perhaps, but does Contract Air offer free middle seat in C on ZRH-WAW (if you're seated on the 3-seat side of the cabin)?