Mxp-zrh C, Zrh-Jfk F
 

Hi,

I'm going from MXP to ZRH in business and then
ZRH to JFK in first.

Does anything happen when we land in Zurich? Pick up, host, parade, balloons?

Does anything happen when we leave Zurich? Drop off, host, marching band, key to the city?


Can I take full bottles from the lounge? For medicinal purposes?

Thanks,

Bege

Full bottles of what :confused:

Whiskey, rum, gin, pills?

If this is an attempt at humour, I'm afraid it's falling pretty flat (sorry for the pun).

Pick-up by a Business bus if it's an apron arrival. Then you have to walk to the FCL. No special arrangement if a gate arrival.

A van to E Dock where they drop you at the bottom of an elevator.

Well I am actually interested in the transfers upon arrival and departure. In the grand scheme of things what you are picked up in doesn't matter and I feel a little silly asking. In an attempt at levity I mentioned marching bands and stealing whiskey bottlers. This has lead to some misunderstanding. Whether this is my poor sense of humor or you lack of one, only the forums can tell. :)

Bege

Humor or not, NewbieRunner comprehensively sums up the transfer arrangements (or lack thereof) you will get.

Actually MXP is one of the worst airports in Europe, especially when Italians leave for the holidays. If things go wrong the airport staff usually looses all their language skills. Make sure that you luggage is locked, when you check in.
It is no harm if you have a plan B to take the train from Milan main station directly to Zurich airrport;), you might need it as Milan is strike prone.
The train takes about 4 hours and costs the same as the taxi ride from the city center to Malpensa which is in the middle of nowwhere.

Thinking of this kind of mileage run with LX later this year, which airport as starting point for connection in ZRH is "safer" regarding strikes, LX plane cancellation, fog, weather delays:

MXP, BCN, FCO, MAD, BUD?

BUD & FCO should be fine.

I find FCO quite unreliable with delays and more than their fare share of random disruptions for a multitude of reasons so I would choose MXO or FCO or even better VCE.

I've had good experiences in BCN and WAW for these kinds of connections.

? FCO better than MXP? No way, ever.

? 4 hours into Milan? Try 30-40 minutes on the Malpensa Express.

I wouldn't change my travel plans out of fear for a strike. Just buy travel insurance. And there is no fog in the summer BTW.

In any case, the rule for Italy (ALL of Italy) is not to plan travel on Mondays or Fridays. That's for everything- planes and trains. As for Malpensa being the worst airport in Europe have you been to CDG lately? Or FRA? Or TXL? Far from the worst--good food and shopping although lounges stink. And yes, English-language skills are terrible but welcome to Italy. That's everywhere.

Agreed about MXP better than FCO.

Now a few comments:
1. The Malpensa Express to FS (Centrale) is 1 hour and 10 minutes if you do not miss the connection at Cadorna and know where you are going
2. There is fog today and it is July (summer) BTW
3. Nonsense on the "do not plan to travel Monday or Friday"- are you so worried about strikes? Really?
4. If the English language skills are so bad perhaps this is a great opportunity to practice your Italian- or wait- don't you speak fluent Italian? Terrible. Welcome to Boston. Silly comment really.

Rome is a splendid city but I would second the advice to avoid FCO. At all costs.

MXP has always worked for me when transiting through ZRH but I try to leave myself a buffer, i.e., book an earlier MXP-ZRH flight than the minimum allowable transit time. You did not specify whether you're thinking of making the LX mileage run to New York, but let's suppose so, and let's suppose you have the 1300 ZRH-JFK flight in mind. You might then consider booking the 0700 MXP-ZRH flight; if for some reason there's an irrop you still have two later flights that morning to catch the JFK flight.

Consider staying the night before at the Sheraton MXP, across the street from the terminal. On a C ticket you can use the fast-track security lane which, even when backed up, means you can make it from the Sheraton lobby to airside in 15 minutes.

Strikes? Yes, they happen, but normally with some notice. If for some reason there's a last-minute strike, you can still get to Milano Centrale for the 0710 train to Zurich on the Malpensa Express train at 0543 or bus to Milano Centrale at 0500 or 0530.

Thinking of a MR ZRH-XXX-ZRH-SIN/BKK so everything without any city sightseeing nor stay, just back2back transit rushing through arrival/security/gate, with minimum transit time, therefore my question about strike, fog, LX cancellation, probability ;)

Strikes are usually announced at least 10 days in advance and usually much further- and often are cancelled before they occur. There was recently a transportation strike and although it did not affect air traffic greatly this usually means you are safe for at least a little while. I see your trip plan- just one point you may want to check is if it is less expensive to "start" your journey at MXP and then just buy a roundtrip to/from ZRH separately. If you are flying in business class particularly the MXP starting point can be interesting- the only point though is that the interesting fares are usually in "P" class which are not really interesting for a mileage run (100% miles).

second that - if it's for money saving reasons, MXP is almost always better than for getting miles. Although saying this, for the price of a ZRH-somehwere-ZRH ticket in P, you can get a D ticket from/to MXP.

Strike-wise, I would be much more worried taking the train to MXP or from there rather than flying out of MXP - at least to me, the prior happened multiple times while the latter was never an issue (planning the connecting flight with one connection as a reserve in between however paid off for me twice - although only due to "normal" delays into ZRH, not cancellations).

Turnaround at MXP is simple on LX flights. From where the terminal bus (LX flights have an apron position) lets you off, instead of proceeding to baggage claim, you follow the transit sign upstairs, turn left, walk straight ahead 30 meters, and down to the boarding gate, usually A35 or A36 for LX.

Thanks everyone for your inputs ^ - yet I'm still debating if this tight evening LX back2back via MXP or VCE...

I would choose VCE simply because there are far fewer delays at VCE compared to MXP- not that this would affect your turnaround but it will affect your time!

Back from my trip, I did leave from MXP because of price. The trip was nice, no delays. I had used eVouchers to upgrade ZRH-JFK to F. When I started in Milan there was a problem with my wife's upgrade. While I was able to even check us all in online, she was missing a ticket number. After debating that this might be might fault due to a lack of eVouchers, or never confirmed upgrade eventually everything got fixed after they called Zurich.


Thanks NewbieRunner, I just returned and you were right on all accounts.

Yup, my orignal reply was to UAP but NewbieRunner was faster then me.


Bege