TRAVELSIG

LX is very good for TATL.

For Europe-Asia I tend to find my preferred order CX, QR, SQ, EK, and then LX.

LX is good however they have relatively few Asian destinations compared to the competition. SQ is good but connecting through Singapore is only efficient for a few destinations or when Singapore itself is the final destination. For Tokyo- surprisingly- I have been very happy with the VCE/NRT nonstop on AZ which has the proper pods in business class (same that AC uses and very similar to CX).

YuropFlyer

I'm a Y longhaul flyer myself too - and I've found that LX's Y product is, well, just as cr*p as of most other European/NA competition.

No powerports in Y at all on the A340, USB only on the A330, IFE which was outdated years ago already, crews which I've found to become more and more working "according to the book" and not going a single step extra (a few good crews are still around, but not so much..) - OpUp's becoming extinct almost completely, as LX nowadays will try to sell Y->C if overbooking exists in most cases, rather than giving something for free to their status customers.

I've to say, food-wise, especially Ex-ZRH, most of the dishes are still relatively good compared to NA/European carriers (not the white bean breakfast dish to SIN, though, that's been left over by about 95% of all Y fliers yet still being served since 3 months..) - but given they're very repetitive, and changing items much less often than competition, it's hardly interesting for frequent fliers in LX Y either..

Space-wise, at the moment the LX Y is "ok" - but obviously that will change with 3-4-3 on the 777, as I'm sure LX will also reduce seat pitch (I personally don't mind 3-4-3, as long as I get plenty of seat pitch - I get 34 inch in EK 777's with the seats still being 17 inch wide - I'm sure LX will have less wide seats with less seat pitch (I guess they'll go down to 31 or something similar LCC-like) in their own 777's..

So, to make a big comparison, we've, at the whole LX product incl airport: (compared overall, ie not just NA/European, but world wide incl ME3/SQ)

-Checkin overall (ZRH and outstations) is ok, even if they do some "SEN scam" at outposts like SIN and the like.. enough checkin counters for C/F usually, and for statusless Y, well, I guess they don't mind waiting 30min or so in the queues anyway.. I've had it worse with many other airlines (+)

-Decent security, seldom long queues - this counts both for fast lane as regular lane (which, again, can develop queues, but rarely it means waiting more than 15min or so unless the most busy days) (++)

-Terrible, substandard, often overfilled lounges in ZRH, the F lounge is ok, but SEN/C are a joke compared to anything but a United club (-)

-Fast immigration in ZRH, hardly ever a queue when exiting it (similar to SIN), seldom if ever more than 10 minutes when going landside, even during the morning waves. (++)

-Baggage delivery got upgraded, or at least it seems to me it's better functioning in ZRH than a few years earlier (+)

Overall, ZRH airport is a good place to start/transit, despite the lounge's crappyness. So, for a non-status Y customer, or F/HON, it's definitely a (+) overall in ZRH, for FTL I would still give a (+) too, while for SEN/C guests, it's (+/-)

Then, we get to the actual reason to visit an airport: Flying from A to B. This is where LX won't get that good grades.

Firstly, their crews. I've had my fair bit of flying this year (Some C, mostly Y) - and honestly, I wasn't impressed. Some crews are excellent, but they're a minority. I know - things like a personal welcome aren't hard benefits, so one hasn't to expect them as SEN in Y on long haul. Overall, it's a nice gesture, which unfortunately only happened in less than 1/3rd of my flights. Apart from that, some crews are indeed still delivering their service with joy - but it's not that many. The interesting thing is that many will say that you get inconsistent service on carriers like EK or the like, while in fact I've gotten much more consistent (good) service from EK (not SQ-consistent, but dependable), while it's very wobbly on LX those days to say at least. Crews overall (mixing up everything, and just for C/Y, not F): (-)

Seat: The thing you seat on, and therefore probably the most important product on board: Well, if you get to grab 30A/B/J/K on the A340, you can be very happy about your Y product. Same as with 76K on LH's big boy, or in fact with any other airline's exit row. Now, unfortunately, LX is also going the way of selling seats to anyone who likes, so my success to get an exit row seat has lowered from about 100% in 2013 to around 60% in 2014. Generally, Y seats are ok, seat pitch is tight but not (yet) crazy tight. For C, the seats are still good, but slowly falling behind from being a top product (like it was 5 years ago, when the whole new C was finished) to being a slightly above average product in international competition. At least it's still better than the new LH seats. But it's not really a "selling point" anymore, especially if one has to fly up to 6 hours by NEK to ZRH first to connect to a long haul..
Overall: (+/- in Y), (+ in C), with both service classes expected to become worse.

IFE: Not up to date, while still being better than overhead monitors or very old-school IFE, it's just not as good as it could/should be. Together with missing power in the A340 in Y completely (and USB only in A330), it's not what I expect from an airline in 2014. (-) - for both C and Y.

Food: It's usually decent, and while changing too seldom in Y, it's still good. About C, I've had better food than on LX C, but also worse on other carrier's C, overall, it's solid. A tight but earned (+) here.

So, we got crews, seats, IFE, food.. not comparing safety or such things (on which I would never fly an airline that has problems with those) - and overall, it looks like it's about a (+/-) for it's whole product.

Which isn't terrible. But isn't good either.

In Swiss school grades, it would be a 4. For Y.

A 4+ for it's C product, I would say.

And the Outlook for both classes not being too good.

Just my 5 Rappen to it..

f4freeJunior

Most of the time my asian trips involve SIN.
QR and EK I am still afraid off the desert stop but I might give them a try in my dead year after all.
So TRAVELSIG I hear you saying you prefer the desert stop over LX to Asia? Seriously? For me nothing beats a good night´s sleep on a 10+h flight.

Greetings from CGK, off to BDO and TKG...

TRAVELSIG

The Desert stop is OK if it means not having to transit again within Asia. It also depends what time the stop is at- makes a big difference. Finally- as I am not based in a hub city such as ZRH- I always need a transit point with or LX or LH.

When I can avoid a stop obviously I really prefer that- hence for example CX being preference one as MXP/HKG is a nonstop. I used to fly LX quite often to BKK as the times were very convenient- the new timings though are so screwed up that a stop with a proper departure time is better. The BKK timing now could not be worse for jet lag adjustment or for maximizing working time on the leg back to Europe- only OS has a proper time any longer with their after 23:00 departure.

Back to the premium airline with a niche: what would help Swiss a lot is to upgrade lounge capacity at Zurich where there is a large problem if you are not F/HON with overcrowding.

optibaem

Last time through, I crossed over to the business lounge via the smoking bar. It was quieter in there. The bistro addition did help but it's still pretty crowded in there.

weero

Seat wise? No ... only food LX is at the top scale and UA far bottom.

But AA food is nearly as good and the seats (MCE at least) are quite a bit better. IFE sucks on both though and LH is the least terrible there.

UA maneuvered itself solidly to the bottom everywhere I fear. LX would be good without those IFE boxes under the seat.

ClipperDelta

I will say that DL has really upped their game even in Y- the refurbished 767s they use on ZRH-JFK have AVOD PTVs at each seat (pretty large screens) - 250+ movie choices, 777-type large overhead bins, etc. And they now offer free alcoholic beverages throughout, hot towel service, three choices for the main meal, free eyeshades and earplugs, and a personal water bottle...some of these things LX doesn't even offer for in Y for TATL...

YuropFlyer

That indeed sounds well. Maybe Delta has hired someone in the right position who told them that by spending 3$ more per pax, there is a significant amount of flyers who will vouch to fly them again next time, even if they charge a few $'s extra than the competition. It's close to the model that EK is using I would say - offer a decent Y product, so people will chose you in the first place.

While LH group seems to go more and more for the "cheap cheap cheap - service and quality doesn't matter" path.. a path that just won't end with golden bricks laid out, one could assume..

TRAVELSIG

I agree. A few times this year I tested out DL TATL VCE/JFK, VCE/ATL, and AMS/MSP and AMS/DTW and in all cases I was really pleasantly surprised. The new T4 at JFK is also excellent and the SkyClub with the deck better than the offerings of many EU airport hubs.

3 years ago I would not even have considered DL unless it was the only choice- and now their product particularly in business with the guaranteed all aisle access, the single window seats, the pods similar to CX on Airbus, and the service levels improving- it is a huge difference.

I never thought to say DL is a better choice than LH group however today in many cases it certainly is a very viable competitor.

PetzLUX

Just an info concerning HON/F lounge:

There will be a second FCL in ZRH opening in 2015. It will be located at dock E.

TRAVELSIG

That is very good news.

I do hope as well to see a new SEN lounge at E as currently the only option is Panorama which gets very overcrowded during the USA flight wave of departures.

NA-Flyer

Brilliant. Probably the most innovative thing that LX will do for 2015 @:-)

olouie

If flying economy LX is just about average. Last time I requested a special meal (Kosher) and it was just a croissant and a piece of chocolate. Regular meal looked much better.

LH's Kosher meals are much, much better than LX.

Agree that DL has made huge improvements. The small things like a snack, three meal choices, hot towels, eye marks, ear plugs and headphones make a big impact back in Y. Even if its not the best service it gives the impression that DL is more premium than its competitors. I know lots of ppl changing over to flying them just based on the small things like that. I have already stopped flying UA and moved more to DAL based upon this kind of service (and them being ontime much more frequently than UA).

GRUflyer

Because everyone else but LX has updated their seats since then...?!

PetzLUX

Oh, it is just about the seat...

And it is still a very good seat...

Why criticism of service and food in the OP if it is just about the seat?
By someone who apparently has not set a foot into a LX aircraft for over 1 year and 5 month, eh over 2 years...
Pathetic pointless rant IMO.