No Schengen Lounge in ZRH [A] August 27 to Spring 2018

Old Aug 31, 2017, 5:15 am
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by GVA
How do they define a snack on the voucher ?
The NZZ Cafe has a range of items available that qualify as "snack".
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 12:50 am
  #62  
 
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I'll try it tomorrow morning and let you know.
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 2:31 am
  #63  
 
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Originally Posted by YuropFlyer
I'll try it tomorrow morning and let you know.

I'm trying it this evening. I'll have a peek inside the Aspire lounge to see if it's as overcrowded as I think it might be (since SEN lounge was already overcrowded most of the time).


About the gate E lounge, visiting the whisky bar sounds enticing. But it's also risky, what if you get unlucky and on your way back happen to reach passport control just after a bunch of planes returning from holidays has landed and the line is 15+ minutes long? That, and I realized I don't even have my passport with me. Would they let me enter and exit with just my EU identity card?
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 2:48 am
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by BlueNordicSky
I'm trying it this evening. I'll have a peek inside the Aspire lounge to see if it's as overcrowded as I think it might be (since SEN lounge was already overcrowded most of the time).


About the gate E lounge, visiting the whisky bar sounds enticing. But it's also risky, what if you get unlucky and on your way back happen to reach passport control just after a bunch of planes returning from holidays has landed and the line is 15+ minutes long? That, and I realized I don't even have my passport with me. Would they let me enter and exit with just my EU identity card?
Yes, an identity card is fine. And CH / EFTA / EU can use the dedicated channels which should be faster (they're faster, but sometimes it's not enforced)

I'd say if you leave the E lounge 45min before departure from an A Gate you should be fine. More if you want to board early

I wonder how many people will take the trek to E (and fill the lounges there even more - especially the FTL/C side in E is very full already in peak hours)
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 4:22 am
  #65  
 
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Originally Posted by YuropFlyer
Yes, an identity card is fine. And CH / EFTA / EU can use the dedicated channels which should be faster (they're faster, but sometimes it's not enforced)

I'd say if you leave the E lounge 45min before departure from an A Gate you should be fine. More if you want to board early

I wonder how many people will take the trek to E (and fill the lounges there even more - especially the FTL/C side in E is very full already in peak hours)
It really depends a lot in the time of day how full the lounges in E are.

I usually aim to leave the lounge in E 40 minutes before boarding of an A departure and actually leave about 25-30 minutes before boarding. It has always worked.
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 5:35 am
  #66  
 
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Originally Posted by worldclubber
It really depends a lot in the time of day how full the lounges in E are.

I usually aim to leave the lounge in E 40 minutes before boarding of an A departure and actually leave about 25-30 minutes before boarding. It has always worked.

I guess I will try my luck with the E lounge if I manage to sneak out of work early today. If I leave a safety buffer of leaving 30 minutes before boarding I should still get 30 minutes or so in the SEN lounge, enough for a whisky or two. Have you ever run into passport control lines that took longer than a few minutes?
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 7:03 am
  #67  
 
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Originally Posted by BlueNordicSky
I guess I will try my luck with the E lounge if I manage to sneak out of work early today. If I leave a safety buffer of leaving 30 minutes before boarding I should still get 30 minutes or so in the SEN lounge, enough for a whisky or two. Have you ever run into passport control lines that took longer than a few minutes?

Some people say they have, but I haven't. Often catching a 17xx or 21xx o'clock flight. The SEN lounge in E starts to empty out very early in the afternoon and there is virtually nobody there until early evening.

Ask bartenders Steven or Stephan for a whisky recommendation, don't know which of the two has the afternoon shift today.

Edit: Please let us know how it went!

Last edited by worldclubber; Sep 1, 2017 at 9:38 am
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 10:09 am
  #68  
 
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I'm here now. All smooth so far. And despite it being Friday at 18XX the E SEN lounge is practically empty. My flight is slightly delayed, but I'll still use a safety buffer of 30 minutes before boarding. Which means I'm returning in a few minutes.

At the whisky bar is someone named Prempai, not Steve.

Last edited by BlueNordicSky; Sep 1, 2017 at 10:20 am Reason: Added whisky bar attendant name
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 1:21 pm
  #69  
 
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So this was my first try at using lounge E for Schengen flights. From the time I left the lounge to getting to my A gate was 15 minutes. Area E seemed dead (this was around 18 hours), and there was zero line in the passport control. It seems like coming from gates E back to inside Schengen, you actually use a different half of the shuttle train, and the passport control is also a different section. Can anyone confirm this? I didn't see a single person other than me going this way back. Arrivals go through a slightly different route it seems.
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 10:50 pm
  #70  
 
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Just tried the voucher at the NZZ cafe. It will basically buy you one of the small sandwiches or croissant, plus coffee or soft drink (or beer/wine, but its 6.50am ) - Aspire lounge is, according to other pax asking for the voucher, terribly full. Didnt bother to check it myself..
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 2:45 pm
  #71  
 
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Observations from today: I was flying short haul Business class from ZRH. At the check-in desk, the agent proactively told about the lounge situation, but provided incorrect information. She claimed that the only options for me are the business lounges at D/E gates. I had registered the flight to M&M FT and her opinion did not change when i showed my Star Gold Card (SAS). The next stop was the stand in front of the A Lounge complex. The information there was more accurate, they sent me to the Aspire lounge. I went to check the Aspire, looked really packed and as I had some extra time, decided to opt for Senator Lounge at the E gates.

Conclusion: at least in the beginning, the information from the Swiss representatives is incorrect/confusing.

At the end, all worked out fine and had a nice whisky sample at the Senator E lounge. I timed the return from the Senator E to Gate A55: 13 minutes (about 2 minutes waiting time for the train, no waiting at the passport control, relaxed walking speed).
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Old Sep 3, 2017, 12:18 pm
  #72  
 
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Swiss Zurich A lounge closed till April

Hi FT,

Does anyone know what is planned for the A lounge in Zurich? I arrived today and it is closed till April 2018. They seem to be offering other lounges or coupons for food/drink. Sorry if this is posted already. I did search.

Thanks!

Begemot

Last edited by begemot; Sep 3, 2017 at 12:55 pm
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Old Sep 4, 2017, 12:45 pm
  #73  
 
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Does anyone have any comments about using the Dnata Skyview lounge with their Priority Pass access rather than going out to E?
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Old Sep 4, 2017, 1:09 pm
  #74  
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Originally Posted by chuck1
Does anyone have any comments about using the Dnata Skyview lounge with their Priority Pass access rather than going out to E?
It's a strictly worse lounge than both E lounges and the Aspire E lounge.
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Old Sep 4, 2017, 2:53 pm
  #75  
 
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Had an LH flight out of the A gates today. As I wanted to pick up some magazines, I went to the D SEN lounge. Zero wait at border check in both directions, and zero questions either (they did not ask for my boarding pass). A few extra footsteps but not too bad. Lounge was not busy around mid-day.
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