Swiss with a broken foot
 

Hi all. I am new to this forum and this will be my first Swiss flight in a good 5-6 years. I have also never been to Zürich.

My husband and I will be flying tomorrow from TLV-BOS, in LX Business, connecting in ZRH. We have a 9 hour layover, during which we were planning on seeing a bit of the city. Unfortunately, my husband broke his foot yesterday and will not be able to do any walking, which means that sightseeing will be difficult. My questions are:

1. I have reserved wheelchair assistance for the duration of the flight. How does such assistance work when connecting in ZRH? Will we still be able to use the lounge? Can we ask them to return and pick us up there, or are we expected to remain in the gates area? Will they let us hold on to the wheelchair while we are in the airport (so that I can wheel him myself)? Is the lounge wheelchair accessible?

2. Should we decide to stay in the airport, will spending several hours in the lounge be frowned upon/forbidden?

3. Does anyone have any ideas for things to do that require only minimal walking/standing? How much walking is involved in the train journey to Zürich?

4. The tickets are reward tickets booked via United. We were assigned seats 9AB for the TLV-ZRH segment (A330, unless it gets downgraded to an A32X), and 5AB for the ZRH-BOS segment (A340). These seemed fine to me at the time of booking, but now I am worried that the small foot rests may cause a problem. From reading these forums, it appears that bulkhead seats have larger foot rests. Are there any other seats that offer more space for feet? How likely is it that Swiss will be flexible about assigning such seats to United award tickets?

Your questions are very specific, and I doubt anyone here will know all of them.

Just a few marks from my side, then:

With a broken feet and such connection, they probably expect him to stay in the E gates area.

TLV arrives dirty, ie you'll need to pass security upon arrival to head to the E lounge.

Personally I don't think they'll be happy to transfer him landside (probably could be arranged, though) since it would involve much more time and distance than "just" bringing him from airplane to lounge and back. As compared to all the way to arrivals, and then picked up again from the checkin area. Would definitely needs LOTS of preparation to have everything arranged ahead. Seeing your flight is tomorrow, I'd rule that out to actually work.

The lounge itself is perfectly wheelchair accessible, all can be done by lifts between gates / security / lounge etc.

I'm not sure if you could "rent" a wheelchair from the airport - my understanding is that's not a default option, but you can always inquire. But be ready for a "no".

You can stay all day in the lounge. Just not overnight ;) No one will care. The business lounge in E gates, while being fine, is probably a bit boring for 9 hours though. Especially since it's lacking the whisky bar next door in the *G lounge ;)

IF you decide to go downtown, there is quite some walking involved to catch the train. It's all possible by lifts, and you'll arrive in the city centre within a few minutes by train, but most sight seeing isn't THAT easy without walking much. Doable, yes, but I'm not sure how easy it will be with a broken feet. But "basic" sight seeing definitely will be possible.

I'd suggest the following: Take the Tram downtown (line 10) - some sight seeing on the way already this way. And it's easy to catch it in ZRH.

At ZRH mainstation, get into a tram that goes to "Römerhof" station, then take the funicular up the hill for a stunning view of Zürich. Alternatively, you can take the S-Bahn service to Üetliberg. You won't get to the very top, but already enjoy a nice view riding it up. Since you'll be arriving early, no ship that early, but during the later morning, there will be several "round trip" boats doing trips on lake Zürich. Absolutely a must even without a broken leg, even more so with a broken leg since it involved zero walking while on the boat ;)

Weather tomorrow will be fine, I'll myself be in the area. If you fancy a local "guide", let me know (PM)

About your seats, I'd say they're fine, and unless they swap for a A32x, I'd leave them as they're. You can always inquire about bulkhead seats, but 5AB are good (Stübli) and on the TLV-ZRH routes, expect many elite members already having snagged the good seats.

In any case, arrive early in TLV (3hrs being the absolute minimum) - checkin is closing 2hrs before departure. Having wheelchair assistence will make the queue at the security counter much faster, though.

Thanks, YuropFlyer! Your suggestions are very helpful.
We are Israeli Jews, so TLV security is not quite as severe as it is for some, but I appreciate the heads up. Never had wheelchair assistance at TLV before, though, so looking forward to the glass half full aspect of this ordeal....