Bear96

Hello,

I am a long time FT-er but new to the Swiss forum, so please be nice if I am asking a dumb question . I have done a search several times but can't seem to find a clear answer, though admittedly my FT search skills are still pretty bad even after all these years here for some reason.

I have booked, through the LX website so on an LX ticket, a trip next spring TPA (Tampa, Florida, USA)-ZRH-XXX (EU final destination if that matters) and return in Business Class. I understand the TPA-ZRH (and vv) legs are operated by WK. But I am a little confused from the on-board experience point of view about whether there is a difference between LX wetlease flights operated by WK, and non-LX-wetlease WK flights; and if so, which is TPA and what are the differences?

Pre-Covid I did something similar on LH when the TPA-FRA-TPA legs were operated by CityFlyer (I think it was called) which was the same onboard service as LH mainline as far as I could tell, and I am hoping this will be the same arrangement, but I cannot tell for sure. The TPA-ZRH-TPA flights seem to have a codeshare flight # so I am thinking that means it is not a wetlease. If so I hope the service is similar and I didn't make a mistake.

Thanks for any help!

aflo

ZRH-TPA is an Edelweiss flight, therefore a codeshare, not a wetlease by Swiss. Expect a similar onboard experience as Swiss.

Bear96

Thank you, so is everything on board Swiss branded too?

daumueller

no. Nothing is as you’re on an Edelweiss flight. Their onboard experience is very comparable but not identical and they have their own branding.

worldclubber

Although the planes are ex-LX and WK is owned by LX, the experience is slightly different and the branding is completely independent in terms of amenity kits, pillows, menu, cutlery etc.

If you need details, why not watch a trip report on YouTube, Google returned this recent flight as the first hit:

I haven’t flown WK long-haul, but we regularly take their Euro-J for family trips to Crete and haven’t had any complaints. However, since it’s a WK flight, lounge access rules and mile earning max be different from a „real“ LX flight.

Bear96

Thanks all, sounds like TPA is not part of the wet-lease program, which answers a lot.

I understand I would still have LX lounge access in ZRH since I would be connecting intra-Europe on LX and on another *A carrier on the return (or maybe it is the other way around), and it is LX ticketing (with LX flight numbers), but can someone let me know if that is incorrect? We have long layovers in both directions and I was assuming there would be lounge access but if not that is a problem.

Also it would look like from this link even if it were a pure WK trip, but again if anyone knows for sure I would appreciate any clarification: https://www.flyedelweiss.com/EN/fly/...s/lounges.aspx

(ETA: I am a M&M and UA MP member but don't have status this year with either, if that matters.)

aflo

Either LX J or WK J include lounge access in ZRH, so you are fine. In TPA there is no WK lounge, as mentioned on the WK website: "No lounge available. As an alternative, food and beverage vouchers will be distributed at the check-in."

https://www.flyedelweiss.com/EN/fly/...s/lounges.aspx

Bear96

Perfect, thanks, and yes I knew TPA has no lounge.

cfischer

UA MP is pretty much the only program other than M&M that has a relationship with WK. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...weiss-air.html As long as these are LX 8000-8499 flight numbers you are good to earn with UA based on the earning table that is essentially identical to the one on LX. Just one note ... they don't always credit automatically; keep your receipts and BPs.
WK is a preferred partner as well, so earning PQP is not too bad.

airoli

cfischer makes an excellent point. In my experience, none of my WK flights have credited automatically to MileagePlus, and the automated retro-claim form also didn't work. Email with ticket details to the 1K email address did the trick every time.

Bear96

This is fantastic info and I had no idea. Yes they are in that flight # range (LX 8004/5). I assumed I would only be eligible to earn M&M points - which I was OK with, even though M&M is pretty useless to me while I am still living, working and mostly traveling only in the US. I thought I had to book through UA and/or have UA flight #s to get MP credit.

Now I just have to figure out how to attach my MP # to the reservation. Doesn't seem to be doable on the Swiss website since I entered my M&M # when booking initially (or at least I can't figure it out) so I guess I'll have to suffer through calling them.

Thanks to you both!