Trip report BKK-ZRH-YUL F + C
Jul 22, 2005, 6:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: TG Gold ,LH Sen, starwood plat
Posts: 67
Trip report BKK-ZRH-YUL F + C
This is my first trip report, please don’t hesitate to comment for further improvement.
BKK Airport. Check in is smooth on LX F counter in terminal 2. Proceed to CX F Lounge. CX F Lounge is actually a joke. Similar food and drink selection as in CX C lounge, which means a few dim sum, few fruits and airline toast sandwiches tuna and cucumber. 6 different spirits and one cheap Australian white and one red wine. Soft drinks, water. Good point is the free WiFi and the seats are better than in the CX C lounge. Tried to go in the LH Lounge, but was refused because no LX Gold.
Boarding on time and appropriate. Had seat 1A on A340. The seat was not very clean, lot of hairs on the headrest and the toothpicks of my predecessor still on the seat. Departure was on time with good information by the pilot and the Maitre de cabin. The seat is uncomfortable in the takeoff/landing position but relaxes to a 180 degree bed if you like to sleep. Champagne, Orange Juice or water before takeoff and personal greeting by the Maitre de cabin. And, not seen before, a short snack with olives and some other things which I didn’t eat. After Takeoff and flight altitude serving began. The food was ok, to say at best. Used to the food served by LH and TG it was definitely not up to standard, neither by presentation nor by taste. Salmon and asparagus rolls were ok, salmon terrine was dry and terrible, the spicy Thai salad ok but very mushy in texture. As main course asparagus lasagna which I took and was ok but nothing special, Thai beef curry, snow fish, and something else, that I did not try but which sounded not very tasty. Then 3 different cheeses and apple cake followed by tea and coffee and Swiss praline. Food was not too bad but nothing what you would expect from F. The amenity kit was a joke compared with the competition, containing a tooth brush, earplugs, eyeshades and slippers……nothing more.
After the meal service the cabin staff turned down the bed and you get a kind of sleeping bag that makes in a way a quite good mattress and bed sheet. I think I would have had a good sleep but my choice of seat was not fortunate. The galley in F and the toilet is in front of 1A and separated by a curtain. So every few minutes either one of the cabin staff or the F passengers passed by and opened and closed the curtain which showers you every time with light and sound. If you are a light sleeper, try to avoid the 1 seats except G and K.
Plane landed in ZRH in time and I had no problem entering the Swiss F lounge with my F boarding card from BKK and C boarding card for the flight to YUL. You have to go from Terminal E to Terminal A. Food was not very plentiful but tasty. The showers are worse than in the Senator LH lounge in FRA but they have Quiet Rooms, where you can take a nice nap on a curved but 180 degrees relaxable chair. Drinks plentiful with a full range of spirits, beer, soft drinks a.s.o. So I took a nap, enjoyed the longest airline bar in the world, smoking section, got a nice look to TGs 346 which seems to serve ZRH instead of the old MD11. Negative point in the lounge was that you have to pay for the WiFi connection, which sets you back 48 CHF for 24 hour connection.
Proceeded than 40 minutes before departure to my flight to YUL, again from terminal A to terminal E. Big cue in front of the security control in terminal E that took me 20 minutes to pass. No separate business check in on security. Then passport check again and boarding in big cue which made it nearly impossible to pass through the business class entrance. The plane from ZRH to YUL is a A330. It was quite clean but otherwise showed its age. The seats in C have a good seat pitch but are only minimal relaxable. I could not find any position in the seat that was comfortable except the takeoff/landing position. Cabin crew was mixed. Some very nice and friendly whereas others showed what a privilege it is that you are allowed to use their C class. Food in C was much better and tastier than in F from BKK, only other difference was 3 main courses instead of 4 in the F class. Negative point was that the service took altogether about 3 hours till finally the tea and coffee was served. May be because C was nearly full. Apart from that all was ok, but again I had chosen the seat 7A near the galley and the toilet.
Arrival at YUL was 15 minutes ahead of time. Unfortunately many other planes had landed on the same time, so it took about 1 hour to pass immigration and customs.
Résumé. If I would have to pay for a full fare ticket I would not choose LX for this trip. F is apart from the seat and the service not up to the standard of BA, CX, SQ,TG or LH. The seats in the A330 in C are in no way comfortable and the routing, with a 6 hour stop in ZRH is not very convenient. On the other hand, I had worse flights and worse crews and overall it was worth the price paid (app. 3000 USD for C, the F was FFPoints upgrade)
BKK Airport. Check in is smooth on LX F counter in terminal 2. Proceed to CX F Lounge. CX F Lounge is actually a joke. Similar food and drink selection as in CX C lounge, which means a few dim sum, few fruits and airline toast sandwiches tuna and cucumber. 6 different spirits and one cheap Australian white and one red wine. Soft drinks, water. Good point is the free WiFi and the seats are better than in the CX C lounge. Tried to go in the LH Lounge, but was refused because no LX Gold.
Boarding on time and appropriate. Had seat 1A on A340. The seat was not very clean, lot of hairs on the headrest and the toothpicks of my predecessor still on the seat. Departure was on time with good information by the pilot and the Maitre de cabin. The seat is uncomfortable in the takeoff/landing position but relaxes to a 180 degree bed if you like to sleep. Champagne, Orange Juice or water before takeoff and personal greeting by the Maitre de cabin. And, not seen before, a short snack with olives and some other things which I didn’t eat. After Takeoff and flight altitude serving began. The food was ok, to say at best. Used to the food served by LH and TG it was definitely not up to standard, neither by presentation nor by taste. Salmon and asparagus rolls were ok, salmon terrine was dry and terrible, the spicy Thai salad ok but very mushy in texture. As main course asparagus lasagna which I took and was ok but nothing special, Thai beef curry, snow fish, and something else, that I did not try but which sounded not very tasty. Then 3 different cheeses and apple cake followed by tea and coffee and Swiss praline. Food was not too bad but nothing what you would expect from F. The amenity kit was a joke compared with the competition, containing a tooth brush, earplugs, eyeshades and slippers……nothing more.
After the meal service the cabin staff turned down the bed and you get a kind of sleeping bag that makes in a way a quite good mattress and bed sheet. I think I would have had a good sleep but my choice of seat was not fortunate. The galley in F and the toilet is in front of 1A and separated by a curtain. So every few minutes either one of the cabin staff or the F passengers passed by and opened and closed the curtain which showers you every time with light and sound. If you are a light sleeper, try to avoid the 1 seats except G and K.
Plane landed in ZRH in time and I had no problem entering the Swiss F lounge with my F boarding card from BKK and C boarding card for the flight to YUL. You have to go from Terminal E to Terminal A. Food was not very plentiful but tasty. The showers are worse than in the Senator LH lounge in FRA but they have Quiet Rooms, where you can take a nice nap on a curved but 180 degrees relaxable chair. Drinks plentiful with a full range of spirits, beer, soft drinks a.s.o. So I took a nap, enjoyed the longest airline bar in the world, smoking section, got a nice look to TGs 346 which seems to serve ZRH instead of the old MD11. Negative point in the lounge was that you have to pay for the WiFi connection, which sets you back 48 CHF for 24 hour connection.
Proceeded than 40 minutes before departure to my flight to YUL, again from terminal A to terminal E. Big cue in front of the security control in terminal E that took me 20 minutes to pass. No separate business check in on security. Then passport check again and boarding in big cue which made it nearly impossible to pass through the business class entrance. The plane from ZRH to YUL is a A330. It was quite clean but otherwise showed its age. The seats in C have a good seat pitch but are only minimal relaxable. I could not find any position in the seat that was comfortable except the takeoff/landing position. Cabin crew was mixed. Some very nice and friendly whereas others showed what a privilege it is that you are allowed to use their C class. Food in C was much better and tastier than in F from BKK, only other difference was 3 main courses instead of 4 in the F class. Negative point was that the service took altogether about 3 hours till finally the tea and coffee was served. May be because C was nearly full. Apart from that all was ok, but again I had chosen the seat 7A near the galley and the toilet.
Arrival at YUL was 15 minutes ahead of time. Unfortunately many other planes had landed on the same time, so it took about 1 hour to pass immigration and customs.
Résumé. If I would have to pay for a full fare ticket I would not choose LX for this trip. F is apart from the seat and the service not up to the standard of BA, CX, SQ,TG or LH. The seats in the A330 in C are in no way comfortable and the routing, with a 6 hour stop in ZRH is not very convenient. On the other hand, I had worse flights and worse crews and overall it was worth the price paid (app. 3000 USD for C, the F was FFPoints upgrade)
Jul 25, 2005, 4:10 pm
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Poland
Posts: 374
ZRH-BKK in F with Swiss or Thai?
Originally Posted by dideldi
...Had seat 1A on A340. The seat was not very clean, lot of hairs on the headrest and the toothpicks of my predecessor still on the seat...
Jul 25, 2005, 7:01 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Paris & HK
Programs: UA MM, CX Diamond, LH Senator, BA Gold, Hyatt Courtesy
Posts: 250
LX doesn't score many points
Nice detailed trip report dideldi
It sounds as if F is nothing special. In summary the negatives are:
Unimpressive F lounge in ZRH (esp with non complimentary wifi service!). Also you rate the FRA SEN lounge showers better than LX showers in ZRH. Is that even possible? The LH showers in the SEN are terrible! (the ones in the HON/1st Cl lounges are the best in the biz though).
Dirty seat. Finding a toothpick is pretty bad. (maybe a one off though).
Sub par food (I say sub par b/c you said it was bad compared to LH F which I rate only par)
Lousy F amenity kit (I need another amenity kit like I need a hole in the head but I still like to have a nice one for flying F)
No sleeping pyjamas
Positives:
good seat in sleeping position (except 1A)
Nice duvet cover
The negatives certainly outweigh the positives and I'm now regretting booking LX F on my next trip to HK since I was lured in by all the LH bonus miles. I was curious to try the F class seat though since I read great reviews.
Hopefully the food from ZRH and out of HKG will be better than BKK, but afterall, its airplane food- how good can it be?
If you had to do it again, what seat would you chose?
CDG 1K
It sounds as if F is nothing special. In summary the negatives are:
Unimpressive F lounge in ZRH (esp with non complimentary wifi service!). Also you rate the FRA SEN lounge showers better than LX showers in ZRH. Is that even possible? The LH showers in the SEN are terrible! (the ones in the HON/1st Cl lounges are the best in the biz though).
Dirty seat. Finding a toothpick is pretty bad. (maybe a one off though).
Sub par food (I say sub par b/c you said it was bad compared to LH F which I rate only par)
Lousy F amenity kit (I need another amenity kit like I need a hole in the head but I still like to have a nice one for flying F)
No sleeping pyjamas
Positives:
good seat in sleeping position (except 1A)
Nice duvet cover
The negatives certainly outweigh the positives and I'm now regretting booking LX F on my next trip to HK since I was lured in by all the LH bonus miles. I was curious to try the F class seat though since I read great reviews.
Hopefully the food from ZRH and out of HKG will be better than BKK, but afterall, its airplane food- how good can it be?
If you had to do it again, what seat would you chose?
CDG 1K
Jul 26, 2005, 5:26 am
#5
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,327
From what I hear, LX First Class catering is much better out of ZRH than out of other stations. On my recent SIN-BKK segment in F, catering was very uninpressive (report in the making).
Jul 26, 2005, 8:32 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: CH, D, USA
Posts: 1,731
Interesting Report ....
Thanks a lot for taking the time!
A couple of things I would like to comment on.
I have had at least 5 or 6 flights in LX First. Never from BKK, however. The non-ZRH originating segments were all in the US, being LAX, JFK, EWR, ORD ...
Regarding food: Catering ex-ZRH was always very good or even excellent (in one case even better than SQ and LH, in the other cases just a little bit less impressive, all be it still very good ...). Catering from the states was still first-class standard. In points, on average, food out of ZRH was 8-9 out of 10 with one 10 out of 10, and to ZRH 6-7 out of 10. This is comparing only to other airline food in F, SQ, LH and CX being 9-10 out of 10 for food. AA being 4-5.
I have never witnessed a dirty seat on LX in first. Not even in business. This is on 50+ flights. On other airlines such as AA I have. Oh, one reason might be that the plane originated in SIN and had only a short stop in BKK. I am still surprised, and think you should right a friendly e-mail to let them now they need better quality control on the cleaning crew in BKK.
Regarding the showers: I don't agree they are worse than the LH Sen lounge in Frankfurt. They aren't spectacular in any way, but always clean and functional. A lot nicer than Mercure AMS or LH Frankfurt Sen lounge IMOP. CX has awesome showers in HKG.
Regarding the E-A-E thing. When arriving or departing in F, you can request a limo / mini-bus transfer directly from the lounge to the security check-point or even the plane. It would be interesting to know if they also offer this to the lounge. I have no clue, but it might be worth a try to request it...
A few other Flyertalkers and I have inside information that a new amenity kit in F (for sure) as well as possibly Pyjamas are in the works.
The F lounge is really not all that impressive compared to the Wing or such, but a lot nicer than some shared lounges you see all over. I also like it better than the Sen lounges in Frankfurt, even though those have the Leberkäs.
Hope this helps, and I hope you're next F flight with Swiss will show you how great they can be! The most impressive aspect is their flight attendants. Almost all F crews have been far more than amazing. Usually I liked them better than CX, because of a more personal touch. (Plus feeling at home, I guess.)
A couple of things I would like to comment on.
I have had at least 5 or 6 flights in LX First. Never from BKK, however. The non-ZRH originating segments were all in the US, being LAX, JFK, EWR, ORD ...
Regarding food: Catering ex-ZRH was always very good or even excellent (in one case even better than SQ and LH, in the other cases just a little bit less impressive, all be it still very good ...). Catering from the states was still first-class standard. In points, on average, food out of ZRH was 8-9 out of 10 with one 10 out of 10, and to ZRH 6-7 out of 10. This is comparing only to other airline food in F, SQ, LH and CX being 9-10 out of 10 for food. AA being 4-5.
I have never witnessed a dirty seat on LX in first. Not even in business. This is on 50+ flights. On other airlines such as AA I have. Oh, one reason might be that the plane originated in SIN and had only a short stop in BKK. I am still surprised, and think you should right a friendly e-mail to let them now they need better quality control on the cleaning crew in BKK.
Regarding the showers: I don't agree they are worse than the LH Sen lounge in Frankfurt. They aren't spectacular in any way, but always clean and functional. A lot nicer than Mercure AMS or LH Frankfurt Sen lounge IMOP. CX has awesome showers in HKG.
Regarding the E-A-E thing. When arriving or departing in F, you can request a limo / mini-bus transfer directly from the lounge to the security check-point or even the plane. It would be interesting to know if they also offer this to the lounge. I have no clue, but it might be worth a try to request it...
A few other Flyertalkers and I have inside information that a new amenity kit in F (for sure) as well as possibly Pyjamas are in the works.
The F lounge is really not all that impressive compared to the Wing or such, but a lot nicer than some shared lounges you see all over. I also like it better than the Sen lounges in Frankfurt, even though those have the Leberkäs.
Hope this helps, and I hope you're next F flight with Swiss will show you how great they can be! The most impressive aspect is their flight attendants. Almost all F crews have been far more than amazing. Usually I liked them better than CX, because of a more personal touch. (Plus feeling at home, I guess.)
Jul 26, 2005, 9:23 am
#7
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: Miles and More
Posts: 157
I flew ZRH- BKK and BKK- SIN in F in march.
On the first segment they offered the new amenity kit. for men it's a quite large green bag.it contains socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, a shaving kit, plaster, earlugs detergent(!), a comb and some products from Biotherm as e.g. after-shave.
Catering was nothing to complain.
On the BKK-SIN segment a few days later I also recognised that cleaning wasn't so well done. There was a book on my seat from the passenger seating there before. Also the toothpicks were still around.
Food on the BKK-SIN segment wasn't far as good as on the ZRH-BKK segment.
On the first segment they offered the new amenity kit. for men it's a quite large green bag.it contains socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, a shaving kit, plaster, earlugs detergent(!), a comb and some products from Biotherm as e.g. after-shave.
Catering was nothing to complain.
On the BKK-SIN segment a few days later I also recognised that cleaning wasn't so well done. There was a book on my seat from the passenger seating there before. Also the toothpicks were still around.
Food on the BKK-SIN segment wasn't far as good as on the ZRH-BKK segment.
Jul 26, 2005, 6:26 pm
#8
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MEL/LAX
Programs: AAdv GLD(MM), QF LTS, UA MP_nada, HH Gld, SPG, GoldenCircle Jade
Posts: 4,472
Originally Posted by olivier
I flew ZRH- BKK and BKK- SIN in F in march.
On the first segment they offered the new amenity kit. for men it's a quite large green bag.it contains socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, a shaving kit, plaster, earlugs detergent(!), a comb and some products from Biotherm as e.g. after-shave.
On the first segment they offered the new amenity kit. for men it's a quite large green bag.it contains socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, a shaving kit, plaster, earlugs detergent(!), a comb and some products from Biotherm as e.g. after-shave.
Jul 27, 2005, 3:11 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the heart of Europe
Programs: some
Posts: 1,114
Originally Posted by alect
Got this amenity pack on ZRH-LAX in early June. very good and actually a useful bag. The women's amenity pack was not yet updated. Let's hope for PJs ^ ^ ^
Jul 27, 2005, 1:46 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: ZRH, Switzerland
Programs: M&M, Fan of MO, Shangri-La.
Posts: 689
Originally Posted by alect
Let's hope for PJs ^ ^ ^
I still love those blue Givenchy PJs from SQ. They do remind me of the nice flights across the pacific. (while the purple ones... well... still look kind of strange
)
Jul 27, 2005, 10:30 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: TG Gold ,LH Sen, starwood plat
Posts: 67
Originally Posted by ziplaufwerk
It's amazing that the seats in Swiss F are dirty! This makes me thinking about taking for ZRH-BKK Thai Airways. Woudl anyone recomand me to take Thai instead of Swiss?
Jul 27, 2005, 10:37 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: TG Gold ,LH Sen, starwood plat
Posts: 67
Originally Posted by f4free
Thanks a lot for taking the time!
A couple of things I would like to comment on.
I have had at least 5 or 6 flights in LX First. Never from BKK, however. The non-ZRH originating segments were all in the US, being LAX, JFK, EWR, ORD ...
Regarding food: Catering ex-ZRH was always very good or even excellent (in one case even better than SQ and LH, in the other cases just a little bit less impressive, all be it still very good ...). Catering from the states was still first-class standard. In points, on average, food out of ZRH was 8-9 out of 10 with one 10 out of 10, and to ZRH 6-7 out of 10. This is comparing only to other airline food in F, SQ, LH and CX being 9-10 out of 10 for food. AA being 4-5.
I have never witnessed a dirty seat on LX in first. Not even in business. This is on 50+ flights. On other airlines such as AA I have. Oh, one reason might be that the plane originated in SIN and had only a short stop in BKK. I am still surprised, and think you should right a friendly e-mail to let them now they need better quality control on the cleaning crew in BKK.
Regarding the showers: I don't agree they are worse than the LH Sen lounge in Frankfurt. They aren't spectacular in any way, but always clean and functional. A lot nicer than Mercure AMS or LH Frankfurt Sen lounge IMOP. CX has awesome showers in HKG.
Regarding the E-A-E thing. When arriving or departing in F, you can request a limo / mini-bus transfer directly from the lounge to the security check-point or even the plane. It would be interesting to know if they also offer this to the lounge. I have no clue, but it might be worth a try to request it...
A few other Flyertalkers and I have inside information that a new amenity kit in F (for sure) as well as possibly Pyjamas are in the works.
The F lounge is really not all that impressive compared to the Wing or such, but a lot nicer than some shared lounges you see all over. I also like it better than the Sen lounges in Frankfurt, even though those have the Leberkäs.
Hope this helps, and I hope you're next F flight with Swiss will show you how great they can be! The most impressive aspect is their flight attendants. Almost all F crews have been far more than amazing. Usually I liked them better than CX, because of a more personal touch. (Plus feeling at home, I guess.)
A couple of things I would like to comment on.
I have had at least 5 or 6 flights in LX First. Never from BKK, however. The non-ZRH originating segments were all in the US, being LAX, JFK, EWR, ORD ...
Regarding food: Catering ex-ZRH was always very good or even excellent (in one case even better than SQ and LH, in the other cases just a little bit less impressive, all be it still very good ...). Catering from the states was still first-class standard. In points, on average, food out of ZRH was 8-9 out of 10 with one 10 out of 10, and to ZRH 6-7 out of 10. This is comparing only to other airline food in F, SQ, LH and CX being 9-10 out of 10 for food. AA being 4-5.
I have never witnessed a dirty seat on LX in first. Not even in business. This is on 50+ flights. On other airlines such as AA I have. Oh, one reason might be that the plane originated in SIN and had only a short stop in BKK. I am still surprised, and think you should right a friendly e-mail to let them now they need better quality control on the cleaning crew in BKK.
Regarding the showers: I don't agree they are worse than the LH Sen lounge in Frankfurt. They aren't spectacular in any way, but always clean and functional. A lot nicer than Mercure AMS or LH Frankfurt Sen lounge IMOP. CX has awesome showers in HKG.
Regarding the E-A-E thing. When arriving or departing in F, you can request a limo / mini-bus transfer directly from the lounge to the security check-point or even the plane. It would be interesting to know if they also offer this to the lounge. I have no clue, but it might be worth a try to request it...
A few other Flyertalkers and I have inside information that a new amenity kit in F (for sure) as well as possibly Pyjamas are in the works.
The F lounge is really not all that impressive compared to the Wing or such, but a lot nicer than some shared lounges you see all over. I also like it better than the Sen lounges in Frankfurt, even though those have the Leberkäs.
Hope this helps, and I hope you're next F flight with Swiss will show you how great they can be! The most impressive aspect is their flight attendants. Almost all F crews have been far more than amazing. Usually I liked them better than CX, because of a more personal touch. (Plus feeling at home, I guess.)
The showers ZRH are smaller than in FRA Sen and I found the Sen showers allways to be as clean as the showers in ZRH.
Flight attendants were nice and very caring, better than LH.