verve

Just had my first flight on the EWR BBJ service last night. All in all a very nice experience, plane was only half full and the seat is very comfortable, managed to get almost 4h sleep on this short ride.

Some observations:
- Plane leaves EWR at 21.40 so a quick dinner would be appreciated, but as with all LX C flights from the east coast I've taken, it took an eternity until the main course was presented. If you're hungry and tired it's a tough choice if sleep or food is more important . Getting dinner out faster is possible, experienced it on other airlines many times.
- The new amenity kit is a huge step down from the old version: The face mask is a lot smaller and way less comfortable, the Socks became black which in IMHO makes more sense, as you can use them as fresh socks for the next day (who would wear the "old" brownish ones ). So far so good - what really is a shame is the new bag, a simple black nylon bag with two red cords to close it. Absolutely not usable for anything - the old ones where perfect for cables and small stuff.
- Nice surprise for the timing of the breakfast. This time no general wake up call in the middle of the Atlantic 2.5h out of ZRH as experienced many times. Opened my eyes somewhere over France, immediately a FA came and asked if I would like breakfast - why can't the do this on the LX operated flight's.

All in all I really can recommend the BBJ service, especially the late departing time in NYC is great, if you leave Penn Station on the 8.11 train you have enough time for some drinks in Manhattan and still reach EWR with some spare time.

Cheers

Verve

asimha

Interesting to read your comments on the BBJ service to (or from) EWR. I am a regular on the GVA-JFK route and I have never used the BBJ yet. I am curious as to how you judged the Swiss service at EWR as compared to the very good service at JFK. Last time I flew to EWR on the "old" LX flights I was not impressed at all by the staff, the lounge, etc.
Thanks !

verve

Didn't use much of the LX Service at EWR. Got the BP's already at LAX. The lounge they contract at EWR is the Delta Crown Room which is certainly sub-par to LX's lounge at JFK. On the other Hand, you don't need a lounge because you can get some drinks, work done, etc. downtown. At 9pm EWR is very quiet, so no need to be there very early, TSA was a straight walk through... I would choose the BBJ on the NYC routes just for the seat, except you get on the A340...and as PrivateJet is a Geneva based company all of the FA's are native French speakers

asimha

Thank you verve that sounds very interesting. I will try it out on my next Nov trip! Thanks again for posting ^

airoli

Thank you for this quick report. Chances are that I'll end up on that flight rather sooner than later... If I'm op-lucky, I might get a look at the new C class kits later this week.

Frequent_Flyer1

Good morning everybody! Thanks verve for your detailed description of your BBJ experience.

I was quite surprised about the amenity kit you got. When I took the flight three weeks ago (EWR-ZRH) it was a completely different one. In my opinion it was a lot better than the one you normally get on LX as it's much bigger, softer, has a nice beige and white colour and especially the "products" inside (toothbrush, toothpaste, face mask,...) were really a step up! However, the socks were the same brown/beige we all know. If you want, I can post a photo of the bag!

I also liked the seats better than the ones on the A340; the 3 degress really make a difference. The only negative thing is that the footrest does not operate electrically but manually.

You are right concering the service. It really takes a long time until the dessert is served but the service is therefor top-notch!

The DL Crown-Room-lounge is not worth writing about. Like all lounges in America you can be happy if you get something to drink and some peanuts . Be aware that it can get a little bit crowded if the Alitalia flight is delayed as those passengers also use the Delta lounge.

ottone

You will not be surprised to know that the "amenity" kit in LH business class comes in a nylon bag (blue or grey) with two yellow cords to close it ...

ClipperDelta

And the LH kit is about as spartan as you can get - no extras - just the very basics such as slipper socks and eyeshades.

Also had my first BBJ flight on LX19 last Sunday. There were 42 of us on the 56 seat a/c and I was lucky to have no one next to me. Got the new smaller amenity kit although the FAs were handing out refreshing towelettes and moisturizing creams before takeoff. Dinner service as many have pointed out was slow - I think that's because they only have 4 FAs for 56 pax. (translates to 1 FA per 14 pax. compared to 1:10.5 on an LX A330 or 1:7 in AA J or 1:9 in DL J); it was still slow that night even though there were only 42 of us.

The crew was generally competent and friendly although the FA serving me told me it was her first flight (and it sometimes showed as she forgot certain catering items, etc. and I had to remind her); she was Belgian and used to work for SN and then some Belgian holiday airlines...

The seat was generally comfortable (certainly miles ahead of the normal LX A330 J seats) although it felt rather weird when fully extended as it lies very low - you feel like you're pretty much sleeping on the floor.

Overall though a nice experience as there are only 40-50 pax. which makes boarding and deplaning a lot quicker and certainly more civilized.

garfield5

i think this is an interim amenity kit. Received a new one on last week's flights - it's a small black nylon pouch with a square red Swiss Logo attached to the Zipper - it contains eye mask, socks, toothbrush, earplugs and an EUR 10.- pureneige voucher (supposedly one of Switzerland's major cosmetic brands - never heard of it though)

hurlimann

I had the exact opposite thought. I flew LX40 ZRH-LAX last Monday, and got the black nylon pouch you mention and that I have seen previously, but when I returned to ZRH on LX41 on Friday, I got the "why even bother" drawstring bag. Since it appears LH uses the drawstring bag, I'm afraid that might be our future...

swiss traveler

[QUOTE=verve](who would wear the "old" brownish ones ).

I do wear them ! And love them. Very stylish and so special in regards to the competitors !
And to my opinion : who would need another pair of black socks ???

airoli

My experience last week:

ZRH-YUL : Black pouch with Swiss logo zipper
YUL-ZRH: Red drawstring bag

Contents: ridiculous in both cases, similar to what SR used to give to Eco passengers some years ago, no cosmetics whatsoever in either of them. "Pureneige" stuff in the lavatories - I think this might be a private label for Swiss.

f0zzyNUE

just my 2 cents - flew biz from lax to zrh end of september and got a F amentity kit (the old one ???? beige fabric, white zipper with white eyeshades, toothbrush with toothpaste and mouth water, soft orange earplugs, slightly better quality beige socks than in the old c-amenity kits and finally an insert that thanked me for flying swiss first class :-) )

CHris

airoli

As an update to the C class amenity kit discussion, it seems as if LX is now consistently using two versions: Black pouch with logo zipper on flights ex ZRH, red drawstring bag on the way back. At least this was the case on ZRH-HKG-ZRH this week. Contents are identical.

Hans Dampf

This seems to be too complicated to me to understand. Why would anyone be interested in the amnety kit on a flight? Grrrrr... I had a C flight last week from ZRH to NRT. As the "beds" are too small and not flat, I could not even sleep. Well, well, and then the so-called amnety kits... Well, well... To be honest: I don't understand how anyone could pay several thousand francs just to get a seat in C... For me, I would never pay more than 2000 CHF for a longhaul in C or CHF 2500 for F...