Annalisa12

Doesn't look like much room on the Swiss Business class leg. Maybe I am wrong.

Fare seems good from Australia. I am an Aussie too and everything is 6K or more.

Thanks for posting your report. I have enjoyed it.

sydunipete

AnnaLisa12 - if you got the tape measure out the LX business seat is less spacious than SQ. But then again SQ is exceptional for space.

But for practical room - it is absolutely fine. Good and convenient storage is readily accessible. I'm 6'4" and was very comfortable upright (eating), lounging and sleeping.

I would take the Swiss flatbed any day over Thai, Asiana, Lufthansa or SAS sloping business offerings.

And yes, I was surprised by the fare. I normally pay between $6K and $7K (AUD) with one of the above carriers flying via BKK. So this fare travelling SQ (flat beds) and then transiting in ZRH (central to Europe destinations and a pleasure to transit) was a no brainer. I hope it remains available for my next trip.

I appreciate your kind words. Thanks for your question.

sydunipete

We organised a private transfer from our hotel in Taormina to the airport. Sometimes I think they schedule these things to fit with their diaries not ours and as a result we arrived at the airport 3 hours prior to departure but checkin didn't open for another hour.

A complicated swapping of agents between desks and an elderly passenger with dementia didn't help speed up things once they opened check in either. Then there was a long line at security which in total meany it took us one hour from the start of the check in process until we arrived at the gate.

Boarding started at 0910 with the same poorly organised bus to plane transfer discussed before. I certainly don't know the value of priority boarding in these sort of arrangements and I definitely don't understand the economics of it all. It seems that discount airlines (like Air One in this case) use buses, but full service airlines use jetways. It would seem to me that jetway connections should be cheaper as there is no need for the buses and boarding etc would be quicker. I'd be interested to hear from somebody who knows how this all works.



On board it was grubby like the last flight, seat pocket contents were random and I score a free prize of a dirty tissue in mine! There was a long wait while they waited for a missing passenger (I presume the guy with dementia) so I got to admire the lack of leg room. It's got to be the most cramped of any flight I've ever taken.



We started taxiing just before 10:00 with take off at 10:08.

The best part of the flight were great views of Catania, Taormina and volcanic islands. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

















and shortly before landing at Milano Malpensa.



We landed at 11:45, just a few minutes late then bus to gate and we were on the Malpensa Express train with tickets and luggage at 12:27.

This train is still the best way in to town. We went further up to Lake Como, but a ticket to Milano Centrale is just 10 Euro.

sydunipete

Around Lake Como we were staying with family so there's no information on hotels.

But we did find an exceptional dining experience. There's a tiny island in the lake that has served the same set menu since 1947. It's a brilliant day out, especially in summer when you dine under shade trees and look out over the lake to the "mainland" shore.

The name of the restaurant is at Isola Comacina.

http://www.comacina.it/en/island.php

The food was wonderful, the setting brilliant, there's a bit of show business and you can either catch a large ferry from most towns on the lake or a small private boat from nearby. At 67 Euro including drinks each it represented good value and a very memorable day out for us and for our Italian family.

Our host for the day. Very entertaining:



A more beautiful setting is hard to imagine:





Delicious trout served with flair:



Cheese served by the chunk straight from the wheel:



There is also a large indoor area. I presume you sit inside during the colder months. Be aware that the public ferry doesn't run all the year so you need to check the timetables.

It's a must!

sydunipete

Initially there were 3 Air Dolomiti flights per day on this route. After being quoted by my travel agent on the middle of the day flight I was then told it was cancelled. Then I booked the afternoon flight and a week later the times of the flight were changed.

Regardless, we found ourselves at Bergamo airport 2 hours before departure for an efficient check in process and a 23kg luggage allowance but not before being hassled by rather aggressive baggage wrappers. BGY is a smallish airport used mainly by lost cost carriers.

There was a single, and rather long queue, at security where our boarding passes were scanned. Ours both showed up red on the screen, setting of an alarm and showing "no such passenger". We were waved through regardless.

Upstairs is the usual array of airport shops including a bar that sold wine, soft drinks, water - but no beer.



Boarding began 15 minutes later than announced and we then stood in a stair well for 5 - 10 minutes until the door was opened setting off an alarm. We boarded a normal suburban looking bus at about 17:20.



My wife is a nervous flyer at the best of times so I kept the aircraft type a secret from her. But as the bus pulled up beside the propeller driven ATR72 the look on her face was priceless. I've never seen her eyes so big.



Boarding was from the rear stairs as the forward part of the cabin is reserved for luggage and a netted off passage way between the passenger cabin and the cockpit.

We were in seats 2A and 2C just behind the "business class" section that Air Dolomiti call "emotion" which along with other things offers "Excellence catering". We were on the "Plus"fare which offered a snack which may account for the near front row seat.

The seat was comfortable with more leg room than the previous Air One flight. A sealed hand towel was handed out followed by a safety briefing in Italian, German and English. Taxi started at 17:40 and take off, with our hand towels still on our laps at 1747 to the West.

A snack and a choice of drink was served. For the 2 pax in Emotion class it was fruit salad. For us it was a pack of grissini and mini salumi. Small but quite tasty. I think I preferred our meal to that of Emotion. Wine and water were poured generously and a second round offered.





Here's a photo of Emotion Class. In real life the sun reflection on the side of the seat was spectacular, but it didn't come out so well in the photo:



Cabin was about 90% full and the cabin was quite hot. It must have been parked in the sun for a while and the air conditioning never quite caught up.

Great view of the Swiss alps and Bavaria.

Landed a little later than expected at 19:25 and 32 degrees. I love these long European evenings. I'm not so sure about winter though.

At stand v99 at 19:32. Pax sat patiently waiting for disembarkment which was from the rear doors which meant the poor old Emotion passengers were last to get off the plane which I guess was ok given we were boarding a bus to the terminal. Bus at 17:40 for a long driving tour of the workings of FRA airport. Luggage received at 18:05.

sydunipete

Our time in Germany was spent at Eltville, a small village on the banks of the Rhine River about 20km from Frankfurt Airport (or 50 Euro in a private transfer). We were certainly off the beaten tourist track here.

The wine was wonderful, food good and the locals incredibly friendly. It was all made easier by their use of communal tables. Our total lack of German was compensated for by locals enthusiastic to explain the German menus to us.

I'm a bit of a health food nut:



No need for a translator here:



Despite it being a major wine growing region we did manage to find a beer.



Balken Restaurant is highly recommended. It's situated in a vineyard just a few minutes out of town. Food was excellent, prices reasonable and the views / atmosphere wonderful.





It didn't have communal seating. Reservations are recommended (in summer).



Our hotel - Das Spritzenhaus. It's a converted fire station and a very pleasant place to stay. Right in the heart of town with a fantastic locally produced breakfast each morning.



The town itself could fairly be described as quaint.







Another excellent restaurant. This time on the banks of the river with communal seating. Everything was home cooked. Weinhaus Krone.



Across the road was an old tower:



Summertime is for roses. Everywhere were the most amazing rose gardens:

sydunipete

When choosing the routing for this vacation I could either burn some *A points and fly FRA - SXB via BRU, VIE or a number of other *A hubs or take the LH bus.



No it's not one of those. It's one of these:



Neither of these photos are mine, but the second looks like it was taken at the final destination - the Strasbourg Hilton.

So why does it qualify for inclusion here: It has an LH flight number, you book it through the LH website, you earn *A points.

We could have caught a train, but there was a couple of changes and with luggage we all know what that's like and at Strasbourg we would have to get from the station to the Hilton Hotel via tram. Last year we did a strange town, buy tram tickets in French and juggle bags thing in Bordeaux and it wasn't my funnest day out.

The LH bus picks you up just outside Terminal 1 on the arrivals level and is clearly marked. The driver loads your luggage when you show him your eTicket and you all board for your rather boring trip to Strasbourg. (Nothing to see here,, let's move along.)

At the other end there are two stops. The first is the Strasbourg station where everybody except us got off then the Strasbourg Hilton. The Hilton is not in the centre of town, but it is conveniently located on a tram line which provides a great service. I'm Hilton Gold so we get executive benefits. This coupled with the end of the line stop made it a no brainer for this trip.

By the way, we loved Strasbourg and Alsace. By way of restaurant recommendations in Strasbourg I can highly recommend a small, 9 table restaurant called Restaurant Gavroche. It's an absolute must.

http://www.restaurant-gavroche.com/

sydunipete

All good things must come to an end so we caught the train from Strasbourg to ZRH airport changing trains at Basel. Now the French train system is pretty good, but the Swiss system is amazing. Shiny and new, immaculate, spacious and easy to navigate.

We checked in early (late morning)for our evening flight so once free of our luggage we could catch the train back in to Zurich and walk around for the day. That's where things started to go wrong.

Because the flight wasn't until so much later it wasn't on any of the information boards so I had to guess which terminal (there are 3) based upon other flight departure destinations.

At checkin we were told we weren't sitting together. I had requested seats as soon as I booked the flights some months ago. It appears I had my original flight my wife had lost hers. The agent said don't worry, she would make a note.

Did we get bumped for an LX Gold flyer or was it just some glitch? Either way I wasn't really happy and I've never had this happen before.

We then decided to get 100 Swiss Francs (probably about 90 Aussie dollars) from an auto bank foolishly thinking that would get close for a couple of hours in town. My illusion was shattered when I bought our 2 train tickets for the short return journey into town. About 50 Francs. Ouch! I think it included free tram rides etc and I'm sure there's a cheaper option, but still...

We did have a pleasant day but the prices of things was amazing to me. Not being able to afford dinner (joking) we headed back to the airport before it got too cold. Summer was yet to arrive (25 June 2013) and it was bitterly cold in Zurich (to me).

We arrived at 5pm and went to the main lounge. A particularly unhappy lounge dragon (and in this case I mean it) provided us access to the business area which was quite full, but by 6pm it was down to about 20% full. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the lounge but there was a good choice of beer and Movenpick Icecream.

After a while in the lounge I decided to test my luck with the lounge guardian to see what could be done about our seat assignments. She muttered something about she shouldn't be checking this, but quickly found out that new boarding passes had been issued for us, still not together, but just separated by an aisle and right at the back of the business class cabin. I was hoping for no baby basinettes against the Y bulkhead.



Gates seem to be allocated to flights only at fairly short notice. We got E43.



Our trip included the Heidi train which was a bit of fun and brought a smile to our travel weary faces. I had just a few minutes to check out the panorama bar. It was in the process of closing down so this may not be a fair impression but it wasn't as well stocked as the main lounge.

Boarding started a few minutes early. Priority boarding was effective and orderly. Everything was already in place on the seats and instead of a tin amenity kit it's a more useful toilet bag.



It took quite a while for my pre-departure drink and for my coat to be collected (first world problems right?) and final boarding was done 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure. Push back was right on time and the business class cabin was 100% full. Take off at exactly 2300 after sitting on the runway for a while. Forward facing camera working this time.















Given the hour they tried to push the service along as we commenced this long flight:





There was a nice view of a winglet:



For entree, the prawns were tasty:



the main beef was salty but a little dried out (as it usually is on a plane).



Dessert was tiny and very sweet.



The Swiss white wine as particularly enjoyable (Riesling & Sylvaner) and service finished at 7am Singapore time.

Here's the seat controls and the mood lighting was very useful - it just illuminates the cubby holes enough to see what you need without causing disruption.



The obligatory leg room shot with just mood lighting on:



I slept well for 6 or 7 hours and managed to watch a couple of movies during meal times.

2 1/2 hours out the lights came on then a wait for the meal service to commence. There was a choice of a range of cold dishes and two hot options - chinese or an omelette with spinach and tomato.



It tasted good, but it was odd eating breakfast at 3 in the afternoon destination time. All food and drink service started from the rear of the cabin each time.

In the galley I saw a FA pulling corks from unopened bottles of wine. I presume something to do with Singapore's high wine tax regime. If only they had told us of this problem, I'm sure many of us would have been happy to help them out!

Descent began and we landed on time at 17:05, Terminal 2 gate E3 at 17:08, luggage at 17:27 and in a cab (including an ATM stop) at 17:34.

sydunipete

The trip ended as it began on A380 9V-SKC, the same aircraft that flew us from Sydney to Singapore on the way out.

Check in was hassle free at a dedicated business check in area. I only knew where to find the business class check in because as we drove in to the airport I saw a sign at door 5 for Business Class. These dedicated check in are very nice, but tend not to be well sign posted. There was no queue and the service was friendly and efficient.



Spent some time in the T3 lounge which was crowded to almost 100% capacity all the time we were there. I noticed couples frequently searching for 2 seats together and even the WiFi was stressing out. I was slow and dropped out a few times.

Excellent range of hot meals that made it too easy to have dinner here then sleep through dinner on the flight.

Immigration cards to Australia handed out in the lounge area of gate T3 B7. We were there 5 mins after the advertised boarding time and there was no sign of boarding. It eventually started 30 mins after the advertised time.

On board menus and headsets were in place. Papers and magazines offered. Champagne really hit the spot. The menus provided an abbreviated dinner and breakfast. When FA took the order she asked for dinner OR breakfast and seemed surprised when I said both.

Captains welcome then doors closed at 00:44 then pushback and takeoff only 5 minutes after.

Shortly socks and masks (no ear plugs or amenity kits) handed out. Lights were turned off before take off and not turned back on again. Drink orders taken and I very much enjoyed the SilverKris Sling.























Tables set and maybe one in three passengers eating dinner. With all the food in the lounge, and this not being a very long flight, it does make sense to have dinner in the lounge and sleep until breakfast.

The Californian Chardonnay was a little stringent, no oak, high acidity and pale in colour. It wasn't on the wine list.



Service was quick and I quickly fell asleep at 4am Sydney time. I slept the most soundly I have ever done on a plane and had to be jolted awake at 07:40 for breakfast.

Fruit, bakery, coffee, juice then a hot dish of rosti, eggs benedict, sausages and potato. Really very good.



Toilets always clean and well stocked.



Landed at 09:45 then had to wait just short of the gate which was occupied by an Emirates A380. We were initially told 10 to 15 minutes but it ended up being over an hour of sitting on the tarmac.

Doors finally open at 10:54 and luggage at 11:10. The express path passes certainly helped.

In summary, no trays were used and the meal service was appropriate for the situation. They used my name at every interaction.

YuropFlyer

I did enjoy your tripreport.

Being a Swiss who stayed twice in Australia, I've a few comments to make:

Generally, Switzerland isn't really more expensive than Australia food-wise.

Also, for public transport, a full fare ticket from ZRH airport to the city of Zurich, valid for the whole city of Zurich and the Northern area of Zurich (including airport) costs 13.20 CHF. For two people, that would mean 26.40 CHF. All ticket vending machines (at least in the airport) take credit cards.

Basically, you can have lunch (and dinner, but only till 8pm) at a lot of self-service restaurants, which range from rather cheap (about 10-15 CHF at Migros) till absolutely reasonable (Manora, about 15-20 CHF) food. Or you can have lunch meals at almost every restaurant (full service) for about 20 CHF, some even have for 15 CHF. Add about 4-5 CHF for a soft drink, or about the same for a small beer.

For dinner, you can either head for one if the Pizzerias, where you get good pizza for about 20 CHF, or plenty of other reasonable yet good restaurants (even "touristic" ones like Zeughauskeller) for about 20 CHF for a main course.

Sure, 90 CHF won't buy you two lunch and two dinner meals and two times the transportation from and to the airport, but you can make a trip to ZRH really for not so much money. Lots of supermarkets have tasty sandwiches or salads for take away, including drinks you can eat for way below 10 CHF, something most Swiss choose for lunch. And for dinner, again, lots of Swiss choose to enjoy the lake/driver/hills around Zurich for a good evening.

I wished I knew you were coming to ZRH, I always enjoy showing around some fellow Flyertalkers around the city and help them to avoid some mistakes which are easily done in Switzerland. By the way, the ticket you probably got (for 25 CHF) was a ticket for the whole Kanton Zürich, which is a rather large area (Think taking the train from Melbourne to Geelong) and thats why the ticket isn't cheap. You could have take a cable car ride up Mountain Felsenegg with it, for example, or visited the famous Rheinfall near Schaffhausen, or went to the old town of Rapperswil by a 3 hours boat tour

sydunipete

Thanks YuropFlyer,

the value of local knowledge! it would be exactly the same in my city - Sydney. When I think some other cities are expensive I think I would pay the same if I went to the tourist parts of Sydney (eg. Circular Quay) but of course us locals don't (usually) go there. But if we do we are not surprised at the outcome.

From memory lunch in the old town - just one main dish and a beer each was about 80 CHF. Only later did we discover the english menu given to us didn't include the specials of the day which were much cheaper and more interesting.

You may be right about the train ticket. I do recall that it included the possibility of a cable car. It's one of the challenges of being a traveller and not having the time to do extremely detailed research. You buy what's recommended to you.

Thanks again for your detailed information that will hopefully help many visitors to Zurich and also thanks for your kind words about the trip report.

Frequent_Flyer1

Great report, thank! ^

I completely agree regarding your lunch proposals (look out for the lunch specials, good value!) but concerning dinner, well, it's still quite challenging to find a good restaurant where you have a choice of main courses below CHF 20. It's possible but you have to know where to look for and certainly it's not "Restaurant Lindenhof" But yes, pizzerias are usually a good choice if you aim for this.

dj_jay_smith

Nice TR thanks.

But I don't agree with your statement about Eltville, being on the Rhein it is firmly on the tourist track, it's just that it 99% German speaking tourists as it doesn't attract many foreigners as they go to Rudesheim just up the road.

I got married in the Castle in Eltville!