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Trip Report: LCY-ZRH-HKG-ZRH-LCY with Crossair, Swissair and Cathay Pacific

Trip Report: LCY-ZRH-HKG-ZRH-LCY with Crossair, Swissair and Cathay Pacific

Old Feb 20, 2002, 3:38 pm
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Trip Report: LCY-ZRH-HKG-ZRH-LCY with Crossair, Swissair and Cathay Pacific

Pre-Flight:

I bought my tickets over the internet through Travelselect.com. I was able to buy a business class ticket from London to Hong Kong with Swissair for $2300, which is a little more than half of what the full fare price was for the ticket. Travelselect provided great service and got my tickets to me within a week. Once getting the tickets, I canceled a full-fare business class reservation I had made with KLM for the same trip. Although Travelselect could not provide me with seat assignments, I was able to get these for all my flights by calling Swissair and Cathay Pacific.

Friday, March 16, 2001:

I left my house in the morning, as I had to take an exam in International Trade Law before catching my flight. I took a mini cab to school with one of my roommates, who was leaving after the exam for Dublin. As I was walking to the car, I accidentally rolled my bag through dog crap and, not knowing this at the time, got it all over my pants when I put my bag in the car. My roommate told me that this was worst thing that could happen and that now the rest of trip would go off without a hitch. His reassurance proved not to be fully accurate.

The test went fine, and after buying some film and a book, I grabbed a cab and headed to London City Airport (LCY).

Flight SR 9291 (operated by Crossair as LX 863)
Departure time of 15:15 -- Arrival Time of 17:55.
Seat 4A
Saab 2000

I got to LCY at 2:00 and after a few minutes of waiting, I was checked-in through to Hong Kong. I was pre-assigned to seat 4A, a window on the one seat side, but I asked about getting the bulkhead on that side and was told it was taken. Oh well.

I went through security and ordered a beer from the bar in the waiting room. There was no business class lounge in LCY, so I had to wait with the masses. Actually, the airport seemed to cater to a business class type of crowd and lounge was not too different from an Admiral's Club (minus the free snacks).

We boarded the flight a few minutes late and were airborne soon after. The flight attendants came around with champagne and a hot meal, which consisted of salmon, potatoes and fried onions. It came with a cold salad and warm rolls. It was good, but the salmon was not a fresh as I like it (I know, I'm being too nit picky seeing as I was on a Saab 2000). They came around with more rolls and cheese, followed by some chocolate-covered things and Swiss chocolates. The flight landed on time and the level of service on a turboprop commuter flight was amazing to me. We had to take a bus to the terminal, but all went quickly.

The Wait Between Flights:

I headed for the Swissair lounge in Terminal A and took notice of the large crowd of people waiting at the transfer desk. The lounge was crowded, so I took a seat at one of the tables, grabbed a drink and began my wait. to be honest, I was less than impressed with the lounge, it was crowded, there was no food service beyond crackers and peanuts and the floor looked like my high school gymnasium. After half an hour, I was sufficiently bored that I decided to walk around the terminal a bit. I realized, however, that you had to go through security to get anywhere, so taking a few moments to look at the departure board (where I realized that my flight was the only one without a gate assigned), I headed back to the lounge.

When I handed my boarding pass to the agent in the lounge, she frowned and said it was no good. As it was printed in LCY on crappy computer paper, I expected this, but she then told me the flight was cancelled and that I should have been told this in London.

She sent me down to the transfer desk, where I waited for 40 minutes, because only two people were working the business class counters. The wait in the economy line looked as though it would have taken a few hours. The woman who helped me was very pleasant and informed me that the flight had a mechanical problem and that it would now leave at 8:30 AM the next morning. She gave me a voucher for the Swissotel, as well as one for meals and transfers. I was impressed at how Swissair proactively handled the problem and I could not complain. Of course, the new time for the flight completely screwed-up my schedule and resulted in some serious jet lag, but such is life.

The Hotel:

I went through immigration and then had to find my bag amongst a pile of baggage in the claim area. I left the airport and had to wait for twenty minutes for the hotel bus to arrive. Being a native New Yroker and thus naturally impatient, I was just about to take a taxi when it arrived. I quickly checked-in to the hotel and had them call my hotel in Hong Kong to tell them I would be arriving some 12 hours later than expected, and not to cancel my reservation. They offered a buffet dinner in the restaurant that I gathered was arranged for us Hong Kong refugees. It was fine. I then went to bed, as I had to be up at 5:45 the next morning to get to the airport.

Saturday, March 17, 2001

Flight SR 172 (operated as SR 4172, due to the delayed departure time)
Departure time of 8:30 AM -- Arrival Time of 03:30 AM (on May 18).
Seat 9J
MD-11 (HB-IWB -- with blue Qualifier bottom)

I got my wake-up call at 5:45 AM and was ready to head to the airport by 6:30 AM. Swissair was running a special bus for us at 7:00 AM, but I did not feel like waiting (remember the New York thing?), so I grabbed a taxi and was at the airport by just about 7:00 AM. I had my boarding pass (reprinted at the transfer desk the night before to a "real" boarding pass), but needed to re-check my bag. There was no line at the Business Class check-in, and my bag was checked with no problem. I then hit the Bureau de Change and got some Hong Kong dollars, before heading back up to the wholly inadequate and, even at 7:10 AM, very crowded Business Class Lounge, were I had some juice and waited to board.

I left the lounge at 7:45 AM, and was at the gate ten minutes later. The plane was HB-IWB, which was painted in the Qualifier colors (blue underbelly).

Soon, the cabin and flight crew arrived by bus and went on the plane. I did a quick e-mail check, and boarded at about 8:10 AM. There was only one jetway at our gate and it was connected to the L2 door. My seat was 9J, which is the window seat in the third row of business class. Actually, the first two seats (row 7) were blocked-off for the crew, so I was actually in the second row of passengers. The seats were arranged in a 2-3-2 layout, and I found both the width and the legroom to be more than adequate.

To my pleasant surprise, no one took the seat next to me, so I had two seats to myself for the duration of the flight. Only one man was in the row ahead of me, and he took the aisle seat, so no one reclined the seat in front of me. It was, I could tell, going to be a very nice flight. We were a little late leaving, as a passenger did not show, but after having a glass of champagne, we pushed. We lifted off after a long takeoff run at 9:25 AM.

Of course, the view after taking-off from Zurich was amazing (rivaled only, in my opinion, by Milan), but we were soon above the clouds. We were not handed menus, but the cabin crew soon started a beverage service, followed by breakfast. We were given a tray with a nice selection of fresh fruit and a bowl of yogurt. There was a choice of warm rolls and croissants, with butter and preserves. They cleared my fruit plate, and served an omelet with turkey escalope, which was quite good, if a bit small. The crew was constantly coming around with drinks during the whole service.

After the meal, I reclined the seat and found that the legrest was not quite long enough. Nevertheless, I was quite comfortable and was content to enjoy the view of the Balkans (the cloud had cleared by this time). The flight passed over the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan (not as big a deal then as it is now). For a geography nerd who had never been further east than Krakow, this was a great treat.

I enquired about a flightdeck visit and was escorted up by the incredibly helpful and efficient Matre d'Cabine. There were two captains and one first officer. I was up there when they switched over (the relief captain took over for the first officer). I stayed up there for about 30 minutes, but the crew was not too talkative. I did get to see a Singapore 747 pass overhead (at very close range) and it was making contrails. Even the not too talkative flight crew thought this was pretty neat. I asked about staying for landing and was rejected. I expected this, so I was not too disappointed.

On my way back to my seat, I helped myself to some sandwiches and some fruit that they had in the galley. This was, I thought, a nice touch. I also ordered a Coke and went back to the view, albeit for a short period of time, as the sun was beginning to set. Although I could have had a DVD player, I opted not to, as I was reading 'Tis by Frank McCourt (the sequel to Angela's Ashes) and was so engrossed in it, that time really flew by (I don't get this too often as most of my reading is rather dull and boring law review articles and case opinions).

The Matre d'Cabine came around asking everyone if they needed a taxi when we got to Hong Kong. As the Airport Express was not going to b running at 3:00 AM, I knew I would need one.

The flight tracked over India and then into China. Just as I was getting hungry again, the cabin crew announced that they would be serving dinner shortly. We were handed menus, and I realized the crew had just reversed the service that was supposed to have been offered the night before. I hope it wasn't the same food.

The meal service started with drinks (I had a Rum and Coke) and a small snack of olives and a potato thing. We had a choice of appetizers (turkey or shrimp). I had the shrimp and it was served on a tray with a small salad. There were four options for the main meal (Veal, Lamb, Catfish or a vegetarian plate). I had the veal, which was a good choice as it was tender and flavorful. This was followed by a pre-plated cheese service (camembert, tillist and walnut cheese), which was flowed by dessert (chocolate cake or some fruit thing). Of course, drinks were constantly being served. All in all, it was a very good meal, and I was left quite satisfied. About an hour after the meal, they served Movenpick Ice Cream cones.

The Matre d' Cabine announced that Swissair had arranged busses to take us into town. One was set to go to Kowloon, one went to Central and one went to Causeway Bay. I guess if you needed to go to the New Territories, you were out of luck.

We landed in very thick fog and taxied for what seemed like an eternity. We came into one of the "Cathay Pacific Preferred Gates," and we were told the plane would be turning-around immediately and heading back to Zurich. I think these passengers had it worse than we did, as they had to wait in the airport for an extra four hours, as opposed to having a hotel.

I was the first off the plane after the three first class passengers, and quickly got through immigration and baggage re-claim. I decided to just take a taxi, as the bus was going to have to wait for everyone to get off, and at 3:00 AM, I was not in much of a mood to wait (you should be detecting a theme by this point).

The ride to the hotel was fine, and I was at the Regal HongKong Hotel in Causeway Bay in about 45 minutes.

Saturday, March 24, 2001

Flight SR 9661 (operated by Cathay Pacific as CX 291)
Departure time of 8:30 AM -- Arrival Time of 03:30 AM (on May 18).
Seat 11K
A340-300

The flight was scheduled to depart at 11:55 PM. I managed to convince the good people at the Regal HongKong Hotel to let me keep the room until 7:00 PM. A few minutes before seven, I checked out and grabbed a taxi to the Airport Express Station. It took about twenty minutes to navigate the evening traffic, but we got to the station. I had called Swissair earlier and found out they close their Airport Express check-in desk when they open at the airport. Fortunately, the desk at the train station in Central was still open and had no line. The woman was able to give me my boarding pass for the flight to Zurich, but could not give me one for the connecting flight to London. However, she was able to check my bag all the way through. As I had already bought my train ticket to get into the check-in area, I headed strait for the train. One was waiting at the platform. The Airport Express seats were all one class and arranged in a 2-2 layout. It was very clean and very comfortable. There was a display showing you how much more you had to go to the next station and the seat back monitors contained departure information. The train stopped in Kowloon and another stop before reaching Chep Lap Kok. Nevertheless, it only took the advertised 23 minutes to reach the airport.

The train arrived at the same level as the check-in area. I was amazed at how big the terminal was. The roof was pretty neat. it reminded me of being in a domed football stadium. I walked around the check-in desks for a little bit, but then went through immigration (where there was a sizeable line) and security. I walked around airside for a little bit, before going to The Wing. My only complaint about the airport was that there were not many signs telling you how to get to The Wing. You would figure that the lounge of the biggest airline at the airport would be well signed. Nevertheless, I found it.

You had to show your invitation and get your boarding pass stamped on the departure level and then take an elevator or stairs to the actual lounge, which was on the check-in level. The lounge was bar none, the best I've seen. it was big, but did not seem too big. Everything was done in a nice gray stone, which gave it a modern feel. There were plenty of leather chairs, two bars, a full kitchen where hot noodle dishes were on offer, a library with internet access and a day spa. I took a seat, had a Rum and Coke and relaxed. I soon got bored sitting and moved over to the Long Bar, where they had a T.V., which was showing NCAA basketball highlights (unfortunately, Notre Dame was eliminated in the round of 32, but at least they made it and our girl's team is kicking ... -- N.B. we won the National Championship). I had some chicken satays, which were excellent. Since I was saving myself for the meal on the plane, I did not have any of the noodle offerings, but they looked good. In fact, the whole noodle bar looked quite a bit like Wagamama's in London. I tried at the service center to get my Zurich-London boarding card, but they could not do it, which meant I was going to have to battle the transfer desk again in Zurich, a fact I was less than pleased about.

I have been to first and business class lounges for Air France, Alitalia, Swissair and United. Without a doubt, The Wing was the best I've seen. Of course, this is not an unpopular opinion on Flyertalk.

I left the lounge a few minutes after 11:00 PM and arrived at Gate 27 just as boarding was about to begin. There were two jetways, with First and Business sharing one and Economy using the other. I strolled around a bit and boarded about five minutes later. There was a long line for economy boarding, but none for first and business.

I entered the A340-300 through the L1 door and headed to my seat. 11K was the first row bulkhead seat on the right side of the plane. The legroom was great and the seat was quite comfortable. Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific had cancelled their CX 255 service to LHR this evening, and we had several passengers on our flight that should have been on the London flight. As such, I had someone in the seat next to me. This was, of course, no problem, but not as nice as the outbound flight's seating arrangement. One of the flight attendants took my coat and offered me champagne, which, as you may have guessed, I accepted. The doors were closed on time, but we had to wait about fifteen minutes before we could push (all the European flights were leaving at the same time). Once we pushed, however, we barely had to wait to takeoff and were soon airborne.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of turbulence, which hindered the cabin service. Nevertheless, I was quickly served a Rum and Coke, which came with a small dish of macadamia nuts. I was particularly impressed that I was addressed, quite formally, by my name each time something was offered. I though this was a nice touch. Owing to the late departure time, we were served a Supper, which I gather is less substantial than the full dinner service. It started with an appetizer of smoked salmon salad, which was served on a tray with the silverware and a bread dish. We were served warm rolls, garlic bread and/or cibatta bread. Unlike Swissair, the main courses were not preplated and it was served from a low trolley, which allowed you to see what was on offer. We had a choice between Herb Crusted Pork and Kung Pao shrimp, with various side dishes. I had a plate made up of both dishes. Both were great. We were then served a fruit and cheese course, which was also not pre-plated. Once gain, very good. Dessert was Movenpick ice cream and chocolates.

After the meal, I asked to go to the flight deck and was quickly given permission. There were four pilots on the flight, but only two of them were working when I arrived. One was a senior first officer, and the other was a very young (not much older than me -- it is weird how that is starting to happen to me) second officer/relief pilot. Both were British and, as with just about every British pilot I've come across, very pleasant and talkative. I was up there for about two hours. After taking off from Hong Kong, we headed strait north to Beijing and then over Northern China and Mongolia to Siberia. When I was up there, we were traversing Mongolia, and listing to them trying to talk to ATC was quite interesting. We had a laugh when an Air France pilot was arguing with the controller over a flight level. Our pilots said that they just go to the altitude they want and then let the controller deal with it. We also talked about the new nonstop HKG-JFK/EWR flights. They did not think they will be successful or last, as they are severely weight restricted. At one point, a Swissair a/c passed us off the left side, but a bit lower. Nevertheless, you could clearly make-out the red and white tail.

I went back to my seat, took a short nap and watched the map display. After crossing Siberia, we overflew St. Petersburg and then Estonia, before turning over Germany and into Zurich. This route was obviously far more northerly than the one we took to get to Hong Kong.

I got hungry and had a choice of foccacia filled with pickled salmon, mushroom pizza or noodles for a snack. I had the pizza, which was nothing more than a typical store-bought frozen pizza. To be honest, I preferred Swissair's buffet trolley to this service.

About two hours out of Zurich, they began the breakfast service. It started with a plate of fresh fruit and warm breads, including croissants, blueberry muffins and corn bread. I had one of each. They then served a cereal and yogurt course. Finally, we had a hot course, which consisted of western omelets, sausage, potato, tomato and mushroom (the typical English breakfast minus the beans). Or, you could have had dim sum, which was served in the typical bamboo steam thing. I went western for this meal.

Soon, it was time to land in cloudy and rainy (and cold) Zurich. As the time had changed over the course of the night, we did not land until 7:55 AM, over an hour later than scheduled. The flight time was 13 hours and 22 minutes. Interestingly, they closed the curtains when the plane reached the gate, which was a not too subtle hint that the first class passengers were going to disembark before we could. Of course, the curtain between business and coach was also closed.

This was a truly great flight and one I will remember for quite some time to come. Hopefully, I will get to fly them again soon.

Sunday, March 25, 2001:

After getting off the plane at the B-concourse, I had to head through the makeshift walkway back to the Transfer Desk at Terminal A. There was a bit of a line for business class, but soon I was being helped and was given my boarding pass for the flight to LCY, which did not leave until 12:10 PM (it was now about 8:15 AM). With time to spare, I decided to check-out the Allegra Lounge. I had to officially enter Switzerland again, as the lounge was off the baggage claim area.

At first, the woman at the desk would not let me in as my previous flight was on Cathay pacific. However, the boarding pass clearly said that the ticket was issued as Swissair SR 9661, so eventually, she let me in. I headed for the showers, as I was feeling very dirty. There were separate rooms for each shower, which contained a sink. If you needed to use the toilet, they were across the hall. On the sink of the shower room was a towel and a wash cloth as well as a tooth brush and toothpaste. There was also a small bottle of cologne and hand lotion. Unfortunately, there was no comb or deodorant. The shower was great (great water pressure), but the room was not well ventilated, amking it hard to dry off. Fortunately, my hair is pretty short, so I did not need a comb to make myself presentable. The rest of the Allegra Lounge was pretty standard. However, it was less busy and quieter than the Business Class lounge, so I stayed there for a while. About 90 minutes before departure, I returned to the airside (having to go through the passport check) and went to the Business Class lounge.

Flight SR 9272 (operated by Crossair)
Departure time of 12:10 PM -- Arrival Time of 12:45 PM.
Seat 2A (changed to 1F)
Avro RJ 100

We boarded the bus on time and were driven to the maintenance hanger where the plane was parked. It was a very light flight and everyone in business class had their own row (despite everyone being assigned to adjoining seats). I had my customary glass of preflight champagne and soon we were underway. After reaching altitude, the lunch service began. We were first served a small plate of olives, with a drink. Then we were served a tray of a main meal and a small salad. This was the exact same salmon and carrot salad as we had on the flight out of LCY. Warm rolls were served with the meal and then a second roll service was offered with prepackaged soft cheese and/or butter. Dessert was the same chocolate covered thing from the first flight, followed by the same chocolates. All in all it was good, but not of the same standard as Swissair and Cathay Pacific.

We landed in a cold and dreary London and had to do a 180 degree turn on the runway. I was first off the plane, there was no line at immigration and my bag came off second. I was out of the airport and onto the shuttle bus to Canary Wharf within fifteen minutes of landing. Then, it was a short bus ride to the Tube Station and a 45 minute journey to Willesden Green.
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Old Feb 20, 2002, 3:45 pm
  #2  
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In case you didn't notice, this is an old report I dod for Airliners.net lasdt year. In response to a question posted on the Cathay forum, I decided to re-post it here.

I was studying in London at the time and that is why I left from LCY.

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Old Feb 20, 2002, 8:04 pm
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Great trip report. I cannot wait until you write us about Cx first class and SR first class. Both are superb
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Old Feb 26, 2002, 12:51 am
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"After getting off the plane at the B-concourse, I had to head through the makeshift walkway back to the Transfer Desk at Terminal A. "

Ah, why not use the Transfer Desk at Terminal B? run by Swissair? Just curious.
There is also a Swissair lounge at Terminal B, newer, I think no windows. I don't know if you would have had access to Jet Aviation(very friendly staff) or the other generic lounge?(can't think of the name, been there a dozen times).

Loved this trip report! Unfortunately, Swissair has gone way down hill, after some serious labor problems. This trip sounded good, was curious as to how long ago it was?
I also appreciated the reference to the flight map, good to know where you fly over. I doubt Afghanistan is on there these days
.

Ok, thanks for the info on the Swissotel. Have always been curious about that one, as mein addres am Zurich is at the Airport Rennaissance(some of the biggest rooms in Europe). How did you the like the hotel and how are the rooms?

Also, which flight did you prefer? The CX or
the SR?

Thanks, good luck with the law classes.

------------------
Michael
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
Sheraton Gold
Marriot Silver
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Old Feb 28, 2002, 3:10 pm
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Both services were great, but I would give the nod to Cathay Pacific. I liked their meal presentation better and the service by the FAs was outstanding. I also had a more welcome feeling in the flight deck. Swissair was fine, but I would not call it an exceptional service.

As for the Terminal B transfer desk, i sure would hav eused it if I knew it existed. I thought that the only one was in A. The service from the desk was fine, it was just the line that was absurdly long, mostly due to the limited number of agents and the often complicated nature of the transactions. Thank God I was in Business Class, the coach line looked as though it would have taken hours.

The trip was made almost a year ago while I was studying for the year in London. I am back in Indiana finishing my last year of law school and my seventh at Notre Dame.

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Old Feb 28, 2002, 5:01 pm
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"As for the Terminal B transfer desk, i sure would hav eused it if I knew it existed. "

Hey, thanks for the info and good luck in law school.

FYI, Terminal B Transfer Counter at Zurich is right across from the Passport Control.
Next to the main Duty Free Shop. It is actually kind of hidden, so understand.

The staff are Swissair and Swissport. They sold me a ticket on Crossair to Lugano, so, SR should work there. Also, as SR is having flights out of B(they are supposed to be from A, probably overflow), they would have to sell/service SR tickets. I think Zurich Airport is one of the best.
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