A short weddingmoon to Switzerland
Nov 30, 18, 2:33 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
A short weddingmoon to Switzerland
Wedding moon wherein the engaged couple skips town for a few days in advance of their actual wedding. As if a woman’s life didn’t have enough moons in it as is?
(definition of Wedding moon before Sandals Resort appropriated it)
The cake.
The dress.
The guest list.
The room block.
The vendors.
Planning a wedding is anything but easy, anybride person will tell you.
The funny thing is we've been married for a bit now - so that I can confidently say "I'd like to ask my wife as an authorized driver" at the rental counter without the awkward "uhhh she's my domestic partner - what was Avis' definition of domestic partner again for the purpose of free authorized driver benefit?"
But as many family members demanded, we've been planning our wedding ceremony for the entire year now.
The cake. The dress. I can't fall asleep. The guest list. I am panicking. The room block. The Vendors.
(silence)
I need a break. And this is the story of our wedding moon (where we went f- the wedding planning. let's go somewhere) to Switzerland.
Planning
Despite the forever devaluation of Delta SkyPesos, there is a sweet spot in the redemption options. Cheap Y redemption to Europe. What used to be a rigid mileage chart is not governed by their dynamic pricing model - which also means that Europe is easily reachable for 20 - 30,000 miles round trip.
Looking to minimize my time off from work, I look for the thanksgiving weekend. Wednesday departure - Thursday return. Roundtrip for 32,000 Delta miles per person. Sweet.
As we pack, our cat says you can't leave.
She thinks that if she sits on the suitcase, we will be forced to cancel our plans. Silly girl.
OK. Time to move buddy.
Trouble #1 )
As I checked in, I realized that neither of our boarding passes came with precheck. It's Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and there no guarantee what the airport would look like.
KTN is attached to my booking, but still no. If you haven't tried yet, @ASKTSA is actually very competent and good at doing their job. They immediately knew what they were looking for.
Delta unchecks me in from the flight, and I recheck manually typing one letter at a time.
Praise the travel lord. Thank you Delta & TSA for helping me fix this problem.
Flight #1 )
Delta A330
JFK->ZRH
Economy
If I am flying economy, I always try to fly A330 or 767 if I can. A 2-3-2 (767) or 2-4-2 (A330) configuration makes your flight a lot more bearable than now-industry standard 3-4-3 on larger jets.
I am always a fan of Delta's meal out of three US carriers. American, quite too often, gives you meals that I have had hard time finishing, whether I am sitting in Y, PE or J.
November in Switzerland is considered low season for tourists.
It's too late for family travelers, yet it's too early for skiers.
Weathers can be erratic at times, with lots of fog and rain. As we landed in Zurich Airport - I first thought we had crashed because the runway showed up out of nowhere in the thick fog.
If you can plan a bit ahead (like 2 weeks) then train travel in Switzerland can be done for very reasonable price. We bought our Saver Day Pass 10 days before arrival for 52 CHF - which allows you free public transportation in most of Switzerland (except for some cable cars and mountain trains).
Onigiris can provide cheap lunch in a very expensive country.
I will always be a fan of train travel. Now we are almost to our destination Zermatt.
(definition of Wedding moon before Sandals Resort appropriated it)
The cake.
The dress.
The guest list.
The room block.
The vendors.
Planning a wedding is anything but easy, any
The funny thing is we've been married for a bit now - so that I can confidently say "I'd like to ask my wife as an authorized driver" at the rental counter without the awkward "uhhh she's my domestic partner - what was Avis' definition of domestic partner again for the purpose of free authorized driver benefit?"
But as many family members demanded, we've been planning our wedding ceremony for the entire year now.
The cake. The dress. I can't fall asleep. The guest list. I am panicking. The room block. The Vendors.
(silence)
I need a break. And this is the story of our wedding moon (where we went f- the wedding planning. let's go somewhere) to Switzerland.
Planning
Despite the forever devaluation of Delta SkyPesos, there is a sweet spot in the redemption options. Cheap Y redemption to Europe. What used to be a rigid mileage chart is not governed by their dynamic pricing model - which also means that Europe is easily reachable for 20 - 30,000 miles round trip.
Looking to minimize my time off from work, I look for the thanksgiving weekend. Wednesday departure - Thursday return. Roundtrip for 32,000 Delta miles per person. Sweet.
As we pack, our cat says you can't leave.
She thinks that if she sits on the suitcase, we will be forced to cancel our plans. Silly girl.
OK. Time to move buddy.
Trouble #1 )
As I checked in, I realized that neither of our boarding passes came with precheck. It's Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and there no guarantee what the airport would look like.
KTN is attached to my booking, but still no. If you haven't tried yet, @ASKTSA is actually very competent and good at doing their job. They immediately knew what they were looking for.
Delta unchecks me in from the flight, and I recheck manually typing one letter at a time.
Praise the travel lord. Thank you Delta & TSA for helping me fix this problem.
Flight #1 )
Delta A330
JFK->ZRH
Economy
If I am flying economy, I always try to fly A330 or 767 if I can. A 2-3-2 (767) or 2-4-2 (A330) configuration makes your flight a lot more bearable than now-industry standard 3-4-3 on larger jets.
I am always a fan of Delta's meal out of three US carriers. American, quite too often, gives you meals that I have had hard time finishing, whether I am sitting in Y, PE or J.
November in Switzerland is considered low season for tourists.
It's too late for family travelers, yet it's too early for skiers.
Weathers can be erratic at times, with lots of fog and rain. As we landed in Zurich Airport - I first thought we had crashed because the runway showed up out of nowhere in the thick fog.
If you can plan a bit ahead (like 2 weeks) then train travel in Switzerland can be done for very reasonable price. We bought our Saver Day Pass 10 days before arrival for 52 CHF - which allows you free public transportation in most of Switzerland (except for some cable cars and mountain trains).
Onigiris can provide cheap lunch in a very expensive country.
I will always be a fan of train travel. Now we are almost to our destination Zermatt.
Nov 30, 18, 2:52 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Anyone who has lived near mountains will tell you that mountain weathers can be quite finicky. As we pulled into Zermatt, I noticed that I could clearly see the top of Matterhorn.
Should we check-in to hotel and hope for the same weather today, or should we just go up the mountain today?
We decide to take Gornergrat Bahn which takes you to the top of Gornergrat that sits right across from Matterhorn.
As I sit comfortable on this cogwheel train going up the mountain, I try to remember how difficult this journey would have been for people in the past.
As you go up the mountain, the landscape changes.
Oh wait. Is that a snow machine? (It is)
Sitting at 3,089m (10,135ft) above mean sea level, Gornergrat rail station is the highest open-air railway station in Europe.
Their telescope comes with interesting labeling system allowing you to figure out which peaks are which right from your eyes.
At 20F, the air was crisp - and I felt quite lucky to have the luxury of having a completely clear day.
With no one around to judge me, I take my selfie stick out.
Looking down from the train station.
Reflecting Switzerland's popularity among Koreans (I found Korean spicy ramen in most of Switzerland's major mountains...), we warm ourselves with $8 overpriced bowl of instant ramen.
We are 20 minutes early to the last train going down the mountain, but it's ok.
When it's clear that everyone is on the train, the last train for the day starts descending the mountain.
Dec 2, 18, 9:52 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Dec 2, 18, 10:19 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Hotel we stayed during this trip was called Hotel Alpenhof (https://www.julen.ch/en/hotel-alpenhof/) one of the family run hotels in the region.
With only $100 difference per night, we decided to take up the half-board option because I wasn't quite sure if $100/day was an enough food budget for two in an expensive town like Zermatt in an expensive country like Switzerland.
The funky room configuration allowed a person to watch another person taking bath.... but it seems like people here aren't that embarrassed about showing their naked body (will touch this later)
(room connects directly to the bathroom & tub)
The next morning, it was a bit cloudier than we had hoped for. Because today was going to be the day we were going to go up to Klein Matterhorn in a cable car.
Mountain was still peeking through the clouds. Perhaps we will get lucky.
Switzerland = Cable cars and gondolas
Our cable-car-mate told us that Switzerland has been getting warmer and warmer due to global warming. The slopes were busy making snows for the ski season. As we went up, more and more snow started to appear.
A lone turnstile
Within 20 minutes, we were in the winter wonderland
It's now snow, snow everywhere
Almost to Italy!
As we go up, the visibility starts to go down
... and soon you couldn't see anything out
Kudos to these brave souls skiing in this weather
Before I came to Switzerland, I thought about renting a set of ski and trying it..... but I soon realized that I was more fit for ski slops near NYC not in Switzerland
With only $100 difference per night, we decided to take up the half-board option because I wasn't quite sure if $100/day was an enough food budget for two in an expensive town like Zermatt in an expensive country like Switzerland.
The funky room configuration allowed a person to watch another person taking bath.... but it seems like people here aren't that embarrassed about showing their naked body (will touch this later)
(room connects directly to the bathroom & tub)
The next morning, it was a bit cloudier than we had hoped for. Because today was going to be the day we were going to go up to Klein Matterhorn in a cable car.
Mountain was still peeking through the clouds. Perhaps we will get lucky.
Switzerland = Cable cars and gondolas
Our cable-car-mate told us that Switzerland has been getting warmer and warmer due to global warming. The slopes were busy making snows for the ski season. As we went up, more and more snow started to appear.
A lone turnstile
Within 20 minutes, we were in the winter wonderland
It's now snow, snow everywhere
Almost to Italy!
As we go up, the visibility starts to go down
... and soon you couldn't see anything out
Kudos to these brave souls skiing in this weather
Before I came to Switzerland, I thought about renting a set of ski and trying it..... but I soon realized that I was more fit for ski slops near NYC not in Switzerland
Dec 7, 18, 11:42 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
I agree. American Airlines catering to Europe is the worst. No effort to improve unlike United. What desert does Delta serve? About 10 years ago Delta required 40,000 miles for a round trip economy Award to Europe. When I got the 40,000 miles I called to make a reservation. They told me sorry! It's now 50,000. The following year I called to book and was told sorry it's now 120,000!! LOL. I gave up. However since a few years it is now reasonable at about 60,000. But their Business Class awards are a joke; 280,000 one way compared to 70,000 sometimes on AA / UA.
Dec 9, 18, 8:57 pm
#8
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
Great report!
Nice that you traveled with the new 3S Trockener Steg - Klein Matterhorn. Did you use the crystal cabin with transparent floor?
Not only Switzerland: the whole Alps are severely hit. And the impacts are stronger, quicker and much more visible than anywhere else in Europe. Aside from glaciers melting and snow missing, permafrost above 3,500 meters is no longer existing in the summer, leading to massive falls of mountains. Particularly true in Chamonix valley. The disasters are just beginning.
Nice that you traveled with the new 3S Trockener Steg - Klein Matterhorn. Did you use the crystal cabin with transparent floor?
Not only Switzerland: the whole Alps are severely hit. And the impacts are stronger, quicker and much more visible than anywhere else in Europe. Aside from glaciers melting and snow missing, permafrost above 3,500 meters is no longer existing in the summer, leading to massive falls of mountains. Particularly true in Chamonix valley. The disasters are just beginning.
Dec 10, 18, 12:31 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
... just kidding.
