Swiss AMS-ZRH-BCN and Spanair/Lufthansa VLC-MUC-AMS for La Tomatina
Sep 6, 2009, 11:45 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: PVG
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Hilton Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 318
Swiss AMS-ZRH-BCN and Spanair/Lufthansa VLC-MUC-AMS for La Tomatina
A couple friends of mine were meeting up in Spain to do some sightseeing, with the main attraction being La Tomatina festival in Bunol. Since I have just moved to the Netherlands, I thought it would be cool to hop down and join them for the first few days including the festival.
I booked my tickets on lufthansa.com, and waited a bit too late since prices increased from when I first looked. Correct me if I'm wrong, in Europe I can actually get the fees and taxes refunded on a non-refundable ticket, minus a service charge? In the future, I'll book as soon as possible even if my plans are not 100% set, especially since the base fare is sometimes less than 50% of the total ticket cost.
A word about booking on lufthansa.com. I was disappointed that LH and Swiss still operate very much as two separate companies, as when I called Swiss to get seat assignments the (quite rude) agent told me that booking on lufthansa.com was booking through a travel agent, and my booking code was not compatible with their system. Also, I wasn't able to check in on Spanair.com for my return flight since the booking code also didn't work there, and lufthansa.com didn't work for online check-in since Spanair is operating the flight.
But the flights themselves were quite nice. In AMS I made a quick stop at the Menzies lounge which had some cold cuts, cake, and crackers for breakfast. I was impressed that we were served a croissant and chocolates on the short flight on Swiss AMS-ZRH. In ZRH, the Swiss Senator Lounge had nice food selection with both hot and cold items, but it was completely packed! There were also computer stations and free wireless. Too bad I didn't see the Movenpick ice cream until I was leaving
We were served a nice cheese sandwich and more chocolates ZRH-BCN. The flight attendant even came around later offering a second sandwich to anyone who wanted one.
Here are pictures of the inflight food and the Senator Lounge
In Barcelona, we stayed at Casanova by Rafael Hotels, which was a great location, close to the subway and airport bus and nightlife if you're into the gay variety, and really stylish inside. Real perks included free wired internet (they can lend you the cable; wireless is paid), and a big bottle of water every day.
In Valencia, the first night we stayed at the Vincci Palace hotel, which was stylish but not functional. There is no privacy between the bathroom and bedroom (you can look right in), the room safe operates by credit card and when I used a different card with a magnetic stripe it locked all of my belongings inside (the staff then had to take an hour or so to completely dismantle the safe), and finally all of the rooms on the alley side of the hotel smell of sewage.
The second night I stayed by myself at the Holiday Inn Valencia - not in a pretty part of town but you can walk to the City of Arts and Sciences. It was quite a standard international hotel, though I stayed in an Executive Room which they said was a junior suite (redeeming my free night from the stay 2 get 1 free promotion). The staff at all three hotels were really friendly and helpful.
At La Tomatina, the only advice I can give is that even if you feel like everything's jam packed and you're as close to the action as possible, try to get even closer to the pole with the ham on it. A lot of the trucks ran out of tomatoes by the time they reached my section, so I'd say that I was dyed pink rather than red.
The hotel offered us an organized bus to/from Bunol including meals, but honestly the train trip wasn't as horrendously packed as I expected, and the wait goes fast if you're with friends.
On the return flights from Spain, there was no Star Alliance Lounge in VLC, and the airport is quite small so you wouldn't want to arrive too early. My Spanair flight VLC-MUC was on an MD-83 with Star Alliance livery, and I was surprised to be served a sandwich and drinks since when I read about onboard service on Spanair.com it looked like it was food for purchase only? The sandwich wasn't that great (had a chemical taste), but it was still nice to get something to eat. The plane was quite old inside. Flight attendants were friendly.
I had no time in MUC to visit any lounges, since I had to take a bus from the remote stand to the terminal, run from one end of the terminal to the other, and then take another bus back to where I started. I don't understand the layout of the airport! I feel like there should be some way for passengers to connect from one remote gate to another.
MUC-AMS was LH CityLine, and they served a really nice sandwich (choice of cheese or chicken; I chose chicken and it looked like salami) and candy bar.
Here are pics from the return flights.
I booked my tickets on lufthansa.com, and waited a bit too late since prices increased from when I first looked. Correct me if I'm wrong, in Europe I can actually get the fees and taxes refunded on a non-refundable ticket, minus a service charge? In the future, I'll book as soon as possible even if my plans are not 100% set, especially since the base fare is sometimes less than 50% of the total ticket cost.
A word about booking on lufthansa.com. I was disappointed that LH and Swiss still operate very much as two separate companies, as when I called Swiss to get seat assignments the (quite rude) agent told me that booking on lufthansa.com was booking through a travel agent, and my booking code was not compatible with their system. Also, I wasn't able to check in on Spanair.com for my return flight since the booking code also didn't work there, and lufthansa.com didn't work for online check-in since Spanair is operating the flight.
But the flights themselves were quite nice. In AMS I made a quick stop at the Menzies lounge which had some cold cuts, cake, and crackers for breakfast. I was impressed that we were served a croissant and chocolates on the short flight on Swiss AMS-ZRH. In ZRH, the Swiss Senator Lounge had nice food selection with both hot and cold items, but it was completely packed! There were also computer stations and free wireless. Too bad I didn't see the Movenpick ice cream until I was leaving
We were served a nice cheese sandwich and more chocolates ZRH-BCN. The flight attendant even came around later offering a second sandwich to anyone who wanted one.Here are pictures of the inflight food and the Senator Lounge
In Barcelona, we stayed at Casanova by Rafael Hotels, which was a great location, close to the subway and airport bus and nightlife if you're into the gay variety, and really stylish inside. Real perks included free wired internet (they can lend you the cable; wireless is paid), and a big bottle of water every day.
In Valencia, the first night we stayed at the Vincci Palace hotel, which was stylish but not functional. There is no privacy between the bathroom and bedroom (you can look right in), the room safe operates by credit card and when I used a different card with a magnetic stripe it locked all of my belongings inside (the staff then had to take an hour or so to completely dismantle the safe), and finally all of the rooms on the alley side of the hotel smell of sewage.
The second night I stayed by myself at the Holiday Inn Valencia - not in a pretty part of town but you can walk to the City of Arts and Sciences. It was quite a standard international hotel, though I stayed in an Executive Room which they said was a junior suite (redeeming my free night from the stay 2 get 1 free promotion). The staff at all three hotels were really friendly and helpful.
At La Tomatina, the only advice I can give is that even if you feel like everything's jam packed and you're as close to the action as possible, try to get even closer to the pole with the ham on it. A lot of the trucks ran out of tomatoes by the time they reached my section, so I'd say that I was dyed pink rather than red.
The hotel offered us an organized bus to/from Bunol including meals, but honestly the train trip wasn't as horrendously packed as I expected, and the wait goes fast if you're with friends.On the return flights from Spain, there was no Star Alliance Lounge in VLC, and the airport is quite small so you wouldn't want to arrive too early. My Spanair flight VLC-MUC was on an MD-83 with Star Alliance livery, and I was surprised to be served a sandwich and drinks since when I read about onboard service on Spanair.com it looked like it was food for purchase only? The sandwich wasn't that great (had a chemical taste), but it was still nice to get something to eat. The plane was quite old inside. Flight attendants were friendly.
I had no time in MUC to visit any lounges, since I had to take a bus from the remote stand to the terminal, run from one end of the terminal to the other, and then take another bus back to where I started. I don't understand the layout of the airport! I feel like there should be some way for passengers to connect from one remote gate to another.
MUC-AMS was LH CityLine, and they served a really nice sandwich (choice of cheese or chicken; I chose chicken and it looked like salami) and candy bar.
Here are pics from the return flights.
Last edited by flaii; Sep 6, 2009 at 11:54 am
Sep 6, 2009, 1:28 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: BCN
Programs: BA Gold · A3 Gold · DL Gold · VY apologist
Posts: 8,545
Thanks for the report!
Spanair was recently sold and has gone through a pretty extensive rebranding process. I last flew them in economy last week and it was for-purchase only, though that was only a 30-minute flight so they may be doing more on longer flights.
Next time you head to BCN, you might want to check out Vueling - a terrific LCC that gets almost all of my intra-European business now.
Spanair was recently sold and has gone through a pretty extensive rebranding process. I last flew them in economy last week and it was for-purchase only, though that was only a 30-minute flight so they may be doing more on longer flights.
Next time you head to BCN, you might want to check out Vueling - a terrific LCC that gets almost all of my intra-European business now.
Sep 10, 2009, 1:14 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: PVG
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Hilton Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 318
Hey thanks for reading!
One of my friends flew Vueling and recommended it as highly as you do. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to keep status on Star Alliance, hence the Swiss/Spanair/LH combo.
One of my friends flew Vueling and recommended it as highly as you do. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to keep status on Star Alliance, hence the Swiss/Spanair/LH combo.