I tried, but it just didn’t work out…
In this post:
I was going to review the SWISS First Class Lounge
A couple of days ago I wrote about my plans to make a Lufthansa first class review more interesting on my current trip to Germany with my parents. In addition to crossing the Atlantic on the Lufthansa Airbus A380 (which only recently returned to service), I planned on making a quick “pit stop” in Zurich, to check out the two SWISS First Class Lounges.
I hadn’t reviewed one of them in many years, and I had never reviewed the other one. Unless you have HON Circle status with Miles & More, You can only access them when flying Lufthansa or SWISS first class the same day. Since Lufthansa first class awards are available through partners but SWISS awards aren’t, the choice was easy.
So my plan was as follows:
- I’d fly from Frankfurt to Munich to Zurich on Friday evening, with a long connection, in case of any delays; the nonstop wasn’t available, but it would allow me to review a Lufthansa and SWISS plane I hadn’t flown before (the A319 and A321, respectively)
- Then on Saturday I’d fly from Zurich to Munich to Boston in Lufthansa first class
- I’d leave my parents in Frankfurt for a night to visit with friends, and then the next morning they’d go to the First Class Terminal, and fly Frankfurt to Munich to Boston, so we’d meet up again in Munich and enjoy the transatlantic flight together
This seemed like a good compromise in terms of making the journey as easy as possible for my parents, while also creating interesting blog content. Sounds great, eh? Well…
SWISS canceled my positioning flight
Yesterday evening I flew from Frankfurt to Munich, and the flight went off without a hitch.
I visited the Lufthansa Business Lounge, and while sitting there, I got a text saying that my SWISS flight to Zurich had been canceled. It was the last flight of the night, so grrrr…
On the plus side, the flight was canceled for technical reasons, so I’m entitled to EU261 compensation (which is 250 euro in this case), plus SWISS had to take care of my hotel.
The bad news is that it completely eliminated the reason I took this portion of the trip, which was to have a morning to review the SWISS lounge setup in Zurich.
SWISS rebooked me on a Lufthansa flight to Zurich the following morning (today). Funny enough, the Zurich to Munich flight I was supposed to take to connect to Boston was the return portion of this flight. So now I’m flying from Munich to Zurich to Munich on the same plane, before continuing to Boston.
Some may ask “well why not just stay in Munich, and skip flying to Zurich and back?”
This was booked as two separate tickets through Air Canada Aeroplan. If I were to skip the segment from Zurich to Munich, it would cause my onward connection to be canceled. And while there’s perhaps a way that the ticket could be reissued to eliminate that segment, it didn’t seem worth the hassle, and the potential for things to go wrong, especially since Lufthansa uses married segment logic for awards.
Besides, the quick hop to Zurich and back allows me to review Lufthansa’s CRJ-900 business class.
So unfortunately the return portion of this trip hasn’t gone quite as planned. If I were traveling alone, I would have just delayed my return to the United States, but of course I want to enjoy the transatlantic flight in first class with my parents (we managed to snag four award seats on one flight). I did everything I could, but sometimes luck just isn’t on our side. I guess I’ll just have to try again soon with the SWISS first class plans.
Bottom line
While I was hoping to visit the SWISS First Class Lounge Zurich, a flight cancelation threw off my plans. Unfortunately I won’t be reviewing the things I was hoping to review this time around, but there’s always next time, so stay tuned!
You didn't miss much at the swiss first class lounge E.
I've flown thru Zurich a few times this summer it felt like it was 27-28C in there
Spoke to the staff and they said there was nothing they could do.
Swiss obviously knows there's something up since they have specifically told the staff they don't need to wear the mandated jackets of their uniform in the lounge. It was cooler at...
You didn't miss much at the swiss first class lounge E.
I've flown thru Zurich a few times this summer it felt like it was 27-28C in there
Spoke to the staff and they said there was nothing they could do.
Swiss obviously knows there's something up since they have specifically told the staff they don't need to wear the mandated jackets of their uniform in the lounge. It was cooler at the gates than in the lounge.
Passengers would come to lounge and leave after a bit since it was so hot.
Disappointing, since I always looked forward to enjoying my stay at the Swiss Zurich lounges
LH , MUC , A-380 , B O S ARE ALL TOP-NOTCH !!
Was an entire article required for this?!?!?!
Lufthansa has excellent customer service agents located at several locations in the terminals at both MUC and FRA and they can work miracles including “offloading” you off flights you no longer need. I’ve had to do this several times flying both First and Business though both airports.
Hey Ben,
I am flying back with my wife and infant on LH F from FRA to EWR. I snagged two award tickets via Aeroplan, but wasnt able to get an award flight to FRA from where I am currently at. So I had to add a paid positioning flight. Can I call LH for them to link the paid ticket and Aeroplan ticket? Will they let me check 3 bags per person on the positioning flight since I am connecting in First? Thanks.
Munich Zurich should have been a short hop by train.
The same happened to me with Swiss Air. I began with the first segment of my flight starting in Palermo. I was told my 7pm longhaul flight from Zürich to Johannesburg was cancelled and I had to stay in Zürich until a plan could be made. In Zurich I was told my flight now leaves the next morning. They provided overnight accommodation without an explanation of what happened. Upon return in SA
, I...
The same happened to me with Swiss Air. I began with the first segment of my flight starting in Palermo. I was told my 7pm longhaul flight from Zürich to Johannesburg was cancelled and I had to stay in Zürich until a plan could be made. In Zurich I was told my flight now leaves the next morning. They provided overnight accommodation without an explanation of what happened. Upon return in SA
, I claimed the compensation. But they refused and said the plane was damaged because of a flight of birds. They also refused to give me any information of the alleged happening, and cut down our conversation.
Technically, you could rent a car and drive to ZRH overnight, but it's too crazy...
Not so Lucky anymore huh?
I feel your pain. I had booked myself on Cathy on BKK-HKG-PVG last week so I could spend 3 hours at the Pier First lounge but plane could not leave BKK due to technical issues. At least you’ll still head out in First, I had to take an economy flight on Shanghai Airlines in a 737….
That's a little late for an easy train ride but I would have rented a car to get to that terminal.
I had a similar situation where I had to fly from FLL to ATL to Gulfport MS only to get back on the same plane in Gulfport and go back to ATL for a connecting flight to MSP.
I’m curious what you think about SWISS first class international versus Lufthansa? I flowing Swiss first from Zürich to Boston multiple times, but have never flown in Lufthansa from either Munich or Frankfurt to Boston and I’m thinking of a trip to Germany this summer.
Hypothetically, if this were a flights from LHR to ZRH and back wouldn’t it be more troublesome to fly the same plane having to clear immigration?
Since it’s all schengen you can do this.
There's no need to clear immigration if you arrive from London and depart to London. Both arriving and departing flights are non-Schengen, thus there's no immigration involved (unless you have bags you need to collect and check-in).
But you do have to clear security if connecting in the UK, irrespective of where you come from.
Pete was asking about a connection at ZRH (flying LHR-ZRH and back). Zurich is not in the UK.
I was in the Swiss non- Schengen First class lounge at Zurich a few weeks ago. In my opinion, as an infrequent First class traveller, it is not as good as the Lufthansa First Terminal at Frankfurt but better than the BA Concorde lounge at Heathrow.
Aeroplan currently is unable to view or book any Swiss space.
Aeroplan IT is abysmal.
I agree. I’m SFO based and Aeroplan only offers Air Canada itineraries when I search for trips to and from Europe/Middle East. Seemingly Turkish, TAP, Lufthansa. Swiss and Emirates don’t fly out of SFO according to Aeroplan.
As a rule i try to never book the last flight of the day on short haul. I've had flights on LH/LX cancelled atleast 3times and since then i always try to make sure that there's at least a later flight on schedule that i could take.
Imagine if you were travelling with checked luggage and had to collect it, then check-in again! Nope.
I suppose a (really dark) silver lining to this is if you wanted to collect lots of EU261 compensation money you could intentionally book those flights...
Good luck trying to get LX to pony up for the EU261 compensation claim!
I make this mistake every time I book. AA has so few flights between LAX and SFO, and I earn so many more miles and LPs flying them than AS.
Usually it works out but I've had at least 5 long waits on the SFO tarmac as they wake someone up to connect the jetbridge after 11pm.
Ben, if ZRH-MUC-BOS was issued on a single ticket, the compensation is calculated based on the distance of ZRH-BOS, not just ZRH-MUC. If your arrival at BOS isn’t impacted (only the first segment was changed), you’ll get 50% of the compensation amount.
Alternatively, you can ask to be rebooked on other dates or get a refund for your ticket. Your claim is against SWISS, not Aeroplan, and you can demand to be rebooked on...
Ben, if ZRH-MUC-BOS was issued on a single ticket, the compensation is calculated based on the distance of ZRH-BOS, not just ZRH-MUC. If your arrival at BOS isn’t impacted (only the first segment was changed), you’ll get 50% of the compensation amount.
Alternatively, you can ask to be rebooked on other dates or get a refund for your ticket. Your claim is against SWISS, not Aeroplan, and you can demand to be rebooked on any date (no need for award seats to be available), and you can also ask for a cash refund of the entire booking ZRH-MUC-BOS (value of the points / value of the revenue ticket, not sure how Swiss courts rule in cases like this).
@ Chocolate Factory -- The cancelation happened on a ticket that was booked FRA-MUC-ZRH, so it wasn't the long haul ticket.
A lot more could have went wrong. You’re still making the LH F flight with your family from Frankfurt.
No one cares to put it bluntly. But enjoy. Safe travels.
Look at flight radar: LX1111 is frequently cancelled (Air Baltic doesn’t have spare planes at ZRH)y
Two out of my three flights were cancelled. And with the current frequency of evening thunderstorms, you did choose a risky option anyway.
You could’ve taken the night train or bus from MUC to ZRH to have enough time at ZRH.
Anyway, safe flight. (Interesting that you are posting live which flights you’ll be taking later on today. )
Based on the timing, I think this was posted either from the MUC-BOS flight, or from the lounge just before departure...
You’ve still done an amazing job (4 seats in F!) for your parents and I’m sure you had an unforgettable time. These things happen! But this is why your commitment to your work is unparalleled. Enjoy the flight to Boston and simply enjoy ze ambiance!
@ Santos -- Yes, so beyond grateful to have a whole row of first class seats on the Lufthansa A380 to us. What a treat to be able to spoil my parents in this way, so we're very happy campers.
Can you please elaborate how did you snag four first class LH first class award tickets on the same flight? How long before the date, and with which program? Thanks!
He says in this article that he booked the tickets through Aeroplan. Not sure about dates tho
The MUC-BOS LH a380 usually has good last minute availability, up to like 4 days before departure. All the other ex-EU LH F seats haven't been opening up until like 24-48 hours before departure
@ Alex -- We booked about five days in advance. The flight was F7 (so only one seat was booked), and there were actually five award seats, so we could have brought someone else.