[Anonymous]

[SimonRowberry]

Hi All,

Having taken your advice to fly LX rather than LH, I now keep my promise to let you have a review of the flight.

I flew BHX-ZRH on LX421 in 1F. The middle seat was kept free and I spent the flight talking to an affable Irish businessman who was excellent company. Usual Helvetic service – good but limited by the F100.

On arrival at ZRH, transfer to E pier was smooth on the metro train. I had chance for a quick drink in the Panorama Lounge – one minor criticism is that it wasn’t sign posted as being a Swiss lounge so I wasn’t sure until I got there as to whether I’d be admitted. The lounge was large and fairly well equipped. I can’t comment on the food as I simply had a coffee and then a quick smoke in the smoking area and down to gate E56.

Boarding was not good. I had been given 7K at web check-in but had requested 4 or 5K, in the smaller front Business cabin on the A340. I was told this was reserved for Senators and Miles and More Gold members and my protestations that I was SK Gold (therefore *Alliance Gold too) held no sway. However, I was repeatedly reassured that 7J was vacant.

Passport checks were chaotic and I was not given any priority (this was at the gate itself, prior to handing over boarding passes). Despite the fact that there were separate aisles for Economy and First/Business, only the latter were used for all PAX. I’m afraid that I pulled rank (sorry chaps!) and was the third or fourth on the plane.

Alas, there were many upgrades, including a Swiss alpine horn band who played for us during the flight and were great fun – lederhosen and the works. Due to this, 7J was occupied, by an extremely pleasant German guy who’d been upgraded. I had no problem at all with that, but had a problem with a headrest that didn’t work. I mentioned this to a wonderful flight attendant by the name of Sonia (Sonja?) Straub. I also mentioned that I’d sought 4K or 5K several times but was told they were not available.

Just prior to take off, Sonia moved me up to 5K, where the pair (5J and K) were vacant. I was extremely grateful.

Prior to take off we were offered champagne, orange juice or sparkling water, and one or two refreshes, as well as cold towels.

Push back was delayed 15 minutes, but we were kept fully informed from the flight deck.

The seats were the “old” A340 wedgie seats and I wasn’t at all sure how to use the advertised iPod and Mac friendly power adaptors.

Menus were distributed prior to take off. We had the choice of a full lunch/dinner or a quick menu. I opted for the former. We were offered a choice of three starters, two of which were by Tanja Grandits of Restaurant Stuckli in Basel. I opted for marinated pike-perch with spiced jus and sauteed melon.

We had a choice of four main courses: two by Grandits, one vegetarian and one Asian. I chose veal steak with soya and Basler Leckerli jus, thyme polenta and aubergine caviare.

Swiss cheese with pear bread was then offered followed by a selection of desserts.

The food was fine: the right temperature and sufficient portions, and served by individual course – a rarity these days.

Snacks were available throughout the flight.

I switched on the Airshow and then thought I’d have a quick nap. 6 hours or so later, I woke up. I hadn’t even fully reclined the seat so I can’t comment on the wedgie bed in fairness. All I can say is that I slept well and was able to go to meetings today.

Breakfast was served either as a continental 40 minutes before landing or a full, course-by-course serving from the trolley, 90 mins out. I chose the latter, which included cold cheeses and meats, yoghourt and hot selections. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Ms Straub was excellent throughout the flight. I was addressed by name and she made sure my glass was never empty, as well as waking me for full breakfast – I’d asked her to do this should I fall asleep (which I did). She was truly an excellent flight attendant.

The only slightly sour point relates to a Chinese guy who occupied, with his “fiancee” the middle two seats of my row. It was apparent that his partner didn’t have a business class ticket and she was (politely, fairly discretely and rightly) evicted after take off. She returned a few times during the flight, and was tolerated to an appropriate point by the crew. At one point the guy got aggressive with the crew and launched a wet pillow at one of the cabin crew at breakfast. It missed them and hit me – I then got a lot of abuse when I politely (well, politelyish) took issue with this, along with threats from him as to what would happen to me in the PRC. However, the crew then removed both him and his girlfriend, and the remainder of the flight passed off peaceably for all of us.

We arrived about 50 minutes late. We parked at a gate that seemed a long way from immigration. Notwithstanding that, I was amongst the first off and the priority baggage system worked.

Conclusion:

A very enjoyable flight. I slept well and benefitted from a very service-driven FA. The delay was not that significant. Thanks Soni(j)a and thanks Swiss.

I will report on the return leg in due course.

Regards and safe travels, Simon

[Potakas]

Nice review Simon, take care and have good time, imagine the Chinese man with two ”Obnoxious” kids in Business Class.

Regards

Potakas

[LuganoPirate]

I’m glad you had a good flight Simon, especially after my reco. It’s true the gate is sometimes chaotic, sorry I had not thought of this, but I usually arrive last so the queue is gone. When there is queue, I do exactly what you do, pull rank, and in those instances am amongst the first to board.

I can imagine the incident with the Chinese fellow must have been unpleasant, but it looks like Swiss handled it well. May I suggest you bring this up with the Swiss station manager at Shanghai either by phone or in person. It may well get you an upgrade to F. Here’s the address (taken from the LX website) if it helps. It could be your local contact or the hotel know the manager.

314A Building One
Corporate Avenue No. 222
Hubin Road
Tel: +862163406399
Fax: +862163406355
<a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]

Looking forward to hearing the final episode,
Best wishes, L.

[KSHaggag]

Hi Simon !

Glad you enjoyed your LX flight to PVG !!….I was sure ..pretty sure you would enjoy it thoroughly…I do iterate that Swiss might (not ) be the best in the world ,but indeed one of the best ever and consistent airlines ever existing …!!..you can always be sure you will get something consistent ….something that is not the order of the day nowadays …..!!!…truly ,this Ms Straub is indeed a great great example of how the majority of the Swiss flying crew are like ….GREAT PEOPLE …RELIABLE ,COURTEOUS and PROFESSIONAL !!!……I can bet you that on every LX flight there is a Ms Straub making all the difference in the world between LX and non LX airlines !!!…..Good for you ….enjoy the return journey ..be safe ,,,,!

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us !

Cheers !

Karim

[SimonRowberry]

Hi Lugano – thanks, my friend. I have done what you suggested and will let you know what happens. Swiss did indeed handle it well, but it took the edge off the flight for me, as you may well imagine.

I regret having mentioned that he was Chinese, as this was so far from being typical – I’ve had nothing but kindness and friendship from pretty much all Chinese here so far.

Karim – yes, my friend, you were right. A great airline who exceeded what I expected. I’m sorry that I can’t give chapter and verse about wedgie against fully-flat. All I know is that I had an unexpected 6 hours sleep with it pretty much upright. But then my wife thinks I was born a tramp….I’ve never flown Virgin or SQ, so I can'[t really compare.

All I know is that, apart from one idiot (which can happen anywhere, of any race), LX were great.

Thanks for all your ongoing advice on this – I am truly grateful.

Safe, happy and on-time travels to all,

Simon

[SimonRowberry]

Potakas,

Hi, my friend. Sorry I never got round to Twittering it! Agreed – give me ten kids as opposed to that bloody fool!

Kids don’t threaten extremely nasty things (well…not that you take seriously, anyway!).

Cheers, Simon

[MartynSinclair]

May be Kat from Delta (see “When a FA Doesnt know the rules”) should have been on board to deal with the unruly passenger and his girlfriend.

Great report, thanks for the detail.

[SimonRowberry]

RETURN LEG – LX189 MONDAY 2 AUGUST 2010

I thought it might be of interest if I reviewed the return leg, as it contrasted with the outward in many ways.

I was staying at the Hilton Shanghai and was told to allow 2 hours for the journey to Pu Dong. The Hilton was ok, but nothing special. There were few staff with an adequate command of English, even at the front desk in the early morning. As a result, my bags took about 30 minutes to be brought down from my room and I had differing information on the cost of a taxi, and whether it was metered or fixed-price, depending on to whom I spoke.

In the end, I took a taxi (about RMB 200.00) at about 06.15. The driver obviously thought he had to get me there quicker than the Maglev. Let’s just say the journey woke me up – we got there in 40 minutes or less.

I had written to the station manager about my experience on the way out. At check in, he appeared, introduced himself to me and (although I didn’t get an upgrade to F, alas – nor, obviously, did I ask for one!) ensured I got one of the best seats, 4K, in the first row of the forward Business Cabin. Check in was fast and efficient.

Passport Control and customs were rapid and friendly, including smiley-face voting for customer satisfaction, which was a new one for me. The whole process took less than 15 minutes, and I was soon in the Star Alliance Lounge, located very close to the customs exit, and well signposted.

The Lounge is separated into First and Business and is on an open mezzanine, overlooking the main departure hall. This means that it is very open, light and airy. Despite the fact that this was forecast to be the hottest day of the year in Shanghai (the record already having been broken the previous day, Sunday), the air-con worked well, despite the acres of glass around the Lounge.

There are showers and a smoking area, as well as a rest area, a dining area and a noodle bar (closed when I was there). The food offering was extremely limited, but this wasn’t a problem as I’m not a great fan of eating early in the morning. Reading material was also in short supply.

Boarding was from a gate close to the Lounge, and First and Business Class pax had priority boarding, although only one airbridge was used onto the A340.

Once again, the seating was of the wedgie variety. I understand from the Station Manager that the new Swiss Business Class won’t be introduced on this route until summer 2011.

As said earlier, I was in 4K in the front part of the Business cabin. The seat next to me was occupied, by coincidence by a delightful Swiss lady who had been at a similar series of events to me and had met some of the same people – it’s a small world at times.

Due to ATC restrictions, we had a ground delay of about 90 minutes. However, as we had strong headwinds, the flight time was estimated to still give us an on-time arrival at Zurich. Several rounds of water and juice were served whilst we were on the ground. The amenity kit was fairly basic, as seems often the case these days.

Once in the air, lunch was quickly served. There was a choice of two starters:

Honey and ginger smoked duck breast or

Spicy tuna tataki, sesame marinated lingfish and a wasabi cream sauce

I had the former and it was absolutely superb. All courses were served individually.

There was a choice of four main courses:

Grilled beef tenderloin with red wine and rosemary sauce, roast potatoes and mixed peppers

Wuxi-style pork stew with egg fried rice, pak choi, sauteed shiitake mushrooms and carrots

Poached salmon filler with saffron cream sauce, steamed chateau potatoes, roast fennel, pumpkin and steamed green asparagus

Spinach and ricotta rotolo pasta with tomato sauce

I had the Wuxi stew. Again, it was very good and the portions were more than adequate. Aperitifs had been offered early on, and there was a choice of two sparkling wines, two whites and three reds (including very palatable Swiss wines).

The main course was followed by an assortment of Swiss cheeses, washed down with a passable (and quaffable) port.

The final course was a choice of mascarpone mouse with berry compote or fresh fruit salad. I passed on this.

Swiss chocolates and tea and coffee finished things off.

Although this was a day flight, I got a few hours sleep. Again, I didn’t fully extend the bed but had it in a half-recline position. On this occasion, the result was sore rear calf muscles, so I didn’t get as good a rest as I had on the outward leg.

Extensive AVOD was available, showing a wide selection on movies and other media offerings. However, I was too tired to indulge with anything more intellectually challenging than the Airshow.

We were woken for a light meal, about 2 hours prior to arrival. This comprised a series of cold dishes served from the trolley. I found this quite disappointing as I was expecting something slightly more substantial.

We arrived on time, as promised, and were given good information about connections and gates. The “Maitre de Cabine” thanked us each individually for flying Swiss. Disembarkation was rapid and I quickly found myself in the Swiss Lounge at Gates B22-26.

I had time for a quick coffee in the Swiss Senator Lounge (connecting time was just over a hour) and then went through security to take the bus to my (Helvetic-operated) flight to BHX. The usual Helvetic constraints were apparent (largely due to the limitations of the F100) but it was a satisfactory flight. I was in 1F and, once again, the middle seat was kept free.

We arrived at BHX on time, baggage was back promptly and my driver was ready and waiting.

Overall, this was a satisfactory journey, although the long haul sector seemed to lack some of the service touches of the outward leg (including the drunken idiot!).

In conclusion: not outstanding like the first leg, but still a highly satisfactory flight and I will certainly continue to use Swiss as a preferred long haul carrier.

Regards to all and safe travelling,

Simon

[KSHaggag]

Hi Simon !

Thanks for your feedback ..I have actually been waiting for it eagerly ….I am glad you did enjoy your homebound journey …As I told you ,Swiss might not be the BEST ever in the world ,but indeed a consistent airline delivering decent service and having GREAT people working for the company …
I always give priority to Swiss wherever I go ,however I do confess that sometimes I feel inclined to try a new product /new aircraft on another airline ..most if the time ,rrrrrrrrrrrrrr,…..I track back to Swiss ….

Till we hear from you on your next longhaul with LX !

Cheers !

Karim

[anglobal]

Many thanks, Simon, for your flight reviews.
I’m about to start a year of fortnightly travel to PVG.
In particular, it’s interesting to hear the wedgie seats are still being used. I may try once, but for now I think I’ll have to stick with QR.
But I look forward to hearing more.

[Author]

Posts