Austrian/Swiss Biz Class

[fatboy21]

There seem to be some very good fares at the moment in Business class flying with Austrian and Swiss Airlines. I have zero experience flying longhaul with either of these airlines, so any feedback would be appreciated?

[Zauberfee]

I usually fly C with LX, given price, flight times, transfer at Zurich airport, seat and service.

LX 180 has the best flight times because you will start at about 6 pm and can get sleep at "normal" times. Arrival is at 9:30 in the morning so will be in Pattaya by noon. Perfect for me. I never had problems with jet lag when flying with LX. If your are not too big/fat the seat is rather comfortable, lie flat, but you are lying merely above the ground, that's not every guys style.

Svervice is ok for me, quite attentive but rather business like, nothing wrong with that. Decent food for a flight meal, but not much better than other airlines at business class.

My net flight to Thailand will also be with LX although paid with miles & more miles ;)

 

I didn't fly with AUA the last couple of years, so I'm not up to date anymore. For me the flight times are worse, because you depart late at night in vienna and arrive in the afternoon in Krung Thep. Doesn't fit with my preferences. I remember that my seat didn't have much leg space and was uncomfortable during the flight. BUt I'm big and fat so maybe that was on me ;)

Food should be above average because of their DoCo concept, but I can't remember ... sorry..

 

I usually can get tickets from Germany to Bangkok for 2.000 € to 2.200 € when booking in advance. Thats little bit more expensive than TK for example, but I really like the flight times. I usually avoid airlines where I have more then one transfer, so Emirates or Ethihad are no alternatives for me.

 

 

[jimboh]

12 hours ago, fatboy21 said:

There seem to be some very good fares at the moment in Business class flying with Austrian and Swiss Airlines. I have zero experience flying longhaul with either of these airlines, so any feedback would be appreciated?

Which sites?

[dingbat22]

12 hours ago, Zauberfee said:

I usually fly C with LX, given price, flight times, transfer at Zurich airport, seat and service.

LX 180 has the best flight times because you will start at about 6 pm and can get sleep at "normal" times. Arrival is at 9:30 in the morning so will be in Pattaya by noon. Perfect for me. I never had problems with jet lag when flying with LX. If your are not too big/fat the seat is rather comfortable, lie flat, but you are lying merely above the ground, that's not every guys style.

Svervice is ok for me, quite attentive but rather business like, nothing wrong with that. Decent food for a flight meal, but not much better than other airlines at business class.

My net flight to Thailand will also be with LX although paid with miles & more miles ;)

 

I didn't fly with AUA the last couple of years, so I'm not up to date anymore. For me the flight times are worse, because you depart late at night in vienna and arrive in the afternoon in Krung Thep. Doesn't fit with my preferences. I remember that my seat didn't have much leg space and was uncomfortable during the flight. BUt I'm big and fat so maybe that was on me ;)

Food should be above average because of their DoCo concept, but I can't remember ... sorry..

 

I usually can get tickets from Germany to Bangkok for 2.000 € to 2.200 € when booking in advance. Thats little bit more expensive than TK for example, but I really like the flight times. I usually avoid airlines where I have more then one transfer, so Emirates or Ethihad are no alternatives for me.

 

 

Try booking swiss. Austrian or LH from Paris 1490 euro business class

Edited January 1, 2020 by dingbat22

[kd_traveller]

Not all Swiss Business Class have aisle access, some rows are 2, 2, 2 and rows which have 1 , 2, 1, beware that Swiss charge an additional $149-$199 if you chose one of the single "throne" seats!

[Zauberfee]

... and rows which have 1 , 2, 1, beware that Swiss charge an additional $149-$199 if you chose one of the single "throne" seats!

True, but you can choose those single seats at online check in for free

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[Zauberfee]

Try booking swiss. Austrian or LH from Paris 1490 euro business class

It sounds smart, but also has some significant risks.

Assuming you depart from London or Manchester (or anywhere else in GB), you need a feeder flight to Paris. So you need a second flight ticket, that has no reference to your ticket from Paris to BKK.

In case of a delay or cancellation of your feeder flight there is no claim for a rebooking for your second flight. You need to buy another ticket then.

Must not happen, but definately can happen. I had about 35 flights to Thailand in the past 15 years and it happened twice to me. Fortunately it was booked on one ticket both times so I got rebooked.

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[Kandinski]

1 hour ago, Zauberfee said:

True, but you can choose those single seats at online check in for free

Just spend some FF miles and booked LX180 on April 24th but with only 12 single seats, and  on a monger route, I dont expect any vacant when online ckeck-in opens.....

Been a while since I flew intercontinental with LX; do they still provide slippers or has they as well been target to improve bottom line?

[Zauberfee]

 

 

 

 

... but with only 12 single seats, and  on a monger route, I dont expect any vacant when online ckeck-in opens.....

 

For sure there are no guarantees for a single seat vacancy at online check-in, but I had 4 or 5 flights with LX 180 the last couple of years and I got a single seat every time without any additional payments.

 

Maybe I just was lucky... [emoji6]

 

 

Been a while since I flew intercontinental with LX; do they still provide slippers or has they as well been target to improve bottom line? 

 

They still have some basic slippers, same as in better hotels

 

 

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[dingbat22]

1 hour ago, Zauberfee said:

It sounds smart, but also has some significant risks.

Assuming you depart from London or Manchester (or anywhere else in GB), you need a feeder flight to Paris. So you need a second flight ticket, that has no reference to your ticket from Paris to BKK.

In case of a delay or cancellation of your feeder flight there is no claim for a rebooking for your second flight. You need to buy another ticket then.

Must not happen, but definately can happen. I had about 35 flights to Thailand in the past 15 years and it happened twice to me. Fortunately it was booked on one ticket both times so I got rebooked.

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From london just take a train into Paris, (eurostar) at gare de nord paris change trains to the airport . One can get a train from anywhere in europe to CDG airport and save a significant amount on business cakass fares

[Zauberfee]

From london just take a train into Paris, (eurostar) at gare de nord paris change trains to the airport . One can get a train from anywhere in europe to CDG airport and save a significant amount on business cakass fares

Same risk... just with delay of train... and it takes a lot more time just for traveling.

 

But each to his own [emoji6]

 

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[dingbat22]

7 hours ago, kd_traveller said:

Not all Swiss Business Class have aisle access, some rows are 2, 2, 2 and rows which have 1 , 2, 1, beware that Swiss charge an additional $149-$199 if you chose one of the single "throne" seats!

If you have senator status there is no charge

[dingbat22]

17 minutes ago, Zauberfee said:

Same risk... just with delay of train... and it takes a lot more time just for traveling.

 

But each to his own

 

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Yes it takes a bit extra time but for a £700 savings I am saving 3 days work, worth while to me to spend a couple of extra hours traveling I have to earn £1000 to clear £700 in my hand after tax and deductions. TRAVEL INSURANCE COVERS DELAYS at the end of the day its either you are money poor or time poor but I would rather have the lux of business class flight with an extra £700 to spend on my mongering holiday ..  Thsts the penance of being Big fat  old and ugly like me

Edited January 1, 2020 by dingbat22

[Zauberfee]

TRAVEL INSURANCE COVERS DELAYS

Last post from me to this topic: I really doubt that insurance covers delays in case of separate tickets... but I am no expert in this, maybe some contracts do it

Enjoy the trip and enjoy your time in Pattaya [emoji4]. It's good that there are so many different ways to get to LOS



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[boxershrimp]

48 minutes ago, Zauberfee said:

Last post from me to this topic: I really doubt that insurance covers delays in case of separate tickets... but I am no expert in this, maybe some contracts do it

I'd be extremely surprised if there were any insurance companies willing to pay out for this kind of case, yes.

But to answer the OP, both Swiss and Austrian are good, you can't really go wrong with either. I personally slightly prefer Austrian because the food is better and the staff usually a little friendlier, but I'll gladly book whichever has the cheapest tickets at the moment. Swiss is 1-2 hours faster for me, but that's much because the connection time in Zürich is only 45 minutes. Which is fine if I have no checked in luggage, not so fine if my bags don't make it to the connecting flight (again) because the first flight was delayed coming in.

And... I know it wasn't part of the question, but for the love of Dog don't book Lufthansa. Unless you have the points to upgrade to First, of course.

[Kandinski]

1 hour ago, Zauberfee said:

Last post from me to this topic: I really doubt that insurance covers delays in case of separate tickets... but I am no expert in this, maybe some contracts do it

Enjoy the trip and enjoy your time in Pattaya . It's good that there are so many different ways to get to LOS



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My (company) travel insurance covers  " a (unlimited) reasonable amount" for rebooking/new ticket/hotel etc to catch up with the original travel plans  in case a (public transport) is delayed due to weather, technical and terror/threats. Got a private travel insurance as well that has same coverage but only up to EUR 2.000.

Guess (my) insurance would cover scenario with two  separate ticket as long as transit between flights (or other public transport)  is iaw insurance T&C however ticket/rebooking has to be paid at the airport and, with the heap of restriction on the cheapest BC ticket, I would  contact insurance company for a clarification before forking out what could easily add up to EUR 1-2.000.

Have used the insurance once and was credited cost for a new ticket JNB-LAD within a few days .... after waiting about 2 month for a confirmation from LH that the actual flight was delayed that day !