Paul‘s Flight Report
Flight: LX181
BKK - ZRH / Boeing 777-300ER
Flight Time: 11 hours 40 minutes
Business Class
On the Ground:
Check-in was a breeze. The agent was super friendly, helpful and even he had to check a few documents he took the time to chat with the customers.
As we could use fast track in Bangkok there was no queue at all at the security check point. You could basically walk through. Same thing with emigration. Not a single person waiting in line.
From arriving on the curbside of the Airport to get into the transit area it took us a maximum of around 15 minutes. It was absolutely great and staff were friendly and work with Asian
proficiency.
Swiss offers currently two choices of Lounge in Bangkok.
You can either choose the Royal Orchid Lounge from Thai Airways and the Turkish Airlines Lounge.
We departed from Area C and the Turkish Airlines Lounge would have been in area E. The Royal Orchid in area D. So we decided us for the Royal Orchid Lounge.
The Lounge is super massive in size and it was actually deserted. There were only a handful passengers as Thai Airways isn't really flying international and the few flights they operate,
half of them were canceled.
The F&B in the lounge is still super limited. They had some prepacked pies, some prepacked desserts and one hot meal.
Drinks were softdrinks in cans or bottles and beer was available. Otherwise no wine or other alcoholic beverages.
From the Lounge to the gate is about a 15 minutes walk.
Boarding started around 10 minutes after the indicated time and priority boarding was conducted as per procedures.
As they preboard into the lounge area, boarding goes quite fast and all customers are already separated by zone numbers.
The plane wasn't full in First Class as well as Business Class but I would guess only around 1/3 in Economy.
Gate agents were present and did their jobs like robots. No smiles or interactions.
At the aircraft door we were greeted by the Maitre de Cabine who also checked all boarding passes.
The seats were already equipped with a small but fluffy pillow and a blanket. The headphones were ready and a bottle of water and the amenity kit were ready on the armrest.
The crew wasn't really present in the cabin whilst boarding.
Champagne and flowder were offered as welcome drinks.
Once everyone was on the menu cards were distributed.
Inflight:
The Swiss business class is okay but it isn't the newest product anymore. The seats are rather cramped and tight compared to other carriers. Our aircraft had 62 seats in business class. Each
row is equipped with 5 seats. Either in a 1-2-2 or 2-2-1 abrest.
For this flight the little business section in front of the Galley was already full so we got two seats in the main business cabin next to a window. The person sitting by the window has no
direct aisle access and every time you need to go to the bathroom you either have to climb over the person next to you or ask them to stand up.
If you are traveling with friends and family that is okay. If you are sitting next to a stranger this is a complete no go.
The seats are fully lie flat but you are almost sleeping on the floor. They go down very low. As said the space by the shoulders is very limited. I was not able to lay down on my back and
keep my arms on the side.
After take off the cabin crew started with the service.
First, they came along to take the orders for the first course as well as the main course.
As departure is scheduled at 00:20 AM there is no aperitif which is great as most people simply want to sleep.
The tray table was covered with a tablecloth and shortly late dinner was served.
The crew distributed a fullsize tray containing all items (first course, main course, cheese and some bread and butter) except for the dessert which was distributed separately with coffee
/tea. With every passing in the cabin the crew offered actively additional drinks.
This service was much better than the one from Zurich to Singapore and you could clearly see that the crew knew what they did in comparison to the other flight.
The Cabin Crew itself was okay on this fligh. Some of the crew members were super friendly and chatted with the passengers and others just did what they are paid for.
Bathrooms were checked throughout the flight and always refilled. They were always super clean.
The amenity kit is OK and offers the regular. content. (socks, toothbrush, earplugs, eye mask and some lipbalm and cream). Todays amenity kit can be reused as pencil holder.
The inflight entertainment is good and the screens are better than on the Airbus A340. They have a good size and resolution for business class. The screens are touch screens but you can
also choose the handheld devices to navigate. The system reacts very fast and is super reliable.
The aircraft would have been equipped with wifi. As it was a complete night flight we haven't tried to connect.
In between the two services, the crew passed through the cabin with either drinks or asked the awake passengers if they would like something to drink.
Around 1,5 hours prior landing a second service, the breakfast was served.
The menu card was distributed prior to take off and you could tick all the items you wanted for breakfast (see pictures). The card was recollected by the crew.
They then served a full size tray containing your chosen items.
Breakfast was good and all items were fresh.
Baggage delivery in Zurich didn't work well. First bags were on the belt around 6:38, half an hour after arrival. First class and Hon bags were delivered first, followed by regular bags.
Priority bags came out later. Our prio bags were on the belt at 6:43
All in all an okay flight.
The lounge was a disaster, the crew and. Food were okay. They seats were okay and the Inflight service was much better than on the outbound flight.
Never the less it was just okay. As there was no interaction from the crew, no wow's on the service and food they offered.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
-If you are interested in more details, please send me a private message and I will be happy to share
