Celebrating a very special anniversary several years ago, my wife and I planned a trip to Europe. This time however, we wanted to travel someplace new and chose to start our holiday in Greece. It was fun to plan a journey like this and before long we had made all the necessary arrangements for a 3-night stay in Athens to be followed by a relaxing, week-long cruise of the Adriatic Sea. We took advantage of the International Airline Program offered with the American Express Platinum Card. This benefit of card membership offers preferred pricing on international premium economy, business and first class tickets operated by a handful of airlines with which the company has partnership agreements. After just a few phone calls, we were able to book our flights from Chicago O'Hare to Athens in style with a return from Venice via Swiss Air.
Getting to Chicago from Raleigh is easy and our first leg on American Airlines departed on a Tuesday afternoon in June. (In fact, it was my birthday!) We enjoyed a visit to the Admirals Club prior to boarding the B737-800 for the scheduled 2-hour “hop” to Chicago. American’s placed 16 seats in this domestic First Class cabin consisting of 4 rows in a 2 x 2 configuration. Each seat has a pitch of 37” and a seat width of 21.” Since this flight left after lunch and before dinnertime, a beverage service was offered and snacks were provided in lieu of a full meal. We landed on time shortly after 4:00P in Terminal 3 and took the O’Hare Airport Automated People Mover on a 10-minute ride over to Terminal 5. This is where all international flights arrive and where most depart, with the exception of those operated by American and United Airlines which use their gates at Terminals 1 and 3.
The agent at the Swiss Air First Class check-in counter kindly offered to escort us through security after we’d received our boarding passes for that evening’s flight to Zurich and our onward connection to Athens the next morning. What a nice touch! We gladly accepted the offer as the airline was not yet participating in TSA’s PreCheck Program. After being ushered through a rather private security lane, he led us right to the Swiss Lounge located just opposite the security checkpoint near Gate M8. It’s a very small space but nicely decorated with the standard Swiss Lounge decor. There were 3 dining tables lined up on one wall with seating for 6 persons. Each table was set with real china and linen and featured a menu describing their buffet offerings which, along with the wine and spirits available, were abundant. The lounge was also equipped with square lamps and several black high tables, along with Vitra designer seats These chairs were fairly comfortable and there were lots of easy-to-reach power outlets between them for both 110 and 220 volt devices. We had the lounge to ourselves for a good hour before 2 additional passengers arrived and about 30 minutes prior to departure, the agent advised us that boarding had commenced.
We made it to the departure gate in just a few minutes to find that boarding was well under way. Our wait in the priority lane was very brief and soon our passports were checked and the agent wished us a pleasant flight. Swiss was flying the A330-300 aircraft on that evening’s flight. This airplane is typically used on inter-continental routes but Swiss is one of the only airlines to offer a First Class product on such long-haul flights. The purser warmly greeted us onboard the plane and directed us to seats 2D and 2G, in the middle of the second row. There are only 8 seats in total for this First Class cabin and tonight’s flight was only half full, including us. The seats are 22” wide with an amazing 83” of seat pitch. The cabin looked great and I was impressed with the world map on the back wall separating us from Business Class.
Within moments of settling in, we met the 2 flight attendants assigned to our cabin and were soon offered a branded amenity kit from Bally, the Swiss luxury fashion house. It included all the usual items with a few extras like lotions from LaPrairie and a Ricola throat lozenge as well as a list of further comfort items available on request, such as a shaving kit, nail file, shoehorn and sewing kit. It seemed the Swiss had thought of everything. Pajamas for the overnight flight soon followed along with a glass of champagne and an amuse-bouche consisting of a small crab cake and cheese sticks. Before too long the captain came over the PA to offer his welcome and advised us our flying time would be 8 hours and 30 minutes. We were airborne shortly thereafter.
The dinner service began about 15 minutes after takeoff. We both selected the Filet of Balik Salmon as a first course and it was really outstanding! This was followed by a Cream of Celeriac soup with Caramelized Apple and a rather large Seasonal Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Parmesan Shavings along with assorted breads and rolls. I chose the Sautéed Filet of Beef au jus for my entre and it was accompanied by a Baked Potato with Sour Cream and Roasted Parsnip with Maple Syrup and Butternut Squash. The Baroq Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was one of 3 red wines carried aboard and proved to be perfectly paired with my main course. A selection of Artisan Cheese was next on the menu and my service concluded with a dish of Vanilla Ice Cream with Mixed Berry Compote. It’s hard to believe but I ate everything! (I fondly recall one particular First Class flight to Japan with a business associate who informed our flight attendant at the start of the meal service that he‘d have everything he was “entitled to.“ Apparently, I never forgot his sage advice.)
The meal service took over 2 hours but we weren’t complaining. With more than 5 hours of flying time left, we requested our beds be “turned down” while changing into our pajamas. After several dedicated hours of very restful sleep, I greeted the new day by checking out some of the available TV episodes on the oversized monitor. About 90 minutes out of Zurich, our flight attendants sprung into action for breakfast. Still full from last night’s excellent dinner, I only opted for juice and coffee with some yogurt and fruit. But the menu was impressive, including breakfast breads, a plate of cold meats and cheeses, an order of pancakes or an omelette, both of which would be served with either bacon or sausage. As we began our descent, we changed back into our traveling clothes and stored our carry-on bags for landing. We touched down close to 11:00A and parked at the gate after a brief taxi. What a wonderful flight!
Our connecting flight to Greece wasn’t departing until 1:00 in the afternoon so we had a few hours to kill and decided to take the time to freshen up. Zurich is the headquarters city for Swiss Air and any number of their lounges are available to premium passengers. We made our way to the Business Lounge in the E Concourse since it was closest to our arrival gate and not a far walk from our departure gate (most international flights at Zurich use the E Concourse). This lounge is bright and open with separate working areas with all the necessary connections and free high-speed internet. If you wish to relax, this lounge also includes a “quiet zone” with cushy recliners. I took immediate advantage of the shower facilities provided and later admired the cold buffet and watched the chefs prepare hot dishes for other customers, although I still wasn’t able to eat a thing!
A bit of a snafu occurred while boarding the flight to Athens. The gate agent wouldn’t let me bring my roller board suitcase in the cabin even though I knew it would fit in the overhead bin of the A321 aircraft as I’d done so many times when flying domestically in the US. But, after many years of flying all over the world, I’ve learned it’s best not to argue with airline personnel so I checked the bag and we found our way to seats 2D and 2F on the starboard side of the aircraft. Like their parent Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss Air uses the same seat in both the Business and Economy sections of their narrow body aircraft. The difference is the middle seats in the Business cabin are blocked, providing additional personal space. It only took us about 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach the Greek capital and my appetite returned en route so I was able to enjoy the tasty and leisurely lunch and beverage service offered. Once we landed, I’ll admit it did seem to take “forever” for my bag to end up on the airport carousel. We eventually departed the airport shortly after 5:00P to begin our Athens adventure. I’ll tell you all about it in a future post.
Until next time…stay safe.
George, you know how to travel in style, and write about it so that we wish we were there also.... Look forward to hearing about the Rhodes', in Rhodes?
As always, you make me feel as if I am traveling with you. Can’t wait to get there.