Hong Kong-Zürich with Swiss Intl Airlines in First class + three first class lounges in Hong Kong!!

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So it's time to leave Asia and head back to Europe.
To get back to Europe I had the pleasure of trying yet another airline in first class, this time the national airline of Switzerland, Swiss!!
Needless to say I had another exceptional flight, the longest on the trip with a flight time of 13 hours from Hong Kong to Zürich.
I had also done my homework and read the rules, so I knew I would have access to as many as four dedicated first class lounges in Hong Kong, one of them rated as the best in the world!!! I managed to visit three of the lounges but had to skip the fourth one.

I'm really having a hard time rating and ranking the various airlines I have tried during this trip as they all provide such wonderful food and service, especially in first class! But when it comes to Swiss I have to praise their seat which was great and really comfortable when reclined to a fully flat bed, I slept like a baby!!

In Hong Kong I checked in at Kowloon station in central Hong Kong, they offer check-in facilities there for most major airlines as long as you agree to take the airport train to the airport and present a valid ticket before you check-in.
The check-in service is available from early morning, so if you have an evening flight you can go there in the morning to get rid of your luggage, spend a full day in Hong Kong, and then go directly to the airport. Pretty good service!!

I arrived at Kowloon station around 6 pm, a good 6 hours before my flight departure to Zürich. I could have gone there in the morning but wanted to change clothes after a full day in the hot and humid Hong Kong and to put on something more appropriate for the flight and for the cold weather back in Europe.
I went to the dedicated Swiss desk in the check-in area where there was no line and I was greeted by a friendly check-in agent. My luggage was tagged all the way to Brussels, but I could only get a boarding card for the first segment to Zürich, well to be honest my connecting flight from Zürich would not leave for another 24 hours (!!) so I guess check-in for that flight wasn't even open yet.
I also received an invitation for the Cathay Pacific first class lounge called "The Wing". Score!!! It was recently rated as the best first class in the world, so I was really excited about having the opportunity to visit it.
Swiss still has an agreement with Cathay Pacific to use that lounge as Swiss was part of a different airline alliance until early summer 2006, but I suppose once that contract ends there will be no more "The Wing" for Swiss passengers.

I took the airport train from Kowloon station to the airport, a quick 20 mins ride, I arrived at the airport five hours before departure which was totally intentional to have time for some lounge hopping and a bit of shopping as well.

I started off my lounge hopping at the Thai Airways first class lounge to which I got access with a same day Star Alliance first class boarding pass. The rules say that if you hold a same day Star Alliance first class boarding pass you have access to all Star Alliance first class lounges at the departure airport, and in Hong Kong there are actually as many as three, and then I had the invitation to the Cathay Pacific lounge on top of that.
The Thai lounge was a long long walk from security, and I really mean a long walk, it's a large airport! But it was well worth the walk!
I presented my Swiss boarding pass and without a comment I was invited into the first class lounge to the right of the reception desk.
The lounge was quite small, but also quite empty, and they had two waitresses taking care of first class passengers.
Once I had sat down I was immediately approached by a waitress who asked if I wanted anything to drink and I was also given the a la carte menu they have in the first class lounge, they have hot food available you can order free of charge with four different options.
As I had not yet had dinner and was feeling hungry I ordered some pasta with spinach to eat, quite good! I had some red wine to drink and finished off with coffee and ice cream.
Great lounge and great service!! The lounge opened less than a year ago and the design was awesome, one of the nicest lounges I have visited so far, you can see on the photos yourself! They also had free massage chairs in the lounge.

After roughly an hour in the Thai Airways lounge I went back to the main shopping area where the Singapore Airlines First class lounge was located to which I would also get access.
I presented my boarding pass at the reception and once again the lounge agent knew the rules and let me in without any fuss (in contrast to some other airports where you have to argue your way in no matter what the rules say).
She informed me though that the lounge would close at 9.30 pm, in about an hour, but I was allowed to stay until then.
The lounge was not as nice as the Thai one, but OK. Hot food was available but since I had already eaten I just had some red wine and cheese and grapes and then another cup of coffee and some ice cream (again a full fridge with lovely Haagen Dazs ice cream to indulge in).
Around 9.20 pm I was the only person left in the lounge and the reception girl came into the lounge and told me the lounge would close in 10 minutes. She felt sorry for me having to leave the lounge with another two and a half hours before departure and asked me how I would kill all that time. How thoughtful!! Such a nice person that Singapore Airlines girl!!
Obviously she didn't know about the Swiss lounge arrangements and that I had an invitation to the Cathay Pacific lounge in my bag.

After a bit of shopping and some walking around the taxfree area to stretch my legs I went to the Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", I had saved the best to last. In contrast to the other lounges it was also open until midnight and was conveniently located to the departure gate for my flight.
The lounge was awesome and really made me impressed at first sight! The reception desk was on the ground floor, and after giving the lounge dragon my invitation I took a lift one floor up to the lounge.
The lounge was divided into many different parts with a business/working area, two bars named "The Long Bar" and "The Short Bar" where they also had light snacks, a noodle bar where you could order noodle dishes, and a room with a very good selection of newspapers and magazines.
There was also a sign marked "First class lounge" pointing to the right, so that's where I went and after showing my first class boarding pass to another lounge agent I was allowed inside.
The first class side of the lounge was even more spectacular! They had a full a la carte and buffet restaurant called "The Haven" with lots of gourmet food and delicious desserts, they had a library where you could sit down in a nice armchair if you wanted to read, they had small bathrooms with cabanas if you wanted to take a bath, and another room if you wanted to get some rest.
I had a seat in the main lounge though and was approached by a waitress asking if I wanted anything to drink, I asked for champagne and was offered a glass of Moet and Chandon. I was by no means hungry but went into the restaurant to have some light snack from the buffet, mostly just to see what they had and to have something with the champagne. They had so much to eat in there, too bad I really wasn't hungry and had to save some room in my stomach for the dinner onboard the plane.

Anyway, the time in the lounge passed very quickly due to the nice service (and probably due to the champagne as well) and well too soon it was time to leave for the gate where they had just started boarding when I arrived. First class passengers were allowed to board first, so I basically walked straight onto the plane.

There were eight seats in the first class cabin, five were taken. As there were two flight attendants working in the first class cabin it meant a ratio of one flight attendant for 2.5 passengers, i.e. very personalised and attentive service!
Once onboard my jacket was taken and there was actually a hanger in seat pocket with my seat number on it, quite a clever way for the flight attendants to keep track of which jacket belongs to which passenger.
I was offered a glass of champagne and a small appetizer. The champagne was some brand I did not recognise, but OK. It was quite interesting that they served some food before take-off, but on the other hand it meant a shorter meal service in the air as many passengers wanted to get some sleep.
The flight attendants were very nice, but of course being on a Swiss carrier with Swiss employees it meant a much more formal inflight service reflecting the formal Swiss business culture. Not that I have any problems with that, and the service onboard was indeed very good, but it was a bit of a difference from all the Asian airlines I had flown and got used to in the past weeks.

After take-off it was time for the meal service, even more food, as if I had not already had enough to eat that evening!
More champagne, then a trolley passed through the cabin full with food for the appetizer, the flight attendant offered to put a little bit of everything on my plate but I restricted myself to just some of it to not get completely full already after the appetizer.
Then salad and pumpkin soup, and then the main course. I chose the lamb which was an excellent choice, very good served with mashed potatoes. And finally dessert and cheese, they had a whole tray with different Swiss cheeses that looked so delicious, but I had to pass as I just could not eat more, I had already stretched my poor stomach too much.
They had three red wines onboard, and one of them was actually a Swiss wine from the Swiss part of the Rhine valley. I don't think I have tried Swiss wine before but it was surprisingly good!

After watching some TV to leave my stomach in peace for a while I asked the flight attendant to recline my seat and make my bed.
The seat can be reclined to a fully flat bed, and then they move the ottoman (which can be used as a foot rest or a visitor's seat during the flight) to make it part of the bed as well. Then they put on a mattress, duvet and a pillow, it actually looked really tempting to go to bed.
I had brought my All Nippon Airways pyjamas I got on the Los Angeles-Tokyo flight so I changed in the lavatory, certainly much better than sleeping in my regular clothes which I was to wear for another couple of hours after arrival in Zürich.
The bed was so comfortable, I really slept very well onboard!! It is a bit awkward though that you have to wear your seatbelt even when sleeping, it just feels a bit weird. Well you don't actually have to wear it all the time, but you are required to when the fasten seat belt sign is on, and they could well turn it on right in the middle of the night while you're sleeping due to turbulence, so at the end there is not much choice!

Three hours before landing I got up and asked the flight attendant to collect the bed linen and help me turn the bed back to a seat.
I started watching a movie and was offered some coffee while waiting for the breakfast service to start.
Lots to eat for breakfast as well, they had a whole trolley loaded with food ranging from muesli and cereals to fresh fruit, yoghurt, breads and preserves and English breakfast (egg dish, sausages etc).
They had some nice fruit juices as well including "mixed juice" which was a mix of orange, grapefruit, and something else juice, really good!!

Before landing the inflight director came and said good bye to all first class passengers and thanked us for flying Swiss and also wished us a nice weekend. Our jackets were also returned.
Landing was right on time at 6.10 am. It was very weird having been on the plane for 13 hours and then landing at Zürich airport at 6 am in the morning, in the wee hours. A good amount of jet lag to expect later during the day due to the seven hours time difference.
First class passengers were allowed off the plane first through the front door while all other passengers had to use the rear door.

At Zürich airport all first class passengers also have access to an arrivals lounge located next to baggage reclaim.
Since I had six hours before my connecting flight was due to leave I wanted to go to Zürich city centre for a short visit but made a visit to the arrivals lounge first.
Very nice to have a refreshing shower after a long long flight, and to shave as well, after all it was 2 pm Hong Kong time.
They had a small buffet in there as well, nothing remarkable, but nice to have another cup of coffee and something more to eat before leaving the airport.

Feeling like a new person I was ready for a quick visit to the Swiss capital and for another day of flying, two more flight to reach my final destination of the day, Brussels!

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Photos

Swiss Intl Airlines First class Hong Kong-Zürich
Me enjoying yet another terrific flight in first class, this time with Swiss, a 13 hour flight to Zürich. Fantastic service as always, awesome seat (and bed!), and look at that huge table!!!

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
The entrance to the Thai Airways Royal First class and Royal Orchid lounges in Hong Kong. Very new as you can see, the new Thai lounges opened just a year ago.

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
Inside the Thai Airways Royal First class lounge. Very nice, and very empty as well (but that's half the point with a first class lounge).

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
Inside the Thai Airways Royal First class lounge. Good drinks selection, but they have waiters/waitresses taking drink orders in the first class lounge so they take care of everything for you.

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
The a la carte menu in the Thai Airways First class lounge. Soup, three main courses, and some light desserts are available if you want something to eat before the flight. Great service!!!

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
I decided to have some dinner in the Thai lounge as my flight was not leaving until midnight. This is the pasta dish, quite good!

Thai Airways First class lounge, Hong Kong
Coffee and ice cream after the meal. The ice cream is called Pappagallo, don't think I have tried that one before.

Singapore Airlines First class lounge, Hong Kong
The entrance to the Singapore Airlines lounge in Hong Kong. The first class lounge is to the right of the reception (basically the part you can see on the photo).

Singapore Airlines First class lounge, Hong Kong
Inside the Singapore Airlines First class lounge. Not as fancy as the Thai Airways lounge but nice enough and really friendly staff at the reception!!

Singapore Airlines First class lounge, Hong Kong
The self-buffet area in the Singapore Airlines lounge. Again a whole fridge with Haagen Dazs ice cream!!

Singapore Airlines First class lounge, Hong Kong
Coffee and ice cream in the Singapore Airlines after my dinner in the Thai Airways lounge. Notice that they have proper first class china in the first class lounge!

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
My invitation to the Cathay Pacific First class lounge to "enjoy a redefined standard in elegant luxury".
I can actually agree on that one!! ;)

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
The entrance to the Cathay Pacific "The Wing" first class lounge. It was recently rated as the world's best first class lounge!!!

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
Inside Cathay Pacific "The Wing" there is plenty to do. Two bars, a noodle bar (with Asian noodles on offer of course), and a dedicated first class lounge where I am off next.

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
The short bar. Some light snacks and lots of drinks (there is a bartender as well who can mix drinks).

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
The noodle bar!

Cathay Pacific lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
Lots lots of newspapers and magazines!

Cathay Pacific First class lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
The first class part of "The Wing". Even more spectacular than the main part of the lounge (the one available also to business class passengers).

Cathay Pacific First class lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
A glass of Moet and Chandon in the first class lounge.

Cathay Pacific First class lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
Inside the self-service buffet/a la carte restaurant in the first class lounge called "The Haven". Plenty of gourmet food to eat, too bad I was not very hungry!

Cathay Pacific First class lounge "The Wing", Hong Kong
Some of the food available in "The Haven" including lots of fresh fruit and delicious desserts and chocolate pralines. Again, too bad I was not more hungry (and had so save some room for the meal onboard the plane).