Does SWISS Have The World’s Best Arrivals Lounge?

The Problem is that is closes at 1pm and thus is useful for the many long haul arrivals later in the day. Same for the FRA Welcome Lounge that closes 30 minutes erlier.

I’d agree! Used the lounge last September. It was easy to get a room early in the morning and get some rest for 3-4 hours was fantastic. Even their breakfast was great.

Technically TPR in Singapore can be seen as arrival lounge since any F pax arriving on SQ can get in. No hassle to enter since arrivals and departures are mixed.

They’ve nice nap rooms. Just the glass window is a bit quirky.

LH also allows arrivals in their F lounges, but that’s not hassle free for everyone since clearing security is required for arrivals from most origins. Also no real nap rooms.

For your 6h layover scenario it would make sense for an economy class passenger to bid for an upgrade to business class on the feeder flight to Zurich to use the lounge…but it closes at 13:00

Interesting review. Though I might have used something like “generous entry requirements” instead of “lax”, which makes it sound like they’ll just let any drifter in .

United and I think Delta also have their own arrivals lounge at LHR.(not certain if Delta does anymore but United def do).

I used to like the Cathay Arrivals lounge in HKG but that closed a few years ago

The ba arrivals lounge as per your review seems pretty good but only gets 3 stars out of five. That’s pretty sub par on your rating system!!

Don't American also have an arrivals lounge at LHR T3? They certainly used to, not sure if it's still there

I am not sure the bed is the best for arrival but I think QR arrival lounge is quite good as well.

My favorite arrivals lounge in Europe used to be the Iberia Madrid T4 arrivals lounge, which has finally reopened after a long break during pandemic.
I don‘t know if they made any changes, but at least the generous opening hours (24 hours) have been maintained. Previously, the nap rooms (with private bathroom) came at a cost, which is understandable given their 24h opening hours concept (why would you book a hotel …). All the other services are free for arriving IB Business Class pax on flights over 4 hours.
@Ben: It would be great to see a review of their current services.

excuse my ignorance, but what about your luggage in this arrival lounges?

is it redirected to a separate pick up area? brought to you there?

United and Air Canada have an arrivals lounge at LHR T2. Seats. Fair food. Showers.

Typically they are after baggage claim, so you bring your luggage with you.

yes

Delta uses The Virgin Arrivals Lounge at LHR. Lots of shower suites - never had a wait. Decent food. Natural sunlight - for London at least. Needs a renovation.

Used the Swiss Arrival's Lounge last year. I wasn't aware of the bedrooms, but the 1pm closure doens't do much for having them - usage is what then - a few hours? The food was very minimal. To me it was a basic lounge. Had a 12 hour connect time - back to back overnight flights - so got a room at the Radisson in the terminal for the day.

I like the AA arrivals at LHR - nice new showers (since they remodeled) and lots of them. It has both a nice buffet and menu to order food.

The BA Arrivals Lounge also has a separate "mini" Concorde Room for first class passengers. It is modest but it does offer table service and a reasonable menu.

Any thoughts on quality? I've never used it. Only the AA First Class International Lounge for departures, which is . . . disappointing.

While 3 nap rooms is better than zero, not being able to reserve them or otherwise ensure you can use them on arrival makes them *much* less valuable.

Hit or miss availability of something after a long international overnight flight could be the setup for a really bad day.

Uh, this looks boring and terrible.

It’s actually not bad. They made food a la carte for you. I try to visit every time I land.

To me, the main purpose of an arrivals lounge is the ability to shower and freshen up. Virgin arrivals lounge used to have a spa where you also get a facial, etc. but sadly that ended a few years ago.

Using city names for shower suites, feels like there will be a controversy backfire someday. A Cairo bound pax may object to being sent to the Tel Aviv suite.

AC and UA also operate an arrivals lounge at LHR, with decent showers/food and a very friendly staff.

The nap rooms here are a big plus, though, for those who need to kill time before being able to check in to their hotel. Beats roaming around the city or parking yourself in a coffee shop for hours. The most unpleasant aspect of TATL travel ex-North America.

Arrivals lounge in Doha is nice and has its own immigration channel in the lounge, sparing you from standing in line with the herd.

Virgin arrivals lounge in Heathrow is decent. It’s small but it does the job (coffee, basic food, and clean bathrooms).

The arrivals lounge bedrooms are more for folks getting off flights who want a quick rest before heading out than your circumstance which was a 12 hour layover.

Usage is for a few hours because who wants to spend their whole day in the Zurich arrivals lounge bedroom instead of actually going to Zurich?

If you could reserve them you would quickly get into people fighting for reservations and/or booking them for speculation in case they want to use it. It would be chaotic and I would guarantee that 50% of those reservations would go unused. You would then get folks who actually show up to use them be turned around for reservations that never materialize.

Showers are nice at AA LHR arrival lounge

I use it every time I go to Switzerland. Doing so next week. Never had to wait for a shower in years. Its not meant for connecting pax, that's why it closes early. There are showers in the various lounges in the airport. Many airports have showers, they just don't advertize them much I find.

For everyone complaining that this arrivals lounge closes too early, the point of the arrivals lounge (both Swiss' at Zurich and others') is to have a place to eat, shower and get some work done before a hotel room would typically be available. That's why they tend to close at 1pm. They don't have arrivals lounges for people to hang out all day, they have them so that business travelers can get ready for morning or early afternoon meetings right after landing

The Swiss F lounge has 2 bedrooms in the lounge - first come - only accessible to F passengers.
One could spend 12 hours in the Swiss J lounge - but with back to back overnight flights - you really want a bed for 6 hours. No way would you want to go downtown to Zurich.

Air Canada has a decent arrivals lounge at Heathrow . Give it a shot Benjamin .

It is very good indeed! Not at the naproom level good, but it does have showers and table service and meals

I do not think you are 100% correct. In the US, I think you can use the lounges for arrivals and departures domestically. Also, rather than saying that most airlines do not have, which is true, I think you should question why.

The showers are really nice, and the food ok. It’s a nice lounge, and the reason I chose to fly AA from JFK instead of BA if I’m planning on using the arrivals lounge (as BA’s hospital showers aren’t great)