Heading Home for Chinese New Year: Zurich to Bangkok

• Introduction
• Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach
• Miami to Zurich - Swiss First Class
• Swiss First Class Lounge
• Zurich to Bangkok - Thai First Class
• Sofitel So Bangkok
• The Private Room and SQ First Class Lounge
• Singapore to San Francisco - Singapore Suites
• Singapore to San Francisco - Business Class

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It would be a couple more minutes before boarding commenced once we got to the gate. We did think of heading to the Panaroma Lounge that Thai uses in Zurich but decided against it and just explored the nearby shops.

Thai Airbus A340-600

We knew it would be another great flight flight once we got on-board. We were showed to our seats by the pursuer and he made told us to let him know if there was anything he could do to make the flight better. The stewardess serving us next came with hot towels and some Dom. We also noticed that there were some Chinese newspapers waiting for us in our seats and we later found out that the stewardess took the initiative to save those for us just in case we wanted them figuring that we were Chinese from the flight manifest. That was a first for us and greatly appreciated even though we don't read Chinese!

After just getting off a Swiss flight, it was a good change in terms of food to get some rice and curries. I don't think we would have enjoyed another round of rich Western food. We started with some caviar and and a appetizer plate of salmon, scallops and beef. Lydia opted for a main of fried rice and seafood where as I opted for some delicious Thai red curry.

Heading Home for Chinese New Year: Swiss First Class Lounge

• Introduction
• Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach
• Miami to Zurich - Swiss First Class
• Swiss First Class Lounge
• Zurich to Bangkok - Thai First Class
• Sofitel So Bangkok
• The Private Room and SQ First Class Lounge
• Singapore to San Francisco - Singapore Suites
• Singapore to San Francisco - Business Class

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The immigration agents didn't bat an eye when we told them we wanted to clear immigration just to visit the first class lounge. The agent manning the lounge front desk went above and beyond by allowing us to get on the van transfer from the lounge back to the departure concourse instead of having us trek back through the train. They usually only offer this to their own Swiss first class passengers and we did not qualify for this service since our next flight was on Thai.

As we made our way around the lounge looking for a seat, we weren't terribly impressed with the lounge. It was small and cramped and we couldn't find a place to seat down.

First Class Lounge Entrance

Buffet Options

Since we couldn't find some place comfortable to sit, we went straight for the showers. There was nothing special about the shower itself - no bath tub to lounge in like the ones in Lufthansa's first class lounges in Frankfurt. The highlight of the visit to the lounge was the Bulgari amenity kits that were provided.

Heading Home for Chinese New Year: Miami to Zurich

• Introduction
• Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach
• Miami to Zurich - Swiss First Class
• Swiss First Class Lounge
• Zurich to Bangkok - Thai First Class
• Sofitel So Bangkok
• The Private Room and SQ First Class Lounge
• Singapore to San Francisco - Singapore Suites
• Singapore to San Francisco - Business Class

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We got a cab to the airport that was driven by an Indonesian who had been in the US for a number of years. It was interesting trying to converse in a mix of Malay/Indonesia. There were no lines at the Swiss counters and we were promptly check-in. The check-in agent who was helping us then escorted us through security bypassing the lines and cabin crew from LAN that gave Lydia and I evil stares.

Swiss uses the Club America lounge in Miami. There was a separate first and business class section but I couldn't tell the difference. There lounge offerings were pretty limited especially for first class with some sandwiches and soups on offer. The lounge does have one shower that we both shared but the drainage was horrible. We ended up flooding the whole bathroom once we were done.

We headed for the departure gate right before the half time of Superbowl where Baltimore had pulled out a series lead over San Francisco. Boarding was not underway yet by the time we got to the gate but everyone was already lined up ready to get on. There was a dedicated first class line and a couple of minutes later, we were the first ones on the plane.

Our flight to Zurich was operated by a Airbus A330 which featured Swiss's new first class. It was our first time flying on Swiss and we were impressed with the first class cabin. The IFE screen was huge, seats were comfortable and relatively private if needed to be. We were originally assigned to the two middle 2D and 2G seats but I moved over the 2A right before take-off since I wanted to see the views from take-off. I stayed up for the rest of the flight since It felt more private with a mini-cabin feel between the two of us once Lydia pull up her privacy partition.

One unique thing that Swiss does is that in addition to the usual pre-departure champagne, they also serve a amuse-bouche. We were offered crab cakes with bread sticks which were simply delicious.

Heading Home for Chinese New Year: Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach

• Introduction
• Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach
• Miami to Zurich - Swiss First Class
• Swiss First Class Lounge
• Zurich to Bangkok - Thai First Class
• Sofitel So Bangkok
• The Private Room and SQ First Class Lounge
• Singapore to San Francisco - Singapore Suites
• Singapore to San Francisco - Business Class

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After an early morning flight from Austin via Houston, we arrived in Miami and were greeted with wonderful weather. It was only 10 am when we arrived at the Hilton Bentley after a quick cab ride from the airport and there no suites or upgraded rooms available as a Diamond guest. We took the option of checking in later and headed out for a walk and some coffee while the front desk agent continued to look if there were better rooms.

We were back at the hotel about two hours later with the front desk agent waiting for us. He profusely apologized that there were sold out and there were no rooms that they could upgrade us to. Instead of the upgrade, they would comp us the beach cabanas and sent up a bottle of champagne. I did checked online later and they were indeed fully booked with no suites or better rooms available to be booked so the front desk agent was clearly being truthful.

The room we were assigned to was definitely on the small side but adequate for a one night stay.

Heading Home for Chinese New Year: Introduction

• Introduction
• Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach
• Miami to Zurich - Swiss First Class
• Swiss First Class Lounge
• Zurich to Bangkok - Thai First Class
• Sofitel So Bangkok
• The Private Room and SQ First Class Lounge
• Singapore to San Francisco - Singapore Suites
• Singapore to San Francisco - Business Class

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I know it's been a couple of weeks since Chinese New Year has been over and this trip report is long overdue. It just have been one of those few crazy weeks at work.

You know we couldn't just take the easy way home and fly coach on United or Singapore airlines. Swiss first class has to be one of the hardest redemption to obtain but there was a time when there widely available due to a glitch on Lifemiles. Too bad it's gone now but I managed to get snag 2 seats in Swiss first class from Miami before connecting to Thai first class to Bangkok before the glitch was shutdown.

Since we've never been to Miami before, we decided to spend a night and I used up one of my free night certs from the Citi Reserve Hilton credit card at the Hilton Bentley Miami South Beach. We also definitely had to at least stay a night in Bangkok for some massages and Thai food before flying back to Penang. We opted this time to try out the Sofitel So Bangkok.

For the trip back to the US, we would be flying on Singapore Airlines. I'd redeemed a first class award through Krisflyer on their SIN-HKG-SFO flight when it was still operated by their 777-300ER aircraft in anticipation of the switch to a Airbus A380 and allowing me to try out the oh so elusive Suites class. There was only one seat available so Lydia had to "slum" it in business class.