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Basel airport vs. Zurich airport?


Bear_mom
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Next summer we are sailing from Amsterdam to Basel on Viking and have 2 extra days post-cruise and will likely spend them in Lucerne. We have air plus and I called yesterday fo see what we can do for flights. The suggested itinerary has us leaving from Basel. The rest of the itinerary is ideal for flights times, layovers, etc.

 

Thoughts on this?

 

Also, is there a way to request them to ticket earlier so we can pick our seats? Would we have to have our flight paid off before they will ticket?

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I am assuming, although you don’t say it that you are North American. I would fly out of Zurich. You shouldn’t need a connection in Europe, and there are lots of flights from Zurich to North America.

 

 

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Agree with gnome12; leaving from Basel will very likely require a connection in Europe before flying to North America whereas you can fly directly to a North American hub from Zurich.

 

Train from Lucerne to Basel vs Zurich is probably similar time-wise, with the following caveat: you can get a train DIRECTLY to Zurich airport and walk to your check-in counter. The train to Basel will NOT go to the airport (no train does). After taking the train to Basel, you'd have to take a bus or a cab from the Basel station to the airport.

 

So Zurich would IMO offer a much easier itinerary on multiple counts. When we visited Geneva a few years ago, we flew home directly from Zurich and it was easy. Just hopped on a train in Geneva and got off at the airport.

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IMO it depends. The train direct to Zurich airport is a big plus. If you can fly nonstop from Zurich to your home destination it is a no brainer. However there are fairly limited nonstop destinations out of Zurich and generally more US nonstops from FRA, CDG, AMS or LHR.

 

If you have a choice of exactly one transfer airport I would definitely prefer that airport to be in Europe. Transferring in the US requires clearing Customs at the first US airport and having to recheck luggage and start the security process all over. Most of this is transparent if your transfer airport is in Europe.

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Also, is there a way to request them to ticket earlier so we can pick our seats? Would we have to have our flight paid off before they will ticket?

Have no experience with Viking, but have just done this with Vantage. At my request, they agreed to ticket the flight early (5 months early); this allowed me to reserve seats on a codeshare flight (BA). Vantage normally waits until 45 days before the flight to ticket it; they said they are normally reluctant to do it any earlier due to expense (which would now be my expense) if the flight itinerary had to be changed. Yes, I had to have the flight package paid for before they would do this.

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This is a no-brainer. You definitely want to fly out of Zurich.

 

1. The trains from Lucerne to Basel and Zurich each take 75 to 75 minutes, but the Zurich train puts you within a 5 minute walk to the ticket counter. Basel train requires taking a cab or Uber from the rail station.

 

2. More and better flight options from Zurich.

 

You might want to search this board for DIY info on Lucerne.

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We are also sailing next summer from Amsterdam to Basel on June 12 and have already booked our flights with air plus. We are flying non-stop from San Francisco to Amsterdam and back non stop from Zurich on United. Others on this board have recommended researching to find the flight/airline you want and then calling Viking and let them know what you want. We are working with a travel agent, and she made the call for us.

 

When are you sailing?

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We are also sailing next summer from Amsterdam to Basel on June 12 and have already booked our flights with air plus. We are flying non-stop from San Francisco to Amsterdam and back non stop from Zurich on United. Others on this board have recommended researching to find the flight/airline you want and then calling Viking and let them know what you want. We are working with a travel agent, and she made the call for us.

 

When are you sailing?

 

In July. I was looking at flight itineraries and prices and couldn’t find anything within the flight allowance so I called.

 

I will call back and check into flying out of Zurich instead of Basel.

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Next summer we are sailing from Amsterdam to Basel on Viking and have 2 extra days post-cruise and will likely spend them in Lucerne. We have air plus and I called yesterday fo see what we can do for flights. The suggested itinerary has us leaving from Basel. The rest of the itinerary is ideal for flights times, layovers, etc.

 

Thoughts on this?

 

Also, is there a way to request them to ticket earlier so we can pick our seats? Would we have to have our flight paid off before they will ticket?

You can request early ticketing as soon as the cruise is paid for. Viking may try to dissuade you - once the ticket is issued, you are on the hook for any and all future changes and while their concern is not unwarranted, you cannot upgrade seats (via cash, miles, points, etc) until the ticket is issued.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We are flying into Zurich for our Christmas Market cruise out of Basel. We built in an extra day to get over jet lag and are spending the night in downtown Zurich.  I booked our tickets on a specific train the next day from Zurich HB to Basel SBB for about 11 Swiss Francs (supersaver rate, have to take a specific train).  Once off the train, we'll take Tram #11 which will take us within a 2 minute walk tot the boat.  It really couldn't be any easier and we're excited to have the night in Zurich to see their markets as well!

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Got2Cruise said:

Hi. Does anyone have any trip report links for an extension pre/post Zürich. I want to get to the Swiss Alps. Is it possible or am I mistaken? (Tried the search engine already. Ugh) :classic_smile:

We did a 2 night DIY from Zurich to Lucerne via train, then on to Basel to start our Uniworld Rhine cruise. Several of our shipmates, we learned later, did the same thing. 

 

Are you asking about something like this?

 

Robin

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1 hour ago, acwmom said:

We did a 2 night DIY from Zurich to Lucerne via train, then on to Basel to start our Uniworld Rhine cruise. Several of our shipmates, we learned later, did the same thing. 

 

Are you asking about something like this?

 

Robin

Yes! Exactly!! Do you remember the details? I know I read you and other posters did this 

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23 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Yes! Exactly!! Do you remember the details? I know I read you and other posters did this 

We took the train from the Zurich airport to Lucerne, which took about an hour. We spent 2 nights at Les Balances Hotel on the river. Because we were there in March, we received a 2 day transportation pass from the hotel, and went to the top of Pilatus one of the 2 days we were there.  From Lucerne, we took the train to Basel. We had to switch trains once along the way. Very easy DIY extension. If I can find the link to my report tomorrow, I'll post it.

 

Happy to answer any questions

 

Robin

 

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11 hours ago, Got2Cruise said:

Yes! Exactly!! Do you remember the details? I know I read you and other posters did this 

Here is the link to our entire trip report. Lucerne was pre cruise, so is at the beginning.

 

 

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