Lounge Review: The Primeclass Lounge at Zurich Airport

Recently, I had a flight from Frankfurt to Chicago with a 3 hour layover in Zurich Airport. Thankfully, Zurich is home to numerous lounges, especially in Non-Schengen terminal E.

In terminal E, you have the Aspire Lounge, Primeclass Lounge, and the Swiss Business lounge (which is Terminal D).

To sum it up, if you are flying non-Schengen (international from Zurich), look no further because the Primeclass Lounge is the one you want to be at. I’ve been to dozens of Priority pass lounges now and this is definitely one of the best I’ve ever seen. Some of the Swiss Business class lounges are super nice, but if you’re not flying Star Alliance Business/First, or are not a Star Alliance Gold/Plat member, then forget about it. I would say the Primeclass lounge is on par with many of the Business class lounges. There are also Prime Class lounges in Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Istanbul and others.

The Primeclass lounge is apart of a network of lounges around the world and if you’re also flying through Frankfurt, make sure to read my lounge review of the Primeclass in Frankfurt.

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How to find the Primeclass Lounge in Zurich

The location of this lounge is in Terminal E, nearby to Gate 52. I came here from a flight that arrived in Terminal B. You’ll need to take a short train to Terminal E, and when you get out you are pretty much right there. The signage is very clear so you can’t miss it. Take the stairs or elevators up to the lounge.

How to access the Primeclass Lounge

The Primeclass lounge in Zurich can be accessed with Priority Pass membership which you can get for free from holding a variety of credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Platinum, Citi Prestige, etc. If you want to know more about credit cards and how to use them for getting into lounges for free, flying for free, and just how to improve your travel experience many fold, read my comprehensive travel hacking guide.

Primeclass Lounge Amenities

The Primeclass lounge in Zurich has everything you need in an airport lounge. Besides just a very open, high ceiling, and attractive aesthetics, there are tons of perks including the following:

Free onsite shower
Free wifi
All alcohol types (wine, beers, liquors)
Hot food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was here for breakfast and there eggs, weisswurst, pancakes, pastries, juice, cheese. I was also here for lunch and they had a full hot meals with all the things you’d want.
An absolutely stunning deck with multiple lounge chairs and impeccable views of the tarmac.

Power outlets are readily available in all seats. There are no universal power plugs here though so make sure you have a EU power adapter if you’re not from the EU.

The food and drinks at Primeclass

I was here between 10am and 12:30pm. My flight was at 12:45 but fortunately I also caught a glimpse of the lunch menu offerings. This is definitely a lounge where you can “wait to eat until you get there”. This means if you are debating whether you should wait to eat until you get to this lounge, I would say you can definitely do so.

The breakfast was a full spread including eggs, weisswurst, veggies, cheese, pancakes, pastries, breads, cereals, fruits, juices, and more. It’s not quite AMEX Centurion Lounge status but it is definitely better than most other lounges I’ve been to which offers almost nothing for breakfast.

For lunch which was served just before noon, I had a delicious spread Middle Eastern style rice and doner with veggies. I also had some Swiss cheese because when in Switzerland…

Lunch time spread at Prime Class Zurich Lounge

As for alcohol, it is self service but there is a full bar stocked with whites/reds from nearby regions, your standard liquors, as well as regional beers which was nice. As this is Switzerland, you can also expect to find some delicious local chocolates available for anyone to hate.

The bathroom and showers

I always feel weird taking photos of the bathrooms at a lounge so I will spare that on this review. But the bathrooms are plenty cleaned and up to standard with the best of the lounges. The showers are free of charge and offers a sizeable private room for you to use. The only time I’ve ever used a shower is in the Maldives before our flight as I was covered in sweat from it being so hot.

The viewing deck

The viewing deck is my favorite part of the lounge, mainly because it is always cool just to be able to have a glass of wine and watch the planes land and take off. I’m a sucker for views, what can I say. It is not as fancy as say the Delta Lounge in JFK or ATL but it is more than sufficient.