I cannot believe that we have finally made it back here.
We're Jana and Brett.
Since our honeymoon nine years ago, we've spent more than 24 months living and traveling
in Europe.
So far, we're ventured to 25 countries, but our goal is to visit every country in Europe,
and to explore every nook and cranny of the Alps.
Today we're traveling from our hometown of Nashville, TN back to the Alps for the first
time since September, 2020.
No problem.
We breezed right through security in less than five minutes.
That was our first experience with TSA Pre-Check, and I'm pretty thrilled with it.
It was awesome.
We hoped to fly through there because–we were gonna go to the Minute Suites, which
is kinda like a mini hotel within the airport, but it was in a different lounge.
We have a problem: the Minute Suites are that way.
There's a dude, there, standing between us and the Minute Suites.
I don't think it's safe to cross.
So we're never really sure what things will be like because of COVID.
So we get to the airport before 6 a.m., and I think it's pretty crowded.
Of course there's face masks required, lots of hand sanitizer.
But overall, it feels like things are back to normal.
Separate and Sanitize.
Be safe.
Be well.
Be Nashville.
I wonder if I can get enough points and miles for a free flight by paying for this massage
with a credit card?
Here we go!
Our first plane.
We're on our way to Switzerland!
We are on our first flight to JFK.
It is a teeny-tiny plane, like 50 seats, and it's not even halfway full.
Well, we finished our first flight, but the adventure is only beginning.
We're here in New York, and we don't have boarding passes yet for our next flight.
I think they're wanting to check all our documents to make sure we really can get into Switzerland.
So we're on the way to see if we can find our boarding passes.
Let's catch you up on what has happened over the last few hours.
So we left our plane from Nashville at about 10 a.m, and we told you we were going to look
for our boarding passes because Swiss Airlines had not been able to give those to us yet.
So we asked somebody where we could get our boarding pass, and they told us we had to
exit security, go back to the Swiss Air desk, and get our boarding passes there.
And we're here, at the check-in counter, and there's no one here with us.
That was totally a rookie mistake.
I mean–we did it because that's what the airline employee told us to do, but–don't
do it.
Once you're behind security, you should never do that.
Cause here's what happened after that.
So we called the Swiss Air phone number, and they said we couldn't check-in until three
hours before our flight, which was like eight hours from now.
It sounded like we weren't going to be able to get a boarding pass and go back through
security until 6 p.m., and we were stuck with no food and nowhere to go.
I had this idea.
I thought, hey, I know there are a bunch of lounges in Terminal 1, let's see if we can
go through security and go lounge-hopping in Terminal 1.
So, we were already out of security, so we hopped on the train, we road to the next terminal,
we get to the check-in line for security.
They wouldn't let us in either.
And we just tried to get into Terminal 1, and they basically wouldn't let us through,
just because that's not the terminal we're flying out of.
They won't let us in, and it's interesting because I've read so many things mentioning
you could go lounge-hopping in multiple terminals here in JFK all day.
But the guy insisted they haven't done that for at least a year.
So, if you have the Priority Pass and your plan is to go lounge-hopping in JFK, just
be mindful of that.
You might be stuck to whatever terminal you're flying out of.
After that, we rode the train back from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 where our flight will be leaving
from later, we went to the security check-in, and we explained our situation.
Thankfully, there was a very kind man who took our passports, checked them in the system,
and basically let us back through.
We were so, so, so grateful.
After that, though, we were still on the hunt to find some lounges.
So we looked up what lounges were in this terminal, and we went to the first one, and
it was closed.
It's definitely not open.
Yeah, we checked the Priority Pass app, which tells you all the lounges that are available
in all the terminals, as well as what times and days they're open.
But it was a bummer to see that that was closed, because basically there are only two lounges
in this terminal that I knew of, and that was one of them, and some of the lounges have
time limits, and we had about nine hours still until our flight.
So thankfully, we came here which is the Wingtips lounge, we've got about nine hours until our
flight, and they so kindly set they would let us check back in and stay all day.
So, we're gonna get some food, we're gonna relax, and enjoy a day in the Wingtips lounge.
Well after eight long, but much lovelier hours than we would have spent on the other side
of security, we are finally headed to our gate where we're hopefully gonna get our boarding
pass so we really can go to Switzerland.
It's official.
We're getting on the plane and we're going to Switzerland.
Okay, I know I'm only 5 foot 9, but I'm pretty impressed with this legroom.
I mean, I can stretch out almost all the way.
It's definitely more space than we had this morning on our flight from Nashville.
Shut up.
The captain just came on and said we have great tailwinds, and so we're actually going
to arrive over an hour sooner than expected.
So we only have six and a half hours on this flight, all the way from New York to Zurich.
You know what that means?
Less sleep.
This is our first time flying Swiss Airways, and one of the fun things about flying a different
airline is you always get to see what's different about their in-flight service.
So, here's our dinner.
I've got a beef stroganoff, what looks like a cheesecake of some kind, got a little salad,
and some bread.
And a little wine to complete it.
I'm not gonna lie, at least 50% of my motivation for booking on Swiss Air was for the Swiss
chocolate.
So earlier on our flight, one of the flight attendants asked if we were on our honeymoon
because we looked so happy.
So I just went back and talked to her and said, no, we're no our honeymoon, although
we did honeymoon in Switzerland, we're just excited to be back here.
And she just came up and brought us a bag of chocolate and two amenity kits from business
class, just because she enjoyed talking to us.
Well, they weren't lying.
That flight arrived a full hour earlier than scheduled.
We just cleared immigration.
It was no problem, zero wait.
And of course, it was so easy because of our EU passports.
This was my first time entering the EU with my Italian passport, so that was a fun experience
to go through the EU line, and to clear with so much ease and no questions.
So we're about to catch our train, it should be arriving any minute.
We just have one connection, and we should be in Interlaken in a couple hours.
Smell the fresh Swiss air.
We have about 20 minutes till our next train comes, so we're gonna take off our masks,
breathe in the fresh air, and enjoy these amazing views.
One step closer.
I cannot believe that we have finally made it back here.
So after more than 24 hours of travel from Nashville to New York to Zurich, we are finally
here in Interlaken.
We have one whole month here.
So be sure to subscribe, catch our next episode, so you can see all of the Swiss Alps.
We're here.
I just can't believe that we're back here.
I'm so excited that I forget how sleep-deprived I am right now.