Swiss International Air Lines

This is my third attempt trying to reschedule a flight for my father in law. The first time, I was on hold for 1.5 hours, and at the end was told that a call would be returned to me. It never was. The second attempt, I waiting 1 hour + and was told that I’d be helped, was put on h old again and the call was lost, or someone hung up on me. Now the third attempt, the call is now at 1hr 48 minutes. I am told that there is now a 300CHF difference in fare, when yesterday there was no difference in fare. I seriously want to cry from having to wait this long. I don’t think I will be choosing this airline, and specially calling the San Francisco service center again. After all this waiting, and they still want me to pay all fees for changing flights. Not even a courtesy reduction. God help me, I’m still on hold.

I have had 34 recent flights that have all been very comfortable and well run. I recently had a problem that I think would be something you could remedy. Your electronic reminder system works for booked flights but does not work for cancellations, changes in flight status, warnings that you have been removed from a flight, or others areas where a person might get to the airport and find out that their flight was cancelled without their permission. I had a flight to Zurich and Geneva that was a round trip. I could not take the flight from Zurich to Geneva but needed to return on the Geneva to Zurich flight. I now understand that it was automatically cancelled because I did not board the initial Zurich to Geneva flight. I was never properly notified about this policy or notified of my cancellation. When I came to the airport early that day, I was able to re-​book that flight but it was inappropriate for Swiss to cancel that flight without some electronic or phone notification. I did try to advise Swiss in advance that I would not be on my first flight but there was no way to do this. I found no electronic possibility to confirm that my actions told Swiss what to do. I did call before hand and the representative told me to just not board the Zurich to Geneva flight. I gave Swiss electronic notification by not confirming the flight on the area that they allow for confirmation and felt that meant that they knew that it was not going to happen. I could not find a way to do that electronically and I was also not successful talking to a customer service representative. If Swiss is capable of reminding people that their flight is coming then they can also send a reminder that their flight is cancelled. I truly feel that there is a hole in Swiss’s system. I ended up having to purchase a ticket knowing that it was not fair in my mind but I did not have time to argue. Swiss put me in the position of missing my flight from Zurich to San Francisco. They did not give me any form of notification informing me on the cancellation the same way they confirm flights. If the mileage does not work, your electronic system does not work, and your customer service does not work, I will not continue to fly with Swiss Airlines.

Swiss is really nice compared to us airlines, both in coach and business.
Their business class seat is really nice with a flat bed. Most seats have aisle access. Food was also fsntastic. The personal tv’s not so much as they’re neither touchscreen nor do they have much content.
In economy, seat pitch is slightly better than united for example. Food is also better. Entertainment same as business.
Service is fine though not personal. However there is a really nice touch in all classes where ice cream is served mid way. They also lay out snacks in the galley.
However I’m docking 1 star because of the really poor timing of connections from most European airports if you’re continuing onto the us. Thankfully Zurich airport is compact, but I’ve still had to run from gate to gate.
They’re decent overall just as the rest of the lufthansa group. Miles better than united from sfo.

Quite possibly the WORST customer service ever. Booked a reservation with through Expedia this morning. One leg of our trip (from ZHR to LHR) is on Swiss International. Am not allowed a seat assignment until 3 hours before the flight. Am not allowed to check-​in online either because, according to their «customer service» people (I talked to 3 different ones), it is a code share flight and we’re not allowed to do that on a «code share» flight. I know what a code share flight is. They tell me that the other airlines pilots will be flying their plane (never heard that one before and have traveled a lot). Those that book through their website are apparently allowed to reserve seats. But at the end of the day, worst customer service ever. If it weren’t part of what I booked through Expedia I wouldn’t recommend flying with them. I will be attempting to make a change as soon as allowable with Expedia for a different flight. I would consider another carrier over Swiss International if you’re travel search engine brings them up. Even as a Swiss citizen, I will never fly them again. It would even be worth a couple of extra $$ to use another airline.

I am a Swiss citizen but wasn’t impressed with the Swiss airline. Babies were crying during both flights all over the plane and I wasn’t able to sleep at all. Also when we returned to the Swiss airport. The airline stated my luggage was overweight and that if I took some stuff out and place it in a bin it would be cheaper. What is the difference??? It still goes in the plane and it still is overweight. Anyway they charged me over Fr. 200.- for this. I rather take any Asian Airline which are great and very accomodating…

I recently took a trip to Europe using Swiss Air from Rome for our return trip London.
When leaving Rome it took an additional 30 minutes for take off due to some sort of delay. Causing a bigger delay to get to our connecting flight in Zurich. Once we were told we were about to land the flight attendant told the lovely couple right next to me that there was a car waiting to take them to their next flight and that their connecting flight to Canada was waiting for them. WE (2 other friends and I who had over heard and the flight attendant had assures us we would have plenty of time and not to worry to make our next flight) felt as if that gave us hope to still be able to make it to our connecting flight.
As a U.S. citizen we had to still go through customs as well. Once landed we had exactly 10 minutes before our flight was scheduled to take off. One moment it was on the board the next minute it was gone. WE ran from terminal A to D in 6 minutes including going through customs only to find out our plane did not wait for us… in fact had already left the airport. No one told us that it had even left 10 minutes early, did not wait for us, the airlines knew we were still on the flight to Zurich and still did nothing to accommodate their tardiness that cause us more than they will ever understand.
WE were directed to customer service in which in my experience in the states are more than accommodating when mistakes on their part are made… well apparently Air Swiss isn’t customer service friendly. The RUDEST people Ive ever met in EUROPE. They gave us a calling card that didn’t work to call our connecting flight in London to JFK. They gave us a letter that didn’t do shit. Still have to pay 59 pounds to get back to the U.S. and stay another night in London with no compensation. No Sorry. No let me make sure your next flight is all well and good and to the best. Nothing they just put us on the next flight seated all the way in the back and had plenty of seating in the front. Which still made us late to the flight in London when that layover there was 3 hours.
I WILL NEVER FLY THEM AGAIN not even their PARTNERING COMPANIES due to HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE and a LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM! I will continue to tell everyone I know and who I end up meeting in the future to not fly them. I’m so upset about this.

Fine airline… until things don’t go well. If you do fly with them, make sure you have plenty of time scheduled for layovers etc because this is not the kind of company you’ll want to be dependent on if the unexpected occurs.

Food is bad, check-​in staff are borderline rude and surly, and worst off, their web check-​in is completely un-​reliable and clunky. Never flying with them again.

Everything’s great until you need to change a flight…
I needed to change a flight so that it left from London instead of SFO (so changing from a $ 500-​ish flight to a $ 100-​ish flight). They told me that it was going to cost an ADDITIONAL $ 1k + a $ 300 change fee! I told them that was crazy and that I’d find some other way to get to Zurich. Then they told me that if I didn’t show up for the first half of the flight they would cancel the second. I asked what they could do to help. They were totally worthless. Finally i found a way to only be charged $ 400 by taking a really inefficient flight with them to London. Then to add insult to injury they booked my rebooked flight on the wrong week! I called as soon as I got the confirmation. They told me that they were unable to change the flight and i would have to pay ANOTHER $ 300 change fee! Also keep in mind that its been only a matter of hours since they changed my booking for me… In the end they charged me $ 500 MORE dollars to correct the error!
What a disaster! Stay away from these guys!

We recently took a trip to Europe using Swiss Air from Zurich for our return trip to San Francisco. Our outbound trip was with United.
What a service contrast between the two airlines. Swiss Air had great food, served frequently. On my dinner meal, the dessert was missing… I got a chocolate mousse from business class. The steward said, «Shhh».
Everything went very well. Our descent into SFO was a scenic tour of the bay area. The flight was very smooth and uneventful.

I choose to fly Swiss Air, because one of my friends recommended it coming back from Italy. The women that was checking me in was extremely rude, to a point that she made my wife cry. She was very condescending. She told us to go out of the line and take clothes out of our bag. Finally after the next person went to her scale that we had discovered that her scale was off by 6 kilos. We put everything back into the suitecase and it was way under the scale limit. She humiliated us in-​front of everyone else. Finally, we discovered that her scale was off, and she still would not apologize to us because she said is was right 4 min ago, and her supervisor came and instead of apologizing she took her side as well. I guess they do not know how to do math. Unfortunately, i think they are just racist, and they didn’t like the color of our skin. Well… too bad for them we have a lot of money and were never flying Swiss Air AGAIN! We were coming out of Florence Italy.
HER BADGE NUMBER WAS 9103, OR G103.

I just returned to SF from zurich on Swiss Air. Their newer Airbus 340 planes are so cramped that I will not use them again. Eventhough the flight is non-​stop, I will gladly take a layover anywhere rather that go through that again. If you are over 6ft tall, yoru flight will be miserable. On a positive, the food was great and you had your own enterntainment system in front of you.

I was on my way home from a great trip to Europe. My family and I went to baggage claim and all of them picked up their baggage. This was last Tuesday on July 5^th. After 12 hours on a flight I ended up waiting in a short line but the lady at the counter did not know what she was doing. She didn’t even know what phone number to give me to call to check on my bags (probably because there wasn’t one). She told me someone would call me the next day (that did not happen). I was so frustrated after little sleep and having to wait longer to not get many answers. I called the next day and the following day. No one called me back. All I got were answering machines and no one even called me back. I have not received one call regarding my luggage. I am sooo frustrated not only because I lost everything but they don’t even contact me to communicate the status or what to expect. DO NOT FLY SWISS AIR
UPDATE: 8÷11÷11: STill no luggage: Swiss Air states I will have to wait longer for reimbursement. I have had to replace out of my own pocket the necessities. I have not had a one phone call and I have had to call swiss air several times a week with no response… NO one cares. I have not heard one word from them with out my calling them. I have filed complaints with better business bureau because I do not know what else to do. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I will never never fly Swiss Air Again. I lost everything I bought on my European Vacation and they keep putting me off. They have not reimbursed me or indicated when that will happen. I hope they go bankrupt… as you cannot afford to treat people so poorly…

I love Swiss Air and I’ll fly it again any day. However, their ground staff at SFO were misinformed and rude, an experience I would rather forget.
I wanted to travel to Africa via Zurich and chose Swiss Air since I had used them before for the same trip, and my experience was exceptionally great. However, this time round, due to the dates I wanted to travel, I realized this time round I would have a 17 hr layover in Zurich. Before I booked my flight, I called Swiss Air to confirm whether I needed a visa — I am a US green card holder — and they confirmed I did not need to apply for a visa, and could simply get a hotel and come back the following day for the final leg. I was excited about the prospects of spending a quiet afternoon in Zurich, and promptly booked my flight and my hotel.
When I arrived at the airport, I got a rude shock, literally. One of the ladies looked at my ticket and said «how long is your stop-​over? This is too long. You can’t go if you don’t have a visa, we can’t check you in». I tried explaining to her that I checked before I booked the ticket, but she was speaking at the same time and clearly not listening to me. She called her supervisor, at which point I was slightly relieved since I could talk to someone and have a 2-​way conversation. However, after 30 minutes of them checking around and peaking into the internet, the supervisor told me I could be checked in but I will not be able to leave the transit area. This was progress, at least. I therefore braced myself for a 17 hour lay over, after promptly canceling my hotel reservation.
When I got to Zurich, I decided to give it a shot and head to the exit counters — the Swiss Air phone assistants who advised me to book my hotel couldn’t have been this mistaken. When I presented my passport and green card, I was let through within the minute. I was excited since I didn’t have to sit in the transit area for 17 hours, but sad at the same time since I was now on the streets of Zurich without a hotel reservation. I did sort myself out, and had a great time in Zurich.
The sad part of this experience is how the ground staff ruined my mood on a 10 hour flight, only to realize I spent an hour arguing over something that they were way off about. I WOULD ADVISE SWISS AIR TO TRAIN THEIR GROUND STAFF ON VISA RULES, and at least ask them to seek guidance when in doubt. Throughout the whole episode, no one picked the phone to check with the Swiss operators whether my story was accurate. That was very painful.
Otherwise, I love the cabin crew and the services, and will fly Swiss Air again.

My flight from SFO to ZRH was uneventful, comfortable, and as is Swiss custom — On Time. Service was friendly and prompt, the food was tasty, and I enjoyed catching up on a movie or 2. Coach service like this doesn’t exist anymore on US Airlines, either Domestic or International. However, the leg room was a little tight, but it was easy to occasionally get up, stretch, and walk around.
Once in Zurich, I was on the Train between Terminals E and A, through Passport Control and in the waiting area within 15 minutes for my connecting flight to AMS. This area of the airport is a little dated, and before you settle in, you might want to linger in large shopping area before Security. Please note that the Swiss Franc is the local currency, although they readily take Euros.
We were bused out to our Amsterdam bound plane, in which the Coach seats were perhaps a bit more comfortable than those of my US-​based flight. And since we were in the Euro Zone, this leg of my journey had the definite feel of a domestic flight.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to return to the US on SWISS. After I arrived Schiphol (AMS) last Thursday morning, I looked at the board and discovered that my Zurich-​bound flight had been canceled. The Lufthansa representative at the SWISS desk immediately rebooked me home on a KLM flight and I was on my way (subject to snow-​based flight delays).
I’d love to come back to Switzerland, along with Gayle. And flying SWISS would be a great way to do that.