Swiss International Air Lines Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

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SWISS Intl Air Lines First and Business Class Lounge Reviews

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SWISS Intl Air Lines First & Business class seat reviews

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Flight was 1 hour late arriving to Dubai, which made me miss my connecting flight to Rome. Asked if I could move to the front of the aircraft once we had arrived at the gate to better my chances. Was told "no". Arrived at the gate for my connecting flight at 7.08, the flight wasn't leaving until 7.20 and there was no chance of them letting me on. Zero sympathy. The airline itself was fine, regular portions of food, nothing fancy. Definitely cannot compare to Emirates or Lufthansa.

Thursday, 3 May, 2012: After a good flight on Swiss yesterday evening, Manchester–Zurich, we arrive at Zurich and we could see that there were no planes at the new and much broadcast Terminal D - yet the plane parked elsewhere and we had to be bussed to the terminal. No explanation. All passengers were amazed / disappointed. Ridiculous!

Zurich-São Paulo-Zurich. Flew A340, both flights completely full and on time. Once more Swiss did not disappoint me: planes were very clean, meals tasty, IFE good (not comparable to the Gulf carriers though). The best part was the service: flight attendants were polite, chatty, professional, and always responding to any request with a smile. By far my favourite European airline.

BRU-ZRH-PVG. All flights on time. BRU-ZRH on a small airbus with a small sandwich served and friendly, multilingual staff. Transfer at Zürich airport was very smooth. ZRH-PVG return was on a brand new A330 with decent IFE. Not much choice of movies but still above average for a 10hr flight. Only downside was the seat recline, the hard seating and the rather cramped leg space. The seat only reclines about 10 cm's or so. The friendliness of staff, the decent food with great wines and Mövenpick ice cream made up for this inconvenience. In general this was one of the better flying experiences and I would definitely fly Swiss again if I have the chance.

Redeemed Star Alliance airmiles from TAM, no online check-in available as a result of this. Received an email from TAM that I was allowed to check-in 2 bags. When I arrived at the counter with 2 bags, the rude Swiss employee told me only one bag was allowed. When I showed her the email from TAM, she had absolutely no interest in resolving the problem. I ended up paying €300 for the additional bag. What I find unacceptable is that I was forced to pay a large amount of money as a result of their mistake. When Swiss partners up with TAM then it should also assume liability for TAM's mistakes and not simply shrug its shoulders and say it's not their problem.

LCY-ZRH-DXB in business. First time I've used LX business class. LCY was a breeze as always and connection in ZRH was simple. ZRH-DXB was a great flight. Excellent, friendly crew. Really good food. Comfortable seat, and I liked the 1-2-1 layout on A330. On time arrival. DXB passport control was a bit chaotic, but overall a good experience and great value for money.

Heathrow-Zürich in Business, then Zürich-Miami in First. LHR-ZRH leg fine on A321. Good selection for breakfast, attentive crew. Leg room and seat recline same as Economy, in fact Y seats with middle seat left free. Star Alliance lounge in LHR crowded. Tight connection in ZRH, so no time to test the Swiss First Lounge. ZRH-MIA in A330 with new First - outstanding! Excellent service, attentive and chatty crew, excellent meals. After extensive Lunch turndown service, great sleeping comfort, with reading lamp next to the pillow and duvets. Plane was packed in all 3 classes, but FAs provided an excellent service.

ZRH-MAN-ZRH on the midday roundtrip. Online check-in was a breeze and with no baggage to check it was straight to the gate. In both Zurich and Manchester you're bussed to/from the aircraft. Be wary of going to the gate too early in Zurich as once past passport control there is only one small coffee shop. Aircraft used on the middle of the day flights is Helvetic Airlines Fokker 100 with a 2x3 configuration. Onboard was in great condition with a nice light interior and light grey leather seats. Leg room seemed pretty good. In each direction you get complimentary drinks and a choice of sandwich. No inflight entertainment so take something to read or to listen to. A good experience and I couldn't fault anything. Both crews were great.

BSL-BUD-BSL C class. Aircraft clean but the signs of age are clear to see. Forward WC "not operational" on one leg. Meals nothing like the SWISS ad's. Only a very small salad and a miniature custard dessert. Room temperature white wine and champagne were not drinkable on either leg. Adjacent seat not kept free (identical to Y class.) Priority luggage tags didn't work in Basel. Not enough bin space for the promised 2 x 8kg, per person, of hand luggage. No curtain between C and Y cabins. Crew and service great on both legs. On-time arrivals. Paid £760 for two seats, £520 more than Economy. For this huge difference I was hoping for more personal space, a reasonable meal and drink. Instead I got "Minimum comfort for a maximum surcharge".

MAN-ZRH-WAW return. All four legs made on-time arrivals, cabin staff were efficient and pleasant. The food was excellent, with tasty, well thought-out meals served. All flights were full, Swiss, in my opinion, are leading the field in providing a good all-round service.

Outstanding - always provide great service and always on time! Recently flew LHR-GVA-BCN - onboard staff for business class incredibly attentive and chatty.

CDG-ZRH-YUL on A330-300. CDG-ZRH plane was clean, crew helpful and welcoming with small snack served. Staff spoke all official Swiss languages fluently. ZRH-YUL spotless plane, staff helpful, responded to any demand with a smile. Toilets were clean, snack and drinks served throughout. Boarding and leaving the plane was easy and the crew together with the pilots were here to welcome and say goodbye.

CPH-ZRH-EWR. I travel fairly frequently and have experienced long haul services on different airlines. In comparison with other European airlines, Swiss is top notch. Zurich airport is great. Crew very caring and friendly. Nice lunch and ice cream in the middle of the flight to accompany the entertainment. Broad choice of movie on demand and nice snack before landing. Only downturn was the entertainment box under my seat 24L on A340. Luckily I was travelling with my partner so could use the space under his seat to compensate. Otherwise I believe that travelling with Swiss I got the very best for my money!

Flight CPH-ZRH-DXB. On time, easy check-in, very good seat comfort in the new Business Class seat on A330. Very good catering.

Athens-Zurich on A321, in economy. Flight arrived on time. Served something hot to eat, which is pretty rare nowadays! Two drinks services and the traditional SWISS chocolate made this flight very pleasant! Cabin crew were friendly and very polite.

In the past few weeks HAM-ZRH-CDG/MUC-ZRH-MUC and ZRH-DXB-ZRH. Overall quite good experiences. Mostly very friendly crews, clean aircraft's (Avroliners, A320 and A330) and seat reservations were granted on all routes. Delicious snacks/meals. Seats on A330 in Economy are comfortable, however legroom is quite limited if your over 180cm. Luckily I got an upgrade to C Class on DXB-ZRH sector which I appreciated. Excellent crew, comfortable bed and individual meal service. IFE is not comparable with EK or SQ but better than LH or OS.

Zurich to Chicago. Flight was packed, I was the last person to board due to a short connection. Friendly attendant showed me to my seat and helped find room for my carry on luggage. Meals were rather small, but very good. Fresh rolls served numerous times from a basket. Plenty of drink runs throughout the flight, and an offer for ice cream and hot and refreshing towels before a tasty hot snack was served shortly before landing in Chicago. Entertainment is still old-fashioned and not touch-screen like on Lufthansa. However, the movie selection was excellent. Overall flying Swiss was a very pleasant experience.

GVA-JFK on A330-300. Friendly staff, refilling drinks often. New movies available. Vegetable lunch could have been better though and no newspapers available for those at the end of the line entering the aircraft. Very punctual, perfectly informed thanks to captain and inflight entertainment. Would definitely recommend Swiss for transatlantic flights.

IST-ZRH on A321. Aircraft very clean but ageing seats and bathrooms. Excellent crew. Efficient, friendly and professional. Nice choice of multilingual newspapers. Unhurried meal service and constant drink refills. Meal tasty but getting skimpier by the day. Seating is 2x2 with a table in between. Leg room very tight. Arrival in ZRH on time but a very long wait for baggage retrieval.

ZUR-PEK in Business. Very attentive cabin crew with some of the best inflight food I have tasted! Friendly attendant who kept topping up my glass. The seat is a little hard, but fine when transformed into a bed.

Nairobi-Geneva on business. Nairobi is served with 330-300 with excellent business class (fully reclining) and IFE. Food excellent on long haul but Zurich-Geneva is served with only some muesli. Attentive but distant crew. The only down part is the rude staff at the Geneva check-in desk. Overall very good experience and I would recommend.

JFK-GVA business class on A330. Pushback, taxiing and take-off were delayed due to air traffic control but the captain must have given 6 updates in 20 minutes which was appreciated. Seat was comfortable (better than most angled lie-flats) but a lie flat would have been better. Privacy was excellent. IFE was OK. Food was very good and service was brusque but efficient. The only complaint was you need an engineering degree to figure out how to deploy your tray table.

LHR-ZRH-MXP return. All four flights on time. Baggage claim at both MXP and LHR were prompt. Seating on A321, A320 and AR1 were of the standard type used these days, although window seat on AR1 offered a little more shoulder room. Flight crew efficient and friendly. A dedicated transfer bus to the terminal was provided for business class passenger on arrival in Zurich. Seating on Helvectic Airways Fokker 100 was of older style but still comfortable. My special meal requirements were fulfilled on 3 of the flights, whilst return to UK, provided a cold light meal which was fresh and tasty. Wide range of drinks with regular top ups. Only let downs was a rather miserable check-in clerk at LHR on the way out. Overall a solid service with just a couple of areas where the experience was a let down.

ZRH-LHR. Web check-in worked well. Purser was very friendly and rest of the crew were ok - efficient but some not overly friendly. Full bar service, snack was ok. Value for money. For the price paid ok. IFE was mostly advertising and cartoons.

First time flying Swiss. The cabin staff were very nice, easy check-in and good food. All of that does not make up for the horrible hard seats, metal video box under the seat in front of me, which meant for 10 hours I had to sit with legs in one position. The experience was horrible.

ZRH-MUC in Business. Check-in was swift and lounge had a nice shower. Boarding was quick but the ground staff were as usual quite rude in Zurich. The Avro RJ100 planes are very old and are in need of replacement. The flight time was 40 minutes and we arrived slightly ahead of schedule. The food was a cold beef salad with bread which was nice and sufficient for this short trip. Staff was efficient and friendly.

GVA-TXL via ZRH. CPH-GVA via ZRH. All flights very pleasant, GVA-ZRH ZRH-TXL and ZRH-GVA are short flights so just given a small ice cream or chocolate, but return flight from Copenhagen had a sandwich. Transit in Zurich was quick. Globally it was great for short/medium-haul flights.

Zurich-Mumbai Feb 2012. Rather disappointing. Had a seat in the penultimate Economy row and the cabin crew were constantly chatting in the galley behind me. Service poor, no meal selection available with only one meal type left. Seat comfortable however cabin crew not interested in creating rapport with the passengers.

LCY-BKK via ZRH. Excellent flight from LCY. Good tray of food with plenty of top ups. Terminal E lounge at Zurich is nothing special. ZRH-BKK leg very average. Crew lacked enthusiasm with too much traffic between club and first. No bar service after takeoff which is surprising with a combined meal / bar service offered 75 mins into the flight. The club cabin layout is alternate rows of 1-2-1 and 2-2-1. Little storage space on the paired seats with no privacy on the aisle. Seats are too hard, exposed and the club layout is unfair for individual space for couples. Return flight from BKK was better with a faster meal service but no pre-dinner drinks. Crew excellent in club. IFE worked ok but both my partner's and I had to be reset. Non schengen pier lounge at ZRH was excellent, quiet and close to the gate. ZRH-LCY leg was fine and on time.

Return BRU-DXB via ZRH (A320, A330-300). All flights on time, transfer in ZRH convenient. Only drawback the SWISS lounge at the E gates: small and poor selection of food/drinks, no lavatories in the lounge, no dedicated Senator lounge. Planes looked clean and new, excellent IFE for Economy with up-to-date choice of movies. Slow drinks service and meals ran out of choice early, so had to go with the vegetarian lasagne. Seats comfortable for a 6hrs flight but LH seats better for longer flights.

MAN-ZRH-FCO return. Everything worked very well. Planes very clean and on time. Multilingual crew were friendly, efficient and informative, transfers in Zurich hassle free and fast. Overall it was very pleasant and will defiantly fly them again.

BOM-ZUR-MAN on 23 FEB. Check-in at BOM was a breeze, so was boarding, the lounge leaves a lot to be desired, too crowded with at least 8-9 airlines using it. A330 seats were extremely comfortable, going flat for sleeping. Our connecting time at Zurich was less than hour and we just made our connecting flight, at security there was no priority line and no one to help. ZUR-MAN flight was excellent. The planes were clean. Did not get a chance to taste the food as preferred to sleep on the overnight flight.

Return Flight Dusseldorf to Shanghai via Zurich (A320, A340). All flights on time or early. Transferring in Zurich was convenient and quick. The crews were very attentive and friendly, especially on the long-haul flights. Good choice of food, very good choice of wines. IFE had to be reset 3 or 4 times on both long-haul flights; but in general not bad with average variety of movies and good variety of music. Seats very comfortable, especially the single seats by the window.

AMS-DEL - Edelweis/Swiss joined connection. Great Flight, proper service, sufficient legroom on A330-300 in 2-4-2 configuration. Food was for the first time disappointing, not at all up to SWISS standards (Chicken Pasta was cold and blend, rather like US based carriers). However, flight attendants made up for it with their friendly smile and adequate service - very attentive. Entertainment selection was sufficient. Transfer Service at Zurich efficient.

ZRH-MIA in First Class on an A340. Seats were 1-2-1 but the old version and started to show their age. Comfortable but not as much as the new ones. Very small lavatory and only one for the first class cabin. Food and drinks were up to LX standards and multilingual crew was efficient but not too friendly. Departure on time but boarding a bit chaotic without any priority lane. Newspapers and magazines in English, French and German were available. IFE was OK. For resting, the seat is turned into a bed with top and bottom duvets and a full size pillow. The snack served before landing was also very tasty with enough choices. Luggage delivery was prompt.

ZRH-DEL and BOM-ZRH in Business. I love the new seats as they offer a great deal of privacy without high dividers like on BA. The best thing is that they go fully flat and can be adjusted from hard to soft. Service was quick, efficient and friendly. Good food and drinks. On-time performance on both legs. Will use Swiss again.

Have flown long haul on Swiss 3 times: ZRH-ORD, ZRH-DEL, NRT-ZRH. Out of those 3 times only 1 of the flights had the old business class. Check-in was quick and efficient. Flights on time and the service excellent! The new business class seat is a little hard but is fully lie-flat which is fantastic for night flights. The food is delicious!

LHR-ZRH-NBO-ZRH-LHR. Good price compared to BA and Kenya Airlines. New Business Class seats are hard but not so bad to be uncomfortable. There is a shortage of personal storage space compared to other carriers. But top-class and friendly service help from staff on all flights. I do find Zurich a bit complicated since the new terminal opened.

O/W London City to Zurich was on time despite snowfalls in London. Flight was full but drinks and a snack served in good time. Onward connection to Stuttgart on a contact air Fokker 100 (on a LX flight number). Plane was tatty, captain (unshaven and loose tie) and purser were too busy chatting to welcome people onboard. Service slow for a bottle of water with the chocolate only offered on disembarkation. Return legs on time with drinks and a roll served between Zurich and London City. All crew delivered a professional service. Would recommend Swiss out of London City with consistent levels of service and punctuality.

We flew economy from Johannesburg to Zurich return. While staff were helpful and polite, the seating was a nightmare and we were not able to upgrade for our return as the entire flight had been booked. The polite staff couldn't make up for the rock-hard seats and the minuscule space between rows. I'm only 5'2 and I was cramped and uncomfortable. My husband and I have agreed we will never fly this airline again unless we can go business class.

YUL-ZRH-CDG - Second time flying this route, the interior of the A330 is ok, its new but the color pallet is rather dull. Flight was 75% full, crew pleasant enough, although not memorable. Food was nice, but small portions, nice white wine. Seat comfort is fine, and entertainment is also fine, ok movie selection, but there needs to be more TV shows! On time arrival in Zurich, transit time of 1 hour is more than sufficient. 5 minute wait at security, no wait at passport check. Flight to CDG on A321, nice plane, nice interior, only 60% full, drink and croissant served by again pleasant enough crew. On time arrival in Paris, bags on carousel after 10 minute wait.

LHR-ZRH-PVG return to LCY. Outbound, checked in online selected good seats and used mobile phone boarding cards. Aisle seats were nice and comfy and the cabin was in good condition and clean on A320 to ZRH and A340 to Shanghai. Cabin crew were friendly. The only down side was the cabin crew drew curtains by the galley for a while during the night preventing people going to the galley. Food was pretty standard economy class food, pleasantly surprised to get metal knives and forks. Return trip almost exactly the same except I couldn't choose a seat on my connecting aircraft when checking in. Returned to London city instead of Heathrow on a RJ100 from Zurich which was very much in need of a cabin facelift. The weakest aspect of the long haul flights was IFE - having just 22 movies is pretty poor.

JFK-ZRH in Business. Service was decent. Seat was great, nice, large and fully flat. Food was delicious. Breakfast was light since it was a red eye.

ZRH-BOM-ZRH in Business. Friendly crew and excellent onboard service both ways. IFE was adequate, headphones had very good sound. Delicious food, a selection of Swiss and Indian dishes and good Swiss wines. On return flight check-in at BOM was efficient and quick. LH business lounge at BOM had sufficient space for passengers.

LCY-GVA. London City to Geneva on a 3 day ski weekend. On arrival, my checked bag did not turn up and we were told by Swissport Baggage Dept that Swiss had over sold the flight and it was too heavy so they offloaded some baggage. The bag did not turn up until almost 24 hours later. On the return, at check-in (2 hours before the flight) my colleague was told that he was not issued a seat because the flight was oversold and that remaining seats would be allocated at check-in. He was told that he "would likely" get on the flight. I know some airlines oversell but when they get it wrong, they offer enough money to passengers that some take another flight. I have never heard of an airline doing what Swiss did - just take bags off the flight or deny people with confirmed seats.

ATH-ZRH-MAN. Swift check-in, on time departures, attentive service, good food and drinks on all flights. On the return flight we had to return to ZRH owing to a cracked windscreen but it was handled professionally and the groundstaff were ready with new boarding cards and arrangements for overnight accommodation at an airport hotel. Despite it being 23.30 food had also been arranged as we had had no dinner. My only small complaint would be the lounges - particularly ATH which offers very little in the way of food or drink.

 
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