SWISS INT'L review : 17 May 2008 : by Wiktor Karpowicz

Customer Rating : 5/5

Warsaw-Zurich-Lugano return in economy. First and last leg operated by Contact Air's wet-leased Fokker 100, the aircraft were very spacious and the cabin crew very helpful and friendly. Outbound flight was delayed almost an hour on departure, but the flight attendants kept telling us not to worry about connecting flights and contacted the ground service so that nobody miss its flight. Domestic legs were operated by Darwin Airline's quiet SAAB 2000. Both flights on time, service includes only a piece of chocolate, but the flight is a breeze. The only drawback is insufficient room for hand luggage inside.

SWISS INT'L review : 17 May 2008 : by A Mura

Customer Rating : 4/5

MXP-ZRH-PRG. Milan to Zurich on old Avro RJ. Noisy engines. Staff friendly and polite. Second flight Zurich to Prague operated by Flightline : really old BAe 146, but a nice flight - when you buy a Swiss flight you want to fly Swiss.

SWISS INT'L review : 16 May 2008 : by S Bryant

Customer Rating : 5/5

Singapore to Bangkok return in economy class. An excellent experience all round including food and AVOD, with a courteous and helpful air crew. For this route they were the same price as the budget airlines in the region, hence my choice for a full service airline. They made this fairly short journey a very pleasant experience, and I'd recommend this route with Swiss to anyone.

SWISS INT'L review : 13 May 2008 : by Daniel Lev

Customer Rating : 4/5

BKK-SIN-BKK Business Class. Check in quick. Boarding is chaotic because all passengers are boarding from only from one door. Comfortable seats 2x2x2 configuration, AVOD system but quiet poor selection of movies. Food OK, nice selection of wines.

SWISS INT'L review : 7 May 2008 : by A Gupta

Customer Rating : 1/5

Mumbai-Zurich-Venice Flight. The flight from Mumbai was awful - seats were worn, poor legroom, no supplies in the washroom, ,the entertainment system was ancient and it was a very uncomfortable 7.5 hours of flying time. We expected the "best" quality from Swiss and were disappointed. However, on our connecting 1 hr flight to Venice, the seats were comfortable with decent legroom, very good crew and excellent experience. On our return flight from Rome to Zurich, the experience was again very satisfying but the whole thing deteriorated when we boarded our onward Mumbai flight. We were quite dissatisfied with the experience.

SWISS INT'L review : 7 May 2008 : by S Peterson

Customer Rating : 5/5

ORD-ZRH-CDG. I booked tickets on-line. After transferring through Zurich on our trip to Paris, I realized there was little chance of making our return connection with a 25 minute interval between flights. I called Swiss and explained the situation and they told me they would request a "short connection". After boarding in Paris, an FA came to us and said she was aware of our situation and we should move to the front of the plane before landing so we could be first off. When the door opened, another Swiss rep was waiting to assist us. I was extremely impressed with this personal level of service.

Swiss review - by T Larsen

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

CPH-ZRH-IST return in C-class. The good thing to say about the flight was online check in with print of boarding card at home as well as timely departure and arrival was perfect. However, service and meals where substandard on the outbound flight. For the first flight with the duration of 1½ hours the meal was a small bowl of bircher müssli followed by tasteless bread and jam. No cheese, no fruit, nothing else. The breakfast in Austrian economy class for the same length of flight is better. ZRH to IST boarding was a mess, but I guess that is not unusual in Zürich from my experience in the past year. Onboard there was not a good spirit among the crew. My neighbour to the left complained about the slow service and received the reply: I am sorry sir. I do my best but we are all full in economy, so I am all on my own here. When the maitre de cabin returned, he showed his dissatisfaction with the poor FA who actually had tried her best but not experienced enough. The return flight from IST to ZRH was very different servicewise. Meal, wine and bread was served at the same time. The crew had the overview to ask if everything was ok. It was though the food was still very plain and what you would expect in economy class. The inconsistency for a flight in this class makes me conclude that for a long while I will not fly Swiss again unless necessary. Luckily Austrian offers the same timing and prices usually for my needs.

Swiss review - by Shafqat Akanda

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I have to agree with the previous commenter. ZRH-BOS flight on an old A330 yesterday. The seat was uncomfortable at best - and recline didn't work. IFE is getting old and the remote device was faulty. About 80% of the crew had no smile in their faces during the flight - serving up drinks and food like machines. Quite disappointed with the service! On the positive side, the flight was early on arrival which was helpful.

Swiss review - by Peter Mueller

16 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-JNB return. Both flights operated by the same crew. Full flights. Decided on economy class due to type of aircraft (A 340) on this route, which should offer reasonable comfort. In economy, this is not the case. Cabin crew let you know that you are a substandard passenger. On the 10 hour return flight it was a case of an overly efficient service - in order to be able to turn out the lights as fast as possible - and off they went. No crew member in sight until 2 hours before landing. Economy is economy, one has to understand this. But, is there a reason why cabin staff can't be friendly and smiling to economy passengers?

Swiss review - by Erich Koller

11 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-BRU-ZRH in Y. ZRH-BRU okay without any special events. However flight back to ZRH turned out to be a bit odd with a rush to board and then to be informed that due to heavy traffic into ZRH we would have to wait for another 20 minutes. Cabin crew on those short flights gave a standard service, nothing to write home about. Just to mention that the traditional chocolate gift is now coming in form of a football to honor the Euro2008 event in Switzerland - a nice surprise. Knowing that serving croissants with coffee for early morning flights is impossible due to the additional cleaning costs, one must add that the vanilla muffin is now really outdated and should be replaced.

Swiss review - by M Rogers

9 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Check-in easy and both flights Tel Aviv to Zurich and then Zurich to Chicago were on time. The flight attendants were friendly and attentive, and surprised at the number of times food and beverages were offered to us during the flight to Chicago. Movie choices were current and navigation options were interesting. Although seat backs reclined back more than most, they were very narrow, especially for, not overweight men, but broad-shouldered men. Overall, though, we had a decent experience for a 10-hour flight.

Swiss review - by N Vanian

8 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

GVA-ZRH-LAX return as a family of 4. We found them to be great. Web check in the day before was a God send as upon arrival at the airport in Geneva there was a huge line but we went straight to a dedicated check-in counter for web based check-ins. The flights were fine, food OK and service with a smile. On the way back 2 of us were upgraded to Business using miles, which was great. The cabin crew were very good as the kids did take turns using the business seats and they were very cooperative. Transfer in Zurich is painless and a good airport to transit through. Overall a 4 star airline.

Swiss review - by R Moser

4 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

STR-ZRH-VIE in Business Class. A very nice experience. STR-ZRH is a quick 25 minutes cabin crew managed to serve a snack followed with coffee/tea! Delays in ZRH (bad weather), LX-Business lounge very nice, although construction going on for a new senator lounge (which means "business lounge" might be downgraded in the future and be more LH style). Very helpful staff in the lounge and at gate. A very nice cold meal served. Efficient and friendly FA's. On return fantastic staff at AUA lounge - lounge very good, with excellent choice of warm snacks and beverages. Travel back on LH direct flight (Cityline, Canadairjet) VIE-STR a big difference in style and service compared to LX, FA's more distant - the small plane and food not as good as on LX on this short route. Would prefer the travel via ZRH and with LX if time allows. Do not give 5 stars as on LX (Jumbolino) Swiss European they still seat 3 pax in a row in business class if fully booked and planes seems to be old.

Swiss review - by Trevor Olding

3 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Vienna - Zurich- Singapore in business class. Check in at Vienna is handled by Star Alliance partner Austrian - this was done quickly but without a smile and the lady concerned refused to issue a boarding pass for the sector out of Zurich, this was latter sorted out by a very friendly receptionist in the Austrian airlines lounge. The flight leaves from one of the A gates so security check is at the gate with no priority lane for premium cabin passengers the gate lounge gets very full when there is a full load on an A321 as there was on this occasion. Boarding started late and was just a general all passengers all rows scrum. Once airborne the service on Swiss was very good with a snack offered. Arrival in Zurich about 10 minutes late but transit procedures are easy just remember to allow time if your onward flight leaves from the new E pier for the train trip out to the pier. At this time of night Swiss has about 4 long hall flights departing so the trains and security check point at the E pier can get very busy. Boarding of the flight was carried out efficiently using two airbridges and we left on time again the crew were excellent sadly the food was mediocre. On the menu it read very well but the reality did not match the description. The wine list was much better. I am not a great user of the inflight entertainment systems so cant comment on it and anyway I slept most of the way. The shell type seats are not lay flat seats but I must be lucky because I had no real problem sleeping. Arrival in Singapore was a couple of minutes early and the bags appeared promptly. Would use again.

Swiss review - by J Rakete

1 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BRU-ZRH-BRU in Economy. Airbus 319 on outbound flight, Fokker 100 (operated by Helvetic Airways) on return. Seats ok, flights were punctual, staff friendly. Inflight meals poor - a plastic wrapped muffin outbound, a cheese sandwich on return. Overall ok but too expensive for what they offer.

Swiss review - by D Hoppin

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-RUH-JFK via Zurich in First. Due to ATC delays affecting my flight from Washington, I didn't get to JFK until about 30 minutes before departure but I made the flight thanks to outstanding SWISS ground staff at Kennedy. Excellent seat comfort, inflight service and food on all sectors. New first class lounge at Zurich is nice -- only quibbles are that it was difficult to access the wireless internet, and that there is no way to print documents. Overall an excellent experience.

Swiss review - by D Hiralal

28 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Geneva to Mumbai return with family in economy class. Used to be a Senator with Swiss but since I found the product poor haven't flown long haul with them for a couple of years. This time the price was tempting. On the outgoing flight departure was on time. Cabin was dirty and used. Food was lousy and IFE not on demand - basically 2 films for an eight hour flight. 4 toilets for whole economy cabin. Fa's the rudest and unfriendliest I have experienced. If this is publicity for Swiss hospitality as they mention, watch out. Return flight is a night flight out of Mumbai. The food and Ife were same as the above. My daughters seat buttons were covered in dry vomit and the smell was pretty bad. However FA's were smiling and efficient. I found the announcement to put the seats in the upright position for dining so people had more space to be smart. Swiss is unfortunately not the premium airline they used to be.

Swiss review - by Ho Mun Hung

25 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Singapore to Bangkok return economy. Thoughtful cabin crew, simple and tasty food, good range of inflight entertainment programmes, nice seat and informative inflight magazine. It is a nice touch that they give away swiss chocolates at the end of the flight.

Swiss review - by Richard Coxon

19 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Business class BRU-ZRH-BOM. BRU-ZRH adequate business class European flight, with food service, comfortable seats, modern plane. Quite a different atmosphere on the A330 from ZRH to BOM. Terrible aeroplane with perhaps the worst business class seats. Extraordinarily uncomfortable, and this was a daytime flight. I am not looking forward to the return nighttime on the same aeroplane. IFE old and tired, with no control of the films being shown. The system crashed at least once during the flight with no explanation at all and the quality of the screen and sound was poor at best. Service relatively good but not up to the usual Swiss standards, food adequate and choice good, and at least better than Lufthansa's usual efforts. Anyone expecting the A340 experience with the new seats and ambience should be severely disappointed.

Swiss review - by Frits Kleinen

10 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

IST-ZRH-AMS in economy. Nice recaro seats with lots of legroom, friendly and relevant info on the tv-screens during the flight, second round with chocolates etc. I found crew courteous, helpful and willing to take time and help passengers. Only downside was the quite minimal calzone pizza on the IST-ZRH leg.

Swiss review - by J Jackson

7 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

AMS-ZRH-IST, the stop in Zurich adds about 2 hours to what would take about 3 hours non-stop, but Swiss is a great option because of low fares on this route. Zurich airport is fantastic, glamorous and peaceful. Airbus A320 is spacious and recaro seats very comfy! Catering minimal and the standard hot pizza thing on the route between IST and ZRH is getting a bit tired. Swiss FA's always seem a bit indifferent but their service is consistent.

Swiss review - by Dave Jaros

4 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

PRG-ZRH-BKK return in economy. Tickets bought and paid six months earlier, respective seats booked and confirmed, FF member. Tried to web check-in, but despite website information, not possible. Clerk in PRG checked our bag through and issued boarding passes for both legs. Later, PRG departure was delayed for 2 hours, snack voucher (okay for sandwich menu at KFC or cheaper meal in restaurant) given out. In the meantime, a change of plane so given new boarding passes for PRG-ZRH leg. Aboard RJ100, black leather seats, plane clean, muffin and tea/coffee plus chocolate bar. After few hours layover in Zurich waited for boarding the A340. I asked the agent if some exit row were available, but told the flight is full (he checked boarding passes). 5 minutes later (just before boarding start) we were called to the gate desk and asked for boarding passes for revision. Being told "your boarding for this leg was cancelled in PRG and you do not have your pre-booked seats any longer" our old boarding passes were destroyed and with apology given new ones (adjacent seats but in the middle/middle!). I have written long complaint already on board, but got no response yet (after 1 month). FAs polite, food edible, good dry red wine and cheese. Bottled water on request. IFE average, but froze after 2 hours and no restart. On return asked for paid upgrade but no adjacent seats guaranteed, so I refused. Checked through ZRH to PRG again, seats received. On BKK-ZRH leg FAs again effective, late dinner (1 am local time) better quality than the outbound. Before landing full breakfast along with information about connecting flight gates in ZRH provided. Managed connection in 45 minutes even with my bag for B735 operated by Cirrus. Plane a bit worn, professional (but not smiling) crew.

Swiss review - by Andrew Dixon

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BHX-ZRH-GVA return in business class. Check-in at BHX quick and efficient, but not over friendly. Shocked when boarding to discover that the flight was being operated by Flightline using an ancient Bae146. No separate business class cabin. Two economy passengers sat in the row next to me. FA asked them to move with the words "these seats are business class". "I know that it doesn't look much (she was right) and I've got to hand out some meals here". Cabin crew friendly and efficient, but food awful. Arrived at Zurich and connected to GVA. Flight operated by a new A319, but crew the most miserable bunch that I've ever seen. Return flight two hours late leaving GVA, so missed connection to BHX. Situation well handled on arrival at Zurich and accommodated overnight. Returned to airport the next day to board the same horrible Flightline aircraft we'd flown out on. Food again awful, but crew friendly (more than can be said for any of the Swiss crews we came across). Definitely not a business class experience.

Swiss review - by J Aberg

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

CPH-ZRH on SWISS and back the same night on SAS. What a difference! SWISS aircraft was fairly new, and looked nice, staff courteous, and tried hard to help passengers with requests. The food and drink service was adequate and free of charge. On routes like these where one has a choice of two airlines (belonging to the same Star Alliance), it is obvious which one I would recommend!

Swiss review - by Antony Davies

12 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LCY-ZRH-IST then IST/ZRH/LCY Economy. LCY-ZRH check in quick, delayed 45mins due to aircraft de- icing in ZRH causing late arrival of the RJ100 operating this flight. LCY-ZRH crew efficient but reserved, breakfast muffin plus choice of hot/soft drinks/wine or beer plus swiss chocolate. Flight connection information given on flights into ZRH very handy. ZRH-IST on what appeared to be a full flight, boarding took a while due to cabin crew not being proactive in getting people seated, but departed on time, during the flight only two crew looking after around 150 Economy customers resulting in a 1h 15m wait after take off for a pizza slice and drinks. Purser on this flight seemed particularly offhand with people who wished to pass carts during service even if they were elderly shouting at them to sit down and wait, eventually only giving in when the 70yr old lady said she felt unwell, and then rolling his eyes to the ceiling at the audacity of someone wishing to pass during service - very bad. Check in again quick at IST for IST-ZRH, A320 with a crew that obviously enjoyed what they were doing, Pizza and two drinks runs plus duty free in the 2h 30m flight. In flight entertainment ZRH-IST-ZRH consisted of map display, airline promotion material, just for laughs (visual gags) and cartoon shows. Announcements in English/German/French and Turkish (to/from IST). ZRH-LCY RJ100 delayed 30mins due ATC, captain kept customers informed throughout and the crew offered water/chocolates and duty free during delay. New economy seating on all legs comfortable with magazines etc stowed in headrests allowing greater knee-space. Overall a good experience with the exception of the ZRH-IST flight and a great value for money fare. ZRH great for connections with hand luggage only can be achieved in less than one hour.

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Swiss review - by M Levin

12 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

SIN-BKK-SIN, C class. Nice seats and service. OK lounge as they are not within the control of Swiss. However, I also had the problem of the IFE breaking down twice on the way to BKK (a 2 hour flight) and once on the way back on the A340. It is close to a 10 minute process to reboot the system after you get a flight attendant's attention.

Swiss review - by S Castelli

4 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Dubai-CDG via Zurich. Good lounge. excellent staff service always customer minded. Nice chocolate and wine. Airbus uncomfortable are jeopardizing the staff quality.

Swiss review - by Erich Koller

4 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH to BRU return same day. Both flights arrived on time and were relatively comfortable despite fully booked. For the price paid, the service level is pathetic as only standard muffin or sandwich and coffee in Economy. Overall acceptable service and cabin crew standards - absolutely nothing special.

Swiss review - by C Shepherd

27 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Athens-Zurich return. The Swiss policy appears to be "pile em high, sell em pricey" - squeeze as many seats as possible into the smallest aircraft available, and then charge extortionate prices for short-haul trips. The aircraft used on this route (an A320) had most appalling legroom for a 'full- service' airline; add to this bland pizza instead of actual food. On the plus side, service on the ground (check-in etc) was efficient, and Zurich airport is easy, spacious and relaxed. But on balance, short-haul European routes like these are better on BA or Lufthansa, and much cheaper on easyJet.

Swiss review - by Alexander Eckardt

27 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-BKK and SIN-BKK-ZRH first class. Crew was very friendly and quick, seat comfortable and the food quite good, but the choice of drinks is just economy standard. Also very poor IFE with a lot of old films I've seen one year before on other planes. IFE also broke down twice and needed to be rebooted again. Airport Service in ZRH is quite good.

Swiss review - by I Hurst

17 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-ZRH-HKG economy. I booked this flight rather than going direct because it was a bit cheaper than direct flights. The food was awful outward and inward. IFE had no up to date films. The flight attendants were good on all sectors except the HKG-ZRH where they were surly . In future I would rather pay that bit extra and travel Qantas, BA or Cathay.

Swiss review - by Julián Gil

17 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

MAD-ZRH-LAX return Economy class. They were offering a special $600 upgrade to business class, but I did not take advantage. There were problems on both flights with the IFE, but it was just a few seats, and they repaired it promptly. They don't pretend to be your friends, but are committed to a professional flight. When working, the IFE is very diverse. The food is on the good side of average, and plenty of drink. Unfortunately they are never priced as great bargains. Along with Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific, they are the best economy class offering for long haul flights.

Swiss review - by P Garde

15 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

NRT-ZRH-VIE. Check-in excellent. Y class mainly Japanese tour groups. Was given an extra legroom exit row seat with an empty beside me. Food not overly generous & no meal for dinner for over 6 hrs. Found speaking German to crew improved service somewhat. Strange Japanese seaweed concoction offered to European pax which was not appealing as a snack. Arrived early into ZRH & VIE also. For the price paid, the flight was a bargain but food could be improved. Wines were fine for Y class.

Swiss review - by Wiktor Karpowicz

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Warsaw to Basel in Y. Departure and arrival on time. Flight operated by Avroliner 100. Standard catering for a morning two-hour flight: a cold sandwich and something to drink. SWISS has recently installed new Recaro seats, which offer much more space than their older counterparts.

Swiss review - by J Patrie

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Business class Johannesburg to Zurich. The angled lie-flat seat was not particularly comfortable and the blanket provided was standard economy class variety. There was no hot towel service and food was sub-par. While the menu selection seemed impressive, what ended up on the plate was not too different from what you'd expect in economy class. Amenity kit was very basic and only included lip balm and a toothbrush for toiletries. The service was acceptable though they did take a while to clear away dishes. All in all, an ok business class though I know there are better business class options to get from Europe to South Africa, especially on South African Airways.

Swiss review - by Roy Manry

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ORD-ZRH-ORD in economy - they had the best last minute airfare to ZRH I could find. The flight attendants were helpful and friendly, and food was edible and tasty, served along with a better than average red wine. Legroom was sufficient on A340-300. Good IFE system with decent number of films.

Swiss review - by Ian Sinclair

9 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Dubai - Amsterdam First and Business Class. Dubai-Zurich in first class, old Airbus, tired, worn out seats, overhead lights did not work and no sleeper suit. Flat bed lumpy and uncomfortable, didn't bother with the IFE selection was so poor. Food unimaginative, breakfast the worst I have been served in a first class cabin, amenity kit basic and minimal. The only redeeming feature was the friendly crew who apologised for the age/condition of the aircraft. Certainly not worth the money. Zurich-Amsterdam in business class, basic, no real difference between economy and business classes, even the coffee was awful. Very disappointing, having heard that Swiss has upped their game, will not go out of my way to travel with them again.

Swiss review - by Roy Manry

9 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ORD-ZRH segs in Y class return. Flights on time, meal service fine, even tasty with a good red wine served. FA's were friendly and made several passes offering drinks. IFE good with every seat an individual screen. A hot continental breakfast was served prior to arrival. The aircraft was an Airbus 340-300 which I like, very clean, and ample leg room. I like the new Swiss, maybe it's not the old one but I look at it this way - US carriers Int'l service now stinks! I found Swiss, even with the change at O'hare, to be a refreshing change.

Swiss review - by M Bugatelli

8 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-SCL-ZRH economy on new Airbus A330. The flight was alright, food ok and frequent supply of water. A flight this long is never comfortable, but the IFE helps (were it not for the truly boring selection available inbound). It is, however, quite annoying to see that the 2 seats (2-4-2) at the window seem always to be given to passengers that quit the plane on the stopover in Sao Paulo, while other couples doing to whole flight are left to cram in between the aisles. The stopover gets truly annoying inbound, when you have to leave the plane for 2 hours without any obvious reason and even go through the whole security procedure again just to get to the gate you just arrived at (which, at least, kills an hour of the two that are to be spent).

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