Swiss Intl Air Lines

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 1009 reviews
6/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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3/10

"a shame what Swiss turned into"

(Switzerland)

Trip Verified | Enough is enough, it is such a shame what Swiss turned into. Once known for its quality, punctuality and reliability, now it is simply a cheap (in quality, not in price) Easyjet. And it just keeps getting worse. Me and my husband as well as our families travel often and it is hard to remember now when was the last time Swiss was not delayed (I wonder how Swiss people feel about such airline representing their country). Today, last flight from London to Zurich, 1 hour delay. What means for evening flights, you get home not just 1 hour but much later, as public transport/taxi connections become limited. There was a man on the flight saying to the crew that he will not be able to get to Luzern as trains there stop running at 23.45. The response from Swiss crew member was that they are not responsible for Swiss railways. Well, this situation would not have happened if Swiss (again!) wasnt late. Now its almost 1 am, we are not yet home (even though we live in Zurich itself) - and tomorrow need to wake up at 5 am for work. These constant delays come on top of cramped (although clean) planes without any entertainment on european flights and outdated on long haul flights, no snacks/food, only small bottle of water and chocolate on the flights, frequent flyer program with constant "technical errors" and quite random bad seats to change which i need to pay 35 chf each for 1h 10 mins flight? Flight attendants and pilots are quite good though. But overall takeover is still killing the "good old Swiss".
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon LHR to Zurich
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"truly disappointed"

(Poland)

Trip Verified | I am truly disappointed by the super low standard. The legroom was equal with low-cost carriers. The complimentary in-flight service simply does not exist in SWISS. The crew handed out one piece of super small chocolate. That should not be a standard in a traditional carrier like a SWISS, that in my opinion should be tagged as a super expensive low-cost airlines. Cabin crew were rude. The flight was delayed. As a FTL im Miles&More I am simply avoiding SWISS due to their horrendous cost cutting. Flying with SWISS in no longer a pleasure.
AircraftA220
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteGdansk to Zurich
Date FlownJune 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
3/10

low-cost at a premium price"

(Switzerland)

Trip Verified | It is not about one flight, it is about the whole lot of flights (more than 40 in one year)… If you want to understand how it is, take any lowcoster airlines and multiply the prices by 10 or 15. That is Swiss. Services of a low-cost at a premium price. They charge you for everything, but have old planes, even the seats are paid only or they will always get you the worst one ever possible. Yes, they have good amount of flight schedules, but you will always feel robbed after the flight… You just have to really work to make Swiss Air THAT BAD… applause to the management
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Zurich
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
7/10

"one of the most cramped economy 777 cabins"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | 10 abreast in any 777 economy cabin feels cramped, because it is cramped; narrow seats and aisles and a claustrophobic feel. Swiss have a similar seat pitch to most other 777 operators, but having flown Qatar, Eva Air and Egyptair 777s in the past few months (the latter has the rare, 9 abreast configuration), there is noticeably less legroom (or knee room to be more precise!) in the Swiss 777; pretty awful to experience on long haul. The seat recline seems much greater than on other airlines so if you have a selfish passenger in front of you who reclines fully, the experience becomes utterly miserable and the screen and tray table become effective unusable and trying to get out of your seat is fun and games. I was also glad that I hadn’t upgraded to Premium Economy as there are only a few PE rows tacked onto the front of the economy cabin and the seats and space looked decidedly non-premium compared to other 777 operators offerings. Even business class looked pretty basic, especially the ‘pairs’ of seats on the sides of the cabin (every other row) where it looked as if the window seat occupant would have to climb over their fellow passenger to reach the aisle. This was an 11 hour flight and we were well fed and watered throughout; there is a snack area in the middle section of the economy cabins and this isn’t just about snacks; we were treated to repeatedly stocked good quality sandwiches, amazing chocolate chip cookies, Swiss chocolate, nuts, crisps, drinks and Swiss Ricola sweets. It really was like going back 30 years to the way long haul economy used to be! Two decent meals, ice cream three hours out from Zurich and Swiss chocolate before landing-nice! The crew were superb; very friendly, went out of their way to help & genuinely seemed to be enjoying their jobs; so good to see and made a massive difference to the enjoyment of a long flight in a sardine can-feel cabin. I have never flown Swiss long haul before, so I may have just got lucky with this crew, but if all crews are like this, then Swiss are doing something right, that's for sure. Toilets were kept clean throughout and drinks were always on hand from flight attendants walking up and down the aisles. Boarding was shambolic; for some reason Swiss boarded economy from the front of the cabin first, working backwards by ‘group’. No surprise then that boarding took an age for those of us sat at the back of the cabin, as we waited for those at the front of economy (who boarded first) to sit down and stow bags. Why Swiss board economy from the front is beyond me; makes no sense at all, but just slows down the whole boarding process and it took almost 10 minutes from boarding to get to my seat (47G). Unimpressed to see single use earphones supplied, especially given the amount of sustainability propaganda fed to us on the IFE system (and particularly so on my next short haul flight from Zurich to Heathrow); hardy sustainable Swiss! Were it not for the dreadfully cramped Swiss 777 cabin, I would be actively seeking out Swiss for long haul travel given the great crew/service, but if I can get on an A380 or a 9 abreast 777 I would always opt for that, as these 10 abreast 777 cabins are just too cramped & the Swiss cabin has to be has to be one of the most cramped economy 777 cabins out there, so I would actively avoid it in future.
AircraftBoeing 777-300er
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBangkok to Zurich
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

"incompetence in training or a lack of care"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Due to a passenger count discrepancy between ground staff and cabin crew the LHR-ZRH flight was delayed by 1h 20m, resulting in a missed connection at ZRH. The airline accommodated us on a much later flight with a different airline, arriving 5h 55m later than planned on timetable and 6h 10m in actual. On my return I contacted Customer Services and claimed for EU/261/2004. This seems a pretty clear case of delayed arrival resulting from operational issues. To my surprise I got a reply from the airline telling me I must contact the operating airline for this. As far as I am aware I was seated in an A321neo owned and operated by the airline. When I queried twice their definition of operating airline I first received a bland automatic response, hoping to welcome me back in the near future and second an email informing me the case was closed. Extremely disappointed by their customer services case handling, probably even more so than the delay, as it contains incorrect flight numbers and dates and shows incompetence in training or a lack of care in responding. Unfortunately I am a Gold card holder within the Group's FFP and have many future bookings with the airline. It just demonstrates how confidence in the brand can so easily be eroded by one mishandled incident.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteLondon to Rome via Zurich
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
6/10

"very uncomfortable to say the least"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Boarding was as usual not uniform. I carry 7 kgs of luggage. No hold luggage through choice. Can you imagine my dismay when I see people with literally 3 or 4 bags, large rolling cases with more luggage on top and when it comes time to find a space it's a nightmare. I'm pleased about the laid back approach but I found this to be abused my many many people. Food this time I found OK. First meal was fine and apart from the starter which consisted of some rice thing. My second meal was a form of pad Thai which basically was noodles swimming in oil and unappetising. Seat was hard, very uncomfortable to say the least but it did recline. Entertainment was a total disappointment. Very little in movie choice and no game channel I could find. Cabin crew attentiveness was lacking I thought.
AircraftBoeing 777-300er
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBangkok to Zurich
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
9/10

"really disappointed in this product"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Dublin to zurich was OK but the main flight from Zurich to Bangkok was awful. Boarding seemed a mess. Don't know if any airline gets this right after all these years. My seat didn't recline properly and no help. My screen didn't work. Just 1 screen page. I asked for help 3 times but nothing done. Just we will try to reboot. First meal was OK but the rushed service before landing at Bangkok was dismal. The scrambled eggs didn't look appealing. The seat is one of the hardest I've sat on in a long time. I am really disappointed in this product. Long haul is hard enough in economy but this seemed like overkill. Not looking forward to the return.
AircraftBoeing 777-300er
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDublin to Bangkok via Zurich
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
3/10

"Food was not first class"

(United Arab Emirates)

Not Verified | Several things I found very disappointing about Swiss. Seat very old and noisy. They are upgrading them but in 2 years approx. Food was not first class, ok at best. Wine was very good. A flight attendant was quite rude. Not insulting but it made us feel not at ease. Definitely not trained to work in first class - the airlines is not bespoke in first class. It has their processes and cannot even consider go around them. My experience from Air France or BA (to compare within European airlines) is a lot better and more worth it. You can feel it is a small airline without much investment.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeFirst Class
RouteDubai to Zurich
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"They marked us as no shows"

(Canada)

Not Verified | We arrived on time for our flight. There was a group of people in the waiting area so we joined them. They didn’t do or say anything to indicate that they were closing the gate. Apparently, all of the other passengers had boarded the plane but we didn’t know as there were people in the waiting area. They closed the gate without doing a final call or calling our names. They marked us as no shows even though we had gone through security and had checked in our luggage. They refused to refund us and made us pay significantly more than our the original cost of our tickets to rebook for later in the day.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBrussels to Geneva
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
5/10

"dumped their passengers onto other airlines"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Flew with SWISS as I wanted to go to Dubai and their fare was the cheapest available. That along with travelling with a new airline via a stopover in a place I've never been added to my enthusiasm for this journey. Getting to Dubai was relatively stress free, except for the wallet busting food prices in Zurich. Note to transit passengers passing through Zurich, pack your own food or pay exceptional amounts for staple foods you take for granted back for home. Coming back from Dubai where things got interesting. Boarded the plane at Dubai as normal, then we were informed the place had developed a technical fault, resulting in the planes computers needed to be reset. All power to the plane turned off. Then we were told there was an issue with the GPS and the airline not having the relevant clearance to enter specific countries airspace en route to Zurich. Periodic updates occurred during the nearly 3 hrs they kept us on the plane, on the runway and still in Dubai. Finally after 3 hours, they announced the flight was cancelled and we were to contact the transfer desk. The queue was long but somebody prompted me to check my emails where i saw Swiss had rebooked me on another flight with Emirates, flying to Geneva and then on to Zurich. So I had to take 3 flights instead of two. Waiting to obtain a new boarding pass and rechecking my luggage with Emirates was stressful as queues were long and chaotic with no order to anything. As with these sorts of situations, it is those that shout loudest that get things done. No visible or practical support from any swiss air staff only an email. They merely dumped their passengers onto other airlines to sort. Eventually got to Zurich where i tried to reason with the SWISS staff if I could be booked on to an earlier London flight at no cost due as a gesture of goodwill for the additional time i was made to wait in Dubai. They were not having it and ended up waiting in Zurich for my next day London flight. A new situation for me but the support from SWISS could've been so much better. I would only use SWISS again as a last resort for any transcontinental journeys.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon Heathrow to Dubai via Zurich
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no