Swiss Intl Air Lines

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Business Class on an 777-300 plane from Singapore to Zürich and then changed to another one to fly from Zurich to the U.S. While Swiss has been my favorite non-U.S. carrier, both flights were awful relative to aircraft and service. A few lowlights: Seats are very uncomfortable and do not lie flat. Cushions are weak and they are too narrow. Some aisle seats have no sides. Window seats with 2 seat configurations are difficult to enter or leave. Controls for seat positions are few and placed near where you easily can press one by accident. Storage near or under seats is very limited, it was hard to find a place for shoes or a purse nearby. The SIN-ZRH 777 plane was not very clean and smelt. The other 777 aircraft seemed very new, and was clean, but my seat did not adjust downward as much as my companion’s seat, poor construction and quality checking. Washrooms were like in Economy. Meals and beverages reflected cost-cutting, and I’ve flown Swiss business for decades. Cheap new plastic trays are used, limited refills were offered, galley snacks on these long-flights were popcorn or crisps in small bags and a few small candy bars. Wines and liquors appeared downgraded, as were the menus. Meat was tough. Deserts were ordinary. Service was abysmal. First meal on a 10 hour flight was served three hours after departure. Service on the Singapore flight didn’t offer nuts or anything on the side with drinks. My companion ordered sorbet from a menu, but was given ice cream even though both were on the menu. When she asked to exchange, the attendant told her there was no sorbet left. However, I was served 10 minutes later, inexcusable for a couple sitting together. I then received sorbet from a different attendant. I, however, had asked for ice cream but I was told now there was no ice cream. Yet later I saw two other persons receiving ice cream. Sorbet or ice cream is no big deal. But due to the contradictions either or both flight attendants lied or were too lazy to care. Neither is excusable and both cross lines. Cabin crew was not friendly, but the ZRH ground crew wins a bad conduct prize. As the couple in front of us were boarding, the gate attendant turned to a colleague, rolled her eyes and said disparagingly to her colleague “Americans”. I don’t believe she knew we heard her. 

Not Verified | Flight LX 138 at 22:40 proceeded normally, the staff was pleasant. Originally, a Boeing 777-300 ER was to be used for the flight. Which was a little disappointing for me. This flight was my first intercontinental flight with this company in business class. I was pleasantly surprised by the comfort of seat 8A and the surrounding space. I found the business class configuration economical compared to companies like Singapore airlines. The food served was tasty and nicely styled. The staff was very attentive during the flight and fulfilled any requests. The interior showed the older age of the aircraft. Entertainment was sufficient. The flight went smoothly, we arrived in Hong Kong on time.

✅ Trip Verified | Overall an average experience. Starting off with the good things: The 2-3 layout of the airbus A220 makes people traveling alone in economy substantially more convenient than other offerings in the A320s or the 737s with the ability to sit on the 2 side so you are only next to one other person. The seat was relatively new, there was a complimentary bottle of water and a little chocolate was offered (see photo). Now the downsides, as a full carrier charging full carrier prices and in a somewhat new aircraft, the lack of in-seat power points of USB ports was disappointing. Other competitors on this route all offer some kind of in-seat charging options (even on AF's old A319s) so it's a big downside for Swiss. Furthermore, the drink options was limited to only a bottle of water, nothing else. It would be fair to expect some more options offered by the crew in addition to just a bottle of water, especially for a morning flight like this one. Overall if you are business traveller, although not being one of the best, Swissair still remains one of the more solid options out there.

✅ Trip Verified | I recently flew SWISS from San Francisco to Oslo with a layover in Zurich. I found out that you can submit a bid for an upgrade with SWISS. I wanted a lay flat seat but I've had no experience with international travel until now so I didn't know which seats would do that. I saw that I could bid for an upgrade to premium economy. My wife and I were both flying and the minimum bid for the upgrade for 2 seats was about $700 USD. Before I submitted my bid I called their customer service line to see if those seats lay flat. The customer service agent put me on hold to verify if they do or do not. When she came back on the line she said “yes they do”. I reverified with her by saying just to confirm, the premium economy seat lay all the way back, they lay flat, and she said the premium economy seats lay flat. I thanked her for her time and submitted my bid. I found out on the flight that the seats do not lay flat. I submitted a complaint to their customer service and asked for a refund for the upgrade since I was lied to and since the lay flat seats, which I did not get, were my sole purpose for upgrading. They refused to refund the $700 USD. This is completely unacceptable. This was my first and last time I will ever fly Swiss Air.

✅ Trip Verified | Charge you to select seats and then they move your seat 22 rows back due to a plane switch, with no accommodations or return. Don’t waste your money on seat reservations, it might be a waste of money. I was 22 seats back further with only a 50 minute transfer window for my next flight.

✅ Trip Verified | The boarding was very good for First and business passengers, despite a decline to use the fast track for passport and security. In business, welcome aboard with Champagne or soft drinks - FA were very friendly. You must get used to the single seat in business - I was surprised Swiss did not offer a hot towel anymore. There were decent choice of food for the evening meal accompanied by a decent but not luxurious wine selection. Swiss is still giving cheese and dessert that was served after the tray was removed followed by coffee or tea with some Swiss after dinner drinks and chocolates . Nothing wrong with the quality of the meal. You are requested to fill in your order for breakfast what was continental, prior arrival at Zurich. A very good however not spectacular experience and very friendly FA .

✅ Trip Verified | Both directions, South Africa to Brazil via Zurich were some of the worst long haul flight experiences of my life. If it’s avoidable I will never fly Swiss again, and I fly a lot. First of all, the app does not work correctly. You cannot even check in on the app, or choose seats, or add baggage. I had to use the Lufthansa app to check in and choose seats on my way to Brazil. On the way back not even that worked. The website also gives you an error when you check in. On my way back I had to check in with LATAM because I flew Rio to São Paulo on a LATAM partner flight to start the trip, but they would only let me check in for the first flight, so I had to recheck-in at the counter on my 2 hour layover - so I got a terrible seat for my long haul flights. Also the seats on the South Africa to Zurich and back flights are insanely tiny for an 11 hour flight, the smallest worst seats I’ve maybe ever had in a plane. To make it even worse the window seats have a 15 cm gap between them and the wall/window so you can’t lean on the wall (the whole point of a window seat). Worst food I’ve ever been served on an airplane, and that includes cheap African and Asian airlines. On top of that, they overbooked the SP to Zurich flight, and begged me to volunteer for compensation. I said no at first but told them I might consider it. They approached me after and really pushed me to say yes because they didn’t have enough volunteers. Then after taking my seat and boarding everyone else, announced my name on the loud speaker and told me actually I needed to get on the flight. At that point I had already asked a friend to come get me from the airport so we could spend the evening together and I had to call them off. They gave me a middle emergency row seat with no seat in front, so there was no place to put anything, no book, no headphones etc. Because I was the last person on the plane the overhead bins were full (they didn’t keep space for the emergency row people). The flight attendant told me I had to put my bag in business class. I told her I need access to it if I cannot have anything out of the bag for take off per the emergency exit rules, plus no seat in front of me. She started yelling at me she didn’t want to be on the flight and was tired of moving peoples bags around and it wasn’t her problem. She literally said to me “I don’t even want to be on this flight so you having access to your things is not my problem.” I was kind of in shock, and then another passenger volunteered to have move their bag to under the seat in front of them.

Not Verified | Completely full flights but smiling and efficient cabin crew, and managed the overhead locker space well. Water and chocolates handed out. Very comfortable and efficient.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight was canceled just hours before with no explanation. We were supposed to have a layover in Zurich for 20 hours where we booked accommodations and had to forfeit the cost because we were rerouted to Singapore for a later flight. This meant we now had to wait at the Male Airport for 12 hours before our next flight! I tried to call Swiss Airlines multiple time, but waited for 2 hours and still no answer. Since a phone call was useless, I wrote at least 4 different complaints on their site and only received 1 email a month later which basically said you're out of luck.

✅ Trip Verified | Having flown this route many times, Swiss was the most disappointing carrier. Seat not comfortable and no duvet for overnight flight, only one extremely uncomfortable pillow and blanket supplied. Poor food with few options, no wine list offered. Waited 40 minutes from first course salad to my main dish arriving. Staff not attentive. Small restrooms with no space for changing into night clothes. Laughably basic amenities kit (socks and toothbrush). Poor choice of IFE. Brand suggests quality but fails to provide it. EVA Air is head and shoulders above Swiss on this route. Would not recommend