Swiss International Air Lines Reviews 

Cancelled my flight with little notice, or reason, did not offer any other options and have had to go through a very long process to try and fight for a refund. Avoid at all costs.

Swiss presents itself as a serious airline, not a low-cost carrier, yet they have removed carry-on baggage from the ticket. I had to pay extra at the airport for a backpack that would easily meet EasyJet’s size requirements.
The service during check-in and boarding was terrible. There was no legroom between the seats on the plane.
I hadn’t flown with Swiss in a long time, and I am shocked at what this company with a once first-class reputation has turned into.
Shame on you.

Terrible service... Flight cancelled... email said technical issues... But when I asked for compensation it was weather related issues. VERY sad.. second time it happens.. Last time I did get the compensation after contacting a company that handles that...
2 hours wait in line for rebooking.. one person to handle hundreds of customers... not good enough Would stay away from Swiss air

SWISS promotes itself as a five-star airline that puts the customer experience first. Unfortunately, my experience was the exact opposite.

My flight from Bordeaux (BOD) to Zurich (ZRH) was cancelled due to a technical issue. While technical problems can happen, what disappointed me was how SWISS handled the situation afterwards.

Instead of taking ownership and communicating transparently, I experienced poor customer service and a complete lack of meaningful follow-up. Despite several requests, SWISS refused to provide documentation relating to the cancellation. My complaints through different customer service channels remained unanswered or resulted only in generic responses.

As a frequent business traveller, I understand that disruptions are sometimes unavoidable. What distinguishes a premium airline is not whether problems occur, but how they treat their customers when they do. In my case, SWISS failed on every level: communication, transparency, customer care, and complaint handling.

The experience has fundamentally changed my perception of the airline. Following this incident, I have instructed my companies to book flights with airlines outside the Lufthansa Group whenever possible. Given our annual travel budget, this represents a significant shift in business.

I expected the service of a five-star airline. Unfortunately, I received the opposite.

Overall, the inflight service is very good, food very good, planes are a bit old and dated, not everything works well. Just came back from a RT to Zurich from Miami. Business Class going and Premium Economy returning. The big problem was dealing with the home office. We needed to return 1 day early for a medical emergency back home. I had booked the best PE class so changing the reservation should have been easy. They wanted to charge me $1200, when I protested during a 40 min conversation they reduced it to $200, then the couldnt get the seats, another 30 min on the phone and they could get 2 seats but it would be another $200. I agreed. They said would send confirmation in 10 min. 1 hour later, no confirmation, called, next agent said it was in the works, 1 hour later, no confirmation, Called said would have it in 10 min going through Accounting, but sent me a list of the changes. Next morning heading to the airport, no confrmation, get to the airport, cannot get on line there because I dont have a confirmation, The Zurich Airport is HUGE, got lost a few times finally found a kiosk for SwissAir. They told me to go to checkin 1, but I dont have a confirmation, she finally looked it up on the system, and finally we found it. Very very nerve wracking and expensive.

Terrible servicing.
I completed the online form for a golf bag.
Swiss requested a BIKE !
Then two calls and over 1 hour on the phone
Then an email asking me to call urgently
This is insane !

Absolute Sht show.... online system is full of bugs and faults i cant even book and pay for a seat when trying to manage booking. Error codes all over the website. No phone number to call and the AI help assistant is completely useless. I finally got through to a human agent on the web help page but he just stopped replying to me. My request to book a seat on my flight is still unresolved.

Becoming Ryanair
Have been flying almost exclusively Swiss for 10+ years and was happy to pay the premium for the better service. Unfortunately it looks like while keeping the premium prices they’re moving closer to a low cost airline model. Today I was charged CHF 70 per leg on a short flight as I had to find out that my ticket didn’t include a normal sized carry-on bag. The kind of annoyance you seek to avoid by flying with an airline like Swiss used to be. Never had to worry about carrying a bag on board. Will definitely start looking elsewhere going forward and not sure it’s worth if for Swiss to lose customers this way.

Flight got cancelled, got rebooked on a less than ideal flight. Fine, it happens. Now trying their reimbursement portal for for three days have been getting the same error message when trying to submit my claim. According to Reddit a very common issue (built in on purpose?). Really frustrating and customer service isn’t helping. Booking with SAS or Lufthansa next time!

We didn't expected this from SWISS. They are thugs. They are, at the gate and under pressure/threats to leave you here and close the gate in 2 minutes (even if we were stuck for 30 mins at the gate, actually still waiting), literally stealing 70E for carry-on not fitting their ridiculously small sized guide box. They were extremely rude, and they couldn't care less. It feels like employees get bonuses at the gate for every 70 Euros they steal to their customers. Staff was rude and couldn't care less.

They kept my husband and my son at the gate entering for carry ons which are normally authorize (we've traveled 7 planes in the last 2 weeks with those bags.... we had one other bag exactly like the one they randomly selected and went trough without issues. My son has autism and all the stuff to help him with his condition were in the luggage but they didn't care about it - not our problem pay up or stay behind with your autistic son - putting pressure they "have to close the gate in 2 minutes and couldn't swap anything - then again, we sat in the plane at the gate (overhead compartments had plenty of room) for ~30 mins.
Horrible experience, felt like being an animal. Do yourself a favour and stay away from this horrible company.

Trying to speak to someone about a booking and MY Travel ID is proving difficult.

The Chat option does not work, neither do the telephone numbers given online!

I accidentally booked a SWISS lounge voucher for the incorrect date. When I contacted the official Lufthansa Group Digital Hangar Lounge Support, their automated email explicitly instructed me in writing: "Should you have booked a lounge voucher with an incorrect date or location, we recommend purchasing a new pass for the correct date and location. Please then contact us with details of the unused booking, and we will process a refund for the incorrect booking." I acted in perfect good faith, spent the extra money, and purchased a second voucher for the correct date. Multiple emails and follow-ups yielded no response, until I eventually used chat and email to explain the situation, where they repeatedly said lounge passes were non-refundable. My final email from them and every other correspondence completely ignores the information I received from their own system, which directly contradicts what they state is their no-refund policy. By issuing false instructions through their automated support, they have effectively double-charged me for a single lounge visit. I am now forced to claw my money back via a credit card chargeback. If you make a booking mistake, DO NOT buy a second voucher expecting this group to honor their word. Very disappointing experience.

Most incompetent use of AI to date. Refund for pre-booked seats not made. Chasing service team results in pointless messaging and forms, nothing gets done. AI wont put me through without full details then when I get a human they can't see the details. What an incompetent CTO Swiss Air must have.

Both flights were delayed, one by over two hours, another by one.

Return flight paid for carry on baggage was tagged without even asking me if it was OK to do so, and was given no opportunity to remove items for the cabin. Nobody took my bag from me - I was told to leave it "by the door". Which door? I got to the aircraft door only to be rebuked curtly and rudely by the cabin crew. All the while the overhead bins by my seat were almost empty.

Hey! Thank you so much for not loading our baggage on to the plane! Booked a vacay for 10 days in Cyprus for 10000€. At the moment it’s day 4, and we have yet not received our dear baggage that we were allegedly supposed to get us 2 days ago. Man y'all rock, thank you for wasting my vacation and money. Complete imbecile staff I would like to add aswell:)

Horrible customer experience.

I was forced in the counter to pay again for a luggage I had already included in my ticket and paid the day before, online. Not only was I charged again but I was charged excessively more (a checked in luggage of the biggest size possible to take a small luggage of 10 kg). Many days after reporting the case online, they only gave us back the money for the luggage we had already paid, not the extra price difference for the luggage we were forced to pay at the counter.

Besides, the guy working at the counter in Zurich was incredibly mean and told us that if we didn't pay he wouldn't let us get into the plane. It felt like we were being scammed. Horrible person.

What a disappointing company, not up to actual swiss standards.

The airline doesn't treat people equally. During the boarding people with the same ticket category as me were treated differently and were allowed their extra luggage as well as access to their luggage.
I reported it with their customer service, which took ages and there was not even a proper apology.

Discriminating!

I experienced a nightmare on a SWISS flight where the crew mocked my health issues and refused to let me move to an empty seat to avoid severe physical pain. After escalating this, SWISS officially admitted in writing that their staff's behavior was 'inappropriate' and lacked necessary empathy. However, despite admitting fault, they offer nothing but corporate platitudes and standard apologies. A premium airline that acknowledges it treated a passenger poorly but refuses to provide actual rectification is not a premium airline. Absolute failure of Swiss hospitality.

Unreliable and rude staff; not cheaper than other nicer airlines; tries to randomly charge you for extra things; bad service

I booked my flight online and read it repeatedly where it said I was allowed one personal item and one carry-on bag. I measured my suitcase to ensure it matches the carry-on dimensions. Then I get to the airport and the clerk tells me no such carry on is included in my ticket and I need to spend 70 CHF to check my bag. Which means I will have to do this on the way back too.

Secondly, rather than just giving me my boarding pass after I pay this inexcusable luggage fee, he sends me to wait in another long line just to print my boarding pass. Literally he printed a ticket to send with me to print another ticket, but only after waiting 15 more minutes in another line. And then THAT ticket machine breaks. In this moment, I'm still waiting.

I will do my best never to fly with Swiss Air again.