Swiss International Air Lines Reviews 2,883

Does not matter you fly 40 mins or 6 hours you will hate it. Monday morning they can not prepare the plane properly or their international planes are old as f, even easyjet can be more comfortable at this point

I am a Swiss citizen and fly regularly internationally with my home airport being ZRH - I am sorry to say, but I now avoid having our travel agency book me on Swiss flights; I would rather choose TA, UA or DL, but not LH or LX. My last experience, flying from CPH to ZRH, just supported this - with my luggage getting lost with the return flight, there is nobody, and I mean no one reachable, no updates, no help, no support, nothing - Ground Handling passes the buck to the airline and that is it - just sad how I am being treated as a 2nd highest tier member of their frequent flyer program. I reached out to the company's COO, the issue being that there apparently is no process for the "chain of custody" for customer property in place, in my case, gross negligence, as my luggage was swiped off the belt upon arrival in ZRH —you would think he would delegate someone to look into the situation—but nothing. The luggage, 3 weeks now passed, is still unaccounted for. There is no way to reach anyone to get an update or initiate the payment with the airline for my loss—unsatisfactory, unprofessional, a hassle for me to get what I am owed due to this situation. I've had luggage lost before; it always made its way to me, but not this time... just not happy at all about paying premium pricing and getting no service or support, my 2 cents...

Utter scum airline, totally useless

Nice flight, kind and professional crew, 30 min delay on one of the two flights LHR - GVA. The delicious small chocolate offered is a nice touch, but please STOP offering hundreds of single-use plastic water bottles to all passengers who did not ask for them. It is 2025 and you should be showing more commitment towards sustainability! Offer biodegradable paper cups instead and serve water from big bottles to passengers who actually need it or ask for it! Be responsible, please. It's good for both the planet and business.

Very good flight attendants, but not much else. Regular seats were way too small and rows too close together for anyone over 5' 10" and 150 lbs. And if the person next to you is large, their shoulders, arms, and legs or knees will be in your space and touching you the whole flight. Just experienced this on 12-hour flight from Zurich to Los Angeles. Also there were no air vents. So sitting in a window seat on the sunny side of the plane can be very warm, even with the shades down. The bathrooms too were poor. Nothing but toilet paper to blow your nose or dry your hands. Other than the Marche restaurant, the Zurich airport and boarding process was likewise surprisingly bad. Nowhere to sit or charge phones or tablets. Also, we had to show a passport 3 times to get to the gate and board the plane. And everyone was forced to stand or sit on the floor for almost an hour in line to board.

Its really unfortunate that i have to resort to trustpilot, I have waited two months now to get my compensation for swissair loosing my luggage during my holiday. Its 2+ months now and still haven’t heard from them, all emails iam sending to their ‘customerfeedback’ email address are not getting delivered, even with the correct reference numbers etc, its sooo frustrating. They promised to get back to me but still morhing 😡😡

This will be the Last time iam traveling with swiss. Get your service together!!!

Flight cancelled in the morning without any explanation

I’m extremely disappointed by Swiss International Air Lines. In June, my flight was cancelled and the alternative arrangements were a complete disaster. We were kept waiting at the airport for nearly 3 hours, then bussed to another city, checked into a hotel at 2:30 AM, and had to take two more connecting flights the next morning (Bologna to Frankfurt to Zurich).
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, I am legally entitled to €250 compensation. Swiss acknowledged this in writing and sent a link to claim it, but the link never worked. I contacted them more than four times. Every time, a different person replied asking me to summarise the whole situation again, as if they had no record or interest in following through. Since my last email in July, I have received no response at all.
I also incurred €218.10 in extra costs (missed train and taxi due to the disruption). No reimbursement. No explanation.
Total owed: €468.10
Total responses: repetitive and pointless
Final result: no refund, no resolution
It feels like Swiss is just waiting for customers to get tired and give up. Maybe this amount means nothing to them because of how much they already make from their passengers, but it is unacceptable to ignore people, especially loyal customers.
In Switzerland, we are effectively held hostage by a company that behaves like a monopoly. They charge more, deliver less, and show no accountability when something goes wrong.
Swiss's treatment of customers is shameful. I am desperately posting this publicly because private complaints go absolutely nowhere.

Extremely Disappointing and Frustrating Experience with Swiss Airlines

I had one of the most frustrating travel experiences with Swiss Airlines on my recent flight from Hamburg to Zurich. I was forced to dispatch my carry-on despite it fully complying with all size and weight regulations. There was no flexibility, no willingness to listen, and absolutely zero communication from the ground staff — they were simply not open to any conversation.

To make matters worse, they gave me no baggage tag or locker number, even though the bag was being checked all the way to Brazil, an international destination where proper tracking is extremely important. I now have no control or visibility over my luggage, which is completely unacceptable.

This level of customer service is shockingly poor for a so-called premium airline. Swiss needs to seriously reconsider how it trains its ground teams — treating passengers this way is disrespectful and unprofessional.

Avoid if you expect basic respect, communication, or accountability from an airline.

I bought two tickets for my mother and sister with SWISS. The company assured me that a 45-minute layover in Zurich would be enough to connect to their flight to São Paulo. That turned out to be a lie.
The incoming flight was delayed, without proper announcements, and as a result, they missed the connection. When they needed help most, customer service was nowhere to be found. The staff on-site acted indifferent, leaving my mom — a woman of certain age — and my sister to wander around the airport until almost 2 a.m. without assistance. That stress alone was unacceptable.
The next morning was even worse. Without any clear communication, SWISS had transferred them to an early flight on TAP to Porto, Portugal. They only found out at the airport, after barely three hours of sleep. The Porto flight itself was another nightmare, completely unworthy of what you expect when you pay SWISS prices.
Afterwards, I tried to reach SWISS for compensation. The entire process was a circle of automated replies and scripted excuses. It feels like no human being ever actually reads complaints. They hide behind “policies,” “Montreal conventions,” and other fine print to avoid accountability. You technically “have rights,” but in practice you don’t. The way they manipulate the system is disrespectful, shameful, and downright disgusting.
For the price I paid, this was an insult. I honestly feel robbed. SWISS trades on its reputation, but the reality is worse than many low-cost carriers. They are greedy, indifferent to passengers, and absolutely not worth your money.
I will never fly SWISS again, and I strongly recommend others avoid them as well. The only way to stop companies like this from treating passengers like cattle is to stand up, speak out, and refuse to accept their behavior. Until then, they’ll keep ripping people off blind.

As a Senator Gold member who spends thousands annually with Star Alliance, I’ve reached a breaking point. If you value a stress-free journey, especially with connections, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere.

​Let me be fair: the food on Swiss and Austrian business class can be surprisingly good, and the cabin crews are generally polite and professional. But these small comforts are completely overshadowed by the alliance's fundamental failure in its primary duty: getting you from A to B smoothly.

​My recent trip from Amman to Zurich via Vienna is a perfect example. Our first flight was delayed, leaving a dangerously short connection time. The onboard crew, while sympathetic, were blunt: the airline "wouldn't care" if we missed our connection. They were right.

​Upon landing in Vienna, there was no assistance. No one to help with the transfer. I had to sprint through the airport, cut queues at passport control, and rush through security again. I arrived at the gate sweating and out of breath just moments before it closed. This wasn't a one-off; it has become the norm for my Star Alliance flights recently, including trips to and from Amman and Mexico City.

​Here's the bottom line: Star Alliance will sell you a premium ticket promising comfort and convenience, but when things go wrong, you are on your own. They will not hold a plane for 10 minutes to save you from a night stranded in a hotel. They will not have staff assist you through the airport. You, the customer, are expected to absorb all the stress and anxiety caused by their operational delays.

​What's the point of a comfortable seat if you're too stressed and exhausted from running through an airport to enjoy it? The core promise of premium travel is peace of mind, and on that front, Star Alliance has repeatedly and completely failed. My loyalty feels worthless, and I am now seriously considering taking my business to an airline that actually values its customers' time and well-being. Travellers, be warned.

Business class flight from Zurich (ZRH) to NYC (JFK) exceeded my expectations in every way and was actually better than my two previous First Class flight experiences with Delta One and Virgin Atlantic. The plane was on time, the crew was exceptionally welcoming and solicitous and the food was very well prepared and of high quality. The plane, Airbus 330 was immaculate, well equipped and very comfortable. A very smooth flight. The lounge was very good, and although not on par with the Delta One lounge at JFK, it was clean and comfortable with many food choices. The baggage pickup was quick and problem free.

This was by far the worst flight experience I have ever had. Swiss Air Lines outright cheated me at the airport: At the check-in counter, a staff member told me that for the small overweight of my large suitcase I could either pay an extra fee or put the overweight items into a bag, which I would then be allowed to take on board together with my hand luggage at no extra cost. But at boarding, as the last passenger, I was suddenly stopped and forced to pay €70 for that very same bag!

When I rightfully asked why this information had not been communicated correctly at check-in and why it directly contradicted what the check-in staff had told me, the gate agent reacted disrespectfully – as if it was my fault and not the result of Swiss Air Lines’ total lack of transparency and the incompetence of their own employees. At that point – just one minute before boarding – it was clear that I could no longer simply leave the small excess weight behind at the airport, so I had no choice but to submit to this shameless rip-off. On top of that, I was forced to check in my trolley at the gate, even though there was still plenty of space available in the overhead bins.

But the scam did not end there: Because I was forced to check in my hand luggage against my will, my most valuable electronic device inside the trolley was severely damaged during transport. I filed a complaint with the airline – their response was a slap in the face. Instead of taking responsibility for their fault in damaging my luggage, they flat-out refused any compensation and simply ignored their own misconduct – despite my repeated, detailed arguments and evidence.

From an airline that charges significantly higher ticket prices than many competitors, I would have at least expected customer satisfaction and service to be a top priority. Instead, what you encounter here is nothing but greed, lack of transparency, and indifference towards passengers.

I have had far better experiences even with low-cost airlines – none of them have ever been this petty about a tiny bit of overweight luggage or this careless with baggage as Swiss. This airline is the exact opposite of what one would expect from a reputable “Swiss” service provider.

Conclusion: Stay away from Swiss Air Lines! Booking with them means risking not only being ripped off, but also having your luggage damaged and facing an arrogant refusal to take responsibility for blatant misconduct. This flight was an expensive lesson for me – and I sincerely hope that no one reading this review falls into the same trap!

I only give them two credits. They charge a lot for a flight, which is not direct and operated for the first portion by a different company. 4 hrs to wait for a connection flight short curses and charge 350 euros (100 euros for sute luggage), that's definitely too much for an ordinary airline. In fact, the service is more likely low cost, than ordinary.

Our flight was cancelled and we were given around 3 hours notice. We were on the train on the way to the airport. We understand that weather conditions can be changeable and have had flights cancelled at Zurich airport before. Our booking was automatically changed to another route which involved a stop over which we did not want to do. We spoke to customer services in the check in area and it looked like it was the only option available so we relented and accepted that booking. When we went through into departures and started making our way to the gate, the flight we had booked on was showing as delayed and we would not have been able to make the connecting flight. We spoke to customer services in the departures area. The team leader's attitude to us was awful and unhelpful. In the end, the best they were able to offer was flights the next day, but we had to be in Berlin early the next morning. We took an overnight train instead. They cancelled the tickets and told us we would be refunded immediately. Almost 2 months later, we are still waiting for our refund. Shame on you Swiss International Air Lines.

SWISS delayed my bag for over 24 hours with no updates. At IAD, the baggage agent told me to scan a QR code that didn’t work and moved on when I said so. The online tracking form had no contact info, leaving me with no way to reach anyone. Now delivery is scheduled for 2 AM to a locked building — a final insult to already poor service. DOT complaint filed

They left us stranded in Boston at midnight with no agent to help us. Other airlines that underwent same issue and had to detour to Boston due to bad weather, hired buses and took passengers to NJ which was the original destination. We, the Swiss air passengers had to sleep at the airport with no help whatsoever. Scrambling to book a train to take us to NJ was very difficult. The lack of care was disappointing. In addition, the seats are extremely small and I am a slim person (5'4"). It strikes like a cheap company to me, which is disappointing as I expected more from a Swiss company. Not impressed at all!!

I had my flight on 31.08 from portugal to zurich and there were some situations happening in the plain where you could see how the most of the attendents can’t menage situations, or can’t deal with the clients and don’t find solutions for the problems that were made from the company. In my case on of the flight attendents (a young boy) just hit my harm when was passing in through the hall and says nothing, no appolagies and then stands in front of me attending the talking with someone and looking to me as if nothing happened. All the flight attendents were walking in the hall in a very stressfull way as if not getting attention about everything happening around them. I saw that they were young and nervous but if you can’t deal with the clients and do your job properly maybe you shouldn’t work with people.

Shambles airline: way overpriced for service more like EasyJet or Ryanair. The staff are disinterested, service is dreadful all around - in the way they manage bags and weight limits etc. Avoid, you are burning money.

I thought SWISS was a good airline. I purchased a ticket from Abu Dhabi to Porto. The first leg was operated by Etihad, which was excellent, but the second leg was on a low-cost airline from Zurich to Porto. I paid a premium fare, so I expected premium service. Instead, on this so-called partner airline, not even water was included—everything was charged separately, just like Ryanair or any other budget carrier. If you’re going to be so stingy, why charge premium prices while offering third-rate service?

Also, the ‘Flex’ ticket is misleading. It’s neither refundable nor cancellable; only the date can be changed. I purchased ticket due to Flex option, otherwise I would have chosen Etihad myself.

Overall, SWISS does not live up to its name.