Swiss International Air Lines Reviews 2,883

Harassed by staff while pregnant – zero accountability from SWISS Airlines
I travelled with my husband from Copenhagen to Zurich on 24 February 2026 (flight LX1267, departing 09:50) and this was one of the worst experiences I have ever had as a passenger.
Misleading pet policy. We travelled with a dog and a cat. The website states animals are allowed, but fails to mention the process requires calling customer service after booking — a service that is nearly impossible to reach and gave us incorrect information when we did.
Delays caused entirely by the airline. Despite arriving three hours early, we were made to fill out documents at check-in that had never been communicated to us in advance, and then made to wait a long time for our cat to be processed. I am pregnant. By the time we reached Gate A12, we had barely any time left — through no fault of our own.
Aggressive and unprofessional staff. A female ground staff member at the gate, who gave her name as "Danielle," falsely told us the gate was closed and we had missed the flight. When I calmly noted that the delays were the airline's responsibility, she shouted at me in front of other passengers. I asked for her full name and badge number — a basic right — and she deliberately hid her badge and refused. When I said I would file a report, she left her desk and followed me down the jet bridge, continuing to harass me while I was walking as fast as I could, pregnant and carrying luggage with no wheels. Three male staff members then appeared behind me, one walking so close he was nearly stepping on my heels.
I filed a complaint with SWISS Airlines immediately. I have received no response.
This is not just poor service — it is a failure of basic passenger safety, transparency, and human decency. I am now escalating to the Danish Civil Aviation Authority under EU Regulation EC 261/2004.

Marketed as Premium, Operates Like a Budget Airline

Booked through United and had zero issues on the first leg — bags checked, no surprises. Then came the Swiss connection.

Despite being a United partner on the same itinerary, Swiss pulled me aside at the gate and charged $125 to check a bag I’d already been traveling with the entire trip. I wasn’t alone — nearly 100 other passengers on the same flight were hit with the same shakedown. The frustration on that jetway was palpable.

This is exactly the kind of nickel-and-diming you’d expect from a Spirit or Ryanair, not an airline positioning itself as a premium European carrier. If you’re connecting through a partner and think your baggage agreement carries over — it doesn’t with Swiss. They will find the gap and charge you for it.

The policy feels deliberately designed to catch connecting passengers off guard. Low quality move from an airline that clearly used to have higher standards.

If you have any flexibility in routing, avoid Swiss. What was once a respectable carrier has quietly become an overpriced budget airline with a legacy brand coat of paint.

Do not book with this airline. They and Edelweiss airlines are horrible. They cancel flights and ruin holidays without any caring.

The worst airline ever ! They will leave you stranded if you have connecting flights, make various promises about accommodation and then make you pay for your own. Avoid at all costs.

What a terrible experience with Swiss business class. Terrible. I will never fly Swiss again.

Flight was advertised as a “senses” flight. Not even close. I didn’t even have a USB-C plug to charge my laptop and phone.. on a business flight. What????

Massage functions and lumbar barely worked.

I grt this is all fancy stuff, but if I am paying a latge amount for business class I expect everything to work.

Then, 1/3rd into the flight they brought a sick lady and put her in the empty seat / bed next to me. Imagine having someone vomit next to you as you are eating your dinner. Felt bad for the lady but there were other empty seats they could have moved me to so that she could have more privacy.

They also charged me for a bag, even though it was absolutely included in my allowance. So fed up with Swiss. Crap airline.

As a Swiss customer who flies SWISS regularly, I have to say I’ve become quite disappointed with the airline lately. For a premium national carrier, too much of the product feels outdated.
The biggest issue on short-haul flights is the seating concept in the front cabin. Simply blocking the middle seat is not a real Business seat product. It feels outdated and more like a workaround than an actual upgrade. SWISS should seriously consider introducing proper seats on short-haul routes. I am convinced many passengers would happily pay for a genuinely improved experience instead of just an empty middle seat.
Another point is the cabin crew. The service often feels a bit too casual and not always strictly professional. At times I personally felt that some passengers were treated differently depending on their age or appearance, which was disappointing to see.
Food is decent overall, although I do miss the complimentary sandwiches SWISS used to offer. I understand that Sprüngli sandwiches are now available for purchase on board, which sounds like a nice idea, although I have not tried them myself since I have not flown Economy in a while.
Another weak point is Helvetic, which operates some flights for SWISS. The cabin in particular feels very outdated and honestly quite uncomfortable. This part of the fleet urgently needs an update.
Overall SWISS is still a solid airline, but for the prices they often charge, the product no longer feels as competitive as it should be. In many cases you can simply take a short connection through another hub and end up flying long-haul in a much better Business Class product for half the price, sometimes even less.

Terrible airline. Often overbooked (more often than low cost airlines), often late, downgrade your class without any notice, difficult to join on the phone... avoid whenever possible

My family of 4 flew Swiss from Athens to Zurich early morning at 07:00 am on March 8,2026. The crew offered snack bag for 4 euro. No free chips nor anything just water. What a Cheap Airlines. Do Not Fly dirt bag cheap low class Swiss airlines

I encountered an employee named C. de Freiter at Zurich Airport whose behavior was unprofessional and discourteous. I felt that her attitude did not meet the standard one would expect in a customer service role. I hope management addresses this issue for the benefit of future customers.

I had a very disappointing experience with Swiss International Air Lines during the Christmas period. My flight from Zurique to São Paulo - Brazil was cancelled while my family and I were already at the airport, and the situation was handled extremely poorly.

There was no clear communication and no staff available to assist passengers. We spent some time trying to find someone who could help us, and it honestly felt like we might have to spend Christmas Eve at the airport. When we finally managed to speak to a staff member, he was rude and avoided explaining why the flight had been cancelled without any prior notice.

Eventually, we were sent to a hotel and given food vouchers worth only 20 Swiss francs. When we arrived, the hotel kitchen was already closed, so the only option available was microwave food. It’s unrealistic to think that 20 francs is enough to cover a proper meal in Zurique.

To make matters worse, I was 4 months pregnant at the time and feeling very unwell due to the stress. My blood pressure dropped, and the whole situation was extremely difficult for me. My 78-year-old grandmother was also travelling with us, and despite this, there was no assistance provided to reach the hotel. We had to walk there with our luggage. While the distance itself wasn’t very long, carrying heavy bags made it exhausting.

Our flight to Brazil was eventually rescheduled for 25 December. However, because of this cancellation we missed our connecting flight from São Paulo to our final destination in Brazil. We lost £314 on new tickets because the airline said their responsibility was only to get us to São Paulo — everything after that was our responsibility. In addition to buying new tickets, we also had to pay for a hotel in São Paulo since there were no flights available to our final destination anymore.

Overall, it was a very stressful and unfair experience, especially considering the circumstances, the time of year, and the vulnerable passengers involved. I expected far better assistance and customer care from the airline.

Long waiting lines (+2h), extremely rude (the name of the customer service person is Zora), not efficient, they lied saying they would send a document via email and they did not. She hang up on my online with a very unpolite and condescending manner, while I had been nice and polite towards her.
SWISS, you better check out your CS processes and systems. Your in flight chocolates do not make up for such bad experiences!

My flight recently got cancelled and I have had the WORST experiences dealing with their customer service , never in my life will I fly with Swiss again , customer service , each agent says something else all trying to avoid the bigger picture

Charged me over £500 to change booking. I transposed the middle and surname of one of 7 passengers in my group booking. I had booked a "flexible" fare that allowed rebooking. I was initially told by customer service that there would be no charge as I had a flexible ticket. But they then changed their minds and forced me to cancel and rebuy as their definition of "rebooking" does not allow corrections to names. Because of delays caused by their own confusion, the ticket price had risen and I was forced to pay £540 to rebuy the same flight.

If I could leave zero stars, I would. We experienced a medical emergency at 10pm the evening before our flight that required emergency surgery for two of the four passengers. We immediately notified Swiss Air that those travelers were no longer able to fly.

We submitted extensive documentation, including two separate physician letters, urgent care reports, and EOBs. Despite this, the airline insisted on a vague requirement for a “stamp” on a hospital-letterhead letter—something the hospital itself said they had never heard of and could not provide.

Swiss Air ultimately denied our refund request, issued only 1/8 of the ticket value, and claimed to the credit card company that the ticket had been used. They maintained the fare was non-refundable regardless of a documented medical emergency.

This experience was frustrating, insensitive, and deeply disappointing. In a genuine medical crisis, we expected basic compassion and reasonable accommodation—not bureaucratic obstacles and inaccurate claims. I would strongly caution others when booking with this airline.

Flight was delayed and 10 days ago, I reported damaged baggage from my last flight, and I still haven’t received any update.

Terrible experience. I will never book with them again. I got an offer via email to upgrade to business, called first thing in the morning on the next day and they told me that, even when the email indicated that I had to call them to upgrade, it was not possible and I should do it directly at the airport. Once in the airport, they explained that could not do it either and had to do it during my transfer at Zurich. Third attempt at the transfer desk in Zurich and they tried to charge me more than the offer received. They told me that, to respect the offer, the crew at the plane would do it for me. 4th attempt: We are boarding and ask the crew to proceed with the upgrade. Again they tell me it is not possible to respect my offer. They said that all their 3 colleagues before that told me that the offer would be respected were wrong…. They basically destroyed the start of our holidays with this terrible and disastrous organisation.

Staff is nice, food is average, very old aircraft

We were booked on a flight from Manchester to Zurich with a connecting flight from Zurich to Singapore to join a cruise ship to Sydney. Our baggage didn’t make the connecting flight.
This could have been a disaster as you can imagine.
But what actually happened was this: Swiss air told us as soon as they could, they reassured us, they kept in touch and when they located our bags got them on the next flight out. Then delivered them to our hotel.
It’s always easy to make a fuss and complain whilst forgetting that there can be other contributing factors outside of the Company’s control. Mistakes can happen but it’s how you deal with things afterwards that makes the difference.
I would like to say thank you to all the staff who worked so hard to get our holiday back on track.

I tried to check in at the counter, when the check-in assistant gave my seat to a crew member instead and told me right after that the flight was overbooked. I therefore was denied boarding my international flight (Bangkok-Geneva) while the extra crew member took my seat and I landed a day later because of this. They did not apologise for it at all or explain why my seat was given to the crew member instead. When I asked for at least an apology for the inconvenience from the check-in assistant, she noted she was not to blame for the overbooking. Terrible service. Does not represent Switzerland well on international stage.

In July 2025, my connecting flight was cancelled. They offered an alternative 24 hours later, which was impossible since I don’t live in that city. I had to pay for a hotel and drive 9 hours from Zurich to Barcelona to visit a seriously ill family member before it was too late.

At the airport and over the phone, they would pay compensation of 250€ x 2 persons. It’s been 7 months and they IGNORE ALL my emails. Sleeping in Zurich, and getting on my own to BCN cost me way more than 500€. Total disrespect!