Swiss Air

The number of landings and takeoffs are equal so it's good.

Honestly, there's not much difference between any of them and ALL of them have people who have had great expereinces and poeple who "won't ever fly them again"

I flew them within Europe a couple of times in the past few years and they were fine. They even gave you a free sandwich. (Something that no longer happens on American based carriers flying within the US!)

In the past we flew United and Lufthansa, then in Europe we flew Berlin Air. We found Lufthansa and Berlin Air to be very nice and really didn't like United at all. We have heard that European carriers are much better than US and found that true also. But, wonder if Swiss would be considered one of the nicer ones too. Anyone flown with them?

I have flown Swiss Air once, it was very nice. Nothing to fear. It's better than United. A bonus is you'll change planes in Zurich. The airport was a really spacious, pleasant, easy-to-navigate with comfortable public spaces. More importantly it was easy and quick to go from International gates to EU gates.

Weird Detail: We could never confirm our seats. Every time we called them they gave us a different story and assured us our seats are together. The operator always said the person we spoke to previously "didn't understand the layout of the plane." Of course, when we checked in at LAX our seats weren't together and the man at the counter said "the person I talked to didn't understand the layout of this plane." Hilarious and maddening.

When we got on board no one was in the seat they requested so they shuffled eight of us around. It worked out but, I hate to leave things to the last minute like that.

Like many foreign airlines, they only check in one flight a day in LA so their counter is only open prior to that flight-- so since you can't check in online, don't get to the airport too, too early or you can't get through security. I guess that goes without saying, but it was an issue for us on that flight. We had to get there early for other reasons. That shouldn't be a problem for you. It might make a difference if you are are code-sharing on another flight into LAX prior to your International leg of the flight.

I would fly Swiss Air again.

Flew it last October from LAX to Florence via Zurich. Got a fantastic deal and I have no complaints. I had no trouble confirming my seat for the transatlantic flight- that was the one i cared about since the other one was only an hour. Flights were right on time, staff nice, food decent. Agree on Zurich airport, really efficient. Definitely would recommend them!

My wife and I are flying SWISS in March to Florence via Zurich from ORD.
We have used SWISS at least a dozen times,{my relatives live in CH},and they have been top shelf.

I've only flew to Europe 3 times so far...I flew Swiss Air direct to Zurich out of Boston last Spring (round trip). Compared to the seats in economy on Virgin Atlantic we had a lot more space. Food was pretty tasty too compared. We flew Finnair via Helsinki into Poland - we hated that airline and decided we will do whatever we can in the future not to fly them. Both of the planes were very old (too old) and the seats needed to be replaced - it was awful (and we sat in more than one seat (1/2 empty plane) - padding gone, bumpy, etc.

We too couldn't get seats confirmed on Swiss Air - you can request they told us but they will not confirm them. They explained to me last year it was a policy thing and they have had so many issues with very angry passengers when they have had to move people (for various reasons) after confirming seats. So, in order to avoid that they take requests but don't confirm until you check in. We got what we requested so we were happy. They take note of folks traveling together apparently so it's usually not a huge deal.

Edit: Flying into Zurich was the easiest we've done so far - 4 people, picking up checked bags, through passport control, confirming train tickets at a window - under 20 minutes!

While living/working in Holland for a few years before, during and after Swiss Air's financial difficulties, I'd be flying within Europe about 2-3 times per week using mostly Swiss, Austrian, Lufthansa and Alitalia. Hands down Swiss, IMO, was the best and Zurich airport the easiest, slickest to transit.

When stuck in Zurich one nite because of flight cancelling weather, they put us up at their Swisshotel near the airport and that too was a treat. They ran the hotel, and the restaurant within, as well as they did their airline.

Used them again last year on two flights with connections in Zurich and the "new" Swiss airline and Zurich airport have only gotten better. As a bonus I learned that if you're flying in the morning, they continue to serve their delicious, warm, mini-croissants along with their usual cold breakfast (which isn't bad either).

I have flown Swess a few times and thought it was pretty good. It was not until I recently flew to munich on a US carrier and home on Swiss from Zurich did I realize the difference. Much more room, tons of food, a great dinner, ice cream, hot towels, chocolate then a light meal of a wrap. We were able to watch TV or pick from a choice of several movies the entire time. On the other airline it was one movie and that's it.
Big difference from the cattle car I was on.

Bon Voyage,
TK

I just flew with Swiss from ORD to MAD in late November and found this airline offered the best transatlantic I've taken. Legroom on new A330 better than on older A340, but both were good. Entertainment system was top notch...offerings better on new A330 than A340. Food similar to other airlines...nothing special, but Swiss chocolates and warm towels were nice touch. Food provided on intra-Europe flights at no charge. FAs were very professional on all segments. BTW, they won the best airline in Europe award for 2009 from Skytrax. They're now on the top of my list as I research fares for an upcoming trip. The only issue was that our seat assignments changed three times before our trip. I only noticed the changes because I double-checked assignments before we left. No big deal...was able to select new assignments upon check-in online, but it's probably something to keep an eye on. I recommend using Swiss.

One caveat about Swiss. We flew them in '08 and expected to get United mileage credit because Swiss is a "Star Alliance" carrier. After our trip we were told that they did not give credit for our class of coach tickets - which were standard price fully paid tickets bought through Expedia.

We were not informed ahead of time that our tickets did not qualify, and our Mileage Plus numbers were printed on our boarding passes!

So my advice - if mileage credit is an issue for you - book directly with Swiss and make sure your tickets qualify.

As far as the planes, service, etc, they were fine. Zurich airport is very good although its shops will make you think you're on Rodeo Drive.