I asked the mods to change the title from "Swiss Air...". Swiss Air (SR) stopped flying in 2002. It's either Swiss or Swiss International Air Lines (LX).

Please don't be put off by my LX precision.

PG- make sure your PNR (passenger name record) is documented, calling/going in with an employees name will mean nothing to the person you speak to next if it is not.

***
Airline personnel can and will help people, but an airline is a business. If anyone buys a non-refundable/non-modifiable ticket don't be surprised if it goes against you. Swiss has mix and max tickets that allow flexibility and are clearly explained on their website.

Noit quite right. That airline of years long gone was called Swissair, not Swiss Air.

Just to cement my impression of the airline with the red flag and white cross and their pricing lunacy.

I'm booking a holiday to dubai:
ZRH - DXB £878.42
MAN - ZRH - DXB £479 BOTH FLIGHTS WITH SWIS PICKING UP THE SAME FLIGHT IN ZRH!!!!
A one way ticket with sleasy jest and an o/n at Manchester airport Premier Inn £77

So spending a night in Manchester, with decent curry & beer and a chance to get some cheap shopping at the Trafford centre is £332.42 pp cheaper than flying from Zurich with Swiss... so thanks red flag with a white cross for making my GP weekend tickets free.

EDIT: actual flying time a couple of hour longer either way

In no universe does that kind of pricing policy make sense! Crazy.

Like I said earlier, you won't be allowed to commence your journey in ZRH. You must board that flight from MAN. On the way back, you can easily ask at check-in if you could have your luggage back in ZRH.

Like I posted... "So spending a night in Manchester, with decent curry & beer and a chance to get some cheap shopping at the Trafford centre is £332.42 pp cheaper than flying from Zurich with Swiss... so thanks red flag with a white cross for making my GP weekend tickets free"... so that is included

It's normal in the Airline business.
Directs from a "Legacy Carrier's" homebase are often more expensive than a journey originating away from the base.

Local markets will never fill the ZRH-DXB leg. Never. Swiss needs the business...

also because people in CH are prepared to pay more for flights than in UK where competition is higher. I have noticed that swiss nationals are prepared to spend more to travel with a swiss airline than a foreign one

e.g. swiss vs thai to BKK.

swiss flight is in the evening approx 2230 arrives late afternoon in BKK, flight is mostly full.
thai leaves lunchtime arrives early morning in BKK.
thai is cheaper has better service and seats, seats always free on ZRH-BKK routing

I've flown Thai a few times and I would choose Thai over many airlines, especially Swiss.

yep the busines service and seat on thai zrh-bkk route is far better than the swiss seat.

thai came round with water every 30 - 45 mins with water in business and eco. Swiss came round twice on the same route, says it all really

Sorry off topic but I concur with the above. Might be a sweeping generalisation here but I find most reputable 'Asian' airlines offer far superior service to their western counterparts. Namely, Thai, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. How many times have I been on Qantas or BiAtch and had some matron give me death eyes for requesting a drink.... or the first and only time I flew Swiss first class and they served me a vegetarian meal because they ran out of meat. Fair enough really, but when I asked, as they did not explain it at first - I looked at my plate of bean sprouts and boiled carrots, compared it to all my neighbours' succulent roast beefs and said 'what is going on here' they said, oh we've run out of meat dishes. Suffice to say the vege option was a distant second to the tasty grub everyone else was eating in first. I was mildly aggrieved.

Yeah I see where they're coming from now. Thanks for the insight.

I was on a plane to Singapore two weeks ago on Singapore Airlines, one of the best IMHO. Next to me a Swiss couple, we are sitting in the last third of the plane (in economy). Naturally, we are some of the last people to get lunch. Unfortunately, they ran out of one of the options, so no, there is unfortunately no chicken left. Every normal person would tell the friendly stweardess "then I take the pork/beef/whatever it was...", but no, not Mr. Swiss. "I want chicken!" "Sorry, but I do not have any chicken left." "That's not my problem!" "Well, I will ask my colleagues and be right back".... unfortunately did they not have any chicken left either and I had to listen to about two hours of "this service is terrible here", "this would never EVER happen on a SWISS flight..." and "honey, I said from the start we should not fly with a crap airline"... I have flown SWISS very frequently for years and received less professional and less friendly service in business class than in eco on Singaporean.

It happened to me! In first class! and they even tried to avoid telling me!

In a nutshell, and back on topic; Swiss are good but they are not Great.

Yup. A few times I got off Singapore Airlines/Malaysian/Cathay/Thai economy class one week and fly Swiss Business the following week... and feel cheated.

On 2 of my last return flights with Swiss (LAX-ZRH and BKK-ZRH) they ran out of food choice when they came to me. No big problem.

Then on SQ last year they ran out of food choice, so they said they would ask their colleagues downstairs on the A380, but no luck. Then the lady in the Red Kebaya (chief stewardess) came to me with a bottle of champagne and apologised because they should have noted that I am "star gold" so should have at least asked me a bit earlier before they ran out. Wow. And I am actually Star Gold with the Swiss Miles & More, and I got nothing like this when I was flying Swiss!!

i find swiss absolutely brilliant. i fly frequently basel-hamburg and im happy. how do you define service? what service does one want?
going online, top usability, booking, paying, airport, credit card quick check in. pass the sec check, on time boarding, clean seat, on time landing. a drink? ok, why not. do i really need one on a 1.5h flight? na, not really. i want nobody to speak to me but the allowence to leave my ipod on. im absorbed in my music n book. so what the f.*ck?

big difference between short and long haul though.

whats the difference? ok, you need meals that should be good and with the right size of portion. maybe a pillow, blanket, free drinks. and?
what is the service about people are talking of, demanding?

One of the nicest flights I went on was on TWA from (I think) Kansas City to Branson in Missouri. Hostesses were friendly and helpful - and had time for a chat with the passengers. I once flew SAS business from Heathrow to Stavanger - some of the best in-flight catering IMHO.

Also remember flying KLM business Rome to Amsterdam - it was a morning flight and I got fresh scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast.

Crossair used to have nice service too - and not so expensive.

Cheers,
Nick

Swiss is still one of the best European airlines in terms of service. Swiss Business on long haul is one of the few airlines in Europe to offer flat beds (180 deg - no tilt)

The other factor in its favour is that it mainly operates through Zurich ( which I would rate as one of the best airports in Europe)

Flights with stop overs are structurally priced lower to maximise the occupancy on the long haul sectors. A more appropriate comparison for DXB - ZRH would be between Swiss and Emirates from Zurich direct or MAN - ZRH - DXB on Swiss and MAN - DXB direct on Emirates.