The uncertainty of flying Swissair

Swissair have a quirky policy which means that people who have bought and paid for a flight are not guaranteed a seat on the flight they have booked.

On my recent holiday to Lucerne we arrived at Birmingham airport check-in desk in good time only to be told that the plane was full!!  We were advised that we could check our baggage in and proceed to the boarding gate where 10 people were already waiting to see if they could get on the flight or we could volunteer to go on a different flight…

We were told that Swissair policy was to overbook flights by 10% and that people who checked in on-line (which is only available 24 hours before the flight) got priority.  I think this policy quite outrageous, it means that people who are not able to check in on-line are not guaranteed a flight even if they have paid for their flight in advance.

We asked what would happen if we volunteered, and after listening to one half of a lengthy phone call we were told that if we chose to volunteer we would get 250 Euros each in compensation. We were then told that we would have to proceed to the boarding gate first to see if we could get on the plane.  At this stage Mr C said, if you send us down there we are getting on the plane!!

We were then asked to wait 20 minutes to see if  any spaces left due to passengers not turning up at the boarding gate.  After 20 minutes we went back and after a bit more pantomime they assessed that that there were three places left on the plane and three people at the gate waiting on standby so there really was no room for us and we were sent over to another desk to claim our compensation and to be booked onto a Lufthansa flight which meant a change in Frankfurt.

We got to the Lufthansa check-in desk, checked our baggage in and the tickets were printed off.  It was only at this point the Lufthansa representative realised that one of our tickets for the connecting flight was only a standby ticket!!  The flight was not guaranteed!!  He was rather miffed that Swissair were overbooking the Lufthansa flight.

All this messing around meant that we did not get the breakfast we had planned at Birmingham airport. I had just enough time to grab some fruit and a fruit juice before it was time to board the plane.  The meal on the flight was a croissant with a slab of chocolate inside and a choice of drink.  I chose water which was served to me in a thimble sized glass.

The flight itself was the worst I have ever been on. The plane “wobbled” all over the place and left me feeling rather dizzy and when there was a sudden bout of turbulence, I thought I was going to pass out.  The lack of food and water was contributory to this.

There was no chance of food at Frankfurt airport due to trying to turn the standby ticket into an actual ticket, but at least I managed to grab a bottle of water and we were expecting food on the flight.

After checking through security once again we managed to get onto the flight. It was a much smoother flight but there was no food on offer.  I sat between two German/Swiss businessmen and exchanged pleasantries (in English) with one of them who mentioned that he was surprised the flight was so full.  I was able to explain why!

We knew we would have the problem of trying to check in on-line (somehow) for our homeward journey, which brings me back to the final evening of our holiday:

Earlier, we had tried to check in online for our return flight with the intention of avoiding the problems we had incurred on our outward journey. Technology problems made this a little difficult so we abandoned it until after dinner when I insisted we try again!  We checked in successfully only three hours after the earliest time that we could have and took the last two seats that were adjacent to each other.  We also noticed that very few seats remained available after we had secured ours. I wonder how many people didn’t get a seat on the flight…

In recent years I have traveled with budget airlines because they were ones that took me where I wanted to be at the times I wanted to fly. I had been looking forward to travelling in more style for a change. But on reflection I think I will be sticking to the budget airlines in future. You can’t guarantee which seats you will occupy before you board the plane, but at least you are guaranteed a seat and they try to shuffle people round as they board so that couples can sit near each other. There is always a choice of food and drink to purchase and, if you prefer, you have the option to take your own food on board.