Edelweiss

A Comprehensive review of SWISS / EDELWEISS Airlines overview of flights between Costa Rica and England via Zurich rated on a scale of 1 – 10 , 1 being Terrible , 10 being excellent . Punctuality. We used four flights on this particular trip with Swiss Air or its share code partners , of which NONE were on time according to the schedule , an average of 1 hour late on all of the flights with NO real explanation given. However it is blatantly obvious that the reason for this is down to bad organization , bad management and planning . Rating 5/10 Quality of Service . We had never flown via Swiss Airlines previously and probably will never do so again as the experience was NOT good , having previously used British Airways , Air France , Iberia ,and Klm we would certainly chose any of these before using Swiss Air the reasons will be mentioned in this report . Our first bad experience was an email request to Swiss Air for assistance about our booking ,we NEVER had a reply to our request even 14 days after it was put in the only reason we ever did get an answer was because I obtained the email directly to Swiss Airs CEO. Swiss Airs customer service is located in Fiji believe it or not and they obviously have zero interest in replying to customer enquiries , probably the worst customer service we have ever seen for a service industry provider . On board the aircraft the service you will receive at best can be described as average you as basically treated as cattle in economy class , probably a little better in economy plus or business . BEWARE OF HIDDEN COSTS . NO free alcoholic beverages in economy class you will be charged for a beer or glass of wine with the SMALL meal you will receive and the average cost is around $10 per drink, all of the other mentioned airlines offer alcoholic beverages as a courtesy to their customers. Rating 3/10. Comfort on Board and hidden extra expense in Economy Class . BE WARNED for a long haul flight the seating setup is probably the most uncomfortable we have ever experienced on any long haul carrier . The seats are much smaller than other airlines we have used in the past , the seats are very tight and small little of no room to move and we are only small bodied people 1.64 and around 70kgs . The seats are only just big enough to sit in , very very close together I would estimate around 5cm space between your knees and the rear of the seat in front of you I.E. zero leg room very tight fit . Your seat will only recline around 8cm therefore you are basically upright , however when the person in front of you reclines their seat you will be boxed in no room to move . To be able to consume the small average quality meal you will receive no choice offered ( usually you will get 2 options but not here ) you will be expected to perform a contortion act to be able to consume your food . Although the aircraft are new and clean the comfort level in economy class is extremely bad and we would not recommend it . Rating 3/10 Hidden Extra Costs Involved using Swiss . BE WARE . If your baggage is just slightly overweight 23kgs max you will be charged an excess baggage fee of approximately $200 per suitcase , most other airlines make allowances for a little extra weight on long haul flights NOT Swiss . Also as previously mentioned only soft drinks are free in economy class , a beer or glass of wine with your meal will cost on average $10 each . Because of the terrible seating configuration in economy class you will be offered the chance to upgrade to economy plus or business , the average cost for economy plus is $120 per person , business a little over $400 per person , it appears the configuration is set this way to obligate larger framed people to pay the extra cost to up grade . This would then mean that you make no real saving on Swiss Airlines slightly cheaper fares as in the end you will end up paying the same price as other carriers who offer a better more comfortable service with no extra cost and whom are on schedule , please take these hidden extras into consideration before booking Swiss Air . Also note that on board all though being a flight originating from a Spanish speaking area NO instruction’s on board are given in Spanish if you do not speak German or English you will have no understanding of what is being said over the on board speakers I would consider this dangerous and maybe even illegal when coming down to safety instructions . Rating 3/10 Overall Experience . We would strongly suggest using any other carrier option rather than Swiss Air , as the service you will get is well below that of other carriers available to you . Not something you would expect from the Swiss as usually their service and quality is of the very best and high standard however not the case with this airline . Recommendation GIVE SWISS/Edelweiss A MISS .

From ZRH to GIG and retour; pretty good also because the craft was quite empty.
Attemptive on board service, very good entertainement, is just deplorable you have to pay for a beer or for a small bottle of poor red wine in a 12 hrs flight.
Too cold in the aircraft

I flew ZRH-RIO having booked through Swiss. Excellent entertainment system, good food. I was aware of having to pay for drinks in economy, it didn’t bother me. I actually got an upgrade to Premium Economy on the outbound leg, didn’t even realise it until I was about halfway through the flight. A bit more legroom, that’s the only difference. Only strange thing was that on the way out we got the usual little packs with socks, eye mask, toothbrush etc, although this was a flight completely in the daytime, and nothing on the night flight on the way back.

One of my best flight experience. From zurich to vegas
Service was excellent the food was very good
The staff very polite the cabin of the plane beautiful
Entertainmant very good
I really liked flying with edelweiss. Hope to fly with them back soon

My flight from Las Vegas to Zurich in July 2014 was completely inacceptable. We had to wait for almost 4 hours on the tarmack due to technical problems with the fuel system (without the airconditioning working properly). The crew seemed absolutely out of their depth. When the flight was finally postphoned to the next day, it took hours for them to get us into hotels. We were not given the information sheets on passengers’ rights and no food/drinks/possibility to make phone calls were provided.
The flight on the next day was delayed again. The flight itself was average, with service below standard. Despite the really expensive tickets, alcohol is not included.
I am well aware that technical problems can occure with any airline, but the difference in quality is seen by the way the airline in question handles the situation. So I would really avoid flying edelweiss again because of their appalling costumer service.