New baggage arrangements on Swiss

[Octopussy2]

aka Those Thieving B@stards at Swiss have changed the luggage allowances without me noticing. So if you book a Swiss "light" flight - the first category that shows on the screen before "economy", you have no luggage allowance except 8kg hand luggage.

I know you should go through life assuming everyone's out to get you, but I'm really cross that there wasn't some sort of "Oi, no luggage allowance!" warning on the website. I don't expect this from "proper" airlines.

Having flown with Swiss constantly on business for the last 3 years, biz travel will now be switched to BA.

[Hartington]

Hate to tell you this but BA are experimenting with the same idea of no hold baggage fares.

[Hotel Tango]

Tell me who isn't these days!

Btw Octopussy2, which route was this? Checking on their site the cheapest I could find was "Economy Saver" which did include a checked bag. Perhaps these "light" fares are only on specific routes. I have to say that I have my doubts that it wasn't mentioned because I found all their fare options clearly defined.

Edit: Sorry, but I found an example of Economy light and it is clearly indicated, twice!

[ExXB]

We made the same mistake when booking GVA-LHR. Fortunately, before we finalized the transaction we noticed the no-baggage. We had to cancel out and go back to the beginning to select the slightly higher fare that included 1 piece at 23kg.

It wasn't that clear to us and I think improvements could be made (they may already have been - as reported by HT)

Still cheaper than either BA or those orange guys, for that day and time.

[edi_local]

It is only on the UK-Geneva routes at the moment.

The website does make it clear when you select the fare it shows a box which indicates no baggage allowed. The confirmation page also states there is no baggage allowance with the ticket before you part with money.

If you select a no bag fee then Gold (SEN and HON) and Silver cards will still be able to take 1 bag for free.

[Octopussy2]

Yeah, it was was GVA-HRW. I think it depends on your definition of "clearly" - we book these flights all the time, so don't really stop to read the screen beyond the basics - we assume we know what's there. I would have liked more of a red flag, given that it's such a fundamental change (ie. not just a bit less baggage allowance).

Anyway, just wanted to mention it in case it helps anyone else.

[BRUpax]

Your failure to read the terms of what is obviously a new fare option (i.e. it should have triggered a little further investigation) plus the additional warning provided prior to purchasing does not merit "aka Those Thieving B@stards at Swiss".

[Octopussy2]

It does when I'm pissed off.

Honestly, I come on here, out of the goodness of my heart, to warn other poor souls who can't be bothered to read the booking conditions properly, and all I get is abuse ;)

[rethymnon]

I, for one, appreciated the heads-up. We have often used Swiss from London City, connecting to holiday flights to Greece. An alert like this does help and I'm grateful.

For what it's worth, a carefully packed carry-on bag just about does for a holiday: my wife (she insists upon packing as she has seen my efforts in the past) can pack to within a few ounces of the limit when we have had tight ferry connections to pick up at destination. The downside is the 100ml liquid limits for hand luggage.

[Octopussy2]

Thanks rethymnon.

Will have to pack a little more thoughtfully for my trip to London tomorrow, but you're right, it can be done.

I've had to alter the tickets for our half-term trip though, as it's our annual UK shopathon :eek:

[edi_local]

Just a further heads up. This ticket class ONLY affects UK-GVA and GVA-UK tickets. If you have a connection on wards from GVA (both long and short haul) then this ticket is not an option and you will still have a free baggage allowance of 23KG for the whole journey. For example LHR-GVA-ATH or LHR-GVA-JFK will still have a free bag allowance as standard!

If you book two separate tickets then be sure that you are booking a fare which includes a bag on any GVA-UK/UK-GVA leg or you will need to pay for the baggage on that leg.