Are Swissair tickets still flexible when bought from one of the alternative websites?
Sometimes the exact same Swissair flight is cheaper from the alternative websites displayed in skyscanner. EG lastminute.com
Pre-covid I've purchased tickets from the alternative websites with no bother .. though I never needed to change them.
Now only swissAir (& Lufthansa flights) have the 'flexible ticket' logo .. I've been buying my tickets from SwissAir directly anyway .. because in the current climate I didn't want to take the risk.
I'm just wondering if anybody has any actual experience of changing a SwissAir flight booked from a 3rd party website ... and if there were any issues?
EDIT: I actual mean Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) ...
One thing everyone should do when booking with anyone other the airline is to ensure the airline has your contact details. Insist on getting your Record Locator (6 character code, 7 for easyjet) and calling the airline yourself to give them your natel and e-mail. Without them having this their only contact with you is through whoever you booked with. (And they don’t really care)
Congratulations getting the pedantic post in within 5 replies of the OP. Your prize is a weekend in st2lemans's wilderness cabin with the man himself for company.
Swiss (i.e. the national Swiss airline (i.e. Lufthansa)) and flexible are basically a contradiction of terms. So, a 3rd party should make little difference.
I've never used third party websites after booking flights through Expedia and finding myself having to bribe airline officials to get on an urgent flight out of Turkmenistan.
The peace of mind of dealing directly with the airline is usually worth the minor cost increase.
What I found when I booked through 3rd Parties that I received a SWISS booking code .. and could login to their website and checkin etc .... and so the 'manage booking' option I think was available ... I didn't ever need to use it so I never tried.
I'm just asking if anyone in the forum has used it ... I'm aware that 3rd parties charge for any changes etc ... but if you can login as usual ... you should be able to use the manage booking option as usual ...
I was left up the proverbial creek without a paddle not that long ago; when booking on ebookers. My flight got cancelled due to some COVID mess, and swissair told me that the booking was with ebookers, so I had to speak to them.
ebookers didn't respond to anything, so was left stranded. Had to purchase a new ticket. ebookers refused to refund (to date), stating that it was out of their control, and my cheap ticket was non-refundable...
I cancelled two of their cheapest flights with Swiss in December. Swiss refunded the money within 5 days - minus CHF30.- "booking fee". Zurich Relax paid the CHF30.-...
While this is true, the exact terms belong to the fine print on your contract of carriage. Sometimes, changing the flight is not at all possible, sometimes flexible and sometimes cost prohibitive. Usually the cheap tickets through 3rd parties fall into the categories of not at all possible or the fee would be more than the value of a new ticket at last minute prices.
FYI: More and more, travel is coming with a COVID policy along the lines of: at your own risk, COVID is not an excuse. If you want to be able to change the ticket as a result of COVID, you probably need to pay more for a refundable ticket from the airline. Honestly, I haven't bought a 3rd party ticket from a website in a decade because at best, you have the most uncomfortable seat on the plane, and when things go wrong in transit they go wrong very fast with basically no recourse with either the airline or the travel agents.
Thankyou Spinal!! That's exactly what I wanted to know ... from someone with recent personal experience.
I had a suspicion that would be how it was ... but when you login to the website with your booking code it seems the same .. (until it goes wrong ....)
Sorry to hear about what happened to you though ...
Too true!!
... and you didn't book them direct with the airline ... but via a 3rd party?
I'd use 3rd party brokers only as a last resort in situations like: the difference in price is quite significant, I am entirely sure I'll use the ticket (especially, if it is a flight next day), the price is low anyways and such.
Most of the time I'm certainly avoiding them, as wouldn't like to deal with them in case anything goes wrong (there are still cases when an airline is supposed to help of course).
With an airline it's easier to request a refund or to go a hard-core option such a charge-back.
3rd party brokers would often have a special policy (e.g. either get a voucher or cash but less and later), they would also postpone informing you about a cancelled flight (even if it's already visible in other sources), and they even may be able to prevent the hard-code option I mentioned above with fake facts used in a bank dispute between you and them - I think they happen to have employees specializing in rejecting refund claims.
Also, if it is a connection flight managed by an airline in case of a delay they would most of the time make your next flight wait, or they'd be immediately aware of the situation and offer another solution.
If however it is a mix of connecting flights operated by unrelated airlines while the risk is handled by the 3rd party broker.. I would be hesitant to rely on them in situations like that although I am not saying it's impossible.