| rev:text
| - I've flown with Swiss Air twice this year, on a round-trip flight in February from Montreal-Nice and in May on a one-way flight from Montreal-Nice. My review focuses on a) flying with cats with Swiss and b) vegan meals on board.
Flying with cats
Swiss welcomes companion animals on board provided that they fit into cages of a certain dimension (see their website for more details). To book a flight, I called Swiss to confirm if there was room for companion animals on the flights that interested us. Once confirmed, I booked the flights online, then called back to reserve the spots for the animals. I called back the following day just to make sure everything was correct and it was a good thing that i did, because the reservation was still pending, they had us down for two dogs, and that both dogs would be travelling in one cage with one passenger. This is not at all what I'd requested! I had two cats, each in her own cage, one cage to one passenger (two of us travelling). I called back on the third day to confirm, and everything was fine.
At check-in, I had to pay $200 per cat. They did not request to see any importation paperwork for the cats (depends on the country to which you will be travelling). We had to weigh the cats in their kennels to make sure they did not exceed the restrictions.
My partner and I were not initially sat together but we asked after take-off and they allowed it. The kennels were supposed to go beneath the seat in front of you, but ours did not fit, so we had the cages placed diagonally. On the Zurich-Nice leg of the flight, we were in a bigger plane with more room beneath the seat in front and were therefore able to stow the kennels correctly.
It was an unpleasant flight but not because of Swiss - they made it easy to travel with non-human animal friends.
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Vegan meals
With both trips, I requested a vegan (which they call vegetarian; ovo-lacto is a separate option) meal via the online reservation system. For the May trip, I also confirmed this with *three* phone calls prior to departure. However, I was given a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal once aboard - a lasagna dish, bathing in cheese. The air hosts were very apologetic and one of them kindly brought me an apple and a plum. Supposedly the problem was with the caterer. Fruit and salad is great, but the voyage was long and I had eaten lightly prior to departure in anticipation of dinner on board.
In February 2010, despite the fact that I had requested a vegan meal during reservation, the air hosts were not prepared for me. Luckily, they were able to give me a vegan meal - and it was quite good, for airline food. An Indian-style chickpea dish, salad, and fruit. The same happened on the return flight - I checked with airline representatives prior to boarding and they had no record of my request, despite the fact that I had reserved my meal online. Again, it was only by chance that I was served a vegan meal.
Overall, it's a great airline (and I do hate flying!), and the food is good... when you can get it. Next time I will come prepared with a sandwich in case they get it wrong again.
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