To be fair, I booked a Swiss ticket earlier this year and paid to hold it. I am not too familiar with the EU airlines....I actually fly them a surprising amount (mainly LX, LH BA and AF longhaul, with a preference for any of the three but BA), but I don't "follow" them like I do CX. I have no idea if Swiss or BA went first, but I'm almost certain I paid to hold a fare I found attractive for me and Ms. Qrc a while back.

I generally only aim for BA F if I must go from London to the US, where all the options are less than ideal. Otherwise the other guys offer better products.