Originally Posted by
the810
Even if you input Geneva via the multicity option on LX website, it will still be ticketed as a LIS to ZRH fare if the layover is under 24 hours. I do this all the time on various airlines. It's pretty much impossible to both have a (short) stopover somewhere and be protected in case of IROPs. You either buy one ticket and the stopover may be removed at airline's will, or you buy tickets and you're not protected in case of a major delay.
It would be interesting to see this tested in court. Interpreting anything below 24 hours as merely a "technical" stop, not a destination of its own, is merely based on common industry practice, not the regulation itself. If the transfer is around 2-3 hours, airline should win hands down. But if was something like flying ZRH-GVA in the morning, then GVA-LON in the evening, with 10 hour in between, it would be more open to interpretation.
Fare construction is the airlines problem to solve though. If you have a ticket that says multi city Lisbon to Geneva to Zurich, then you have a right to be flown Lisbon to Geneva to Zurich because
that's what you purchased. As opposed to when you purchase a Lisbon to Zurich ticket, which just happens to include a transfer in Geneva.