tomsundstrom

Earlier today, I was looking at the equipment for LX 257 on the Swiss website, and found that on the 29th and 30th, it was the A343, on the 31st, it is the A321, and on Jan 1, it is the A333. They don't have Jan 2 up yet, which is when I'm flying, but SeatExpert, whose results match Swiss' information on the flights from 12/29-1/1, indicates that the equipment will be a A321. And also, this is more than a last-minute downgrade, as it is 3 days before the flight.

I will be quite unhappy with this development as I specifically chose Swiss for the wide body, especially because I need to sleep on this flight, which takes off at 5:30 in the morning, meaning that I will have gotten minimal sleep beforehand.

Edited to add:

I just checked my booking, and it is indeed showing the A321 as the equipment. I am most unhappy right now.

SwissexLUG

It will indeed be an A321. The situation for today and tomorrow is as follows (date is rotation departure from ZRH):

31 DEC
LX 254/LX 255 A330-300 HB-JHI
LX 256/LX 257 A330-300 HB-JHI

1 JAN
LX 254/LX 255 A340-300 tbd
LX 256/LX 257 A321 tbd

I would try to complain to LX by stating that you saw the equipment change 4-5 days before the flight and that they cannot get away with a "last minute substitution for technical reasons" and asking whether they believe it to be ok to advertise/sell a long-haul product when you are getting a short-haul product even in non-extraordinary situations.

I have been keeping an eye on TLV services in the last weeks and noticed several "downgrades" to A320 family. I think we can now assume that subs are done not only because of a widebody going tech but also because of (expected) light loads.

tomsundstrom

I am certainly going to call and complain when I get a few minutes free. On the 2nd, I'm wondering how light the load is, considering the flight is now unbookable; I assume that is because it is full.

clubman

Don't know why they feel it's ok to make a point of advertising the new product on the route and yet frequently get away with doing this.

I can tell you that it's putting me off using LX on the route and I know I'm not the only one.

Perhaps our Swiss lurker has a something to add...?

tomsundstrom

Thanks for pursuing this too. I just talked to Swiss, and the flight is oversold. Maybe I'll just pursue a bump and have them rebook me direct to London.

Houminer

The isreali "swiss" website still advertises the "New swiss business"...
Maybe someone should try and sue them.

clubman

Exactly my point.

SR116

The downgrading on the TLV and CAI routes are indeed due to technical reasons. One of the A340s went tech 2 days ago.

Seriously guys, I can understand that the A320 configuration is vastly inferior to the one found on the A330/340 fleet, but would you rather have LX operate the flight with an unsafe aircraft or have them cancel the flight instead?

Houminer

How about telling the business class passengers that they will not be getting what they paid for and refund the difference?

MUC1A

....and how much should be the difference ?

htb

As the fare difference between Business and economy may be open to debate, the European rules which apply for downgrading should be a good start.

Alternatively offer 2 e-vouchers.

HTB.

htb

Why is this argument always coming up as an excuse for the airline? Of course nobody would rather have LX operate the flight with an unsafe aircraft, but why does this make it OK for the airline to advertise a vastly superior product and then swap it to something closer to economy without offering any compensation? If LX regularly can't guarantee the product they advertise (because they don't have spare A340 planes), they shouldn't be advertising at all.

HTB.

MUC1A

2 voucher is too much..... that would equal to a free upgrade for a ZRH NRT .... maybe 1 evoucher.... but then you can contact SWISS and you will get 150GBP (for exemple) >>> equal for 1 evoucehr for an upg on EU flights.......

SwissexLUG

^ +1

The point is not LX should operate the flight with unsafe equipment. The point is that their advertising is misleading customers. The A340 schedules are so stretched that as soon as one goes tech, the TLV or CAI rotation needs to get downgraded (otherwise LX would have to cancel a long-haul rotation). If this was an exceptional occurrence, nobody would bother, but in the last weeks this happend fairly often and customers are rightly upset.

We all know that the aircraft type is never guaranteed. LX advertising (pls check the Israeli website) nevertheless makes the customer believe that a long-haul product is to be expected. This comes very close to an equipment guarantee IMO. I can very well understand that a customer is frustrated when he/she sees an A320/A321 at the gate. I personally would never pay for C if I knew I would land on an A320.

Furthermore, I find it strange that LX is not selling F on the TLV route. They are probably aware that this service is prone to downgrades to the A320, therefore they prefer not to sell F since this would call for downgrade compensation were the F passengers to be reaccomodated in C. Is this pure speculation?

htb

2 evouchers seems perfectly fine. That's what you need to upgrade your ZRH-TLV flight from eco to bus (unless you live in Israel).

HTB.