Swiss International just cancelled my flight

JFK to Zurich (7-14-20-7-30-20)

As expected of course. I successfully requested a refund on their website, and they confirmed that they are processing my refund, and that it will be credited to my credit card used to purchase the tickets.

Smooth process. I'm glad they did it two weeks out, rather than right before scheduled flight.

Hi friend,

It's nice to know that swiss international airlines are processing for refund.

In my case, it's more than two months when they confirmed that i am eligible for full refund but every time what they communicate is refund is due but it will be processed at later stage.7-8 times they communicated this only, upon riegularfollow up.

Can. you please suggest that how should I approach them to get my refund back.

I don't know why you are seeing the delays; it would be helpful to know your particular circumstances. Did Swiss cancel the flight, or did you cancel your reservation. The former was the case for myself. Also, when was your flight scheduled, and why were you told that you qualified for a refund? And finally, their PR to me suggested that they are now attempting to be proactive, and not simply defensively reactive. In any case, I will post when the refund is processed. It would be helpful to this community for you to update your status as well. And finally, if I might be correct that SWISS is trying to get ahead of problematic publicity, it might be useful to contact them again. Their changed posture only happened yesterday.

I booked multicity ticket DEL-ZRH for 12.05.2020 and return from Paris-delhi 25.05.2020.

They confirmed on 17.04.2020 that due to COVID 19, my scheduled flight is cancelled by themselves (airlines) and full refund will be processed.

From then I have communicated 7-8 times but every time they type same paragraphs that due to heavy influx of refunds my case will be processed at later stage.

With Atlantic Air going from Denmark to Faroe Islands- they cancelled, but weren’t very forthcoming on giving refund- so I filed a dispute with my credit card company and got the refund quickly. Since you have contacted them repeatedly, that might be an option to have your credit card company file a dispute. I had emails showing that they had cancelled and I sent them to my credit card company.

<<"As expected of course. ">>

Indeed.

It is distressing to find that the USA has put itself in the group with Russia and Brazil, whose citizens are not welcome in the the EU ( and presumably, in Switzerland) due to our failure to control the COVID-19 pandemic here.

My booking on Delta is in September. We'll see what happens.

Slowpoke

For your information, the USA has a law that airlines must give refunds for cancelled flights if asked for. Canada does not. Luckily, I had booked my April trip to Zurich out of Seattle rather than Vancouver. After weeks of British Airways offering only a voucher, they finally refunded my money.

HI All

I too have a flight to Zurich booked in September. Delta has rerouted us through Paris as the direct flight from Atlanta was cancelled. Delta did not notify me, rather I found this out on my own.I have a 1.5 hr layover in Paris which may be problematic for my connection to Zurich. I was also scheduled to fly Delta to San Francisco in July and Delta without notifying me changed my connecting flight to arrive after the Atl - SF had left. Since I had booked with sky miles it was no problem to cancel but I don’t understand how Delta could even change a ticket to a schedule that was impossible to work. I think Delta is in complete chaos at this point.

I guess i will wait until my Zurich flight is cancelled to request a refund but i am concerned Delta may reroute me without notification to an itinerary that is impossible or excessively inconvenient and not cancel the flights.

I would strongly advise those with tickets to frequently check their ticket itinerary. You can’t at present depend on Delta to notify you or make intelligent changes.

Mark

Hi Mark-

I had the same problem with cancellation of the ATL-ZRH flight. It usually only runs in the Summer these days, anyway, and I have to work to match my availability to their schedule.

From Connecticut, I could go through JFK , but don't like to... the real problem is that the return flights land just before rush hour, so if I choose to drive home, it is a mess. Or, I can route through AMS-DTW (or vice versa), and go ZRH-AMS in Europe, but I want to be on Delta equipment inside Europe, even though KLM has not imposed the draconian carry-on weight limits that Lufthansa, (and Swiss I suppose) have imposed. My camera and lenses run up the weight.

I got re-routeded through JFK->ZRH and have a connecting flight that leaves before I land.

They do have a warning message on the itinerary.

I'll wait till August, then sort it out.

I'm not hopeful because i believe that the states who insist on opening quickly are going to shut us all down again (or "still.")

Slowpoke

Hi Maloja Snake,

I am sorry that you cannot fly to Switzerland, although, indeed, at least they cancelled it in time. I hope you can visit the Swiss Alps soon.

Ildiko

Hi Malang85,

I can imagine it is annoying to wait for your refund. I am also waiting for several refunds from beginning of May, still nothing. Although in my case it is just a low-cost airline.

I hope you soon get your refund,

I wish you all the best,

Ildiko

I’m so confused. Although you have been re routed. You are coming from the US. Your passport will be stamped from the US. I do not believe you will be allowed to enter Zurich. I may be verrrryyyy wrong. I inquired of this weeks ago and was told it’s a no go. :(

Are they allowing you to fly into Zurich from the states?? I thought it was closed to the us?

Hi Snowin81,

Switzerland already allows tourists from Schengen countries, and will probably allow visitors from a number of non-Schengen countries from July 20.

Also from July 6, a 10-day quarantine period will apply to visitors from countries that are designated as risk areas. The list of those countries will be published today.

You cab read the updates here, in the first post: www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/does-the-corona-virus-affect-trips-to-switzerland.

Ildiko

Also worth to check: www.myswissalps.com/coronavirus

Hi Snowin81 -

<<"Are they allowing you to fly into Zurich from the states?? I thought it was closed to the us?">>

As noted earlier in the thread, my booking is in September, and it was made many months ago.

I believe that it is unlikely that I shall be allowed to fly. I'm disappointed that the USA has not organized an effective response to the virus infection.....in fact, just the opposite. My state, Connecticut, seems to have done so, and is being very very careful about the pace of "reopening" the local economy. I am old enough to be in the high risk category, and am still - as requested by the state government- wearing a mask and avoiding crowds. Although, I do leave my home for carefully managed shopping, which I pretty much have to do.

Slowpoke

How can one go on vacation for a certain period of time and yet quarantine for ten days upon arrival?!! That’s a months holiday?? :/

I have moved my booking three times.. and will now be canceling my end of July vacation. The quarantine is not going to make the virus disappear with all due respect... and as far as a mask goes, have you seen what they have to wear in a hospital room with a positive patient?? An over the ear mask is not going to protect you from this. Also the hand washing is excellent. But this is a virus. Not something anti bacterial is going to touch. It’s just all so crazy. I wish we had a time machine and could go back a year, ya know???? The World is such a mess right now. I am glad however to see some have been able to enjoy a holiday and get outdoors with their family. It has been a long go for Europe.

Hi Snowin81-

It is indeed frustrating.

However, I would like to comment on a couple of your thoughts.

Keep in mind that one of the purposes of a quarantine is to prevent asymptomatic patients from spreading the virus before they have symptoms. Another is to have access to a patient early on in the course of the disease, when an antiviral has a chance of helping recovery. The quarantine won't make it disappear, but will help manage cases of individuals, and reduce the chances of "super-spreaders" infecting a large number of people.

It's not "all-or -nothin" but, rather, an accumulation of partial successes that can reduce the transmission rates.

<<"and as far as a mask goes, have you seen what they have to wear in a

hospital room with a positive patient?? An over the ear mask is not

going to protect you from this.">>

Again, it is not a simple "all-or -nothing. Hospital garb has to protect against a sudden very massive dose of virus. Actually, many doses.

BVut, any mask will reduce the projection distance of aerosols from people speaking. And, if they catch a portion of incoming, they an reduce the size of a massive single exposure ." Enough reduction means that a smaller quantity of virus has to be dealt with (killed) by the primary stages of the general immune reaction, and can also activate a bunch of specific antibodies over a week or so, once the immune response for the specific infection has been triggered. In fact, it is quite likely that there is enough of the virus around these days that we are all getting small doses that can be managed by the general-purpose immune response.

I have N-95 masks left from protection against dusts during carpentry. I use the because they are highly effective aginst incoming. However, incoming virus gets coated on the outer surface, and takes days to die. So, my masks sit in the sun when not in use.

Sunlight ( particularly UV light) and heat will deactivate the virus. Industrial scale renewal for masks uses hydrogen peroxide in special chambers.

<<"Also the hand washing is excellent. But this is a virus. Not something anti bacterial is going to touch.">>

I think that you have not grasped the chemistry here. The virus, simplistically, is a bunch of RNA (RiboNucleic Acids-which have a complex chemical and somewhat fragile chemical structure) wrapped in a protective layer of lipids ( fats). The general chemical structure of soap is quite similar to that lipid structure. In fact, the simplest soaps are made from fats like lard and tallow, or vegetable oils.That means that soaps can absorb or dissolve the lipids. (Oils and water don't mix, but oil and oil ( fat and fat) (soap and fat)do mix.

When you wash your hands with soap, especially warm water and soap, the soap cleans off the lipids from the virus particles, and the more fragile RNA which is expose then is disrupted. And, without the protective lipid layer, it quickly "dies."

So, soap is actually a virus killer in this case.

Alcohols like ethyl alcohol and iso-propyl alcohol can dissolve the lipid protective layer quickly, too.

Bacteria have much more complex structures...the are very much larger, have cell walls, etc. Soap can wash them off, but is not really a bacteria killer, in general. That is why chemicals that can penetrate the cell walls are added to "anti-bacterial" soaps. Some of the antibacterials, a type commonly called "quats" are somewhat similar to soaps in chemical structure, and are also effective against this type of virus, for the same reasons that soaps are.

Washing your hands with hot soapy water, or with ethyl or iso-propyly alcohol actually kills the COVID-19 virus. Soaps generally don't kill bacteria so easily. Alcohols can penetrate the cell walls and so can be effective against bacteria.

I'm trained in organic and biochemistry, so I speak with some technical knowledge of the subject.

Slowpoke

Hi All

What Slowpoke says is correct. In addition wearing even a homemade mask has 2 important functions. First they prevent the person wearing the mask from spreading virus laden droplets when they talk or cough. Second they prevent you from touching your mouth and nose and may prevent you from inoculating yourself if the virus is on your hands. Consequently you should immediately wash your hands when you remove your mask and avoid touching the outside surface of the mask if possible.

of course no measure is 100% effective except total isolation. But without a doubt masks, hand washing and social distancing have a big impact on the spread of the virus, especially if they are widely used. And if you add frequent testing as Slowpoke has convinced me, then even better.

mark

Hey Mark,

I think you should be able to request a refund now since you lost your direct flight. Delta's contract of carriage states the following:

If there is a flight cancellation, diversion, delay of greater than 90 minutes, or that will cause a passenger to miss connections, Delta will (at passenger’s request) cancel the remaining ticket and refund the unused portion of the ticket and unused ancillary fees in the original form of payment in accordance with Rule 22, Go to footer note.

I assume the addition of a layover and second flight results in a delay of more than 90 minutes compared to your original flight so you should be eligible for a refund.

I am curious to hear what happens with your situation because I have an RDU-CDG direct flight booked in November. The current plan is to spend a few days in Paris then take the TGV over to Basel to visit some friends. I think there is a good chance that Delta will cancel my direct flight due to low demand coming out of RDU.