Swiss International Air Lines Baggage Fees & Tips to Cover the Expenses

BY 

Erin Miller

- February 7, 2019

1. Travel Guides & Resources  / 
2. Airline Guides

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With Swiss International Air Lines it’s all about planning ahead with your baggage, as fees are significantly cheaper to book online at Swiss.com rather than amending your booking at check-in.

Swiss International Air Lines Carry-On Allowance:

1 personal item: FREE
1 standard carry-on bag: Free for economy passengers
2 standard carry-on bags: Free for business and first passengers

Size and Weight Restrictions

• Personal: 40 x 30 x 10 cm
• Standard: 55 x 40 x 23 cm (8 kg)

Lap Infant Carry-On Policy

• Lap infants will be charged approximately 10% of an adult fare. You can carry on a certified car seat and baby food. Strollers are not permitted on board. Baby bassinets and special baby food (suitable for up to 24 months) is offered on all long-haul flights and should be requested upon booking.

Stroller Gate Check Policy

• With the 10% ticket fee, an infant has a checked allowance of 1 piece of luggage weighing up to 23 kg plus a folding stroller. Smaller collapsible strollers are sometimes permitted to be taken up to the gate, so ask at check-in if this is possible. Otherwise, all strollers must be checked baggage.

Swiss International Air Lines Checked Baggage Allowance:

All baggage must not exceed 158 cm in size (width + height + depth).

European Routes
Light Fare Class: No baggage included
Classic & Flex Fare: 1 piece 23 kg
Business Fare: 2 pieces at 32 kg each (total weight maximum 64 kg)

Intercontinental Routes
Light Fare Class: No baggage included
SWISS Economy Fare: 1 piece 23 kg
SWISS Business Fare: 2 pieces at 32 kg each (total weight maximum 64 kg)
SWISS First Fare: 3 pieces at 32 kg each (total weight maximum 96 kg)

Recommended Cards That Reimburse Your Baggage Fees

Credit Card	Fee Reimbursement Details
Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card	Use your miles to offset or "erase" any travel purchases that you make with your card. It's easy. Earn 20,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $200) once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. 0% Intro APR on purchases for 12 months Annual Fee: $0
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card	Like with the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Card, use your miles to offset or "erase" any travel purchases that you make with your card. Earn 50,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $500) once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Annual Fee: $0 intro for the first year, $95 after that.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®	$300 travel credit per calendar year (covers all travel related purchases). Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Annual Fee: $450

Additional/Excess Baggage Fees:

Baggage rates apply for 1 route only, and return flight fees are payable at the departure airport in local currency.

Charges for an additional piece of baggage

For additional baggage fee prices for tickets issued before April 18, 2018 and for journeys to and from Japan, see the applicable chart here.

Can I Pre-pay for Baggage?

Swiss International Airlines does allow passengers the ability to pre-pay for luggage online or via their call center.

Here are the ways you can pre-pay:

• Log in to your booking on the ‘Manage my bookings’ area of the Swiss website and add baggage up to an hour before departure.
• Contact their call center by calling +1 877 359 79 47

Exclusions & Waivers:

Increased baggage allowances for specific routes:

Economy class passengers benefit from higher checked baggage limits on the following routes where each piece must not exceed a total size (width + height + depth) of 158 cm:

*Applicable irrespective of stopovers en-route

**On flights between the U.S. and India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, this offer applies only if you depart from or land at these U.S. airports: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami and Orlando. You must always travel via Europe.

***In case of stopover en-route: only applicable to destinations in U.S./Canada (otherwise only 1 piece after stopover at intermediate point)

****Applies only to flight tickets issued on/before October 14, 2018.

Increased baggage allowance for frequent flyers

On all SWISS-operated flights for Classic, Flex, and Business Fares (not applicable to Light Fares), passengers with the following status have a higher baggage limit:

The baggage allowances and fees of the first carrier on interline flights or the first marketing carrier on codeshare flights will apply to all subsequent flights in the itinerary.

To see more airline baggage fees and policies, click here.

Featured Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock; Logo courtesy of Swiss Air Lines