ArcaMax

Mila Schoun and his wife paid for a comfortable ride in premium economy, but SWISS bumped them to the back of the plane on their return flight. The airline then claimed that it had already paid them with a mysterious cash card at the airport. But did it?

Q: My wife and I recently purchased tickets from Miami to Prague through Lufthansa. We paid $3,274 for premium economy class, including specifically reserved seats. On our return trip from Prague to Miami, our flight was rebooked. For the long-haul segment from Zurich to Miami, the airline downgraded us to economy class.

Lufthansa sent us an email stating that the downgrade was due to "operational reasons" and told us to contact its service center for a partial refund. We followed these instructions and filed a form. Lufthansa then forwarded our request to SWISS, which operated the flight.

The response from SWISS was confusing. It claimed that because we safely landed in Miami within 3 hours of our scheduled time, no compensation was due. We weren't asking for delay compensation; we were asking for a refund for the seats that we paid for but didn't get.

We tried everything to get a real answer. We used the Lufthansa live chat, but the agent ended the session while we were waiting. We even emailed executives at both Lufthansa and SWISS. No one responded.

When we finally heard back from SWISS after filing another form, a representative claimed that we had already received an Easy Cash card as compensation at Zurich Airport. This never happened. A SWISS agent at the airport actually told us that we couldn't apply for compensation until the flight was over.

The price difference between premium economy and regular economy is $165. We just want our money back for the service we didn't receive. Can you help us find our missing refund? -- Mila Schoun, in Pompano Beach, Florida

A: SWISS should've processed your refund the moment it moved you to a lower class of service. Under European Regulation EC 261/2004, passengers are entitled to a refund of a percentage of the flight price if they're downgraded.

The airline also shouldn't have told you that it had paid you without checking. Claiming a passenger received a cash card they never saw is a great way to end a conversation, but a terrible way to run a business.

You did the right thing by keeping all your records. You contacted the right people and even escalated the issue to executives, which is exactly what I recommend when front-line agents fail. I publish the SWISS and Lufthansa executive contacts on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I contacted SWISS on your behalf and asked the airline to look into the missing cash card. SWISS conducted a careful review of your case and determined that there had been a communication breakdown.

"It has become clear that the original complaint was not properly understood, despite the relevant documentation having been provided by the passengers," a SWISS representative told me. "We deeply regret that the passengers did not receive the correct information from us and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, concern and frustration this may have caused."

The airline confirmed there wasn't a record of a cash card being issued and that your compensation was, indeed, outstanding. SWISS contacted you and offered a refund of $165 for the downgrade, in accordance with EU regulations. It also sent a $200 travel voucher as a gesture of goodwill for the inadequate service.

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

(c) 2026 Christopher Elliott

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