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SBB flight luggage transport is currently very popular. The English partner company canceled bookings without comment.
Fly into the summer holidays with Swiss without chaos and hassle: A family of four from Aarberg in the canton of Bern wanted to take advantage of this SBB offer and have their suitcases picked up at their place of residence via flight baggage transport. The service can be booked from all addresses in Switzerland, except in car-free locations.
The advantage: Customers can leave their heavy suitcases directly at the front door and pick them up again at the destination airport. No lugging around and no long waits at the Swiss check-in counter.
Booking will be canceled without comment
Booking on the SBB partner site “Airportr” is easy. The family pays 89 francs for their four suitcases. But a few hours after payment and confirmation, the English company sent an email without comment: the booking had been cancelled.
When asked by the father of the family, it was said that unfortunately Aarberg was not in the supply area. The Berner is irritated. First of all, the city of Aarberg is not a car-free zone and is not otherwise difficult to access. And secondly, the family booked a similar offer from SBB years ago – it worked without any problems.
Airporters surprised by high demand
But even the SBB customer service cannot help the Bernese. He should contact the seller directly. When asked by the SRF consumer magazine “Espresso”, Airportr wrote that this service was launched on June 1, 2022 together with SBB and was surprised by the great demand.
As such, we have temporarily reduced our coverage in certain areas to minimize the overall number of impacted customers across the country.
“As a result, we have temporarily reduced our coverage in certain areas to minimize the overall number of affected customers across the country.” writes the press office.
Specifically, the SBB offer “doorstep to the airport abroad (mobile boarding card)” cannot currently be booked in the cantons of Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Vaud, Bern, Graubünden, Valais and Ticino.
SBB regrets restriction
This is annoying, especially at the start of the summer holidays in Switzerland, SBB spokeswoman Sabrina Schellenberg admits. «The service provider had to cancel orders at short notice due to the high demand. We very much regret that.” The SBB is in contact with Airportr to improve the quality of the service.
However, there is still an alternative for all affected customers: the existing “doorstep to the airport abroad (printed boarding pass)” offer. “But you have to check in there yourself and already have the boarding pass when you drop off your luggage,” says the SBB spokeswoman. This offer is operated by Swiss partners and costs almost twice as much as the Airportr service.
Service expected to be available again at the end of July
According to Airportr, their luggage transport service should be available again throughout Switzerland from the end of July. In Ticino and Valais only in one to two months. Either way, it’s too late for the family. They have already taken off and finally dragged their suitcases to the airport themselves.