Austrian Airlines Reviews and Flights

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A Traveller wrote a review Nov 2024

Europe867 contributions28 helpful votes

Vienna - Bangkok

International

Attractive rates, many convenient routes, good fleet, nice crew & good connectivity via Schwechat (VIE)

As a very frequent flyer with on average hundreds of flights per year, I have travelled with most of the major Airlines of Europe by now and inevitably, there are some airlines that one become more found of, and some airlines that one come to thoroughly loathe. The ones you favour naturally becomes your favourites and the ones you loathe naturally is put on your mental enemy and boycott list, with a vow of never to contribute with a single penny to their revenue, and at any given opportunity, for example in reviews just like this, or in general conversations with people, fervently recommend them to avoid like the plague. KLM is on the very top of that list and the second one is Lufthansa. Lufthansa is the flag carrier airline of Germany and is part of the Lufthansa Group. There are four airlines in the Lufthansa Group; Lufthansa (yuck), SWISS, Brussels Airlines and then Austrian Airlines, the flag carrier of the Republic of Austria. While I absolutely loathe Lufthansa and happily would pay much extra to avoid them, I have, during the past couple of years, strangely come to become quite found of another airline within the Lufthansa Group - namely Austrian Airlines - of which I have flown quite frequently during the past two years and actually grown to like and appreciate. As Austria can do very well without NATO, so can Austrian Airlines do very well without the Lufthansa Group and they should imho break free from them dodgy Germans at any given chance. Austrian Airlines actually offers a surprisingly good product and is one of the last major national flag carriers still in existence from the good old days and that have stood the test of time and survived when so many others have not. To begin with I absolutely love the whole "SERVUS" concept of Austrian Airlines. It is very fitting and is remarkable good marketing and branding. The whole heart and soul of Austria is fittingly summarised within it and it is very welcoming and feels very unique and premium, even in economy and although it is, or at least for me it was, an acquired taste, actually keeping its promise and is a rare gem among airlines these days. As for the equip, the actual aircrafts, airplanes, I thoroughly like the Aircraft fleet of Austrian Airlines, everything from their old, but tried and true Embraer 195's to their brand new 787-900 Dreamliners, with the exception of their Enfant Terribles, their 777-200ER's. Their Airbus planes are undeniable of course the best, as is the general consensus among the greater aero community, but their new 787-900 Dreamliners will be a nice addition to their fleet, so they finally can retire their old 777's. Imho, they should've gone with Airbus all the way and chosen A350-900's instead of the 787-900's, maybe LH had something to do with it, who knows and what can You do? Then the design, both the ivery of the aircrafts as well as the interior of the cabins, their graphic profile, their uniforms of their crew, especially the female air hostesses, is also really great. The elegancy in the simplicity and the way they incorporate and parade both their national Austrian colours and their SERVUS in it is really innovative. The in-flight product is also really innovative and also exhibit the previously mentioned attributes in a magnificent way. The food, the drinks, the brands, the traditional Austrian cuisine and snacks, everything is so very fitting, and the SERVUS is like a brilliant X-Factor. Further more, the strategic location of Schwechat, Vienna International Airport (VIE), really is very convenient, it's right in the middle of Europe and in the close vicinity of for example: Bratislava (SK), Prague (CZ), Budapest (HU), Kraków (PL), Belgrade (RS), various places in Romania, and countless other destinations are within relatively close reach from there by car, bus and train. It is actually some times more convenient, cheaper and faster to fly to (VIE) and for example take a Flixbus straight from Schwechat within Central Europe. Austrian Airlines 30 long haul destinations are also very good curated and has a really great connectivity with their transfer flights with their middle hand flights originating in various parts of Europe. The transfer experience at Schwechat is usually also very good with short layovers, an overall good and modern terminal with much better facilities than for example FRA or MUC and the much more hearty and welcoming attitude and service mindedness of the AT staff, of course also add up to the greatness of Austrian Airlines. Then at last, the very competitive and attractive prices, combined with the short total travel time, as the middle hand flights are excellently planned to match with the long haul flights, combined with the SERVUS and full service on long haul flights even in economy, plus the generous seat pitch even in economy makes Austrian Airlines my current favourite premium airline, and third favourite airline over-all.…

Date of travel: April 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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KimM22222 wrote a review Nov 2024

Alexandria, Virginia, United States15 contributions7 helpful votes

Florence - Split

Europe

Flight from Florence to Croatia

Worst flight experience of our lives and we are in our mid 60's, traveling often. Flight was very delayed out of Florence, causing us to miss connector in Vienna, to final destination of Split Croatia. In Vienna we were made to wait in a holding room all day with hundreds of stranded passengers. No communication, water, food or updates. We were told to wait our turn to talk to a representative. After 5 hours a representative came out amongst waiting group to tell us to find hotel reservation as they were not getting us out that night. My husband and I immediately did so but were then told that we could not have our luggage. It was finally our turn after 6 hours to meet with a woman behind the desk. She was rude, unsympathetic, and told us to find a hotel, be prepared to fly out possibly the next day, and gave us a brochure circling the paragraph pertaining to reimbursement for hotel, food and lost funds due to delay. We went to our hotel after now 8 hours in an airport, with no luggage. We did get out the next day but lost a full day in Croatia to include a tour that was non-refundable. Upon re-entry in to the US I filed all of the appropriate paperwork that was requested online to include all hotel, meal receipts and lost tour funds. It was a very laborious process and the Austrian Airline site does not always function properly so there was a lot of starting over, but I persisted. This was in late September. After fighting, emailing, and basically spending hours in email conversation with the higher-ups and customer service people at Austrian Air, I was told, "sorry, no refunds", just this month in November. I continued to fight and was then told, "alright we will refund but you must upload all of your documentation." This, I'd done months ago. I have since been refunded by my travel insurer, and will NEVER fly Austrian Airlines again. Furthermore, I would discourage everyone from doing the same. Absolutely horrible customer service, no one to talk to real time and very poor responsiveness. There are too many other good airlines to fly than to help support one that clearly should not be in business.…

Date of travel: September 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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shaghayegh k wrote a review Nov 2024

2 contributions

Copenhagen - Tehran

International

Not reliable airline

I booked a ticket from this airline. The ticket has been canceled two times from airline and the suggested flight instead was for a month after. I don’t know what are they thinking??? Finally I decided to cancel at all but for the most surprise they took tax when returning the money!!!! I don’t know for what service I have payed this tax?! I don’t suggest buying tickets from this airline.…

Date of travel: November 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Vyacheslav K wrote a review Nov 2024

5 contributions

Düsseldorf - Belgrade

Europe

Ausrian Airlines don't refund but firstly was promised

Usually I travel with Austrian Airlines behalf of Lufthansa easily, but no this time. My flight was cancelled as there were 5 persons on this flight. All these passengers and I were send to Lufthansa desk for further instructions. I was given a paper with options to take a hotel, taxi and meal with some limit then later request to refund it. I've done. What I'm upset - 1. ticket was twice more expensive than usual for this itinerary 200+Euro extra price, 2. I send my request to refund to Lufthansa twice they were redirected it to Austrian Airlines and only now I got an answer that Austrian Airlines rep is sorry and can't handle refund. 134 Euro to be refunded…

Date of travel: July 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Amaad H wrote a review Nov 2024

1 contribution

Bangkok - London

International

Staff travel

Traveled from Bkk-Vie and then connecting flight from Vie-LHR had 20min boarding delays from bkk but managed to get to Vienna on time for my connection, everything went smooth after seeing all the bad reviews I was hesitating…I was on staff travel…beware as was told they take Cargo over passengers as the airline makes more money from it. Thailand Front of house was rude and not very sympathetic…working in the airport myself I know reassurance is needed for standby passengers which the Thailand employees did not show. Got to Vienna everything went smooth got my boarding pass instant and everything was on time. I can see the bad reviews as the cabin crew can be very rude, had a lady next to me who was missed out for snacks but her baby got one she called the crew member multiple times and when she lightly tapped her she went mental and lost her head..I was shocked. The crew seem to be in a rush non stop and have no plan or routine..just if there head. They forgot out a few people when handing out food and it’s like pick and choose, apart from that everything was fine entertainment onboard is very good better than qatar and also seats was better than qatar which was surprising.…

Date of travel: November 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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