Austrian Airlines » User reviews

DisgustedofSwieqi flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a B737-800 (02/02/2012 23:41)

This was a short haul from Heathrow to Vienna, to connect to another flight to Dubai.

I checked in a the bmi premium counter in T1 on a busy Friday night, but the waiting period was reasonably short and the agent polite and courteous - I sympathise for bmi staff at the moment, but they appeared to be working normally and professionally, depsite the current uncertainty.

Security was busy, but the fast track lane is now open to all business and first class passengers and the waiting time was circa 5 mins, very good on Friday evening; the security personnel were also professional and courteous, showing that this is possible (if not to be expected) at Heathrow.

I went to the Star Alliance lounge (the former BA facility) and once again enjoyed the good facilities here. One can argue about the relative merits of lounges and the BA T5 facilities are probably better, but at the end of the day I don't spend a lot of time in lounges and this one is well above the usual standards with complimentary email and a narrow, but tasty, selection of food and beverages. I had a plate of Boeuf Borguignon, which I enjoyed, since I had only a salad for lunch.

Boarding was on time and business class pax were called first.

My allocated seat was 1A, but when boarding was complete, 1F and 1D were free (1E being kept free), so I chose to move, as I prefer sitting on the RHS and also like having a whole row to myself.

The seat was one of the new lightweight contraptions, designed by experts in torture. These same people are the evangelists who try to convince us that sitting on concrete blocks covered in leather is very good for our backs, when driving German sports cars and the effect is similar to McDonalds, they are comfortable for a pre-ordained period of time, then they create a strong desire to stand up and leave.

Austrian put up an aircraft with these seats for the onward connection to Dubai (scheduled for 5h45) and that is another story; suffice it to say I chose to get off after boarding.

The Austrian website says they schedule these seats on flights up to 5 hours, which I find ridiculous, 2 is about the limit for me on one of these - it was okay between London and Vienna.

The aircraft was clean and tidy and the washrooms clean.

The flight pushed back on time, followed by a long (but shorter than often experienced) taxi and a departure a little late, but still allowing a virtually on time arrival in Vienna.

Cabin service was good, with a drink shortly after take off (but not before push back) and quick food service, which I did not try as I had eaten in the lounge.

Arrival into Vienna was efficient, with baggage arriving within about 15 minutes and painless immigration and customs.

All in all, exactly what a short intra European hop should be, an efficient non event.

Travellingbiker flew Austrian Airlines Business (long-haul), on a B777-200ER (23/08/2011 04:42)

From Vienna to Tokyo 1st August in Business.

The Austrian lounge was a little small and almost no english language reading material. Boarding was scrappy, no priority announcement or gate. The cabin staff were divided between Japanese and Austrian staff who seem to work along stricktly racial lines, The Japanese staff worked the Japanese clients for the most part and appeared most attentive. The Austrian staff worked the Europeans and were slack, lazy and rude.

The aircraft was full and I was in a window seat. At one point I called for a glass of water as the person next to me was asleep and was told that there was water available in the galley and I should get it myself. The stewardess woke up my neighbor while telling me this by leaning on his seat back. We both went back to get a drink and there was a quarter of a bottle of water, 2 packs of peanuts and nobody to be found anywhere. We had to go searching for the attendant who begrudgingly put another bottle of water in the rear galley. This was the pattern throughout the trip, the Austrian staff avoided any eye contact and rushed through the cabin whereas the Japanese staff did all the work.

That said the food was probably the best that I have ever had on any flight, the chef service and food is simply brilliant but very much let down by the poor waiting service.

doctorjosh flew Austrian Airlines Business (long-haul), on a B777-200ER (25/07/2010 12:35)

Flew NRT-VIE-BKK on the B777-200 in Business. NRT-VIE was on time but VIE-BKK was slightly delayed. Priority boarding was honoured on both sectors. The seats are quite comfortable with good width and pitch. They are angled lie-flat and not that comfortable for sleeping in the fully flat or sleep position. However, I discovered that with a little adjustment towards the cradle or relax position, the seat was extremely comfortable and provided me with the best sleep I've ever gotten in the air! The pillows and blankets were also very nice and made a significant contribution towards getting a good night's sleep. The on-board catering was excellent on both sectors and the on-board chef provided a nice touch to the whole dining experience. Flight attendants on both sectors were friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, the IFE system was terrible with no AVOD and the picture quality of the movies very poor. The selection of movies was also very limited. The flagship lounge in VIE was reasonably sized but the selection of food was disappointing. Business class passengers can use the ANA lounge in NRT, which was excellent. Overall, a good product which would almost be perfect if the IFE was on par with those of the SEA carriers. For an overnight flight, I would not hesitate to fly with them again.

iloveONEWORLD flew Austrian Airlines Business (long-haul), on a B777-200ER (09/07/2010 19:44)

I love Austrian airlines

CaspianTaylor flew Austrian Airlines Economy (long-haul), on a B777-200ER (09/07/2010 19:41)

GREAT AIRLINE, GREAT SERVICE, GREAT EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!

CaspianTaylor flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a Fokker 70 (09/07/2010 19:39)

Shame that the airline was aquired by lufthansa, Austrian is a truly great airline, although the food was not that good, everything else, especially the staff service was excellent.

ode2999 flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a Canadair Regional Jet (24/03/2010 20:07)

Great flight

ode2999 flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Fokker 70 (24/03/2010 20:05)

A lot of spare seats, food was all right. Great dining and good lounge in Vienna.

ode2999 flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a Fokker 100 (24/03/2010 20:03)

Great service Great Baggage food was o.k Seat was very comfy!

athomeagain flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a A320 (22/02/2010 17:48)

Distance between seats is absolutely di minimis on the A320 for almost all passengers.

For my 12 year-old son, in 23A, it was worse. The seat in front of him was broken. Not only could it not lock in upright position, it leaned farther back than a normal seat. My son had no knee room at all.

My seat, it turned out, was also defective. It locked in upright, but only after I grabbed the seat-back and pulled it up.

Two of the flight attendants were reasonably helpful, one was awful, the last horrendous. Her only tone of voice was a screeching yell – worse for those who were trying to sleep than for me. The PA system was blazingly loud.

The meal was mediocre. Boarding was a mess and we left the gate, at 7:00 in the morning, 15 minutes late.

I entered my Continental FF# when I bought my ticket on the Austrian site, but they didn’t have a record when we checked in for our connection. We had to convince the agent that Continental was now, also, a part of Star Alliance.

Oh, did I mention they lost one of our bags at our connection and, six hours after arrival we're still awaiting a status update.

There have been worse travel experiences and we landed on time but, it’s safe to say, we’ll be avoiding Austrian whenever we can.

stefanZingg flew Austrian Airlines Business (long-haul), on a B777-200ER (08/02/2010 11:09)

Boarding is a problem when you sitting in 2nd part of the business class. Parallel boarding with Y-class Very personal service. Good service and friendly crew. Seats are old and screen is to small

fibrantsealer flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a Fokker 70 (06/02/2010 15:26)

Flew from Schiphol to Vienna. 1,5 hours delay to Vienna. Seat 21 in the Fokker 100 was extremely bad, because of limited legspace, noisy engine, no view from the window and no ajustable seat.

The flight back to amsterdam was very good in a Fokker 70. More legspace in seat 17A than 16A, bit strange. I should have known not to sit in the back of those Fokker airplanes. Austrian Airlines is overall good.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Canadair Regional Jet (14/01/2009 10:24)

Ok. I only travel business on these jets if the fare is more or less the same as economy. I'm afraid that Do&Co catering does nothing for me.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Fokker 70 (14/01/2009 10:22)

I always choose seat F - A and C have no middle seat, so at least in F there is a chance that the seat beside you is free.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a Fokker 70 (14/01/2009 10:20)

I always choose seat F - A and C have no middle seat, so at least in F there is a chance that the seat beside you is free.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Economy, on a A319 (14/01/2009 10:18)

I like Austrian. Staff are usually friendly and the airline is punctual. For short flights I often feel that I prefer the economy class to business which i find somewhat ostentatious.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a B737-600 (14/01/2009 10:16)

Flown a few times in the new austrian business class now. It's nice but somewhat ostentatious - I've started carrying my own cup in my hand baggage as I like a decent mug of tea - the fine porcelean ones provided are too small!

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Bombardier Q300 (14/01/2009 10:11)

Avoid rows 1&2 D/F - these face each other and are extremely uncomfortable - you're better off in economy.

Food is by Do&Co and the Austrians are very snooty about this - I find it over the top and never seem to eat in business class.

Austrian is my favourite airline, but I do find that the staff on Tyrolean operated flights are not as friendly as on the Austrian ones.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Bombardier Q300 (14/01/2009 10:10)

Avoid rows 1&2 D/F - these face each other and are extremely uncomfortable - you're better off in economy.

Food is by Do&Co and the Austrians are very snooty about this - I find it over the top and never seem to eat in business class.

Austrian is my favourite airline, but I do find that the staff on Tyrolean operated flights are not as friendly as on the Austrian ones.

canoepunkie flew Austrian Airlines Business, on a Bombardier Q300 (14/01/2009 10:10)

Avoid rows 1&2 D/F - these face each other and are extremely uncomfortable - you're better off in economy.

Food is by Do&Co and the Austrians are very snooty about this - I find it over the top and never seem to eat in business class.

Austrian is my favourite airline, but I do find that the staff on Tyrolean operated flights are not as friendly as on the Austrian ones.