Austrian Airlines

INN-VIE-ZAG. Although Austrian onboard service in Europe is still better than service offered by some competitors unreasonable changes were introduced in the premium sector. Until April 1st business passengers and Star Alliance Gold card holders received a voucher of EUR 5 prior to the flight for refreshments since they have no lounges at smaller Austrian airports. This has been abolished from April as a part of down-grading of Austrian/Lufthansa frequent flyer services which already caused many complaints. Austrian/Lufthansa have their own way to motivate premium passengers to consider other carriers and alliances.

DXB-VIE-LNZ-VIE-DXB. Everything was bad about this flight from web check-in to arrival to final destination. Sector VIE-DXB delayed 6hrs 40 min. Service personnel at VIE extremely hostile and unhelpful. Antiquated Boeing 767 planes with poor leg room and poor onboard entertainment systems. Food unappealing. Never again.

No change really from some of the older reviews. Catering is excellent a nice touch is the chef service. IFE very dated on a loop not on demand so didn't bother. Business class seat is very poor angled lie-flat - a nice touch is the duvet and sheet but this cannot mask the extreme discomfort of the seat. Product feels poor compared to Swiss and similar to the Lufthansa seat slightly longer but more angled in the sleep position.

DUS-NRT via VIE. Both outward and return flight were miserable. Used air sickness bag was left behind from former flight. When my wife who felt sick gave the bag to a flight attendant to get a new one she was just told to go to the toilet to wash her hands - no apologies. Majority of staff seemed unmotivated and inattentive. At my wife's seat TV monitor did not work at my seat no reading light staff reacted annoyed to respective complaints. Aircraft dated in general very poor inflight entertainment no video on demand small choice of (mostly old) movies in general. This airline seems to have massive problems. Never again.

LHR-VIE return. Outbound flight delayed 40 mins but arrived on time. Cabin crew friendly and efficient. Seating comfortable and adequate for a 2 hour flight with reasonable leg room. Drinks and a muffin provided which were very nice. However plane was extremely hot and stuffy. On return from VIE boarding was extremely chaotic and disorganised cabin crew were unwelcoming and appeared to speak very little English. Drinks and a panini provided however no vegetarian option available (abruptly told they are only available on long haul fights). Further drinks had to be asked for a number of times. Again another very hot flight. Overall flight experience ruined by return flight.

CDG-VIE-TLV. First leg Boeing 737-800 second Airbus A321. Seats not soft enough very attentive crews leg space nice. Catering on CDG-VIE route: small piece of cake. On VIE-TLV route: hot meal. Full bar service. On both planes short comedy programs and cartoons shown (video only). On the whole a very nice experience. I have flown with Austrian on previous occasions and have always been pleased.

VIE-BKK. Pre-boarding at Vienna on time with boarding fast. Onboard the economy seats were acceptable if you weren't large or tall. The meal service was fine and so was the drinks run. Entertainment was awful for such a long haul flight 3 films were played on a loop. Each person had their own seat back screen but you had to watch it to schedule. It's an average airline with an average product. I knew what to expect and it did exactly what it stated on the tin. If you can get a good price ticket Austrian is adequate.

VIE-JFK in business class. Okay the seat is not good and neither is the inflight entertainment. But on this flight the crew and the catering were excellent. Attentive service good wines and food was nicely presented.

Have used it twice for a 10 hr flight (Vienna-Tokyo) in Economy class. The problem is the seat space being the smallest I have had on such a long trip. To make matters worse their entertainment system is appalling. You can't rewind or start a movie and can only choose channels that play out like a TV. The food is not horrible but definitely does not fall into the category of good airline food.

Vienna-Bangkok-Vienna. Not satisfied with the flight experience. Tired and rude staff. Food was pretty bad quality and quantity wise entertainment equipment is outdated cabin color scheme awful. Leg room was ok however they just don't seem to make any effort to ensure you enjoy the long haul flight.