Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines, which I have been flying transatlantically and within Europe for decades keeps slinking downward in service. Flying from JFK via Vienna to Budapest return, I found out that in order to book seat reservations one must pay extra or to do so within 36 hours of the flight's departure. Going online, this proved impossible, even less than 36 hours before departure as it stated "You cannot reserve a seat on this flight" so a call to Austrian Airlines in the USA within 36 hours of departure indicated that they could not or would not book a seat. One had to arrive at the airport and take one's chances. The Boeing 777 Austrian flies from JFK has the most cramped seats regarding width of seat and pitch and this was further complicated by a very corpulent seatmate who kept his legs far apart and spilled over into my seat snatching about one third of my allocated space. The meals served on Austrian in Economy have been downgraded in quality and quantity - chicken or pasta. The chicken dish served enroute to Vienna was rather tasteless. Lufthansa and Swiss have metal cutlery - why cannot Austrian? I tried to opt for a Do&Co meal online for the flight from JFK to Vienna (at extra charge) some weeks before departure, but Austrian's website rejected that request. Austrian's once glorious breakfast in economy (cold cut plate, fruit etc) has been downgraded to a warm cheese pannini served in a napkin. The same type pannini was served as the second meal returning to NYC. The main meal out of Vienna to JFK was tastier than the flight originating at JFK but it was quite small. In Budapest it also proved impossible to book a reserved seat online within 36 hours for the return flight. Austrian has a larger IFE screen than Lufthansa or Swissair, with a large dose of classical music on offer and a slightly simpler ability to operate the visual entertainment. Service onboard is average or slightly above. Austrian was once among the finest of airlines to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the USA - now it is more of a budget airline. The short flight Vienna to Budapest on a propeller plane had no service save for a bottle of water - but a very short 45 mins flight. I do not really recommend Austrian for economy flights, although Austrian business class is quite superior compared to rival airlines.

Austrian operates this route on behalf of Swiss. Lugano airport is small and convenient. Quick boarding and a short hop over the Alps at sunset. Q400 is a propellor plane but quite comfortable. Were offered a bottle of water and a chocolate. I booked this flight after Darwin cancelled the route Lugano-Zurich due to competition from Swiss, but Darwin was half the price of Swiss so it would be better that Darwin re-opens this route. All in all a good flight with a friendly crew, but with CHF 100 a bad price.

Our flight from Vienna to Athens with Austrian Airlines was good. The flight was full and we had seats somewhere in the middle (window and middle seat). The seats look new from leather. The comfort was quite good. When I travel on business, I usually take time on the plane to relax and I almost every time ask for a pillow. The steward was very friendly and since the pillows are for business class only, he managed to bring me one anyway. He was very helpful. When we landed I told him he made my day and how little it is necessary that the customer is happy. The service of this crew was outstanding.

Austrian offers their product Smart Upgrade online, however it seems that they are confused with it and do not want any passengers/revenue in the business class. For a domestic 40 minutes flight, upgrade of EUR75 was offered and rejected. It is interesting that "C" class VIE-INN was empty. However, they prefer to use business class to deliver food and drinks to their crews returning to INN only. Lounge staff in VIE shows a complete lack of interest and is unable to solve any problem with booking. It seems they can only check boarding pass barcode at the entrance. Repeatedly, Austrian services continue to decline and lack of interest of staff in VIE is obvious.

Warsaw to Vienna with Austrian Airlines. This was a small plane and some passengers had a hard time stowing their bigger hand luggage in the overhead compartments. The crew was pleasant and I liked that we were served drinks and a snack for a 1 hour flight. At the beginning of the flight a passenger was watching a movie on her phone with no head phones and at a later point a gentleman was playing/changing ringtones on his phone and the whole plane had to listen to this. I think the crew should have told these passengers to use headphones and not disturbed the rest of the people. Overall I think the price of the ticket was high for the service provided.

Flights departed roughly on time and arrived early on all four legs of the outbound and return journey. Planes were clean and modern. Cabin crew were friendly and polite. Leg-room fine for short-haul flights although seats would have been uncomfortable for anything over two hours. However, Austrian offers a service that is so basic it verges on the minimal. The outbound flight left Heathrow at 6.00am meaning you had to be at the airport for 4.00am when minimal services were open and operating in the terminal. All Austrian airlines had to offer on a 2 hour flight at this time was tea, coffee or soft drinks and a tiny, dry pastry. This really is unacceptable, it wasn't even possible to buy breakfast on the plane. Service on the other legs of the journey was also limited to drinks and a sweet or savoury snack (both of which were dry and tasteless). There is no in-flight entertainment and the in-flight magazine is produced quarterly rather than the usual monthly. For a full fair national carrier Austrian Airlines really need to up their game. I would never willingly use their services again because they are just not value for money.

I expected better quality especially on the Austrian Airlines long-haul segment from Vienna to Bangkok. One of my concerns lie in the poor quality entertainment systems - the screens on my seat, and two other travellers around me, were faulty and kept sending a call to cabin staff as well as being difficult to control- the sound level was also too low and we basically couldn't watch any movies on a ten hour flight! The cabin felt more crowded (less legroom, less spacious) than the subsequent flight I took with Thai to Brisbane. Prior to the flight it was also difficult to do online check-in and for special meal requests to be lodged. Meals were bland. The positive was that I got from A to B safely and on time.

Austrian Airlines flight was great, the plane fairly new, leg room. The floor under the seat in front of me needed to be vacuumed but other than that it was clean. However, our luggage was delayed, which happens but it was impossible to contact the airline to find out where it was and what was happening. The website we were given when we reported the bags hadn't arrived only said to check back later -. for three days it said the same thing, even after they were delivered. I called numerous numbers including the one we had been given only to be told that they handled Lufthansa and not Austrian. Then the number from the website was was no longer in service and the only way I finally got through was to leave a message on the machine for lost items at Newark. Finally Austrian Airlines called us after almost 3 days. Delivery was supposed to be at 4, then 7, then 8, 9 - finally at 11pm our bags arrived. I've had delayed luggage before and it's a pain but not a big deal but this was incredibly frustrating. Austrian Airlines check your phone numbers!

After a long flight from New Zealand on pale pastel purple Thai Airways, the bright red and white and smart graphic style of the Austrian Business Class cabin on my Bangkok to Vienna flight was a real eye-opener. The crew were bright, brisk and friendly. The Business cabin was completely full, as was the Economy according to my fellow traveller. Big surprise! A crew member dressed as a chef came out, took the dinner orders and the breakfast card. I don't know how they did it, but the food looked and tasted like food from a fine restaurant on the ground. My chicken breast was a proper full grilled tasty chicken breast, served on the best polenta I've ever eaten. The texture and taste of the food was brilliant, and it was so well served. This food service is the best I've ever experienced in the sky (» Best Business Catering Award 2015), and leaves Emirates First Class for dead. The seats lie flat, the electronic entertainment is bright, crisp and clear. The pillows and sheets and blankets are homely and so inviting. The felt amenities kit is elegant and fun. Everything about this airline is smart, amusing and so very well done. I'm sorry if I sound like a press release (I'm not) but I was totally blown away. And this is after over thirty years of constant air travel.

I was expecting a business class comfort but was shocked on this A320 - business class has three seats on each side (middle one left empty) and the seats seem identical to the economy class on same plane. The legroom is also tight and a 3.5hr flight with no entertainment at all. My flight from Newark to Vienna was fantastic, but I was so disappointed with the business class seats on the flight from Vienna to Amman.