Austrian Airlines Reviews 2,411

Austrian Airlines claims to board by groups, but in reality they don’t enforce group boarding at all. Everyone boards at the same time, which completely defeats the purpose of having groups.

Passengers from later groups board early and fill the overhead bins, leaving no space for passengers in earlier groups who are supposed to board first and reasonably expect bin space.

When the bins were full, the gate agent told me my carry-on had to be checked because it was over 8 kg, which was not true. After questioning it, the agent changed the story and admitted it was actually due to lack of space, not weight.

If the issue is space, say so. Don’t blame customers with false weight claims. Either enforce boarding groups or be honest. Right now, the policy is meaningless and customers in earlier groups are penalized.

Austrian Airlines claims to board by groups, but in reality they don’t enforce group boarding at all. Everyone boards at the same time, which completely defeats the purpose of having groups.

Passengers from later groups board early and fill the overhead bins, leaving no space for passengers in earlier groups who are supposed to board first and reasonably expect bin space.

When the bins were full, the gate agent told me my carry-on had to be checked because it was over 8 kg, which was not true. After questioning it, the agent changed the story and admitted it was actually due to lack of space, not weight.

If the issue is space, say so. Don’t blame customers with false weight claims. Either enforce boarding groups or be honest. Right now, the policy is meaningless and customers in earlier groups are penalized.

Austrian Airlines is a disaster. I had two connecting flights, but on the second one we couldn’t land due to fog and had to turn back. Instead of offering a proper solution, I was rebooked for the next day with 9 HOURS of layover.

Customer support was absolutely useless — no one helped, no one cared, even though I had to be at my destination that day. Zero responsibility, zero empathy.

The worst airline I’ve ever flown with. Never again.

I booked a round trip from Tirana to Fort Lauderdale. The first 2 legs were on Austrian, the Tirana to Vienna flight was good. However my flight OS37 from Vienna to Newark was horrible. I am Star Alliance Gold but there was no way to add that on the Austrian website. I phoned customer service and they asked me to email my credentials showing my status. A few days later I received a email response indicating that my status had been added to my profile. I then booked the flights but when my choices appeared I could either book their basic or pay more for a fare that included a checked bag. Unfortunately I went ahead and booked and phoned Austrian and was informed that at check-in in Tirana to let them know my status that included 2 free checked bags and they would initiate a refund for the extra charge. At check-in the agent in Tirana had no idea what I was talking about and suggested I speak with an agent at the lounge in Vienna. I arrived went to the lounge and after a delay of checking to verify my Gold Status I was finally passed on to another agent and I explained the issue and what their customer service had informed me she asked if “I wanted to check a second bag”? I explained again that since at booking my status wasn’t recognized and my choice was to book a basic fare or pay for a higher fare that included a checked bag. Her response was, “ if you book a basic fare your status would not receive Gold Benefits “. I asked her which benefits were provided by booking a higher fare, 2 free checked bags, priority tags, priority security, which none were provided. She asked what I expected and remained her that Austrian customer service had indicated that the additional bag charge would be refunded. Her response was “how much money is it “? I attempted to remain civil but her entire attitude was vile at best. I simply stated that I was sure she could determine the amount due. Her response was I don’t know what you want me do and a tossed a business card at me for their “Feedback” contact. I gave up at that point and tried to relax in a lounge that was less than comfortable. I had paid an extra $79 at booking for an “extra legroom seat” and upon boarding my seat was certainly not an “Extra Legroom Seat”. I mentioned that to a flight attendant who just smiled and shrugged and walked away. In flight service was mediocre at best, dinner choice was either “beef” or “pasta”, I selected the beef which was a gray hamburger about 3” across and 1” high, covered in mixed carrots and peas that would have been served in a school cafeteria. Tossed salad was minuscule but edible, the “chocolate desert” was a Jello Chocolate pudding but on a bad day! I did try the hamburger which was dry, tasteless and perhaps a bit off. The flight attendant finally came around and to switch to the pasta dish and It was some sort of pasta with a Chef Boyardee sauce. Most likely the worst airline food I’ve ever had! Breakfast was something of a sandwich which I passed on even trying.
My return flight on OS 38 had at least 1 pleasant flight attendant but if possible the food was worse. I selected the chicken which were breaded strips and could not be cut, I finally tore off a piece and that was enough. Fortunately I had visited the United and Lufthansa lounges and was grateful to have eaten enough to stave off hunger during the flight to Vienna. Funny my non extra legroom seat had the same pitch as my previous.

Don’t expect charging outlets or bluetooth. Needless to say this has been my first and last trip on Austrian Airlines.

Every flight delayed, no information given to passengers about the delar.

Austrian Airlines needs to seriously renew and improve everything on its long-haul planes. First of all, there is no Wi-Fi on the aircraft. The bathroom doors were not working, the food was awful, and there was not enough space to sit comfortably. I was pissed off and disappointed. I will never fly with this company again.

Thank you for spoiling my holiday to Vienna.
Day 3 in a few hours and still no suitcase. I am wearing the same clothes I had on since v early Saturday, shops were closed all day Sunday.
No respect for paying customers and no urgency in regards to delivering bags that Austrian Airlines mislaid.
I have no toiletries, clean underwear or clothing.
I will never fly with you again.

Absolutely Unacceptable Experience
Four days of my holiday were wasted chasing this ignorant airline. My luggage has been missing for days, and I arrived abroad with nothing—no clothes, no essentials at all.
I contacted Austrian Airlines more than 30 times, including calling customer service directly, but they simply do not care. There were no updates, no responsibility, and no support. Their online baggage system is slow, broken, and incredibly frustrating.
I was forced to buy essentials out of pocket while they tried to locate the six bags they lost. This level of service is completely unacceptable for an international airline. A truly rubbish experience from start to finish.

Online multicity bookings are misleading

It's not possible to book a multi-city trip on the website, even though you can go through all the stages. If you call to book the same trip, you will be told that it doesn't work online (no, duh) and then asked to pay nearly 50% more. I think this is extremely poor, and if I could go with another carrier I would.

My card was charged for not cheap flight, then error appeared and no tickets issued. They don't know when they return money back and i need ticket - i have to start new booking with new prices and pay one more time, but this time higher price

They cancelled my flight just 20 minutes before departure without giving any reason. Because of their wonderful rebooking, I ended up flying to a different airport in another country and spending the whole night there, only to arrive back home about 15 hours later. They keep dodging compensation, even though it’s a pretty textbook case. I’ll probably just avoid them in the future.

Overall bad experience. Unclear bag policy. Had to leave my luggage in the rain for someone to check it up.

I’ve now had two terrible experiences with Austrian Airlines, both caused by their own systems and made worse by their completely unhelpful support.

1. Family holiday nearly ruined

We booked an expensive long-haul trip from Vienna to the Dominican Republic.
Because my son has the same first/last name as me, Austrian’s system flagged it as a “duplicate passenger” and blocked check-in for the entire family.

Airport staff gave zero help

We had to run across the airport, get e-tickets ourselves, and nearly missed our flight

This is something every other airline handles normally — Austrian clearly doesn’t.

2. Austrian canceled my paid ticket and forced me to buy another (Bookings: 8O8KUB,8QGQFL)

I booked Vienna → Oslo for Friday and return on Sunday. Logged in, but didn’t notice outbound was on the wrong Friday.
My fare class didn’t allow changes, so I bought a second one-way ticket for the correct date.

Then Austrian did the unbelievable:
They canceled the new ticket I paid for on my return, blocked check-in, and chat support told me I “must buy a third ticket”.

Absolutely no willingness to help. Just scripted, useless replies.

Conclusion
Austrian Airlines has:

Unreliable and outdated systems
Hidden rules that trap customers
Staff that provides no real assistance

Zero flexibility, even when the problem is caused by them

After two major failures, I will avoid Austrian Airlines whenever possible.

My experience with Austrian Airlines was extremely disappointing. My first flight was heavily delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight. After that, I had to wait almost 24 hours for the next available flight to continue my journey.

Delays can happen due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control — I fully understand that. But what made the situation truly unacceptable was the way I was treated by the ground staff. The employee who was supposed to help me spoke to me in a condescending manner, as if I didn’t understand what was going on. There was absolutely no empathy or professionalism.

The lack of respect, poor communication, and the enormous delay made this one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had. Austrian Airlines has definitely lost me as a customer.

Personally, I will never fly with this airline again. I have flight with many airlines in my life but what I experience from Austrian airline recently I wish nobody get some same experience one way by the ticket the food was included and when we were in the air the staff said sorry we can’t give you any food. You have to pay for this the people getting upset because of that and they were children they’re crying then one of the people took his phone out to record how they handled the Customer then the airline staff said if you keep recording you will be reported to Vienna police that you are a terrorist, I could not believe what I heard from the stuff 1 Lady started crying because of that I have never seen racist in the airline history. This one was for the first time I could not believe how they talk to the customer. I advise you strongly they are the worst racist airline ever and when I heard this I took my phone out and I started recording and I told the Lady stuff report me to Vienna police don’t threaten me because now you threatened me as a doctor I know my right but you accusing people
I think twice before you book with this company, there is a lot of airline out there and they have good offers as well

Warning: Do not book with this airline. They are systematically attempting to scam you through their online booking platform. During the booking process, an error message will appear. After retrying, the price will be inflated, and children already booked and paid for (and displayed at checkout) will disappear from the booking, requiring you to pay again. In this case, cancel immediately, within 24 hours.

Flight cancelled, no warning, they don't deserve 1 star. Unhelpful customer service, absolutely useless

Austrian airlines became a low cost company. They offered us water ONLY!
Toilets are extremely tight.
Business seats are just like regular ones !

Low low low cost

Very unprofessional customer service while talking to the customer service they hang up on the phone. Also, they change the flight and they don’t care if you have a work or other things November 5th 2025