Austrian Airlines Reviews 2,411

My husband and I traveled with our 6-month-old daughter from Texas to Austria this past August, and while our baby was an absolute angel, Austrian Airlines made this trip a nightmare.

Our flight from Texas was delayed over an hour because they didn’t have enough staff to load the plane. This delay caused us to miss our connecting flight — through no fault of our own. When we went to the Austrian Airlines counter for help, we were told our only options were to wait until 10 PM for the next flight or take a train. Neither was reasonable after already traveling so many hours with an infant.

We asked about a refund for the missed connection and were told to email customer service. After doing so, they denied our request, claiming we had “enough time” to make the connection — completely ignoring the fact that a customs trainee held us up by unpacking and testing every single item in our carry-ons. Because of that delay, we missed our flight and were forced to rent a car and drive four hours to our final destination at our own expense.

To make matters worse, Austrian Airlines then canceled our return flights entirely because we missed the final leg on the way there. We had to pay to reinstate those tickets, and we also lost the money we spent upgrading to extra-legroom seats. Our return flight ended up in cramped seats with zero legroom, despite having paid for the upgrade.

And as if that wasn’t enough, when we finally arrived back in Texas, our brand new $120 suitcase was completely destroyed — split wide open and literally wrapped in rope by the airline to hold it together. I even have video proof of them wrapping it.

Throughout all of this, customer service was dismissive and offered absolutely no assistance, compensation, or even an apology.

I strongly recommend avoiding Austrian Airlines. Their flight schedules are far too tight to realistically make connections — especially for families — and their customer service is completely unhelpful when their own operational failures cause problems. Save yourself the stress and choose another airline.

VERY RUDE Customer Service. They never explained why they pulled me out for "check", they didn't even make eye contact. The woman at the gate exuded hate. The guy at the counter was SHOUTING. He got hysterical when I wanted to record him. All his "courage" turned into hysteria. The hateful woman at the gate lied to her supervisor - ANNA MARTINS - to cover up her hideous attitude. The worst experience of my life (after 300 flights!)

I accidentally booked a flight on the wrong day. I called Austrians customer service and got through immediately. The person i talked to was very polite and helpful. He told me I could cancel the trip myself online and get a full refund within 24 hours. It was very easy and I got the confirmation email about my refund immediately too. This is customer service at its best!

Absolute nightmare ; Worst UX, worst customer service. Unable to provide help. AVOID AT ALL COST !

Overcrowded airplanes, always overbooked so no room to store everyones hand luggage. Most of the times delays up to 40 min so don’t count on being on time.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH AUSTRIAN AIRLINES BUSINESS CLASS

To be clear we took 4 separate flights with this airline and each one was equally disappointing. However the final leg from Vienna to London was spectacularly standout chaos.

As frequent international business class travelers, we have never experienced such poor service as on our recent Austrian Airlines flight. For £3,000, we expected standard business class amenities and professionalism—neither were delivered.

Boarding chaos: Despite priority boarding, passengers were allowed through both aircraft doors simultaneously, creating complete disorganisation. We were informed it was due to a wheelchair passenger was being loaded in front. However all priority passengers were boarded from the rear. Then, incomprehensibly they started boarding economy passengers from the front causing absolute chaos during the seating process. The excuse given was that it “was to speed up the boarding process in order that we would not miss our slot” consequently and unsurprisingly we missed it by a long shot.

Seating: The “business class” configuration is simply economy seats with the middle seat blocked—hardly justifying the premium price.

Service failures: No proactive service throughout the 3.5-hour flight—no water, juice, or comfort checks

• Champagne listed on the menu was actually available for purchase only, not complimentary

• When I questioned receiving sparkling wine instead of champagne (a business class standard), the attendant responded unprofessionally before reluctantly providing it
• Limited food and beverage options well
below typical business class standards.

Bottom line: We’ve flown business class on dozens of airlines globally. Austrian Airlines falls dramatically short of acceptable standards. Economy class on reputable carriers offers better value and service. We will not fly Austrian again and cannot recommend them for premium travel.

pre-booked and paid preferred seats have been arbitrarily and without prior notice cancelled and placed at the back of the plane

We were denied boarding on Austrian Airlines flight OS848 from Vienna to Copenhagen on 18 October 2025 due to overbooking.

At the Vienna service desk, we were rebooked and explicitly told that we would arrive in Copenhagen at 12:00 the next day, but shortly after, we received an SMS stating that our new flight via Munich would not depart until 14:45.
When we pointed this out to the same staff, we were assured that “there was no problem” — which turned out to be completely wrong.

Our total travel time increased from 4 hours and 5 minutes to 21 hours and 45 minutes, a delay of more than 17 hours.

I called Austrian Airlines customer service several times, but none of the agents could assist.
Eventually, I was told to call +1 (800) 254-7734 for help — a number that cannot be reached from Europe.
This shows repeated misinformation and a total lack of support.

We could also see that other routes to Copenhagen were available earlier that day, yet Austrian did not offer us any of them.

For an airline within the Lufthansa Group, this level of customer service is unacceptable.
I strongly recommend avoiding Austrian Airlines if you value reliability, honesty, and basic customer care.

It’s a pathetic service (and I am a “senator” with Austrian/Lufthansa). Apart from customary delays and parking at the far end of airports, at least you could count on a glass of water…Seems like Austrian flights (operated by Air Baltic) consider it unnecessary luxury now…

I have used this airline many times and never had a problem. I do have a reservation for November and I also prepaid for my luggage when I booked this trip. Unfortunately I need to leave earlier when calling to arrange this I was told there is a fee to change the date...(of course I knew there would be nothing is free in this life) anyway I was also told I would not be able to use the money I already paid for my luggage. I can't belive they would do that it's bad enough the amount of money they charge for the flight now the want to pocket the money I paid for my luggage is a rip off and I will never use them again.

Classy, great sense of humour, spacious aircrafts, intelligent and funny crew members, delicious food, on flight entertainment!

Short haul return flight Heathrow to Vienna. All very smooth with no obvious checking of bags for size or weight at any point. No delays caused by airline (just fog). Paid lowest fair so pretty happy

Horrible customer service, through a shared booking with Brussels Airlines which gave me a free checked bag on the away journey, I was surprised to see that I needed to buy a checked bag for the return. Then in the middle of the night after booking the bag, I get an e-mail of an offer for a free checked bag. When I ask for both reasons to get the bag fee refunded, they flat out refuse, the low score they're getting is definitely justified

Amazing customer service, great airline, high quality

First, they wouldn't give our stroller back when we landed in Vienna, Austria. The flight attendant claimed the rules had changed a few months ago (we were supposed to know about Austrian Airline rule changes apparently) and only when we steadfastly insisted on our rights did the captain go below the plane and collect the stroller. This was around 20:00 in the evening and our child then went to sleep in the stroller we'd recovered. Throughout, the stewardess insisted we would be able to find a stroller for use in the airport. This point was eventually found at the furtherest point from our arrival, there were no strollers docked anyway, and even if they had been there would have been for a complicated rental price. Not a viable substitute for our own stroller!

Worse still, we were moved to row 5 from row 7 at the gate which turned out to be a nightmare in practice - but before we realised the significance of that, the attendants at the gate woke up our sleeping baby by not letting us take the lift down to the boarding area, insisting we use the escalator instead. Back to the row move: we were rudely told we could not put our bags in the overhead locker as the space was reserved for business class from rows 1 to 4!! WHAT THE AIRLINE SHOULD HAVE SAID: "Please keep your bags with you and we will find a solution once everyone has boarded the plane." As a result, the baggage space above us was EMPTY during the flight, and we used someone else's space further down the plane which resulted in several shouts of "whose bags are these?" which went unheeded since now we had a crying baby in our hands and no way to go back 5 rows to address the disturbed traveller.

Our baby then disturbed the whole plane for the first hour and a half of the flight while I tried my best to get her back to sleep. THEN I was forced to collect our bags and move them to the EMPTY overhead baggage space before we landed - how did the stewards think we could leave from the 5th row if our bags were held back in the 10th row? - and I was confronted by this disturbed traveller for an issue which was not our fault.

Finally, Austrian Airlines did not send an email after the flight asking "How did we do?" Their lack of interest in customer feedback, their 'my way or the highway' approach means that we will NEVER fly Austrian Airlines again - even if they were to offer a free lifetime pass.

You just don't treat families with babies like that.

If you book with Austrian Airlines, be prepared that customer service may simply ignore you.
My EU261 compensation claim (Case No. 2509-OS-02256) has been unanswered for 16 days despite multiple reminders.
Terrible communication and zero accountability.

Basically a scam company.

I bought a ticket to thailand, 40 days in advance, im very tall and need a seat with legroom.
I discover at check in they deleted my payed seat, so i booked the last available with legroom for another 90 eur.
When i got into the flight i discovered there was other people in my seat and they assigned me another one.

My flight was terrible, im.very tall, couldnt even move and had backproblems.

Staff didnt help me, they just repeat endlessly they dont know nothing and cant do nothing.

Almost impossible to get a refund, cuatomer care is ridicolous, all indian people who speak unintelligible english, very hard to understand and very expensive to call.

This is basically a scam company.

​As a Senator Gold member who spends thousands annually with Star Alliance, I’ve reached a breaking point. If you value a stress-free journey, especially with connections, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere.

​Let me be fair: the food on Swiss and Austrian business class can be surprisingly good, and the cabin crews are generally polite and professional. But these small comforts are completely overshadowed by the alliance's fundamental failure in its primary duty: getting you from A to B smoothly.

​My recent trip from Amman to Zurich via Vienna is a perfect example. Our first flight was delayed, leaving a dangerously short connection time. The onboard crew, while sympathetic, were blunt: the airline "wouldn't care" if we missed our connection. They were right.

​Upon landing in Vienna, there was no assistance. No one to help with the transfer. I had to sprint through the airport, cut queues at passport control, and rush through security again. I arrived at the gate sweating and out of breath just moments before it closed. This wasn't a one-off; it has become the norm for my Star Alliance flights recently, including trips to and from Amman and Mexico City.

​Here's the bottom line: Star Alliance will sell you a premium ticket promising comfort and convenience, but when things go wrong, you are on your own. They will not hold a plane for 10 minutes to save you from a night stranded in a hotel. They will not have staff assist you through the airport. You, the customer, are expected to absorb all the stress and anxiety caused by their operational delays.

​What's the point of a comfortable seat if you're too stressed and exhausted from running through an airport to enjoy it? The core promise of premium travel is peace of mind, and on that front, Star Alliance has repeatedly and completely failed. My loyalty feels worthless, and I am now seriously considering taking my business to an airline that actually values its customers' time and well-being. Travellers, be warned.

I got my boarding pass 24 hrs before my flight with great ease thru my app account for Austrian Airlines.
Check in was quick and fast, My flight from Milan Malpensa Airport to Vienna International at 10.15 Local Time took off on time and arrived on time, It`s only takes approx a hour 15 mins.
The crew was brilliant, So professional and oh so kind.
They came round with a glass of water and free chocolate's for everyone, You don`t get that on Easyjet !!! Excellent service.

I had a truly disappointing experience with Austrian Airlines due to their unfair and poorly communicated no-show policy.

I originally booked a return ticket: London → Vienna and Vienna → London. However, since I was already in the Czech Republic, I didn’t need to use my outbound flight from London to Vienna. A couple of days later, when I tried to check in for my return flight from Vienna to London, I discovered it had been cancelled without any notification.

When I called Austrian Airlines customer service, I was told that because I hadn’t boarded the outbound leg, the return flight was automatically cancelled. There was no communication from the airline about this cancellation. To make matters worse, when I raised this with the call centre agent (Vivien), her response was that I had also failed to “communicate with them.” This dismissive attitude was shocking.

As a result, I was left stranded and forced to spend an extra £250 on a new ticket at the last minute.

I find this policy completely unreasonable and customer-unfriendly. Airlines should not be allowed to cancel an already paid return flight without warning the passenger. The lack of communication and empathy from Austrian Airlines has left me very disappointed.

I would strongly advise other travellers to be cautious when booking with Austrian Airlines, as their policies can leave you out of pocket and without support. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend this airline.