Austrian Airlines Reviews 2,411

My wife and I flew Austrian Airline from Vienna to JFK
recently and I have to say as an alliance partner of Lufthansa I was severely disappointed. In Vienna the boarding process was chaotic. Unfortunately, we flew economy, as our tour company was in charge of that. After boarding and in the air for a couple of hours, dinner was served. My wife and I took one look and smell at the mystery meal and deemed it inedible. The second and final meal was a mystery cheesy hot pocket which we both also passed on also. All in all, I won't be flying what I deem to be a budget airline again, If I can help it.

Never austrian again,
I paid extra for the legroom as my wife have anxiety.
First the flight was overbooked
Second the employees in the airport are rude.
Third, i paid extra for the extra legroom at the exit row, and as my wife wasnt perfect in english she was refused to sit there and we didnt get refunded, then i asked if it was ok that my cousin at age 15 could sit next to me as he can speak fluently, that wasnt possible either, i even said that i take the responsibility regarding emergency issues,

I flew with Austrian Airlines and had a very disappointing experience, particularly in how the situation was handled after the flight.

Due to the small size of the aircraft, passengers were asked to voluntarily hand over their carry-on luggage at the gate. Since most people refused, I decided to help the staff and handed mine over in good faith, assuming it would be handled with care. I also had extra time before my connecting train, so I wasn’t concerned.

After landing, I waited significantly longer than usual to retrieve my bag, long enough that I ended up missing my train. That alone would have been fine. But when I finally received my carry-on, it was damaged. While not the first time luggage has been damaged (with other airlines), I expected Austrian Airlines to take responsibility and offer a fair resolution.

Reporting the issue was frustrating from the start. There was no in-person assistance as I was directed to a self-service kiosk where I had to take photos from every angle and submit the claim myself. The process was tedious and time-consuming, and I nearly missed another train (which only runs once an hour) as a result.

A few days later, I was informed that my claim had been forwarded to Austrian’s service provider, Dolfi1920. Dolfi contacted me requesting basic details like my address and the size of my luggage. Without any further explanation or confirmation, I suddenly received an email with a GLS tracking number. I asked for clarification, but received no response. Soon after, a replacement carry-on was delivered to my address, one that was noticeably lower quality, something I wouldn’t even buy in a discount supermarket, and definitely not comparable to my original branded luggage.

This entire experience, from the damaged bag and long wait to the impersonal claims process, lack of communication, and poor-quality replacement, was both disappointing and frustrating. I stepped up to help the airline at the gate, and in return received a broken bag, poor service, and no accountability.
I expected much better from both Austrian Airlines and Dolfi1920.

Horrible service, never flying again. flight was diverted to another airport and thy just left us there without any information. We had to take a taxi to our original destination.

Our luggage was lost from Hannover to Vienna and from there to Athens.And our return from Athens.Me my wife and our 2 years old daughter.Of course we were not compensated.

Gate agents in Vienna treated passengers who were not business class like cattle. Very rude. On board the short haul flight from Heathrow to Vienna we received only a cup of water and a piece of chocolate. On our long haul flight the food was not very good. The flight attendants were largely just unfriendly, with the exception of one who was very kind. Our seat was in an emergency row right behind the bathroom, and the call attendant button was located in an area that was apparently quite easy to accidentally bump. We witnessed one flight attendant pound on the door and scream and scold at the passengers at least 5 times when this happened. It was astounding. I've never experienced such a negative time while flying. We like lufthansa so this experience was very disappointing.

The Customer Services is non existent, rude and cuts you off. If online, suddenly the rep says that I'm not online despite me being mid-response within same minute. The responses are very repetitive / AI generated so no real personal interaction.
I tried 3 times, continually waiting in a queues, to get an answer via online chat. Each time cut me off or sent an irrelevant link. Tried to get a link to make a complaint - the responding email sent me a link that doesn't work. Asked for a copy of the online chats, Call ended. My daughter asked for a transcription of a physical call made to them on 16 July. They put the phone down.
Background: We called Austrian Airlines to try and change the name on the booking from my daughter to my husband. Unlike other airlines they don't allow any name booking changes. Fair enough our fault for needing to make a change. My daughter rang and cancelled her booking. Got a small refund of the tax. Left my booking (mum) as it was. We booked a whole new ticket for my husband. Put the expensive experience down as lesson to be learned.

When I tried to view my (mum)remaining booking it doesn't exist. Austrian Airlines say my daughter cancelled my booking and left her booking. My daughter isn't stupid she explicitly said to cancel her seat and leave mine. On asking for a transcript of this call made on 16 July Austrian Airlines put the phone down. So we cannot obtain any evidence either online or by phone call. Why do this? Why wont they send the transcript? If they did we might be able to make a claim on our credit card.
There is absolutely nothing we can do as they wont cooperate.

Truly the worst airline.
This is the third year in a row that they canceled my direct flight to New York City from Vienna. They try to compensate me with a hotel that is two hours away and then try to stick me on a flight the next day in coach when I already paid for premium economy. This airline Sucks big time and will leave you reeling.

Maybe not the worst thing that came out of Austria, but definitely the second worst thing.

It was such a nice flight from Vienna to NYC. Plenty of leg room, food was great, service was kind and nice and plane was very clean. The downside was that the entertainment wasn’t updated and the last movie was despicable me from 2010. Also the screen constantly froze and there was no in flight WI-FI, so we spent a 13 hour flight in complete boredom. Also the bathroom was horrible. It was not clean and I got stuck there for 20 minutes.

Terrible service buying online. I've tried multiple times via multiple browsers to pay for my trip. An error occurred without further explanation, but the money has been deducted. I've promised myself not to get involved with this company ever again and recommend others to do the same.

I booked an Austrian flight from Ankara to Milano on their official website so they could take care of the entire trip. While I was booking the flight there was no option to add an extra luggage. After booking the flight I wanted to add an extra luggage and Austrian answered that since the first flight (Ankara to Vienna) is operated by Sun Express "the only way is to pay is at the counter and it should cost a maximum of 90 Euros".
When we arrived to the airport Sun Express demanded 230 Euros for a normal 23kg luggage.
1. It is an outrageous price for a normal luggage
2. Austrian gave us wrong information
3. We did not receive our luggage in Milano
4. We waited two days to receive our luggage
5. Austrian did not take responsibility for our trip although we booked it directly from them.
6. Austrian did not reimburse us for their irresponsibility, wrong information, incapability, mishandling of our luggage.
Bottom line, Austrian is not responsible for its own flights operated by another company, they will give you wrong information, lose your luggage on the way and will not reimburse you.

In line with most of the other reviews. Very poor customer experience, on board personnel very unfriendly and sometimes even rude. Not even mentioning something going bad, delay etc. there is almost no help, suport or compensation provided. Definitely one of the worse flight experiences with an European airline.

Plane delayed 30 min. Then 45 then we board and it leaves an hour after scheduled time leaving us to miss our connecting flight. 2 options at change over destination is to fly all night spending g the next 12 hours in flights and airports or see if there is a flight some time the next day. Opted to fly all night. Given departure time of 21:35 and 3 hours before the flight it is delayed a further half hour. Then they give you a 20 euro credit between 2 people to get dinner. Needless to say we have a €320 a night room sitting vacant while we try and get some sleep in an airport chair.

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the handling of a recent experience I had with Austrian Airlines on July 6, 2025, following the cancellation of our scheduled flight from Vienna to Zurich (Flight Number: 1583).

After the cancellation, we received an official email from Austrian Airlines stating that we could book hotel accommodation via a provided link. Unfortunately, the link was not functional. As a result, we approached the Austrian Airlines check-in desk at Vienna Airport to seek assistance regarding the cancellation and the hotel booking.

Regrettably, our interaction with your staff was deeply disappointing. A staff member named T. Esmerald was dismissive and informed us that Austrian Airlines would not be booking hotels, nor would they take responsibility for the email sent to us. When we requested help arranging accommodation—given that the cancellation occurred unexpectedly and during the night—we were treated with a lack of empathy and professionalism.

Furthermore, the manager on duty, C. Rosendaal, also declined to assist and, rather than offering an apology or support, joined the staff member in asking us to leave the counter in a rude and unprofessional manner. When we requested to file an official complaint and asked for the manager’s name, Mr./Ms. Esmerald called airport security to escort us from the area. This reaction was both shocking and distressing, especially as I have pre-existing health conditions and found the situation to be extremely stressful.

We remained at the airport, waiting for further clarification, at which point the manager, C. Rosendaal, approached us again and repeated the demand for us to leave, without offering any resolution or even a basic level of customer service.

This experience has left us not only disappointed but also concerned about Austrian Airlines’ commitment to its passengers during times of disruption.

10 mins before the flight we were told that the plane should be switched and they had to use a smaller one, so not everybody could board it. Their system decided randomly who would board the plane and who not, at least that’s what we were told. They didn’t organize another flight to that destination on the same day and said nothing about compensation!

We had a connection in Vienna, for a 12 hour flight. They forced us both to check-in our hand baggages so we were left with no hand baggage for our long trip. We had to quickly pick up some things and stick them in our pockets.
We've asked politely to at least leave us with one bag since we don't have anything else to store our things for the connecting flight. All the staff was rude and arrogant: "There is no more space, these are the rules!".
They didn't even bother 5 seconds to check if there was available space. And, yes, there was!
I don't know what this company does to their employees to cause them such frustration...

Checked bags..... we are full so...... No!

Free wifi....... yes but...... not this time

We are so sorry we missed your deadline.....
But we wont do anything to demo that

Very poor for price

Der Support war gut.