Several months before that flight, Austrian decided to change the departure time of our flight from 2 pm to 5.20 pm. This resulted in a 9 hour layover instead of a 5 hour transfer… Which gave us on paper enough time to explore a bit the city. In order to be able to freshen up a bit and store our carry on bags, I booked a few months before a day room at the Ibis hotel Wien Hauptbanhof. It was an affordable and convenient option for 59 Euros only, with this hotel located right next to the central train station with direct connections to the airport.

It appeared that we did freshen up there… but we did not explore a thing since we were very tired and also the weather was terrible that day : cold, windy and rainy. We were better off finishing our night at this hotel ! That would not have stopped us exploring 10 years ago; but not now J

We left it around 2.30pm and got to the airport by 3pm. Priority security was fast and we then headed to the Austrian airlines Schengen Business class lounge upstairs this shoe box of a terminal which is Vienna T3…


VIE terminal 3 check-in



I personally find this terminal 3 to be very bizarrely designed. I don’t know if the architects were lacking space or what’s the exact reason but you really need to look at the signs to know where you will be going despite the small size (and width) of this terminal. After a series of zigzags, we eventually reached the lounge and were invited to settle in the business class side of it (in opposition to the senator/first/star gold section).


OS Schengen lounge entrance VIE



It was our first time in this lounge so we started by quickly tour the facilities. (Small) restrooms are located within the lounge and a buffet was staffed by an employee who was serving a couple warm dishes, including Austrian specialties and vegetarian options. The rest of the (cold) buffet was available in self-service. The lounge does not feature any windows on the outside, which I always find sad personally. An airline flagship lounge should have outside views ! On the positive side, some fruits and healthy options were also available.




No windows unfortunately




Hot buffet with ravioli for me


They also had cold cuts and sandwiches etc...



By 16:30 we were out of the lounge and headed towards the gate. An announcement was soon made on the PA indicating that the flight was full and that passengers were invited to check their carry-on bags in. As usual, not that many volunteers showed up for this, so the very energetic gate agent went to see everyone standing in front of the gate holding a carry-on luggage to force them to gate check it. She also came to us, but after seeing the business class mention on our boarding pass, she did not ask us to check our bags in (I was getting ready to argue if needed at this stage J).


VIE terminal 3 airside





This is why I don't fly Lufthansa group airlines anymore. They just behave like low cost carriers : Your carry-on needs to fit inside and must weigh less than 8kg. For a "full service" legacy carrier, this is ridiculous. They should however limit to 2 the total number of items per person (carry-on + personal item which fits under the seat). AF or KL are less picky about that, especially if you have status with them.

Boarding started a few minutes before 17:00, fortunately using a jetty, as the weather outside was just terrible !



Austrian 375 – Sunday, January 15th 2023
Vienna Schwechat Intl VIE – 17:20 scheduled, 17:35 actual
Amsterdam Schiphol Intl AMS – 19:15 scheduled and actual
Airbus A320 – OE-LZC – Seat 02A – Window – Business class


As on most, if not all European airlines narrow bodies, the business class consisted in the same seat as in economy, but with the middle seat blocked. There was also a little bit more legroom and a universal power plug under the seat.

Service before departure was minimal, and we pushed back a little bit behind schedule.


Leg room was ok


Business class dinner Austrian VIE-AMS

A chicken filet with mashed potatoes was served for dinner, and the dessert was a sort of Opera chocolate cake. Do&Co is the caterer for OS, and I think they do a pretty good job usually, it was the case here, but maybe OS should spend the extra couple euros to offer with this meal a small starter for example.

The rest of the flight was very uneventful and we landed in a cold and rainy AMS by 19:05. A 10 min taxi time later, we reached our gate, close to the end of the B-pier, parked next to an SAS Airbus 320.
Landing in AMS. I miss the Chilean weather !


B-pier AMS airport

A short trek later, we reached the luggage claim area and the bags arrived by 19:50. This was followed by our usual 4 min train ride to Hoofdorp where we fortunately had booked a room at the Hampton Inn next to the station for the night. Our car was conveniently parked there since the beginning of our trip…