CO BF vs. Austrian Airways B
 

Hi,

Am looking at a couple of alternatives heading to DEL on miles, and so far I'm having to choose between
CO's BF direct flight to DEL for the full easypass (150K) miles
Or an alternative flight that goes via Vienna on Austrian Airways on Business for 60K miles (saverpass).

Since it's such a long flight, not sure about Austrian's service (hard or soft features), and i'm leaning towards paying the extra miles (as much as it hurts).

Appreciate anybody's input on Austrian's service, and i may even get to spend a couple nights in Vienna in that case.

A final alternative is trying to use an SWU on the CO flight, but not sure how likely they are to clear at booking (if i'll be paying the higher fare).

Thanks for any feedback,

Mike

Based on my experience, the soft product on Austrian is far better than Continental, but the hard product is severely lacking. The food service in particular was impressive, with an actual chef aboard.

I found the seat to be uncomfortably narrow and the IFE was a joke (it was on a loop, rather than on-demand and only had 8 or 9 channels, IIRC). Not only was the seat narrow, but it was angled, so Continental's flat bed is a vast improvement.

I flew Swiss on my last flight, JFK-ZRH-BOM, then DEL-ZRH-JFK. I realize it may not be an option if award space isn't available, but I personally think it's the best way to go from the US to India. Their C seat beats CO's, especially if you can get one of the single seats.

I have flown OS C. The soft product is amazing. Turkish Airlines based their inflight catering on the OS product and improved upon it. It is a product not to be missed. the Hard Product is the angled lie flat seats. Though they are fine.

the Soft product is more of a international First Class style product and can be customized to your liking. Top Caliber austrian wines. A seperate coffee menu. Food was excellent I wasn't disappointed when I flew it.

Try Austrian it is really enjoyable expierence:p

I was gonna say CO BF until I noticed the difference in price.

There is NO WAY IN HELL, CO BF is worth an extra 90,000 miles.

Book Austrian - and check back if saver opens up non-stop

I would personally probably see if Swiss or Turkish open up.

Austrian is fine, food is amazing :)

+1

Book OS, and waitlist CO.

My wife and I flew Austrian to ATH via VIE. Very good soft product, good hard product. The one thing we LOVED was the lounge in VIE. The eggs are to die for. Better than any restaurant. Overall we were very happy and would do it again. The trek to JFK was a big :td:

Agree with others, book Austrian and waitlist CO.

Why even waitlist CO?
Austrian is well known (not just here on FT, either!) for their great food and onboard chef.
Okay, so the seat is an angled-flat. News flash- CO is still flying angled flats on 762 and some 764 aircraft (granted, you'd have a 777 to India, but listen to my point), so it's not as though the seat is from the 1980's.

With the price difference, that's MORE THAN enough miles to TAKE A FRIEND with you!!!

So, all that in mind, I'd jump at the opportunity to fly a RARE carrier that has a good reputation. Why mess with CO at all? It's not like EWR is a dream to depart from over JFK, either....

That's what I'd do if it was me.

I would take three things into consideration.

1) The seat. You'll get lie-flat on CO
2) The added connection. You have to stop in VIE if you go with OS
3) Connection time. VIE is a bit of a mess right now with construction, I'd make sure that the connection time is adequate.

Book the OS option and waitlist CO. I'd much rather take the non-stop with lie-flat seats than have better food with a stop.

Book Austrian, the food is great and connection in VIE can be a nice break in the trip to take a shower, grab some food at the lounge, etc.

Thanks guys... I think it came down to the extra cost (as some people commented). the 150K cost of the BF flight was a bit too much, considering I'm also using miles to upgrade on other routes, etc.

As the dates come closer, I may try to see what the cost to purchase the CO Y ticket and do the SWU if it can be confirmed at time of purchase, but appreciated the feedback on OS. Starting to look forward to it.

Thanks!

Mike

As mentioned, now that you're confirmed on OS in J, you can waitlist for the nonstop flight on CO at the standard reward level.

FWIW, I had been looking into the OS routing for my partner (cheapest *A paid J fare at the time), and I think the VIE layover was a bit long, and supposedly the business class lounge only had one shower. But my research was consistent with what people are saying here about the OS product.