Observations following my first flight with Austrian
Mar 19, 2024, 9:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald), TK Elite (*A Gold)
Posts: 576
Observations following my first flight with Austrian
I took my first flight with OS a few days ago and wanted to post the below, to get a few opinions and thoughts on some things which stood out to me.
Routing was LHR-VIE-EVN and thanks to their upgrade bid process both legs were in Business.
It was a great value trip, so I’m certainly not complaining - hopefully I’ll get to fly with them more to improve my familiarity!
Routing was LHR-VIE-EVN and thanks to their upgrade bid process both legs were in Business.
- First thing which struck was the filthy seat; 2A on a 320 Neo. I’ve added a couple of photos but was very grateful for the cold plastic packaged wipe handed out, which enabled me to do the cleaning which clearly hadn’t even been attempted.
- Have those cleaning wipes ever been ‘hot towels’? It felt a bit cheaper than other airlines and obviously comes with more plastic waste.
- It was nice to be greeted by name from the information on an iPad.
- I thought it interesting to see the safety card referencing guidance applying to VR headsets, so assume these have been newly updated.
- I always pay attention to the safety demonstration. My more regular airlines I can recite from memory as result, but being a new carrier I paid even extra attention. There was nothing included about life jackets. Given we were routing over water (albeit not much) I thought this was odd. I checked there was a life jacket beneath my seat but thought this shouldn’t be normal, is it?
- There was no Wi-Fi, which I thought surprising for their ‘flagship’ aircraft.
- There’s no form of headrest on the seat, which made the seat less comfortable than others. When you’re unable to rest your head to one side you notice what a big improvement it is to have one!
- The drinks service seemed to take an age to get started, but ended up being good and the food was brilliant. The trio of sausages and mash was very tasty, and the ravioli on the second leg equally well presented. The gold handle on the mug was a great touch and even a tablecloth laid on VIE-EVN. Certainly impressive.
- I use the Flighty app, so on arrival at VIE already knew I was departing from a G gate. If I didn’t know this I’d have been at a loss, and assume I’d have gone through passport control and ended up landside? However just prior I spotted a sign with a G, directing me upstairs to a security check, seemingly waking up the staff, and ended up in a terminal area. No signs indicating where the lounge was but the staff at the service desk directed me on the long walk through duty free and down the steps.
- At the lounge entrance I was directed to the right and spent three hours in the most soulless lounge ever - no atmosphere, I was scared to even cough, got semi shouted at for lifting the lid on one of the hot pans to see what was on offer, and am glad I didn’t take a bag into the toilets which have to be the smallest facility anywhere! Could I have accessed a different lounge? I was just expecting better from a major hub airport.
It was a great value trip, so I’m certainly not complaining - hopefully I’ll get to fly with them more to improve my familiarity!
Mar 19, 2024, 9:42 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald), TK Elite (*A Gold)
Posts: 576
Mar 19, 2024, 10:01 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: VIE
Programs: SAS EBS / *A Silver, Hilton Diamond, Radisson VIP, IHG Platinum Ambassador
Posts: 3,783
BA currently uses Vienna Lounge, which is in the Schengen part of the airport. The only non-Schengen lounges at the moment are both run by Austrian (at D and G gates), thus only accessible to Star Alliance pax and a handful of other partner airlines. There is supposed to be a new non-Schengen lounge build in upcoming years, presumably of the same quality as the Vienna Lounge.
Mar 19, 2024, 10:15 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald), TK Elite (*A Gold)
Posts: 576
BA currently uses Vienna Lounge, which is in the Schengen part of the airport. The only non-Schengen lounges at the moment are both run by Austrian (at D and G gates), thus only accessible to Star Alliance pax and a handful of other partner airlines. There is supposed to be a new non-Schengen lounge build in upcoming years, presumably of the same quality as the Vienna Lounge.
Mar 19, 2024, 11:04 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: HAG
Programs: Der 5* FTL
Posts: 8,065
Yes, non-star carriers use contract lounges. OS lounges are not as good. Particularly when you depart from C or D and use Vienna lounge.
Mar 19, 2024, 12:56 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Programs: BA Gold (OW Emerald), TK Elite (*A Gold)
Posts: 576
Okay, "flagship" was my own language, but prompted by the OS website referring to it as "NEW!", "youngest member", "innovative" and "modern", plus also listing wifi under the 'extras' section...
Mar 19, 2024, 1:14 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,588
The Vienna lounge looks much nicer than anything OS has, including the HON closet (double entendre) but the food is the same in my experience, as are the drinks.
OS have a crap setup, while the bar is low, the self-service buffet/staff is peculiar.
Once again price is key here, TK will always be better on every possible barometer, LOT is probably better but the connections don’t work like they do for the other Caucuses as EVN misses the 281 and the 279 that TBS and GYD (mostly) do not meaning you have a pointlessly long layover.
Manky planes is unusual for LH Group in general, whereas for BArb and her luxury cabins its quite normal.
OS have a crap setup, while the bar is low, the self-service buffet/staff is peculiar.
Once again price is key here, TK will always be better on every possible barometer, LOT is probably better but the connections don’t work like they do for the other Caucuses as EVN misses the 281 and the 279 that TBS and GYD (mostly) do not meaning you have a pointlessly long layover.
Manky planes is unusual for LH Group in general, whereas for BArb and her luxury cabins its quite normal.
Mar 19, 2024, 2:29 pm
#12
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 583
Mar 19, 2024, 3:05 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: VIE
Programs: SAS EBS / *A Silver, Hilton Diamond, Radisson VIP, IHG Platinum Ambassador
Posts: 3,783
I was surprised to see cleaning crew with vacuum cleaner disembark a BA plane in VIE few days ago. I wonder whether that's normal or a one-off due to some incident on inbound flight.
Mar 19, 2024, 5:08 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: HAG
Programs: Der 5* FTL
Posts: 8,065
Can't speak for HON F&B but ambiance wise... HON is small and comparatively private but other than that not better than Vienna Lounge either. Sky Lounge YMMV.
Mar 19, 2024, 5:59 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: INN
Posts: 2,914
No HON, and haven't been to the renovated OS lounges, but before that there was a clear hierarchy: Vienna Lounge > Sky Lounge > OS SEN/C pier F/G > OS C pier D. From reports about the renovation is is probably even more true these days.