Austria Airlines....

[skippybangkok]

Welll.....

Out on the honeymoon to austria.... Arrived at Suwannabom at about 1:45 hrs before departure ( rare, as I normally show up 45mins before ).

Was greeted with staff who wanted to pay us 300 euro to not take the flight. with a straight face they said its normal procedure for them to over book the planes, and some miss out 'if they come too late'. Got into a massive brawl where their customer service approach was ' we are calling security ' ( since I worked in the airline industry along time ago, I was aware this was a bluff, and asked which statute / law is it against to raise ones voice ).....

... had a massive war with them, and we ended up being offloaded to Swissair ( which is a far better airline in retrospect ) and had to fly over Zurich, missing all our connecting travels once arriving in Austria.

They tried to tell me this is normal airline practice.... to which I responded ' in all my life of flying both for private and for business, this is the first time this has happened'. ( And I do fly alot )

I must give back some respect to TG, Air China etc which I might have criticized in the past....

..... Austrian Airlines goes down as the worst airline in history in my books. I will die before I book another flight with them.

p.s. on the return flight...... all the seats for window were already booked, so how does a flight get over booked and at the same time people can 'reserve seats'

[tolsti]

For someone who has travelled a lot you must have been very lucky.

It is perfeclty normal practice and happens everyday on hundreds if not thousands of airline flights.

This is called overbooking the plane. Airlines overbook because they know from experience that not all passengers who have made reservations show up for the flight so to have any chance of filling the plane, airline computers estimate the number of passengers likely to be no-shows and accept reservations accordingly. This is based on historical data on flight loadings at similar times of the year.

The practice of asking people to accept money to take a later flight or passing people to another airline is called bumping.

Obviously, overbooking can sometimes cause problems, such as when more people show up for a flight than there are seats available. When that happens, airlines give special incentives to travelers who are willing to give up their seats. If an airline is forced to bump a passenger involuntarily, the airline must compensate that person.

You did not state whether you took the 300 Euros... I hope you did.

Many airlines now allow passengers to choose and reserve their seats on line at the time of the booking which is probably why you couldn't get a window seat.

I do agree with you though.... Austrian Airlines are a shower of <deleted>.

[dee123]

eva air asked me to accept 180 english pounds and they would put me on tomorrows flight...i thought why not one more night in bangkok.......stay near here and someone will deal with your new ticket etc......so i waited with all my unchecked bags while all the other passengers booked on.......then at the last minute it the deal was off.....i was told i would have to board plane immediately......i said ......"WHAT!......i hadnt bought any duty free yet or have not been to lav, etc.....sorry you have to board now they replied..........so dont necesarily accept the money, they just might be stringing you along!

[h90]

Welll.....

Out on the honeymoon to austria.... Arrived at Suwannabom at about 1:45 hrs before departure ( rare, as I normally show up 45mins before ).

Was greeted with staff who wanted to pay us 300 euro to not take the flight. with a straight face they said its normal procedure for them to over book the planes, and some miss out 'if they come too late'. Got into a massive brawl where their customer service approach was ' we are calling security ' ( since I worked in the airline industry along time ago, I was aware this was a bluff, and asked which statute / law is it against to raise ones voice ).....

... had a massive war with them, and we ended up being offloaded to Swissair ( which is a far better airline in retrospect ) and had to fly over Zurich, missing all our connecting travels once arriving in Austria.

They tried to tell me this is normal airline practice.... to which I responded ' in all my life of flying both for private and for business, this is the first time this has happened'. ( And I do fly alot )

I must give back some respect to TG, Air China etc which I might have criticized in the past....

..... Austrian Airlines goes down as the worst airline in history in my books. I will die before I book another flight with them.

p.s. on the return flight...... all the seats for window were already booked, so how does a flight get over booked and at the same time people can 'reserve seats'

I know the Austrian Air very well. 300 Euro is a joke. My last overbooked flight they overed arround 80-120 % of the flight price for flying just 2 hours later. They told for every passanger and so they found a few. Else my opinion is, if overbooked they should put the passanger in the Business class.

Also I saw on BKK-VIE-BKK: No entertainsystem at all, less than the average Thai AC bus. Very terrible air quality. Food I wouldn't feed pigs. The only positiv thing: The stewardesses are approx. as old as the airplain (it puts a shady light on Austrias retirement system that they still have to work at this age), were always extrem friendly and did their job perfect (well they all have half a century experience in their job).

If you compare with BKK-VIE-BKK EVA air: eva is cheaper and everything is better (beside the drinks and the stewardesses (less proffessional/friendly but better to watch (a quater in age).

[yoshiwara]

eva air asked me to accept 180 english pounds and they would put me on tomorrows flight...i thought why not one more night in bangkok.......stay near here and someone will deal with your new ticket etc......so i waited with all my unchecked bags while all the other passengers booked on.......then at the last minute it the deal was off.....i was told i would have to board plane immediately......i said ......"WHAT!......i hadnt bought any duty free yet or have not been to lav, etc.....sorry you have to board now they replied..........so dont necesarily accept the money, they just might be stringing you along!

...the first time this happened to me with SAS, they also said eventually you can travel on original flight, but I lost my original reserved seat and I suspect they wanted my seat to reshuffle some full-paying passengers. Me Not Happy but I now understood the game. The second time I was asked to consider giving up my seat I said OK....BUT....if you eventually do not bump me then EITHER I want my original seat back OR you upgrade me! or no deal! Got a weak smile in return and an oh let me check...back in 2 minutes...OK.......end of story? Got an upgrade :-)

[h90]

eva air asked me to accept 180 english pounds and they would put me on tomorrows flight...i thought why not one more night in bangkok.......stay near here and someone will deal with your new ticket etc......so i waited with all my unchecked bags while all the other passengers booked on.......then at the last minute it the deal was off.....i was told i would have to board plane immediately......i said ......"WHAT!......i hadnt bought any duty free yet or have not been to lav, etc.....sorry you have to board now they replied..........so dont necesarily accept the money, they just might be stringing you along!

...the first time this happened to me with SAS, they also said eventually you can travel on original flight, but I lost my original reserved seat and I suspect they wanted my seat to reshuffle some full-paying passengers. Me Not Happy but I now understood the game. The second time I was asked to consider giving up my seat I said OK....BUT....if you eventually do not bump me then EITHER I want my original seat back OR you upgrade me! or no deal! Got a weak smile in return and an oh let me check...back in 2 minutes...OK.......end of story? Got an upgrade :-)

upgrade to what? Business class?

My parents got got upgraded a few times. Me never because I always take old clothes, not shaved and before long hair. So I don't fit in the nice people class

[yoshiwara]

eva air asked me to accept 180 english pounds and they would put me on tomorrows flight...i thought why not one more night in bangkok.......stay near here and someone will deal with your new ticket etc......so i waited with all my unchecked bags while all the other passengers booked on.......then at the last minute it the deal was off.....i was told i would have to board plane immediately......i said ......"WHAT!......i hadnt bought any duty free yet or have not been to lav, etc.....sorry you have to board now they replied..........so dont necesarily accept the money, they just might be stringing you along!

...the first time this happened to me with SAS, they also said eventually you can travel on original flight, but I lost my original reserved seat and I suspect they wanted my seat to reshuffle some full-paying passengers. Me Not Happy but I now understood the game. The second time I was asked to consider giving up my seat I said OK....BUT....if you eventually do not bump me then EITHER I want my original seat back OR you upgrade me! or no deal! Got a weak smile in return and an oh let me check...back in 2 minutes...OK.......end of story? Got an upgrade :-)

upgrade to what? Business class?

My parents got got upgraded a few times. Me never because I always take old clothes, not shaved and before long hair. So I don't fit in the nice people class

yes to business class. I was asked if I had a change of clothes as i was wearing a filthy T-shirt from sitting on the back of a motor-bke from the centre of Bangkok to the airport. yes indeed I had. No point in turning up at the airport looking like a sad hippy-dippy.

[markuk]

sound perfectly normal to me, its never happened to me but i doubt it would bother me. Been upgraded a few times though.

[h90]

eva air asked me to accept 180 english pounds and they would put me on tomorrows flight...i thought why not one more night in bangkok.......stay near here and someone will deal with your new ticket etc......so i waited with all my unchecked bags while all the other passengers booked on.......then at the last minute it the deal was off.....i was told i would have to board plane immediately......i said ......"WHAT!......i hadnt bought any duty free yet or have not been to lav, etc.....sorry you have to board now they replied..........so dont necesarily accept the money, they just might be stringing you along!

...the first time this happened to me with SAS, they also said eventually you can travel on original flight, but I lost my original reserved seat and I suspect they wanted my seat to reshuffle some full-paying passengers. Me Not Happy but I now understood the game. The second time I was asked to consider giving up my seat I said OK....BUT....if you eventually do not bump me then EITHER I want my original seat back OR you upgrade me! or no deal! Got a weak smile in return and an oh let me check...back in 2 minutes...OK.......end of story? Got an upgrade :-)

upgrade to what? Business class?

My parents got got upgraded a few times. Me never because I always take old clothes, not shaved and before long hair. So I don't fit in the nice people class

yes to business class. I was asked if I had a change of clothes as i was wearing a filthy T-shirt from sitting on the back of a motor-bke from the centre of Bangkok to the airport. yes indeed I had. No point in turning up at the airport looking like a sad hippy-dippy.

yeah specialy when I have larger amounts in my pocket I look very hippy like.....

When they asked you for change clothes, what did you do? Would be great fun if you start to undress in front of the business class counter (or well with all the gay stewards, better don't do that)

[Thug]

I would say Lufthansa Airways is horrible... very poor F&B services for a long flight to Europe from BKK.

Hope to never ever board on one of those planes again.

[h90]

I would say Lufthansa Airways is horrible... very poor F&B services for a long flight to Europe from BKK.

Hope to never ever board on one of those planes again.

Yes I remember LTU and Lufthansa.....

they make austrian airlines looking superior again.

[midas]

I would like to add FINNAIR to the list !! Old aircraft, old cabin crew and generally

unreliable. I would never fly with these people again either.

When it comes down to it I just don't think these European carriers

can ever compete with the hospitality and comfort of the leading Asian airlines.

[tolsti]

Average Fleet ages

Finnair 6.1 years (51 aircraft)

Lufthansa 11.7 (255 aircraft)

BA 10.2 (234 aircraft)

Thai 10.7 (83 aircraft)

Emirates 5.2 (89 aircraft)

Air France 8.9 (261 aircraft)

Austrian 7.1 (36 aircraft)

Qantas 10.0 (130 aircraft)

Singapore 6.6 (104 aircraft

Source: Airfleets.net

[samtam]

I agree with midas about Finnair. Too small an airline, (no. of aircraft), so that they frequently have to cancel flights, which they did when I was flying back from UK via Helsinki. Had to stay overnight in an hotel, which was horrendous, with no aircon, in one of the hottest summers ever. Their organisation of all of that was very lacking, which is surprising, as they have to do it so often, and Helsinki is their hub. Also agree that most European airlines are pretty dire, with Air France being one of the worst. The best are are the Asian airlines like Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines etc. I would have included Thai, but they still haven't got their act together at Suvarnabhumi for check in, and I don't need that hassle before I even start.

[h90]

I would like to add FINNAIR to the list !! Old aircraft, old cabin crew and generally

unreliable. I would never fly with these people again either.

When it comes down to it I just don't think these European carriers

can ever compete with the hospitality and comfort of the leading Asian airlines.

Well nothing against old cabin crews...

Last Austrian Airline flight I came already a bit drunk (had to wait for hours at the airport).

At the flight I ordered red wine, the old crew there excused that the bottle is finished, so they can not make the "glass" full.

In fact it was just 1 cm to overfill it. I told them, that it is absolut no problem, no reason to come again and made some friendly joke with them.

Than these old crow came every 30 min and brought me another complete full glas of red wine till I was complete 150 percent full.

Normaly you have to begging on your knees for a second drink.

Beside that the keep beeing 10 years older than I am since I flew the first time 20 years ago and that they need already house building materials to fullfill their wrinkles, I really love these old experienced crows, who can handle difficult passanger in 7 languages and are relaxed due to their experiences.

Love them a lot more than these young chicken who don't know anything.

Don't know for Finair, but always had very nice Austrian Airline crews, but terrible food and the machines were older than the crew (I always check if the airpline still has the swastika somewhere).

[midas]

I agree with midas about Finnair. Too small an airline, (no. of aircraft), so that they frequently have to cancel flights, which they did when I was flying back from UK via Helsinki. Had to stay overnight in an hotel, which was horrendous, with no aircon, in one of the hottest summers ever. Their organisation of all of that was very lacking, which is surprising, as they have to do it so often, and Helsinki is their hub. Also agree that most European airlines are pretty dire, with Air France being one of the worst. The best are are the Asian airlines like Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines etc. I would have included Thai, but they still haven't got their act together at Suvarnabhumi for check in, and I don't need that hassle before I even start.

Samtam similar thing exactly happened to me on both the outward and return journey on Finnair !

My connecting flight from Helsinki to St. Petersburg was about three-hours late

and then on the journey back to Bangkok at the last-minute in Helsinki they cancelled the flight.

They were completely disorganized in particular regarding arranging transport from the terminal

to the hotel - if this is being done on a regular basis it must be costing them a fortune ?

[roamer]

I would like to add FINNAIR to the list !! Old aircraft, old cabin crew and generally

unreliable. I would never fly with these people again either.

When it comes down to it I just don't think these European carriers

can ever compete with the hospitality and comfort of the leading Asian airlines.

Agreed. I noticed 2 rows of seats curtained off. It soon became clear what they were there for, the cabin crew spent virtually the whole of the flight there either sleeping or reading magazines!! When the meager food came around it seemed the trolleys were being used as support for some rather ancient flight attendants and the meal was COLD. I've flown on more or less every airline via Europe or Middle East and this was by far the worst. Though Austrian airways rep goes before them so I'll avoid them. Next trip back with Qatar about whom I hear only good things.

[skippybangkok]

Must be very lucky......

... well..... even though "normal", I will make their head spin a bit ( good luck eh ). If I pay for freaking ticket, I expect to travel. Imagine this, you have paid for a meal, and then get told to go to another restaurant as the place is ful....... i think there are tons of examples one could think of.......

They have not heard the last of me......

[nikster]

Normal practice is to first offer USD 300 or 400 and a night in a nice airport hotel to anyone volunteering to stay one more night. Or a 700 or 800 EUR ticket voucher. Believe me, I always hoped this would happen when I was a student == lots of time and little money. Now that the equation has reversed of course...

Austrian was great 20 years ago. Sadly it hasn't changed since then so what was great then is not so great now.

[joinme2leave]

great!

gonna fly VIE-BKK on OS tonite!

wish me luck then...

naaaa folks.....i HOPE not to experience such kinda trouble coz it will be Business Class.

BUT my flight back late late april this year is in economy (new 777-200 plane, thats why I decided to choose cheaper) and - following your reports so far - I have to be prepared for worst.

All-in-all, there are far more other european airlines with worse service than Austrian. In particular, LTU, Finnair (as mentioned) and KLM.

Sometimes somebody just need to be lucky too.

[joinme2leave]

@skippyBangkok

forgot to ask:

ASIDE from bad experience with the airline - i hope you enjoyed your austrian honeymoon.

Austrian Airlines is a Vienna based airline .... but austria itself is not only Vienna.

There are lotsa friendly people to be found all over austria and I am quite convinced your impression about the country itself was more than just okay, worthwhile a second visit (on Emirates via Munich I'd recommend).

Correct me if I am wrong.

and yes, I do work in tourism industry....

[CHdiver]

great!

gonna fly VIE-BKK on OS tonite!

wish me luck then...

naaaa folks.....i HOPE not to experience such kinda trouble coz it will be Business Class.

BUT my flight back late late april this year is in economy (new 777-200 plane, thats why I decided to choose cheaper) and - following your reports so far - I have to be prepared for worst.

All-in-all, there are far more other european airlines with worse service than Austrian. In particular, LTU, Finnair (as mentioned) and KLM.

Sometimes somebody just need to be lucky too.

Hope you will enjoy your Business Flight. I flew two times with Austrian to BKK in Business last year. They had a Chef aboard who cooked the meals for the Business Class Passengers. The food was outstanding (as far as it can go on a Plane). Seats where old style but still ok, but I heard they installed some of there Planes.

[thaigerd]

Anyone of you used Austrian from Phuket to Vienna?

Would like to hear some views and opinions about their service and food.

Thanx,

Gerd

[joinme2leave]

arrived BKK safely and with no AustrianAirlines regrets whatsoever

confirm BC-flight was worth the try (flew on mileage upgrade, hence BC-ticket price was just below 1000euros)

Vienna airport BusinessClass Lounge: nothing, really nothing special. no hot food, few drinks, WLan and PSP-stations. Not more not less.

BC-seating: as mentioned earlier, quite old seating but approx 150 degrees for a bit more than a nap ... i cannot complain

BC-meals (dinner, breakfast): as mentioned as well, own chief cook preparing outstanding meals, great variety. Unfortunately no Jack Daniels ( )

BC-flight attendants: not as old as aircraft but - okay - not the youngest ones either.

This has been one of the last flights with older A330-type aircrafts. My flight back to VIE (april) already offers B777 aircraft which sound okay to me (yet to be confirmed).

Once again, there are far more worse european airlines on their way. Austrian used to be better in earlier times (both Business and Economy) and best time ever on OS seemed to be when flight has been operated thru LAUDA-Air which is unfortunately no more running.

[skippybangkok]

@skippyBangkok

forgot to ask:

ASIDE from bad experience with the airline - i hope you enjoyed your austrian honeymoon.

Austrian Airlines is a Vienna based airline .... but austria itself is not only Vienna.

There are lotsa friendly people to be found all over austria and I am quite convinced your impression about the country itself was more than just okay, worthwhile a second visit (on Emirates via Munich I'd recommend).

Correct me if I am wrong.

and yes, I do work in tourism industry....

Austria its self. Vienna a bit boaring ( not too bad ) , loved Salzburg, and we stayed on the boarder with Italy and Switzerland in the mountains which was magic. In general found the austrians to be un-friendly and at times down right rude, but then again, what would you expect ?

Except for OS, it was a nice trip.

joinme2leave, you dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure out you wont get off loaded in Business Class. (I travel BC for work and never have an issue). Economy is where you get treated like a piece of <deleted>. p.s. Went to the business center (star Alliance gold) in vienna airport, and it was not something to write home about. Probably one of the worst I have seen ( excluding Shanghai airport ). I recon we could dismantle Don Muang and sell it to Vienna, it would be an upgrade for them ( pretty crappy airport )

[Lotusbluete]

Quote...Austrian Airlines is a Vienna based airline... Unquote

Had the following experience with Austrian Airlines (AA): AA cancelled my flight from European destination to Vienna. Subsequently missed my flight from Vienna to Phuket (via BKK).

According to Regulation EG 261/2004 of European Parliament (taken from flyer of AA!) I am entitled to - amongst other options - EUR 600 refund (conditions: delay more than 24 hours, fault of airline, flight more than 3500 km etc.). Claimed the money by registered airmail with all documents photocopied as attachment. No reply whatsoever.

Had the chance to visit Vienna a few months later. Looked for the head office of the "so called" state airline in the capital of Austria. NOTHING, folks. Austrian Airlines does not have an office in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Closed some times ago. Only CAT, i.e. City Air Terminal. But this is only for check in of luggage and boarding the City Airport Train to Schwechat Airport. No complaints possible.