Austrian Airlines: Misled me for 11 months, then forced to pay €2,638 to fly
Austrian Airlines has a flaw in its system that extracts money from unsuspecting and trusting passengers. And of course, I think they plan to do absolutely nothing about it because it’s a brilliant business model.For medical reasons—our child fell seriously ill—we were unable to fly on our original ticket in December 2024. Austrian Airlines granted us a medical exception.In January 2025, we rebooked our flight via online chat, where the agent assured me twice that everything was in order. The ticket with the new date appeared in the app and counted down the time to check-in for December 2025.In May 2025, they even performed a rescheduling (change of arrival date), which I accepted and which further confirmed the ticket was valid.Two days before departure in December 2025, I was shocked to find the app stating the ticket was invalid! The ultimatum: Pay €2,638 immediately, or you don’t fly. What choice do you have when everything at your destination is already paid for?After returning, I filed a complaint. Surprisingly, Austrian admitted in writing to a "procedural gap" and a "lack of timely communication and proper ticket issuance." They admitted they intended to charge €466 in January 2025, but instead used the opportunity in December to charge me the last-minute price. Yet, they refused to refund the €2,638 difference.The complaint was forwarded to the APF (austrian regulatory body), which accepted Austrian’s version without a detailed investigation. According to them, misleading a customer for 11 months is "transparent." On expert advice, I requested the PNR log (a complete technical record of the reservation—essentially the "black box" of the flight booking) from Austrian Airlines. Detailed examination of the data confirmed the errors Austrian had initially admitted.180-Degree Turn: After being confronted with the PNR log analysis, Austrian Airlines completely reversed their position. They now claim "no procedural error was found" and that their interpretation of the log differs from mine. There is no other way to interpret the PNR log!To the question of how a procedural error can simultaneously exist and not exist, they unfortunately have no template answer left in their database. They are silent. See visual evidence and bank statements in my review of the same title on Google Maps or TripAdvisor."Their customer service is a masterclass in the arrogance of power. Avoid Austrian Airlines at all costs. It happened to me today; tomorrow, it's your turn!
M P
Like an expensive Ryanair
An hour late, cabin bag is included but very small one. They checked my bag by the gate (I can usually bring it on Ryanair) No more leg room than a Ryanair flight, but ofc double the price…
Sanna Sandberg
Not a first time they don’t have space…
Not a first time they don’t have space for my baggage
Anastasiia
Staff very rude ok bye
Gng the staff is absolutely rude like bro we were separated in groups so we waited until group 3 like it was on our boarding pass.NO.it had to change.Ok we waited until group 4. But bro the staff was not done there was some children waiting for their mums after the gate yk to go on the plane bcs their groups suddenly changed just like us but no the staff screamed at them to get on the plane or they ate getting thrown out? TF???’they were genuinely so small and the staff was screaming and yelling out of her wits.it was outrageous.were do they get staff like dis gng✌️ and also we payed for better seats in the front yk extra. THEY MOVED US ABSOLUTELY IN THE BACK.Outrageous fr. Ok bye gng hope this airnile doesn’t see another day 😭✌️
Secret boi
Worst flight experience of my life
Worst flight experience of my life. Never again with them.
Mattia
Worst onboarding experience ever..never…
Small seats and extremely bad onboarding experience ever..never have a place for carry on luggage and need to try to find a place bymyself every time…by myself ! Then maybe if you are lucky someone will help you to put it 15 seats far away…
BS Anas
Below 0 review
Used to had very good opinion about Austrian but it all changed yesterday.After the delay, missed conection due to delay which was kind of understandable due to bad weather not anyones fault still we got bad treatment at the Vienna airport, 7 hours waiting for the next one, then when we finally boarded the plane sat there for one hour and they realised something is wrong with the engine???After we couldn't fly they left us at 00:30 on the airport rebooking us 24hours later, stranded with zero help, none of the Austrian help desks open, just one lady and I think the stewardess, telling us to book hotel by ourselves.No hotels available at that time, no transport, none..nightmare, couldn't get the luggage, saw 2 ladies with small babies, young kid who had no money was just visiting family by himself, horrible treatment ,could go on and on, felt miserable, tired...I found my way but some of the people probably didn't.. I do expect compensation ofcourse we all know how this goes, there is no money in this world to explain themselves why they didn't left ONE PERSON on the desk to help those 30 people maximum to help them out cause at the end of the day it wasnt the weather, IT WAS YOUR PLANE WHO HAD THE ISSUE..Never again, its not anymore about the company, money, compensation, dont know what..you failed the biggest test you could, a little bit of empathy for the guests left out there that night, it's the least you could do and you didn't. Saying this from the perspective working in the similar kind of business, same kind of problems dealing with, I know how much you can and you cannot do in this situations, you did below bare minimum.Peace.
Eldar Dajić
Our flight to LEJ was canceled for no…
Our flight to LEJ was canceled for no reason and now I'm stuck at the airport, I've never seen anything like that since I'm flying
Sebastian Schneider
avoid this air-line even if they provide a good deal !!!!
We had purchased one-stop flight tickets for the Christmas holiday. A couple of weeks before our flight, they cancelled our tickets and asked us to either claim a refund or choose a one-stop or two-stop flight with Austrian Airlines, which operates under the Lufthansa Group.We did not ask for a refund because we couldn’t purchase new tickets at the same price we had paid in early November 2025. We decided to rebook our flight with Austrian Airlines. They did not have a flight on the day we wanted, so we had no choice but to accept a flight with a one-day delay.Our tickets included meals, but during the flight the crew refused to provide them, even though we showed our tickets clearly stated that meals were included. They still asked us to pay for our meals, which we did.I contacted both Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines and explained the situation, but both of them are refusing to cover my loss, ignoring the facts and providing nonsensical statements that are not related to my ticket. Shame on these airlines.
Sosha
Last minute cancellation and no Refund
A disappointing experience with Austrian Airlines — and some unanswered questionsFour months ago, I planned a one-month visit for my 70-year-old mother to travel from Tehran to Vienna. Anyone who has dealt with this route knows it’s not a simple booking. There is a long visa process, mobility considerations, and careful planning involved. We don’t even live in Tehran — reaching the airport alone requires an eight-hour drive, plus another hour to the airport.Everything was arranged well in advance. Or so I thought.The outbound flight (Vienna–Tehran, January 7 at 03:00) was cancelled just a few hours before departure. At that moment, my mother was already five hours into her journey to the airport. The cancellation email arrived late at night, with no clear alternative — just instructions to check the app or call customer support.I called immediately. What followed was not support, but frustration. The agent I spoke to was dismissive, unprepared, and showed no willingness to help in an already stressful situation. Simple and critical questions went unanswered:How would wheelchair assistance be handled for a 70-year-old passenger?What about her checked baggage?Would she need a transit visa for a proposed alternative route via Dubai?The response to most of these was essentially: “I don’t know. Call someone else.” No empathy. No ownership. No solutions. And this was at a time when my mother was alone, traveling at night, in a city where we know no one.Eventually, an alternative flight was offered for the morning of January 8, with a long stopover. No accommodation was provided, and all arrangements had to be made by us, under pressure and from afar. My mother arrived in Vienna safely, but completely exhausted from the experience.Despite everything, we accepted the situation and trusted that the confirmed direct return flight with Austrian Airlines would go ahead.Then, one week before the return flight, I received another email: the return flight was cancelled. This time, there was no alternative offered at all — just a refund.Out of necessity, I checked Austrian Airlines’ own flight schedule and discovered that flights to and from Tehran were suspended from January to March. This was clearly not a last-minute decision — yet we were informed only days before travel.Because of this, I had no choice but to book a last-minute replacement flight at a price higher than what I paid for the entire original round trip.So I’m left with a few very reasonable questions for Austrian Airlines management:Who is expected to cover the additional costs caused by these late cancellations?Why were passengers informed only at the last possible moment, despite known flight suspensions?And how is this level of customer care — especially for elderly passengers — considered acceptable?This post is not written lightly. It’s written out of disappointment and concern. Airlines are trusted with people’s safety, time, and well-being — not just tickets.
mohammad abbasi
Zeer hond-onvriendelijk, wel vriendelijk personeel
They forgot to give me my dog back after payment of 255 euro for a single flight of the poor animal. Nobody around to help him in the cold dark place. Locked behind a door only to be entered by staff members and they were very hard to find. The box was provided a sticker with my phone number, nobody bothered to call. It took quite some time to get the poor animal back. The information online is not correct, prices written on the website are up to 200 euro (still very expensive). My dog was sick for a week. I really have to say the staff on the way was very kind and caring. Yes, you need to put a dog you carry at your feet. That is common on more flight companies. Not convenient for the animal, but that has to do with the risk. Specialy in case of emergencies.
CB
Extremely rude crew
Extremely rude crew, from the checking agents up to the flight attendants who was extremely constipated. Dark hair around 40, this lady was rude and had a superior behavioral approach. I do not recommend this company and definitely will chose a different one in the future!
Mike P
Don't fly with this shit .
Don't fly with this shit .If something happen nobody is responsible.
Ahm Akb
Schlimmer als easy yet!
Schlimmer als easy yet!
Sophie
Baddest staff ever ( amateurs )
( Frequent flyer here ) Been on Austrian airlines for the first time today on flight OSO321 from all airlines i flew Austrian was definitely one of the baddest specially a young stewards who was on today”s flight who was rude and won’t even explain or answer a regular question. Be aware flying on this airline + my connection was very tight but they don’t give a damn about it just run and see if you make it. POINT. Recommend to choose a different AIRLINE for better service and onboard knowledge . Greetings. Euro Aviation TV
Online World
My experience with Austrian has been terriable
My experience with Austrian has been extremely disappointing and unacceptable.I was charged almost $500 for baggage on my flight to Vienna. That flight was later cancelled by the airline, completely destroying my travel plans. As a result, I also lost my hotel reservation in Vienna, which caused additional financial loss and stress.Despite the flight being cancelled and my baggage being returned, Austrian has still not refunded my money. There is absolutely no justification for holding passengers’ funds when the service was never provided.What makes this even worse is the terrible customer service. I have complained multiple times through different channels, but no one takes responsibility, no one follows up, and no one seems to care. The staff were unprofessional, unhelpful, and dismissive, as if this situation is normal and acceptable.It is bad enough to cancel a flight and disrupt someone’s entire trip. To then keep the passenger’s money for months with no resolution is completely unacceptable for an airline of this size and reputation.This experience has left me with zero trust in Austrian. I strongly advise others to think twice before booking if they value professionalism, accountability, and basic customer respect.
lidopalms manager
Untrustworthy
I booked a journey with one stop. after waiting 10 hours for my second leg, they cancelled the flight, they moved it to 24 hours later! I could not wait, requested to go back to origin. Never got any compensation for what they did and also no refund was given for my unused part of the journey. What would you call a company like that? I'd never use them again.
h
Poor Customer Service from Irene at…
Poor Customer Service from Irene at Vienna Rebooking DeskAfter missing our connection in Vienna on January 24th, we rushed to the rebooking desk around 10:50pm for our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Cape Town. We unfortunately missed the ticket machine initially and stood waiting in line for approximately 15 minutes with no one behind us. When 4 other passengers arrived after us and took tickets from the machine, we remained standing as the next person to be served.When receptionist Irene called the next number, she refused to assist us despite clearly seeing we had been waiting. She insisted we must have a ticket from the machine, showing no flexibility or understanding of our situation.I understand procedures must be followed, but Irene showed no empathy or willingness to help two stressed passengers who had just missed their connection late at night. A simple acknowledgment of our situation and polite direction to get a ticket would have made all the difference. Instead, we were treated dismissively during an already difficult travel situation.Customer service should balance following procedures with treating passengers with basic courtesy and understanding, especially during late-night rebooking scenarios.Rating: 1/5 stars
Patrick Tigue
I will never fly this airline again
I will never fly this airline again. Absolutely terrible customer service. Now I don’t know if it was specifically the airline or that the staff at Marco Polo international are all Italian and this is the general Italian attitude but I have never dealt with more rude airline staff in my life.I would rather fly easyJet at least the staff are decent.
Mathew Hallahan
I had the worst airline experiences of my life.
I had the worst airline experiences of my life with Austrian Airlines, and the way they handled it afterward was even worse than the disruption itself.Outbound:We were denied boarding because of a visa issue that should have been identified during booking, not at the airport. Austrian sold a non-refundable itinerary involving multiple Schengen countries with zero warning and no document validation, then blamed the passenger when the problem surfaced at check-in.Return (much worse):My return itinerary became impossible to use due to airline delay (the first flight was delayed past the next connection). I immediately contacted Austrian Airlines and asked to be rebooked. They failed to find any acceptable alternative. Only then did I cancel and buy replacement tickets with another airline out of pocket.Despite charging me nearly $4,700 for the original ticket, Austrian Airlines refunded a laughable $136 for the entire unused return trip — a trip that was never flown because of their own delay.Even worse:They repeatedly sent canned responses blaming “visa responsibility” for issues that were completely irrelevant to the return flights. They ignored my last formal dispute email entirely, and refused to engage meaningfully or explain how a $136 refund was calculated.This is not customer service — it’s stonewalling. Taking thousands of dollars for flights that were never provided and then hiding behind boilerplate emails is unacceptable.I am now pursuing chargebacks and regulatory complaints because Austrian Airlines clearly has no intention of resolving this fairly.Bottom line:If something goes wrong — and it will — do not expect accountability, transparency, or fair treatment. Save yourself the stress, time, and money and fly with an airline that actually stands behind its tickets.
Reza J
