Short intra-Europe flights are rarely exciting, and our Austrian Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Vienna wasn’t going to change that.
But sometimes that’s the point of a flight review. Just knowing you’ll get exactly what you expect is what you want to know. And there aren’t many reviews of Austrian Airlines intra-Europe flights.
For us, this was a short Austrian Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Vienna on an Airbus A320. It wasn’t fancy, but it got us where we needed to go, which is all you need most of the time. However, it did have one small Austrian touch I appreciated.
Booking Our Austrian Airlines Flight
This flight was part of a larger trip where I was trying to get us from Frankfurt to Vienna without spending more than necessary. I had originally looked at booking through LifeMiles, but that almost turned into one of those award-booking situations where the savings weren’t worth the potential headache.
Instead, we booked the flight through United MileagePlus. Since Austrian Airlines is part of Star Alliance, United miles could be used for the short Lufthansa Group hop from Frankfurt to Vienna.
The cost was 6,000 United miles plus $74 per person. For the four of us, that came to 24,000 miles plus $296 in taxes and fees. Germany’s airport/security/passenger charges made up the entire cash portion.
Checking In At Frankfurt Airport
Our Austrian Airlines flight started at Frankfurt Airport, where the first thing we noticed was that there didn’t appear to be an Austrian Airlines check-in area.
After wandering around the hall for a bit, we asked an airport representative where Austrian check-in was located. She told us we needed to check in at the Lufthansa counter. That made sense once I thought about it, since Austrian is part of the Lufthansa Group, but it still felt like something you were just supposed to know.
Once we received our bag tags, we headed to the bag drop counter. This was a little different from what we’re used to in the U.S.
First, we made the mistake of putting the bag tag on the wrong side of our luggage. After correcting that, we placed the bag on the conveyor. Instead of the usual counter-and-scale setup we’re used to seeing at U.S. airports, this system automatically checked the bag to ensure it met the size and weight requirements before accepting it.
Since we had arrived at Frankfurt Airport very early, we still had plenty of time before boarding. We stopped for something to eat at a restaurant before making the very long walk to our gate.
Boarding Our Flight To Vienna
Our flight departed from gate A36, and once we reached the gate, there wasn’t much drama. The aircraft was an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320, which is exactly the type of plane you’d expect on a short hop like this.
That’s not a complaint. For a short flight, uneventful is usually a good thing.
Onboard Our Austrian Airlines A320
This was a short intra-Europe flight on an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320, and the experience was pretty much what I expected.
We were in standard economy seats with no extra legroom. The cabin itself felt very similar to what you’d find on a domestic flight in the U.S. Nothing especially fancy, but also nothing especially uncomfortable for a short flight from Frankfurt to Vienna.
The legroom was fine for a flight of this length, though I wouldn’t describe it as spacious. The seatback had the usual pocket with the safety card and inflight menu, and there wasn’t much else to the hard product.
One thing that did stand out was the onboard menu. I had heard before that Austrian offered a better-than-average buy-on-board menu, and it did look more impressive than what you’d typically expect on a short flight like this. Since we had just eaten at the airport, we didn’t order anything, but the options looked more substantial than the usual snack box or bag of chips.
The other small touch I appreciated came near the end of the flight, when the crew passed out an Austrian Mozartkugel from Victor Schmidt/Manner. It wasn’t much, but on a short flight where there wasn’t otherwise much to talk about, it gave the flight a little bit of Austrian personality.
Final Thought
Our Austrian Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Vienna was about as straightforward as a short intra-Europe flight gets.
The check-in process at Frankfurt was the most confusing part, mostly because there wasn’t an obvious Austrian Airlines counter and we had to figure out that Lufthansa was handling the process. Once that was sorted, everything else was simple.
Onboard, the experience felt very similar to a domestic U.S. flight: standard economy seat, limited legroom, and not much in the way of extras. Austrian’s onboard menu looked better than expected, but since we had already eaten at the airport, we didn’t get to try it.
Would I go out of my way to fly Austrian on a short European route? Probably not. But if the schedule and price made sense, I’d have no problem booking them again. For this trip, the flight did exactly what we needed it to do — and the Mozart chocolate at the end was a nice little reminder that we were on our way to Vienna.
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