Austrian Airlines Business Class, Up to 9 Seats
Austrian announced a new route out of Boston this week and I just knew they'd release some space. They released even some summer dates! There's also space out of Chicago and Montreal.
Pair that with Bilt's transfer bonus to Aeroplan on February 1 and you can get an amazing deal on business class to Europe! The transfer bonus goes live at 12:00am ET on February 1.
Now, let's get into the details!
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Straight To The Points
Routes: BOS/ORD/YUL-VIE
Operating airline: Austrian Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: February-March, July-September, November-December 2024
Seats available: 2 (up to 9)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1 (Boeing 767), 1-2-1/2-2-2 (Boeing 777)
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan: 70,000 miles
- ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 58,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- Lufthansa Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer: 81,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 88,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- From US: $5.60 (~$50 from YUL)
- From VIE: ~$66 (~$45 from YUL)
- Surcharges from US or VIE: ~$869
Aeroplan and LifeMiles have partner booking fees.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Marriott
- Bilt: 75-150% transfer bonus on Feb 1
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands: Capital One, Citi
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Turkish Miles & Smiles : Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- United MileagePlus: Bilt, Chase, Marriott
Learn more about the Bilt Card
Current Airline Transfer Bonuses
Best Card Offers
Let me know if you book!
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Available Dates
Please note that Aeroplan is only seeing award space out of Boston in September and October.
BOS-VIE
July: 3, 9, 10, 15, 17, 21, 22-24, 27-29
August: 4, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 21, 26
September: 1, 2, 4, 6-9, 11, 14-18, 22, 23, 25, 28-30
October: 2, 5, 7, 12, 14-16, 19-21, 23, 25
VIE-BOS
July: 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 21-23, 28, 31
August: 3-7, 9-12, 14, 16-21, 23-26, 28
September: 2-4, 9, 23
October: 2, 4-7, 9, 11, 12, 14-16, 18-20, 23, 25, 26
ORD-VIE
February: 1, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 20, 27
March: 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 27
April: N/A
May: 6
June-October: N/A
November: 17, 24
December: 6, 8, 17, 24, 25, 27, 29
VIE-ORD
February: 1, 6. 8. 13, 15-17, 20, 22, 27, 29
March: 1, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 19, 20
April: N/A
May: 2, 7-9
June-October: N/A
November: 13, 14, 17, 20-22, 26-30
December: 3-6, 8, 11-13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31
YUL-VIE
February: 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28
March: 1, 4, 6-9, 11, 13-15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27, 30
April: N/A
May: 1, 6
June-October: N/A
November: 11, 18, 20, 25, 27
December: 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 28
VIE-YUL
February: 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28
March: 1, 2, 4, 6-9, 11, 13-16, 18, 20\
April: N/A
May: 3-6, 8
June-October: N/A
November: 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27
December: 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14
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Flight Experience
Austrian Airlines offers a 1-2-1 business class cabin with staggered seating on its Boeing 767. Every seat is lie-flat and has direct aisle access which checks the most basic boxes.
On its Boeing 777, you'll see a combo of 1-2-1 and 2-2-2 seating. If your route has the 777, try to get one of the throne seats if you're traveling solo as it will provide the most space and the most privacy.
While it's not Qsuites level, Austrian excels with its DO&CO catering. If you like coffee, make sure you give some of the Viennese coffee options a try. If you want to sleep on your way to Europe, maybe save the coffee for breakfast.
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Book Luxury Hotels With Perks
Book with perks such as room upgrades, daily breakfast, and a $100 property credit via our self-service booking portal. If you want to book a Four Seasons or Rosewood property, you can submit a request here.
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Best Ways To Book
The frustrating part of booking Austrian Airlines is the insane carrier-imposed surcharges that exceed $1,600 on a round-trip award ticket. Pass.
Fortunately, there are three Star Alliance programs that won't pass on those surcharges: Aeroplan, LifeMiles, and United.
Aeroplan: Solid Rate, Stopovers On One-Ways
With the Bilt transfer bonus of 75-150% on February 1 (not long after I've sent this), Aeroplan becomes the best option by a miles.
You'll need 70,000 points for a non-stop flight. If you keep the total flight distance to a max of 6,000 flight miles, this rate won't change if you include connecting flights in the US and/or Europe.
If you transfer Bilt points on February 1, you'll need the following number of points based on your Bilt status:
- Platinum: 28,000 Bilt points
- Gold: 32,000 points
- Silver: 35,000 Bilt points
- Blue: 40,000 Bilt points
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart. You can also include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles.
LifeMiles: Great Rate, No Surcharges
At 63,000 miles one-way, LifeMiles is your best bet if you have Amex, Capital One, or Citi points. Typically, it'd be better than Aeroplan if you have Bilt points, but not on February 1!
United: Stopover On Round-Trips
If you're trying to get rid of some United miles, 88,000 miles for a one-way to Europe is decent (for United). It also has a slight advantage over Aeroplan if you have Chase points and are connecting from the west coast.
You can utilize United's Excursionist Perk to include a free one-way ticket within Europe on a round-trip award. Basically, it's a stopover.
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How To Book
If you don't know the exact dates you want to fly, keep things simple and use United's calendar search option.
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Select Roundtrip or One-way
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select Nonstop only (if you don't need a connection)
- Select the number of passengers
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Select Business
- Run the search
- If booking with another Star Alliance partner, confirm space by searching with that program
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
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Final Thoughts
Austria is a beautiful country that's definitely worth a visit and Austrian Airlines provides a fun way to get there. If Austria isn't on your list, I'm sure there's another country in Europe that you might enjoy exploring!
Happy booking!
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