Austrian Airlines Business Class for 4+ (Jan-Mar 2022)
If you're like me and enjoy a winter weather, Europe provides plenty of fun things to do. With Austrian Airlines offering business class award space for 4+ people early next year, you shouldn't have any trouble bringing friends.
If you have Brex points, this is a great way to take advantage of the option to transfer points to LifeMiles with a 20% bonus through August 8, 2021.
To simplify hotel booking requests, I've put together this simple form.
I have access a variety of programs including Hyatt Privé, Marriott STARS, Hilton Impresario, Four Seasons Preferred Partner, and many more. Happy to help if I can. Please keep in mind these programs don't work with award stays.
Now, let's get into the details!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: JFK/ORD/YUL/IAD/EWR-VIE
Operating airline: Austrian Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: January - March 2022
Seats available: 4+
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 - 63,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands - 65,000 miles
- Miles & More - 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer - 72,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles - 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus - 77,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60 (~$53 from YUL)
- Round-trip: ~$70 (~$100 from YUL)
- Surcharges: ~$1,400 round-trip
- Partner booking fee:
- Aeroplan: ~$30
- Avianca: $25
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Capital One, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- LifeMiles: Amex, Brex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA: Capital One, Citi
- Singapore: Amex, Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Turkish: Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- United: Chase, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation, redeposit, and change fees required before booking with a particular program.
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. On the flight to Europe, you might want to leave that for breakfast if you plan on sleeping!
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Available Dates
JFK-VIE
January: 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30
February: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27
March: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17
VIE-JFK
January: 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30
February: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27
March: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17
ORD-VIE
January: 2-4, 9-11, 13, 14, 16-18, 20, 21, 23-25, 27, 28, 30, 31
February: 1, 3, 6-8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20-22, 24, 27, 28
March: 1, 6-8, 13-15
VIE-ORD
January: 6, 7, 9-11, 13, 14, 16-18, 20, 21, 23-25, 27, 28, 30, 31
February: 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 13-15, 17, 18, 20-22, 24-25, 27, 28
March: 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 13-15, 17
YUL-VIE
January: 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31
February: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12,. 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28
March: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17
VIE-YUL
January: 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31
February: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28
March: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17
IAD-VIE
January: 2, 14, 16-18, 21, 24, 25, 30
February: 1, 7, 11, 13-15, 18, 20-22, 27
March: 6
VIE-IAD
January: 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28
February: 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 22, 25
March: 1, 4, 8
EWR-VIE
January: 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
February: 7, 14, 21
March: 7, 14
VIE-EWR
January: 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31
February: 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23
March: 2, 7, 14
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Best Ways To Book
The frustrating part of booking Austrian Airlines is the insane carrier-imposed (or, "fuel") surcharges that exceed $1,400 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.
LifeMiles - Fewest Miles With No Surcharges, No Stopovers
LifeMiles has a small advantage over Aeroplan for non-stop one-way awards at 63,000 miles via 70,000 Aeroplan points if you have Amex or Capital One points. You can also transfer Brex and Citi points to LifeMiles
Brex is running a 20% transfer bonus to LifeMiles right now so you'd only need to transfer 53,000 Brex points. This is the best option if you have Brex points.
The big advantage is if you need connections as the rate won't increase. If you connect in economy, the rate could even decrease a bit.
This is easily the best option if you're just going to Vienna. If you want to visit other cities, you'll need to decide if including a stopover on the same booking is a priority. In that case, you can look to Aeroplan or possibly United.
Aeroplan - Stopovers On One-Ways But Pricier From The West Coast
If you want to include a stopover in Vienna before continuing elsewhere, Aeroplan will allow you to do so on a one-way for an additional 5,000 points. You can include a second stopover if you book a round-trip ticket.
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.
If you already have a big chunk of Aeroplan miles, this option could work. If transferring points, I'd lean toward LifeMiles unless you want a stopover.
United - Stopover On Round-Trips, Beats Aeroplan From The West Coast
If you have Chase points, United is your best pet at 77,000 miles for a one-way. Singapore KrisFlyer only requires 72,000 miles but they'll crush you with the surcharges so stick with United.
If you need to connect on United from the western US, you will likely exceed the 6,000 flight miles. Thus, the Aeroplan rate will jump to 85,000 one-way. In this case, United wins out and you can include a stopover on a round-trip
If you already have a big chunk of United miles, this option could work. If transferring points, I'd still lean toward LifeMiles in most cases.
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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
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Under Connections, uncheck 1 and 2+ if searching nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- 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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Bottom Line
Austria is a beautiful country that's definitely worth a visit and Austrian Airlines provides a fun way to get there. While I know winter weather isn't everyone's thing, there are some beautiful snow-covered places to see in Europe!
Happy booking!
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