Austrian Airlines Business Class, Up to 4 Seats
Hello from Tbilisi!
If you're looking for an early 2024 trip to Europe, Austrian Airlines has business class award space for 2+ people on several routes from the US and Montreal. There's also some space this summer and fall.
You can also connect to other fun European destinations. Specifically, I noticed award space on connections to Berlin, Milan, Paris, and Zurich when I ran a few test searches.
Now, let's get into the details!
|
|
Straight To The Points:
Routes: EWR/IAD/JFK/ORD/YUL-VIE
Operating airline: Austrian Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: January - March 2024 (some summer/fall 2023 space)
Seats available: 2 (About half with 4. 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: 63,000 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):
- One-way from US: $5.60 (~$48 from YUL)
- One-way from VIE: ~$63 (~$69 from YUL)
- Surcharges from US or VIE: ~$869
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, 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
Let me know if you book!
|
|
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.
|
|
Available Dates
ORD-VIE
July: 3, 4, 10-12, 15
November: 19
December: 10, 24, 30, 31
January: 2, 7, 11, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30
February: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 25, 27
March: 3, 5, 10, 12, 19
VIE-ORD
June: 21, 22, 27, 29
July: 2, 6
August: 24, 31
November: 16, 19, 21, 23, 28, 30
December: 1, 3, 5, 10, 14, 19, 23, 24, 26
January: 9, 11-14, 16, 18-21, 23, 25-28, 30
February: 1-4, 6, 8-11, 13, 15-18, 20, 22-25, 27, 29
March: 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12, 14, 15, 19
IAD-VIE
July: 2, 8, 11, 28, 30
August: 9
December: 29, 31
January: 3, 8, 10, 12, 15, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31
February: 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 26, 28
March: 11
VIE-IAD
June: 20-22, 26-29
July: 2, 5, 12, 20, 24
August: 11, 25, 29
September: 20, 22
November: 16, 23, 30
December: 10, 14, 24
January: 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24-26, 28, 29, 31
February: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 11, 12, 14-16, 18, 19, 21-23, 25, 28, 29
March: 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 20
YUL-VIE
July: 2, 5-10, 12, 15, 22
August: 4, 6, 11, 27
November: 13, 15
January: 1, 3, 10, 13, 15, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31
February: 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 21, 24, 26, 28
March: 4,6, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20
VIE-YUL
June: 21, 22, 24, 25, 26
August: 26, 28
September: 1-3, 6, 8-10, 18
November: 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27
December: 2, 6, 9, 13, 16
January: 6, 13, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31
February: 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28
March: 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20
EWR-VIE
January: 3, 15, 22-24, 29-31
February: 5-7, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26-28
March: 4, 11-13, 20
VIE-EWR
June: 23, 27, 38
July: 2, 6
November: 14, 16, 21-23, 28, 30
December: 5, 12, 14, 19
January: 8-10, 13, 15, 16 20, 22-24, 27, 29-31
February: 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28
March: 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20
JFK-VIE
July: 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 18
|
|
Best Ways To Book
The frustrating part of booking Austrian Airlines is the insane carrier-imposed surcharges that exceed $1,500 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: Great Rate, No Surcharges, No Stopover
LifeMiles has a small advantage over Aeroplan for non-stop one-way awards at 63,000 miles via 70,000 Aeroplan points. Even better, LifeMiles is offering a 25% bonus when you transfer Citi points so you could book with oonly 51,000 ThankYou Points.
Aeroplan: Stopovers On One-Ways
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.
If you have Bilt or Chase points, this is your best option from the central US or east coast at 70,000 points one-way. If you're origin is further west than Denver, I would expect the flight distance to push the rate to 90,000 points.
With the Chase 20% bonus, you'd only need 59,000 Ultimate Rewards points to get the 70,000 Aeroplan points necessary. From the west coast, it would be 75,000 Chase points to get 90,000 Aeroplan 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.
United: Stopover On Round-Trips, Beats Aeroplan From The West Coast
If you have Bilt points, United is your best bet from the west coast at 88,000 miles for a one-way. You can also utilize United's Excursionist Perk to include a free one-way ticket within Europe (re. stopover) on a round-trip award ticket.
|
|
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.
|
|
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!
|
|
|
|
