Airline Passenger Service Commitment

We offer our customers the lowest price for their flight, depending on the desired date, flight and service class to which they are entitled, via austrian.com, our reservation call centre, the ticket counter at the airport and ticket offices.

Our employees will look for a cost-saving alternative itinerary upon request for you if your travel plans are flexible.

Our customers are always informed by us about the valid airfare as well as other applicable fees and taxes.

Depending on the method by which the travel conditions are found at the point of the given price, other, cheaper flight tickets may be available via other sales channels.

The amount of a ticket depends on many factors, such as the travel class, the flexibility of your travel plans or the availability of special fares. The Austrian Airlines Group always guarantees, as a rule, to offer you the cheapest available fare – based on the travel class, the date of travel and the destination. This applies to our call centre, our website and our own city and sales offices.

There is the possibility that different fares may be used in different sales channels. For example, special, particularly cheap online offers may only be available for booking through this sales channel. Furthermore, we explain to you the conditions and fare conditions applicable to your ticket and therefore naturally inform you about the amount of applicable taxes, charges and fees.

When you buy a ticket for a carrier of the Austrian Airlines Group, you can rest assured that the applicable ticket price will not go up afterwards. That means that you will not be charged more for your ticket based on the travel class, travel date and destination you booked should the fares increase in the time between paying for your ticket and the date of your flight.

If there is a reduction in taxes, charges and fees, we will of course refund you the difference. If taxes, charges and/or fees are increased, we ask for your understanding that we must charge these to you afterwards.

We inform all our customers in a timely manner about known delays, cancellations and changes to the flight route, at the airport, on board the affected flights and via our website and Call Centre. Our rule is to always contact our customers in advance where possible. This includes information about changes to the status of a flight to, from or within the United States within 30 minutes of knowledge of a cancellation, a delay of 30 minutes or more for the planned route or a change to the flight route.

We inform all our customers in a timely manner about known delays, cancellations and changes to the flight route, at the airport, on board the affected flights and via our website and Call Centre. Our rule is to always contact our customers in advance where possible. This includes information about changes to the status of a flight to, from or within the United States within 30 minutes of knowledge of a cancellation, a delay of 30 minutes or more for the planned route or a change to the flight route.

Reliability is at the heart of our carriers. The Austrian Airlines Group strives to ensure the punctual operation of its flights.

If there is a flight delay to your flight with an Austrian Airlines Group carrier, we will naturally assist you on the ground. Our employees will look after you and, in the event of a delay of more than two hours, provide you with support such as vouchers for snacks, lunch or a hotel, provided that local conditions allow us to do so.

If such care would lead to further delays, we ask for your understanding that in this case we may not be able to offer you this kind of support. In agreement with the relevant authorities, all those routes which are operated under public service obligations are also excluded from this. If you booked a package holiday, the level of support depends on the rules of the holiday operator concerned.

We always try to make sure our customers and their luggage are on the same flight and commit sufficient resources to this end. If a bag goes missing or is not collected, we do what we can to locate the bag within 24 hours and, once found, return it free of charge to the customer, provided that local statutory regulations allow us to do so.

For this, a name and address or other valid contact information must be available. For flights from and to the USA, Austrian will refund any fees connected to the transport of a lost bag.

Austrian has an extensive system and process in place for finding lost bags and informing affected customers. We would like to point out that for international flights, due to the length of the flight, the low frequency of the flights and the possible customs & immigration processes, it may take longer to deliver lost or non-collected bags.

Customers can request a “Property Irregularity Report” form from our luggage employees at the luggage counter at the airport to present their claim.

Our customers can check the status of missing bags at www.austrian.com/Baggage or at the baggage counter at the airport. Once a bag has been found, we will try to arrange delivery to the customer at a suitable time and at Austrian’s expense, so long as the customer is not in a remote location.

Unless otherwise specified, the liability for international travel is governed by the Montreal Convention (hereinafter “Convention”). In accordance with the Convention the maximal liability of Austrian per person and trip for delayed, lost or damaged luggage is 1,131 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

More information relating to limitations of liability and exceptions is given in the ​General Terms and Conditions of Carriage for Passengers and Luggage.

We want to offer you more flexibility when planning your flight. Depending on the applicable booking deadlines we allow you to make a telephone reservation direct with us, without payment for at least 24 hours.

If you have already bought your ticket and would subsequently like to change your route, you can cancel your reservation within 24 hours. Already applied service charges cannot be refunded.

Some tickets for special fares are unlike many other tickets in that they cannot be refunded. If you do have a refundable ticket, the Austrian Airlines Group will refund every refundable part of your ticket. You only have to inform us of your unused ticket.

If the ticket is unused, the same applies for all incurred taxes, fees and charges included in the ticket price, which are shown separately on the ticket. This rule also relates to non-refundable tickets taking into account the deadlines mentioned above.

Austrian guarantees refunds for all applicable tickets within seven (7) working days for credit card payments and within twenty (20) working days for cash or cheque payments. In case of a cancellation or overbooking of the flight, we will refund all fees that you have been charged for the service that you have paid for but not received.

Questions about refunds can be submitted at every location where Austrian tickets are sold, or at your travel agent.

For questions about how to request a refund or to find out the status of a refund, you can find more information under "Contact".

We want to offer you maximum flexibility when planning your flight. Subject to the applicable dates of issue of a ticket, we allow you to reserve your ticket without payment for a minimum time period of 24 hours without obligation when telephoning Austrian Airlines Group directly.

Our employees are trained in accordance with Title 14 CFR, Part 382. Austrian has trained Complaint Resolution Officials in Vienna as well as at airports in the USA who are there to answer any questions you may have.

We offer our passengers with limited mobility a special support service so that they can comfortably check in, board and disembark. Taking into consideration the relevant safety regulations, the services offered by the Austrian Airlines Group support those passengers who require special attention and/or have limited mobility. The services offered are advertised on our website.

You can find more information on our ​Barrier-free travelling page.

Austrian accepts children between five and 11 years of age with a confirmed reservation as “unaccompanied minors” (UM).

• For flights with Austrian there is a service fee for all unaccompanied children.
• For minors between 12 and 17 years of age, the UM service is available for a service fee if you would like to take advantage of it.
• Unaccompanied children are taken on board the aircraft by an Austrian employee, introduced to the cabin crew and accompanied to their seat.
• Upon arrival, the children are accompanied by one of our employees from the aircraft to the agreed point, which is only known to the person that filled out the Special Service form. ID is required.

You can find more information on the ​Unaccompanied children page.

If after boarding or after the aircraft has landed there is a long wait, Austrian will give complete and timely information about the status of the flight. For example, this could be caused by "traffic congestion" in the air space, or quickly changing weather conditions. You can be assured that in such cases you will not be kept on board the affected aircraft longer than is absolutely necessary.

If there is a longer delay, during which it is not possible to get off the plane, the Austrian Airlines Group will make available heating/air conditioning, food, water, toilets and access to medical care for the affected passengers whilst taking into account all applicable safety regulations.

Upon request, the captain of the flight may allow the use of mobile telephones and laptops in accordance with the safety regulations. During the wait, the flight crew will try to fulfil all special requests from our customers when possible.

For efficiency reasons airlines are obliged to overbook flights, since passengers often book a seat and then do not show up. Each airline, therefore, has to have more reservations than available seats. This can lead to a route being overbooked and some passengers possibly being turned away, despite having a confirmed booking.

In the event of overbooking, Austrian treats its passengers fairly and reliably.

If it is expected that a flight is overbooked, our airport staff will first ask if anybody is willing to give up his/her seat voluntarily for an agreed amount of compensation.

If not enough volunteers can be found, in accordance with the set boarding priorities, Austrian has the right not to carry passengers with confirmed reservations.

In the event of being denied boarding, passengers will be rebooked on the next available Austrian flight to the destination named on the ticket. If there is no flight with Austrian available, we will try to rebook the passenger on a similar service with another airline with which we have a ticketing agreement. Where appropriate, we will offer meals and hotel accommodation.

Information about our regulations and processes for passengers denied boarding with a valid ticket is available from the airport.

Passengers travelling from the USA to a destination in another country and who are denied boarding due to the overbooking of the flight which originates from an airport in the USA, have the right to:

• no compensation, if the airport offers an alternative mode of transport¹ which arrives no later than one hour after the original planned arrival time of the original flight to the destination of the passenger or their first stopover;
• 200% of the flight ticket at the destination of the passenger or the first stopover (at most USD 650) if the airline offers an alternative mode of transport¹ which arrives no later than one hour but less than four hours after the original planned arrival time of the original flight to the destination of the passenger or their first stopover;
• 400% of the flight ticket at the destination of the passenger or the first stopover (at most USD 1,300) if the airline offers no alternative mode of transport¹ which arrives less than four hours after the original planned arrival time of the original flight to the airport of the destination of the passenger or their first stopover.

1 = “Alternative transport” means transport by air with a confirmed reservation without additional costs (operated by airlines approved by the DoT) or another form of transport which is accepted and used by the passenger in cases where boarding has been denied.

• 0 to 1 hour delay upon arrival – no compensation
• 1 to 4 hour delay upon arrival – 200% of the ticket price each way (however no more than USD 650)
• More than 4 hours delay upon arrival – 400% of the ticket price each way (however no more than USD 1,300)

We make the following information available for our passengers:

• Planned departure and arrival times for flights
  
• Departure and arrival airports/terminals
• Number of stopovers
• Any changes affecting the aircraft, terminal or airport
• Conditions concerning the price of the flight to be paid
• Name of the airline as well as the flight number
• Cabin baggage allowance
• All conditions or limitations related to the ticket

If a different carrier, which is not acceptable to you, operates the flight at short notice, you will be limited to the following two options: You have the choice of being refunded for the price you paid for the flight or you can rebook on the next Austrian Airlines Group flight in which there is sufficient capacity in the travel class.

When the ticket is issued you get further information. This involves:

• Confirmation of the flight times
  
• Baggage allowance rules and liability limitations
• Hand luggage rules

If the flight times change significantly after the ticket has been issued compared to the original departure times and this is not acceptable to you, we will try to rebook you on another available flight. If this is not possible, we will refund you the total amount of the ticket.

At your request we will give you information about other services provided by the Austrian Airlines Group and insofar as they are available, also about those which are available when operated by other carriers.

Furthermore, for flights operated by Tyrolean, Austrian makes the following information available on request:

• Planned aircraft type and seat spacing
  
• Normal service offered on board
• Facilities and services available for persons with special needs, incl. all costs for additional services which are not offered under point 8.
• Whether special seats are assigned or can be booked in advance
• Fees for extra luggage
• Terms and Conditions of Carriage
• Details about our frequent flyer programme
• Assistance programmes for lost, damaged or delayed luggage
• Details about the Airlines Passenger Service Commitment and the Austrian Airlines Group’s Service Plan

If an Austrian flight is operated by a partner airline under a codeshare agreement, Austrian will inform the passenger at the time of the reservation of the name of the airline which will operate the flight.

We are behind the services which are made available by our codeshare partners and are committed to offering the same level of service to the passengers when you fly with our codeshare partners.

You can find more information on the ​Partner page.

To ensure that you have a comfortable start to your journey, we take measures in cooperation with the airports to save you long wait times for the check-in desks. These include, e.g. etix® and self-service check-in.

By checking in on time you can also help us to depart at the right time: Inform yourself in advance about our check-in deadlines, which are the latest times by which you must have checked-in and dropped your luggage, and avoid the queues by checking-in online, via the app or the day before.

An Austrian employee will therefore attend to the effects on our passengers of flight delays, cancellations and long wait times subsequently on the tarmac.

Praise and/or complaints can be sent to us at the following address:

Austrian Airlines AG
Feedback Management
P.O. Box 33
1300 Vienna Airport
Austria
Fax: +43 (0)5 1766

Naturally you can also send us feedback online.

To do this we make the following efforts:

• In the event of a cancellation, where this is known about at least two hours before departure, we try to contact you via the contact details in your reservation in order to save you a frustrating journey to the airport.
• We inform you of your options regarding rebooking via our website, at the airport counter (where available) and via our airport and reservation agents.
• If rebooking is necessary, we will try to book you on the next flight operated by us on which there are free seats in the same service class.
• If you suffer any inconveniences with your accommodation as a result of delays, missed connecting flight or cancellation under Austrian’s control, since you are not at home or your destination, we will provide you with meal vouchers and, if available, hotel accommodation.

We inform you about each carrier who operates the flight. So that the Austrian Airlines Group can offer you regular flight frequencies, we often cooperate with other airlines. An example of this is code sharing. This is understood as the joint offering of a service by two airlines. Both airlines sell seats for the flight, but only one operates the flight. That is the so-called operating carrier.

For you as a passenger, it is important to know with which airline you are actually flying. Therefore, in this situation, we advise you at the time of reserving a flight via a direct sales channel of the Austrian Airlines Group (= our city and sales offices, our Call Centre and our website) and at check-in at the airport which airline is planned to be the operating carrier.

Indirect sales channels, which are not under the specific control of the Austrian Airlines Group, such as travel agents or different internet portals, are advised to tell the passenger at the time of reservation who the operating carrier is. It is important that the marketing carrier whose code is shown on the flight coupon alongside the flight number is the airline with whom you have the contract. Since the service standard with codeshare partners may be different, we ask for your understanding that in some cases the rules of the Airline Passenger Service Commitments do not apply.

All Austrian Airlines Group employees strive to offer our customers a top service and high-quality products along the customer service chain. If you are not happy with our services, since we were unable to fulfil your expectations, we ask you to inform us of the irregularities you suffered.

In order to improve our service, we invite you to send your feedback in the form of comments, suggestions or complaints. The Austrian Airlines Group is committed to replying to your feedback as soon as possible. We are committed to processing and replying to written feedback as quickly as possible. Our employees in the customer service department are there to respond to your customer feedback.

On our website you have the opportunity to contact the department directly. The contact address is also shown in your itinerary. You can also request the contact address from Austrian Airlines Group employees or from travel agents.