For the next portion of my whirlwind Aeroplan adventure, I flew Austrian Airlines business class from Vienna to Rome. Prior to the flight, I first checked out the SKY Lounge Vienna courtesy of Priority Pass, and I then checked out the Austrian Senator Lounge Vienna, thanks to my Star Alliance Gold status (through Singapore KrisFlyer).
Continue reading: Review: Austrian Senator Lounge Vienna Airport (VIE)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
"It was kind of funny to hear the reactions of some of the Europeans in the lounge, who couldn’t help but express confusion and disbelief."
Give us some tea with more specifics 😀
In order to get access, did you show your Singapore gold card, or your boarding pass reflected that?
@ Alessandro -- I had my Singapore KrisFlyer number attached to my reservation, so showing my boarding pass did the trick.
I’m actually more surprised Europeans would either understand what was going on, or care.
Maybe a little projection/dramatic enhancement by Ben here?
Probably because we are generally more intelligent and aware of what’s going on in the world, than your average Republican.
I know looks can be deceiving when it comes to modern furniture (I have a Färg & Blanche chair in my office that looks pedestrian but is insanely comfortable—and cost $3100 of my company's money) but the chairs in that lounge do not look particularly inviting at all for an extended layover.
@ Nevrt in doubt. As an European lawyer with investments in the US, thank you for for the vote of confidence.
>for what’s supposed to be a “better than business class” lounge, it really isn’t very exciting.
Because it isn't. The business lounge next door is exactly the same, just bigger. Same red and green furniture, same tables, same grey lounge chairs, same couple of dark "rooms". Same food and drink too.
And the toilets are inside, though I'm not sure if it has showers.
SEN used to be visibly better than BIZ lounges. Swiss still mostly supports that. Lufthansa not really, not since Covid closures, but maybe will again if they can get staffing under control.
But Austrian lounge complex in F underwent refit in I think 2018 and it's been like this since. Consequently I prefer business lounge despite being *G just because there is more space, even if it's full, it's not that bad.
Underwhelmed by this lounge~ seems to be an average business lounge seen almost anywhere. I would have liked to see a comparison review done of the adjacent regular business lounge.
Things I missed seeing was champagne (the marker for any premium lounge), signature Austrian apple strudel log, and private rest area (sheer curtains do not do the job).
Also tree trunks magically growing through the carpet and timber flooring are curious to say the least. Tell me they are artificial !
All the lounges at Vienna Airport are catered by DoN Catering. In the Austrian lounges, the hot food is served by a staff member ("cook") as a sort of feature and garnished more nicely, whereas in the Sky Lounge everything is self-serve (eventhough the food might be the same).
Ben, next time you are in Vienna you should absolutely try the Vienna Lounge in the Terminal 2 area. It's the best contract lounge in Europe BY FAR, with a huge amount of space, great runway views and a terrace. Von dort fliegt z.B. EVA Air weg, aber derzeit auch die AUA-Flüge in die USA.
+1 on the Vienna Lounge also being the best contract lounge I have visited. Must admit I haven't been to VIE in a while (before the T2 refurbishment was completed), but I thought the Vienna Lounge was in T1.
Do you use a program/software to remove people out of the pics you post? Asking because I am in that lounge frequently and it is usually packed full like a can of sardines. I have never been in there when it is less than at least half full.
Let’s be real - the Freedom Caucus types are truly some of the dumbest people you will ever see out there
The trick is not coming during the wave of OS flights 😉 It gets packed 1-2 hours before the wave but tends to be fairly empty at other times.
At VIE these days the lounge to check out is the Vienna Lounge in the older section, where for some reason OS is operating its long hauls now. It’s about 10x the size of the Austrian and Sky lounges and accessible with Priority Pass. Pretty much the first airport I’ve been to where the PP lounge is better than the home airline one.
I was going to say, I was quite confused that my OS flight to the US was operating out of the old section. Check in staff told me to use the Austrian lounge in F/G and then take a bus over but I knew I had PP access so I just went straight to the Vienna Lounge. I would love to know why OS is going retro and departing from the old “retunda”.
I’m flying Austrian business class EWR to VIE and connecting to Austrian economy class to OTP. Any idea if I’ll have access to the business lounges in VIE?