Austrian Launches Flights to LAX, Award Space WIDE OPEN

by Enoch

Austrian Airlines is making Los Angeles its first destination in the West Coast. The airline is launching service from Vienna to Los Angeles, starting on April 10, 2017. They are slowing ramping up service, with the intention of offering the flight six times a week (daily except Sundays).

The flight will be operated by a Boeing 777, and the schedule has been loaded, as follows:

  • Vienna to Los Angeles: OS 81, 10:00 am/1:30 pm
  • Los Angeles to Vienna: OS 82, 3:05 pm/12:00 pm+1

Austrian Airlines offers a pretty solid product in Business Class, feature staggered fully flat seats, and most passengers have direct aisle access. They also shine in their catering, with an onboard chef and delicious food. Adam wrote about his experience on an Austrian Boeing 777 in Business, which you can check out here.

Austrian Airlines Business Class Cabin on B777

Austrian Airlines Business Class Cabin on B777

Austrian Airlines Business Class Seat

Austrian Airlines Business Class Seat

Austrian Airlines Business Class Meal

Austrian Airlines Business Class Meal

Austrian has always been pretty good with making premium cabin awards available, but it’s worth noting the award space is wide open on this new route. Across almost all dates, there are as many as 6 Business Class awards on the same flight:

6 Business Class seats available on Austrian's New VIE-LAX Flight

6 Business Class seats available on Austrian’s New VIE-LAX Flight

You can easily find this award using ANA’s search engine. But I personally wouldn’t book the flight using ANA miles, since they tag on a hefty fuel surcharges the ticket.

6 Business Class seats available on Austrian's New VIE-LAX Flight

6 Business Class seats available on the New VIE-LAX Flight

To book without fuel surcharge, you can also go through Avianca LifeMiles. They charge 63,000 miles for a one-way ticket in Business Class, and only charge taxes and a $25 ticketing fee. LifeMiles is also currently running a 125% bonus (since their early bird offer has expired) on purchased miles, which is not the best, but can still be a decent value if you were going to purchase a Business Class flight anyway.

Book Austrian's new LAX-VIE flight on LifeMiles

Book the new LAX-VIE flight on LifeMiles

United and Aeroplan are two other common redemption options, but the flights are not showing up in their systems yet. You might be able to call to book, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the agent on the phone can’t see it either. As a reminder, Aeroplan also tags on a fuel surcharge for these redemptions.

Austrian Airlines currently flies from its hub in Vienna (VIE) to Chicago (ORD), Washington DC (IAD), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Newark (EWR).  Los Angeles (LAX) will be its sixth destination in the USA.

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[…] The flights have already been loaded and the British Airway site is displaying award seats, though AA has yet to update . Unfortunately, there is only sporadic business class availability on the new flight during the seasonal period; nothing like what we saw when Austrian announced their LAX flight last week. See: Austrian Launches Flights to LAX, Award Space WIDE OPEN […]

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[…] and United’s websites are not showing the flights yet. I imagine it will take a while before they go live online, but you can always call to book in the […]

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