Video | Austrian Airlines Business Class (Int'l – Old)

Airline: Austrian Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Row:  2
Class: International Business (Old)

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Seat(s)- The color scheme of this Austrian Airlines Business Class cabin is nauseating at best. The purple and woodgrain of these near-retirement seats resemble something from  the set of TV’s “Barney & Friends“.

These are a throwback to the beginning of the new age of International Business Class. I can imagine the advertisements: “Austrian’s new Business Class features tens of movies on your own screen, a seat that tilts you toward the ground while you sleep and calms you with a massage function that mimics someone slowly kicking the back of your seat”. I’m sure they’d have worded it better.

But while we clearly disliked a few of the seats “features”, it still counts as business class. Antiquated compared to the airlines new-style seats, the recline features are still adequate for those who don’t mind sleeping a little bit upright or can do without the massage feature. In the fully-upright ‘seat’ mode, there’s a good amount of legroom, but seat-width is lacking. Another inch or two would be a world of difference for the larger-hipped.

Entertainment: This is as light on entertainment as you’ll find post shared-single-screen era. A small handful of movies are fed all at once to each personal screen in business class and start over whenever they’re all finished. Daydreams of what’s on your DVR at home are more satisfying.

Wi-fi/Connectivity: Wi-fi is still a dream for future Austrian flights but there’s power for your laptop and gadgets. Multi-nation ports accommodate many different plugs including US and European types.

Food: Austrian pays attention to catering and it shows. Luxurious appetizer and desert displays surround your choice of entree. Most of what’s served has good flavor and it’s presentation is decidedly high-end.

Service: I’m not sure if it falls into a category of elevated service or flight attendant abuse, but there’s someone on each flight dressed in a full chef’s outfit (Think Chef Boy-ar-dee). I like that they’ll come out to consult with you about your dinner choice but the costume seems unnecessary knowing that their next task is to start pulling everything out of a high-flying EZ-Bake Oven. Flight attendants offered friendly, garden-variety International business class service. Plenty of smiles and coffee refills for every cartoony seat.

Summary: While this version of Austrian Airlines Business Class seat is being phased out, it’s still what’s available on a good number of the airline’s 767 and 777 aircraft as we post this review. This was a daytime flight and we had no plans to sleep but our previous experience in similar, slightly-angled seats hasn’t been good on overnight flights. If you plan on being upright for most of the flight these give you room for your legs but don’t leave much elbow room, so you’ll likely rub arms with your trans-ocean seatmate…eww. Combine it with limited personal entertainment, you’ll be daydreaming of the airline’s newer business class seats.

Rating: 2 “hops” (of 5).

How we got em’: Miles! With the help of the PointsPros we snagged these seats (along with our return flight) with US Airways Dividend Miles. How many miles you use depends on your destination but US Airways for the time being has a few great redemption opportunities with Star Alliance partners like Austrian.