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Award space is wide open in Austrian Airlines Business Class between the United States and Europe for EIGHT people per flight over the entire Summer.
This is amazing news because normally award space over the summer is the toughest to find– finding even four seats on the same flight in Business Class is almost unheard of.
You can book Business Class to Vienna for 70,000 United miles one way with no fuel surcharges.
Where Austrian Airlines Flies in the US
Austrian Airlines flies from Vienna to the following cities:
- Chicago
- Miami
- Newark
- New York JFK
- Toronto
- Washington Dulles
Award Space
All these calendars show award space for eight people. Days with a straight line and dotted line have eight Business Class seats available in economy as well as Business on Austrian Airlines. Just a dotted line means only eight Business Class award seats, and just a straight line means only eight economy award seats.
June and July have solid availability, often every day for eight people in Business and economy. Some even have wide open award space in the spring as well (April/May ’17).
Routes listed below are only to Europe. I checked the return directions for the same months and they look equally as open in Business Class and economy.
New York (JFK) to Vienna
Washington D.C. to Vienna
Chicago to Vienna
Miami to Vienna
Product
Austrian Airlines Business Class features totally lie-flat beds on Boeing’s 767-300.
All seats have aisle access.
I flew Austrian Business class in the fall of 2013 between Chicago and Vienna– read my trip report here. The food was impressive with an onboard Chef that took orders.
Searching, Connections, Booking
Search Austrian award space on united.com. Any Austrian award space you find there, you can book with any Star Alliance miles, but watch out for fuel surcharges if booking with anything other than United miles.
If you don’t live in a city served by Austrian, that’s no problem. You can hook up any United Saver award space in economy or first class to get to an Austrian gateway (listed above) for no extra miles. If you want to connect to somewhere else in Europe or to Africa or Asia, you can definitely do that too, though other continents will cost extra miles.
Book online on the website of the airline whose miles you want to use, or if that’s not possible, by calling the airline whose miles you want to use.
I’d recommend booking with:
- 70,000 United miles and no fuel surcharges to Europe. United is a 1:1 instant transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards.
- 63,000 LifeMiles and no fuel surcharges to Europe. LifeMiles are frequently sold for around 1.5 cents each, so you could pay about $1,000 one way for this Business Class.
Options for less miles but with expensive fuel surcharges:
- 55,000 Aeroplan miles + about $445 in fuel surcharges to Eastern Europe (if you connect to Europe 2 price rises to 57,500 miles). Aeroplan is a 1:1 instant transfer partner of AMEX Membership Rewards.
- 40,000 Asiana miles + about $445 in fuel surcharges each way. Asiana is a 1:1 slow transfer partner of SPG, with 5,000 bonus Asiana miles for every 20,000 SPG points transferred.
See the prices to Europe in Business Class with all major Star Alliance miles here.
Bottom Line
There are no excuses for not taking your whole family to Europe this summer in Austrian Airlines Business Class.
Hat Tip One Mile at a Time
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We just flew VIE – IAD in J this week and had a great experience. Booked with Asiana after transferring 65k SPG to 80k Asiana. Fuel surcharges were only $280 ex-Vienna.
Is the screenshot from the united.com calendar?
Yep.
[…] with a different type of miles from a low tax country. Have United miles? There’s heaps of Star Alliance Business Class award space returning to the US from Vienna over this coming […]