Finding Cheap Flights to Vienna

From the United States

Although one of the nation’s most well-known airline consolidators (Ticket Planet) has now ceased trading, others such as JustFares.com continue to offer good deals on long-haul flights to Vienna. Trawling the Sunday ads can also reap rewards, especially if you live in San Francisco, the consolidator capital of the USA. For tickets purchased over the phone, make sure you ask the consolidator for a confirmation number. Then, once you’ve made a deal, contact the relevant airline to check your seat assignment (also remember that, as some unscrupulous bucket shops disappear overnight, payment should be made by credit card and never with cash).

If you do use a consolidator, check their terms regarding refunds and cancellation penalties; see whether or not taxes and other fees are included (usually not) and make sure you’re not flying with a dodgy or obscure airline. Admittedly that’s less likely with a city like Vienna, but it’s a good habit to get into!! Needless to say, a ticket on a scheduled flight is always preferable to one with a charter airline.

The best deals from major airlines and travel agents usually come in the form of Apex tickets, which, as well as carrying certain restrictions must be booked at least 21 days before your intended date of departure. However, last minute deals can also be great cash savers, especially if you’re flexible about the carrier that you travel with, and unfussy about the timing of your flight. Including at least one Saturday night within your planned itinerary should help your cause even further. To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.

Arguably the best service between Austria and the United States is Austrian-Airlines’ non-stop direct service from JFK New York to Wien-Schwechat. Wide bodied Airbus A330-200 aircraft are used on the route which takes approximately 8 hours 45 minutes. Typically, a Coach Class return flight with Austrian Airlines in July/August will cost around $963 USD (low season approx $550-700 USD) while flights from other east coast cities, such as Atlanta, are via European cities such as London, Frankfurt, Paris and Prague.

From west coast cities such as Los Angeles, fares rise considerably. A Coach class return in high season with Delta, Austrian Airlines or British Airways will typically cost around $1250-1550 USD.

If booking online, try to search for fares late in the evening (just after midnight) as this is the time when airlines update their databases to add special offers. If you do find a great deal, be quick though, as the number of tickets on sale is often limited (airlines invariably advertise the same deal in newspapers that morning, even though most tickets will have already been sold. This is because customers, who flock to the website, may still end up purchasing a similar ticket even though all of the reduced fares have gone).

Other low fares can also be found by visiting the websites of airline consolidators such as www.onetravel.com, Hotwire or web specialist’s such as www.flyaow.com. Another great site we’ve found is www.search.com which trawls the databases of well-known sites (such as Travel Zoo, Best Fares etc) for seasonal discounts. It’s certainly worth visiting if you’re serious about getting a bargain! 

Another (relatively) recent innovation to the Internet market is Priceline, a website where you can "name your own price" on a wide choice of flights, including transatlantic crossings. In truth, to get a good deal you need to do your homework on prices elsewhere before putting in a bid.

College students and adults under 26 can pick up good deals through youth oriented travel agencies such as STA Travel. Their site provides a database of the cheapest fares available and allows you to make a choice of based on price, Airline, time etc. For combined package tours of Budapest, Vienna and Prague, a site well-worth visiting is www.goaheadvacations.com. They offer an 11 day tour of the three capitals starting at a very reasonable $1739 USD.

From Great Britain

Although airlines and travel tour operators are currently having a tough time of it, UK travellers are spoilt for choice when it comes to discount flights and city breaks. To get an idea of what’s available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. In addition, specialist tour operators such as Mondial Travel and Bakers Dolphin (Tel: 0870 900 5766) offer reasonably priced scheduled flights from London with major carriers such as British Airways and Austrian Airlines. Alternatively, by trawling through the weekend papers - the Times and Sunday Times are especially good - you’ll find a wide selection of seasonal offers and last-minute deals (all through reputable travel companies). Indeed, the likes of Time Out and the London Evening Standard are also great sources to snap up bargains, especially for weekend trips.

Perhaps the best resource of all for cheap fares is the appropriately named www.cheapflights.co.uk. Not only does the site remove the hassle of contacting countless travel agents by phone, but provides direct e-mail and/or website links to companies listed in their database. In addition, an ‘information’ section also gives useful hints and tips on finding the best deals around. Other useful sites include www.travellersweb.ws and farebase (easy to use with highly competitive prices).

Of course, as Austria is situated at the very heart of Europe, there’s a continual price war going on between carriers such as British Airways and competing low-cost (no frills) airlines - in this case Ryannair. For example, Ryannair (which flies from London Stansted to Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Graz) offer one-way flights for as little as £42. Therefore, you can fly to either city (although Graz is much nearer to Vienna than Salzburg) and then travel on to the capital by train. As with any budget airline it’s best to book way in advance if you can. Otherwise, as many easyJet and Ryannair customers well know, seat prices become just as expensive (indeed sometimes more expensive) than equivalent flights with carriers such as British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa.

Elsewhere, services to Vienna from Aberdeen and Edinburgh are via cities such as Amsterdam. You’ll therefore need to arrange a connecting domestic flight when booking (typically around £70 from KLM) although Internet fares usually provide an all-in-one price. The cheapest scheduled apex return flights (depending on what time of day you fly) cost around £203 during August and September.

Unfortunately, Lauda Air services no longer operate from Manchester or Gatwick Airport to Vienna. Instead, for Manchester you’ll either have to use the BA CitiExpress service (non-stop) or travel via Heathrow (or a mainland European city such as Amsterdam). For those flying from London, scheduled services to Vienna operate from Heathrow, Stansted and London City, unless of course, you opt for a charter flight to another Austrian city (basically during the ski season) from Gatwick. Flights from Heathrow include those operated by British Airways, Austrian Airlines, Swiss (via Basle), Air France (via Paris) and KLM (via Amsterdam). More recently, Air Berlin have started services to Vienna from Stansted. Routed via a quick stop in Dortmund, expect to pay around £125, including taxes, for a return ticket (even in high season). Alternatively, Sky Europe offer a good value service from London Stansted to Vienna (via Bratislava). Basically, you fly direct to Bratislava and then, from there, ride a SkyShuttle bus to Vienna for an extra €10 (the journey is just 50km).

For a short stay, some of the best deals come in the form of city breaks, which usually include a tour of Vienna. For longer 10 day guided tours, operators such as Titan HiTours offer a combined itinerary which takes in Prague, Vienna and Budapest for £1095 (July 2005). Flight time from London Heathrow to Vienna is 2 hours 20 minutes.

From Canada

Austrian Airlines, in conjunction with Air Canada, operate a popular non-stop service from Toronto, Pearson International to Vienna. Using modern, wide-bodied aircraft, flight OS 72 (AC 9616) takes off from Terminal Three at Pearson every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 6.50pm local time, landing in Vienna at 9.15am local time. From Vienna to Toronto, Austrian Airlines flight OS 71 (AC 9617) departs from Vienna at 11.20am local time and lands in Toronto at 2.35pm local time. In addition, there’s also a Saturday service, taking off at 22.15pm and landing at 12.40pm. However, as seats sell out more quickly than on any other service, you’ll need to book well in advance. Alternatively, you can fly from Toronto via any number of European ‘gateway’ cities’ including London and Paris. As prices are roughly the same though, it’s obviously better (if you can) to go non-stop.

A similar service also exists from Montreal (Trudeau) to Vienna. Flight OS 76 (AC9618), which leaves Montreal at 9.50pm and lands in Vienna at 11.50am local time, operates every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Note: the above schedules are correct as of 17 September 2004. However, because timings for services to both Vienna and Montreal have been chopped and changed over the past year, you’re advised to check flight details when booking.

To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. West coast flights from Vancouver start at around $1300 USD in the low season, rising to approx $1900 USD in high season. Similar flights from Toronto are between $700 USD and $1000 USD respectively. If you’re on a tight budget another option may be to travel out from a US city such as New York or Seattle (for west coast flights). For students, it’s also worth checking fares published on Travel CUTS, Canada’s No.1 travel agency for those under 26.

From the European Union

To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.

Low-cost Airlines - a number of low-cost operators now fly to Austria from other EU Member States. Details for specific countries are given below.

In France, Air France offers (in conjunction with Austrian Airlines) 7 flights daily from Paris (Charles De Gaulle) to Vienna with a flight time of 2hrs 10mins. Flight prices are on the high side, with a return economy ticket in high season costing around €330-450. Alternatively, Sky Europe offer a good value service from Paris (Orly) to Vienna (via Bratislava). Basically, you fly direct to Bratislava and then, from there, ride a SkyShuttle bus to Vienna for an extra €10 (the journey is just 50km). For student deals to Austria, contact OTU Voyages a well-known and respected travel specialist.

In Germany, Lufthansa fly direct to Vienna from Frankfurt/Main, Berlin (Tegel), Bremen, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich (Augsburg, Franz Josef Strauss), Nuremburg and Stuttgart. As the carrier frequently offers special web only deals (as well as a ‘happy hour’ page where visitors can bid for flights) you are advised to check online for Lufthansa’s latest prices. There are now also a number of low-cost flights to Austria from Germany, with Air Berlin operating services to Vienna from Dortmund, Hamburg and Duesseldorf and Germanwings also flying to the Austrian capital from Cologne-Bonn (CGN). In addition, Sky Europe offer a good value service from Stuttgart to Vienna (via Bratislava). Basically, you fly direct to Bratislava and then, from there, ride a SkyShuttle bus to Vienna for an extra €10 (the journey is just 50km).

In the Netherlands, companies such as ATP Online offer good value fares from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to Vienna. Alternatively, you can head straight for the website of KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines who fly direct to Vienna from Amsterdam (Schiphol Airport), while flights from Maastricht are one stop affairs (via Schipol). If you’re planning to travel from Rotterdam, then a 45 minute train journey to Amsterdam is required for a direct flight out. Other Austrian cities served by KLM from the Netherlands include Innsbruck, Linz and Salzburg.

For information on seasonal deals to Vienna check out KLM’s ’special offers’ pages. For 2004, a return ticket to Vienna from Amsterdam, Schiphol (in high season) costs from €215.

The websites of other national carriers are also good sources of information for routes, schedules and prices. Each can be accessed by clicking on the relevant link: Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, ČSA (Czech Airlines), Cyprus Airways, Iberia Airlines, Lot (Polish Airlines) Luxair, Malév (Hungarian Airlines), Olympic Airways, TAP (Air Portugal) and SAS.

For visitors from Finland, Finnair operate scheduled (direct) flights from Helsinki Vantaa, with return tickets costing around €600 during high season. However, lower priced ‘quick getaway’ fares are also published on the airline’s website, so our advice is to check regularly! Needless to say if you’re visiting for the Austrian Grand Prix (late June) booking early is essential! Flight time is approx. 2hrs 30 mins.

From Australia and New Zealand

Lauda Air (now part of Austrian Airlines) offer direct services from Sydney and Melbourne to Vienna aboard wide-bodied Boeing 777 aircraft (via Kuala Lumpur). Flight OS 3002 departs from Sydney Kingsford International three times weekly at 4.55pm local time, arriving in Vienna at 6.05am the following day (return flight OS 3001), while the twice weekly service from Melbourne Tullamarine (OS 3006) leaves at 5.10pm local time and arrives in Vienna at 6.10am the following day (return flight OS 3005). Other flights, from Perth and Brisbane are two stop affairs via Singapore, Zürich or London Heathrow. Although ticket prices can vary wildly, a Coach Class return flight in July/August (from Sydney) will cost around A$2500 (low season approx A$1800). However, special fares (which pop up fairly frequently on Austrian Airlines’ website) can be as low as A$ 1600 for a return flight.

To get an idea of the flights and fares available from Australia, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. In addition, Travel Com offers up a comprehensive choice from their online database, together with www.travelshop.com.au and Flight Centre.

For citizens of New Zealand, there are no direct flights to Vienna, so you’re probably best off travelling to Melbourne and picking up a Lauda Air flight. That said, returns from Auckland during high season (using carriers such as Air New Zealand, Crossair and KLM) start at $2500, while travellers from Wellington should be prepared to pay around $2700. Good online booking services can be found at: www.travel.co.nz and www.travel-nz.com.