Bottom Line: Avoid Austrian Airways and Lufthansa!!! They used to be good airlines but are now effectively providing no customer service, at least for US travelers.
This is my first-ever Yelp review but my experiences with this airline have been so shocking (even for an experienced international traveler), that I am hoping to spare others this pain.
- They lost one flight I booked online on July 7 directly with their Austrian office, although it was charged to my credit card a day after the booking. Last week, the customer service agent found the booking online and promised to email the ticket but did not. This week, her colleague claims she couldn't find it even with my seat assignment. They record all calls but refused to listen to the one with my booking.
- They eventually found the other flight I booked at the same time, but have failed *four* times to email the ticket as promised. On my third call, I persuaded the so-called customer service agent to email me the ticket, but she only sent the flight confirmation twice. She terminated the call before the second email arrived, saying that she was not allowed to talk any longer. I still don't have the ticket.
- They say my only recourse is to buy my missing ticket again. This means I will have to contest the credit card charges and spend more time on another booking. Unfortunately, Austrian Airlines appears to have a monopoly on non-stop flights between Berlin and Vienna and the fastest train takes about 8 hours, so they don't care.
- I have tried four times today to speak with a supervisor in an attempt to resolve these issues directly and was told variously that they would not be able to help me, that there was not one there, or that they were on the phone with another customer. I was not allowed to hold. They told me to call back later but the system has now hung up on me quickly 3 times, so they must have blocked my phone number.
- I've now noticed that they *misspelled* my name on the flight confirmation and on the email address they had been using. This is despite the fact that I spelled it a total of 8 times and even offered to switch to German, which I speak fluently. None of the agents bothered to tell me about this misspelling, which apparently cannot be corrected by the traveler online and which will no doubt cause trouble on boarding and in immigration.
- I finally found a number in New York for Lufthansa customer feedback. It turns out that it only accepts voicemail and directs the customer to fill in an online complaint form. However, the complaint form relates only to flights that have already occurred. read more