The Austrian Airlines Lounge for the "Schengen" section of Terminal 3 at Vienna VIE Airport is a solid place to relax between flights and enjoy a good snack.

Is it possible to get into the lounge without business class and higher frequent flyer status?

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Lounge opening hours and location

The lounge is located on the 2nd floor of Terminal 3 (i.e. at departure gates F and G) after security but before passport control.

• Opening hours are daily 5:30-22:30

If you are flying to a Schengen country, from the lounge you head one floor down directly to the "F-gates". If you are flying to a non-Schengen country, you will still need to go through passport control, which is right next to the lounge.

Austrian Airlines has another lounge in the "G" departure gate area.

The lounge is located next to the SKY Lounge, which is popular for its much wider free entry options.

Entry - who has access to the lounge

The Austrian Lounge is primarily for business class passengers and passengers of Gold or higher status on the airline's frequent flyer programmes.

However, if the lounge is not at full capacity, all other passengers can also pay to enter the lounge, or one of the airport lounge programmes can be used to gain access.

• Airlines - Austrian Lounge at gate "F" is used by the following airlines:
  • Austrian Airlines and all other Star Alliance airlines
  • Bulgaria Air
  • Luxair
• Airport lounge programmes
  • DragonPass - free entry
  • Revolut with Ultra plan - free entry (get Revolut here)
  • Priorty Pass, Lounge Key, LoungeMe - no, you must pay to enter
• Paid admission for 44 eur
  • Can be purchased on site or online via the official website

Space and atmosphere

The Austrian Lounge is divided into three sections, like most other Lufthansa Group airline lounges:

• Business Class Lounge - the least equipped lounge for business class passengers.
• Senator/Star Alliance Gold - I visited this section and it belongs to all passengers with Star Alliance Gold status.
• HON Circle/First Class - the best equipped lounge for passengers with HON Circle status or a First Class ticket

Senator/Star Alliance Gold gives a very spacious and airy impression at first glance, although it's actually more of a mid-sized lounge.

It's only on second glance that I realize that most of the comfortable seats are occupied and only the dining tables are available, of which there are plenty.

This doesn't bother me, because I plan to eat anyway, and after a while there are also seats open up, perfect for working on a laptop and with a really nice view of the tarmac (unfortunately not directly onto the runway).

There aren't many comfortable chairs and couches and they are all occupied for almost the entire duration of my visit. They only become vacant after 19:00, when I have to leave for my flight.

I am impressed by the environment. The furniture and floors are in woodsy colors and from my subjective feeling the air conditioning works great here. It is over 30°C outside and I am neither hot nor cold here.

Food and drink on offer

The refreshment counters are all located compactly in one part of the lounge to the left of the entrance.

The longest counter along the wall contains mainly drinks.

The selection of teas is pretty weak, but the honey is a delight. Coffee is only available from the coffee machines and for my part I rate it as average.

I also find red wines and white wines and a relatively decent selection of liqueurs and spirits, although these tend to be cheaper brands.

The fridge is free to take bottled beer, local sodas and Coca Cola. I was unpleasantly surprised that there is no post-mix beverage option, and there were no sugar-free soft drinks during my visit except for soda or infused water.

The central counter contains a cold kitchen. The selection is rather mediocre compared to other airline lounges. The selection of vegetables and salads is worse than in the neighbouring SKY lounge, and it is not saved by the plates of hams, salami and cheese, which are few and far between and certainly not among the premium ingredients in their category.

There is quite a large selection of various nuts and chips accompanied by Oreo cookies. These were the only sweets I found in the lounge in the afternoon, but in the experience of other travellers there tends to be more sweet food during the morning.

Of the fruit, only apples, pears and bananas are available.

On the other hand, the pastries were fresh in the evening and the selection of various buns and breads was quite good.

I was pleased with the hot food section, where there was a choice of five different courses and some excellent soups.

The hot food is not self-serve but there is no limit to its consumption and the typical minced meat stuffed with sausage was simply fabulous!

Lounge facilities

Austrian Lounge "F" offers the following amenities:

Showers

Showers are located in the common area for all sections - Senator/Star Alliance Gold, Business and HON Circle.

You will need to request a shower at the front desk to be put on a waiting list. I waited about 20 minutes for a shower during the afternoon hours.

The showers themselves are exemplarily maintained and very spacious, and there is no charge to use them.

Wi-fi

Internet access is available via free wi-fi.

The internet speed is very good and suitable for playing and downloading videos.

Charging plugs

Plugs for charging electronics are available for most chairs and all work surfaces in really large quantities!

All plugs are "European" F-type only, and most have USB-A and USB-C ports added to them as well.

Workspaces

In the Austrian Lounge F there are no dedicated resting areas for working on your laptop, but you can work comfortably at the long table along the window, for example.

Phone booth

For undisturbed phone calls, there is a special soundproof booth at the entrance designed just for this.

Children's corners

There is no children's corner in the Austrian Lounge.

Conclusion and my rating

The Austrian Lounge is a nice place to have a quick snack before a flight, but also to get work done quickly at the many tables suitable for working with a laptop.

Positives

• Bright and airy space with large windows and views of the planes
• Good selection of hot food
• Nice showers

Negatives

• Weaker selection of cold food and soft drinks
• Lack of separate areas to work in

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