After a busy day exploring Vienna, I headed to the airport a little early for my evening flight. With a couple of hours to kill, I headed to the Austrian Business Lounge Vienna F Gates. At least at off-peak times, this lounge offers comfortable seating, though with a so-so food selection.
Note: this post is part of my trip report series covering my visit to Austria in May, 2022. Click here for the trip report index and introductory post.
Austrian Business Lounge Vienna F Gates
Location
On the second level, just off the central terminal area. First follow the signs for the F and G lounges, in the general direction of the G Gates.
After heading to the second floor, you’ll see a sign directing you to both the F and G lounges. If you’re heading to a Schengen flight, make sure to use the F Gates lounge. The G Gates handle non-Schengen departures, so you must clear passport control to visit the G lounge. (The SKY Lounge is the airport’s Priority Pass option.)
Access
The following customers may access the Austrian Business Lounge:
- Star Alliance Business Class customers
- Star Alliance Gold card holders traveling in any class of service
- All Eurowings passengers on a “Best Fare” ticket
- Eurowings passengers on a “Smart Fare” ticket if Star Alliance Gold or Miles & More Senator or HON Circle status
- Eurowings passengers on a “Basic Fare” ticket with Miles & More HON Circle status
- Or purchase a day pass either in advance or at the desk; prices vary from EUR 39 to EUR 49.
Although this lounge is intended for Schengen flights, any eligible passenger on any flight can access the lounge. If you’re on a non-Schengen flight, leave sufficient time to go through passport control. Hours of operation are 5 am to 10:30 pm daily.
Date of Visit: May 8, 2022
Austrian Business Lounge Vienna F Gates Review
For the most part, the Austrian Business Lounge Vienna F Gates features a 2-room design. After passing the check-in desk, the dining area is on the left, with a larger seating area to the right. Meanwhile, immediately to the left as you enter is the beverage and light snack area. There’s a decent selection of liquor and wine, along with variations of “salty death mix” as Cranky Flier calls it.
A push-button machine, meanwhile, offers espresso-based drinks.
There’s also a fridge with soft drinks, bottled water, and beer.
A seating area (mostly dining tables) extends from the beverage area back towards the buffet.
The seating area extends a good ways back from buffet. A large painting also sits conspicuously in the center of the seating area. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there’s a row of window seating with views of the ramp area if you keep heading back. Matthew at Live and Let’s Fly wrote up a review of this lounge in 2022, and has a couple of pictures of this area.
A large rack of fresh fruit also sits between the food station and the beverage station.
As far as the buffet goes, there were a handful of hot dishes, including pasta, meatballs, and some sort of vegetable curry.
Next to the buffet was a dessert tray with some items like cake and apple streudel. Apparently I forgot to take a photo of the tray. I decided to try a few different things, selecting the meatballs, a vegetable curry, and a streudel. (As I recall, this is actually a common Austrian dish, but I was unable to find the name.)
I found everything – OK. While the buffet featured a fair selection of items, flavor was definitely lacking. I found the meatballs too bland, and the vegetable curry overly sweet. I guess given the hype Austrian receives for its onboard catering, I expected something a little better.
Meanwhile, as for seating, I came in at off-peak time, and found the lounge largely empty. It filled up to perhaps 75% capacity as the evening went on. The lounge offers a variety of seating, ranging from dining tables, to standard lounge seating, to relaxing loungers in curtained-off quiet areas. While the variety of seating options is nice, the abundance of lime green is a bit…loud. Leisure Suit Larry, anybody?
While settling down for a snack, I realized I forgot to print my health declaration form and COVID test results for my flight back to the US the next day. Thankfully, the lounge has a nifty wireless printing system. There is a printer/copier by the front desk, which has instructions right up top. To begin, simply send an email with the documents you want to print to the address indicated. Or you can also use the QR code if you prefer.
Just as promised, the PIN arrived a couple of minutes later.
Then, just head back to the printer to retrieve your documents.
Final Thoughts
This is a fairly comfortable lounge with a variety of seating. However, given how crowded it was even in 2022, I hate to think of how crowded it is now. Also, I found the food quality a little lacking, especially given Austrian’s reputation for in-flight dining. Maybe that was just bad luck on my visit, though. In any event, I wouldn’t arrive super early just to use this lounge, but it’s perfectly serviceable for a short pre-flight visit or layover.
