With our Service Commitment, we have taken another step towards designing our products and services with the benefit of our customers in mind. The Service Commitment consists of a series of statements divided up into 14 subject areas. These statements clearly describe all the services you can expect from our three carriers, Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways. We look forward to receiving your feedback!
Commitment 1
We Offer the Lowest Fare Available through each of Our Direct Outlets.
The price you pay for an airline ticket generally depends on your travel circumstances, the flexibility of your travel plans and the availability of promotional fares. The Austrian Airlines' Group commits itself to offer you the lowest appropriate fare available for which you are eligible through our own telephone reservation system, through our own websites and through our own ticket offices for the date, flight and class of service requested.
This means that for travel dates and itineraries that are fixed, we will find and guarantee you the lowest Austrian Airlines' Group fare available for the date and time you wish to travel It is possible that different fares apply at different outlets. Some fares may only be booked via our webpage. We will explain any restrictions that apply to your fare. Therefore, we will inform you about the terms and conditions that apply to the fare chosen and any applicable taxes, fees and charges.
Commitment 2
We Honour the Agreed Fare After Payment.
When placing a booking at one auf the Austrian Airlines' Group Carriers you can be sure that the applicable fare will not be increased. This means that after payment for the ticket has been made, no fare increase will apply for the date, flight and class of service booked by you. However, any change in taxes, fees and charges is subject to additional payment or refund.
Commitment 3
We Notify Passengers of Known Delays, Cancellations and Diversions.
Reliability is important to our customers. It's important to us, too. At the Austrian Airlines' Group, we are committed to operating our airlines on time, and we have a number of initiatives in place to improve our on-time performance. Also, we are committed to keeping you informed whenever an irregularity of your flight, i.e. a delay, a cancellation or a diversion occurs. Therefore, the Austrian Airlines Group notifies you at the airport and on board an affected aircraft, as soon as possible, with the best available information regarding known delays, cancellations and diversions.
Commitment 4
We Assist Passengers Facing Delays.
If you should face a delay when travelling with a carrier of the Austrian Airlines Group it goes without saying that we will care about you. This means for instance that we offer appropriate assistance, for example refreshments, meals, accommodation, to our passengers facing delays beyond two hours* provided that local conditions allow for such assistance to be delivered.
Also, assistance to you may not be provided if this would further delay the departure of your flight. The assistance described above may not be offered on routes operated under public service obligations in accordance with the policy of the authority defining the obligation. If you are a delayed passengers on an inclusive tour package, the assistance given to your flight will be in accordance with the published policy of the tour organiser.
Commitment 5
We Deliver Baggage as Quickly as Possible.
We make every reasonable effort to deliver your checked baggage to the Arrivals Hall area as quickly as possible. In the case your checked bag does not arrive with you, you can be sure that we will take action to retrieve your bags and have it returned to you as quickly as possible, i.e. within 24 hours of its arrival at final destination if law permits, of course free of charge. Immediate assistance sufficient to meet your reasonable short-term needs will also be offered by us.
Commitment 6
We Allow Telephone Reservations to be Held or Cancelled without Commitment or Penalty.
We want to give you more flexibility when planning your flight. Subject to applicable ticketing deadlines, we will allow you either:
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to keep a telephone reservation made directly with us without payment for a minimum of 24 hours or,
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where immediate payment at the time of booking is required, to cancel a reservation without penalty within 24 hours. You will be advised which is applicable at the time of booking.
Commitment 7
We Provide Prompt Refunds.
Some promotional fares are not refundable, but many other types of tickets are. When buying your ticket, we will tell you whether it's refundable or not. If your ticket is refundable, the Austrian Airlines Group will provide a refund on any refundable portion of your ticket after you provide us with your unused ticket or travel documents.
Where you apply for and are entitled to a refund on a ticket purchased directly from us, we will issue refunds within 7 business days for your credit card purchases and within 20 business days for your cash or cheque purchases. Similarly, any taxes, fees and charges collected from you with the fare and shown on the ticket are refundable if the coupon is not used. This regulation also applies to non-refundable tickets. Your refund will be issued within the same time limits as above.
Commitment 8
We Provide Assistance to Passengers with Reduced Mobility and Passengers with Special Needs.
We assist our customers with special needs to ensure they can check in, board and disembark from their flights with dignity and in comfort. These services are designed to assist those passengers in any way possible. We publicise the services we offer for taking care of passengers with special needs and for assisting passengers with reduced mobility in an appropriate manner compatible with applicable safety regulations. Please find more information about passengers with reduced mobility here.
Commitment 9
We Meet Passengers' Essential Needs during Long On-Aircraft delays.
Sometimes you are already on board the aircraft when a delay occurs, perhaps due to congestion or changing weather or other circumstances. You can be sure that we do not aim to keep you on-board any longer than necessary. If you are a passenger on board an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal and where it is deemed safe, practical and legal the Austrian Airlines' Group makes every reasonable effort to provide you with food, water, lavatories and access to medical treatment. Additionally, we will make every effort not to keep you on board during long delays.
Commitment 10
We Take Measures to Speed Up Check In.
You can help us to take-off on time by checking in in time. For that reason, we have set reasonable check in deadlines that are outlined in our webpage. In co-ordination with the airports we take appropriate steps to avoid congestion in departure areas in order to guarantee a smooth start to your journey. Measures taken to speed up check in help to meet your check in deadlines include for instance etix®, self-service check in or off-airport check in services.
Commitment 11
We Reduce the Number of Passengers Who are Involuntarily Denied Boarding.
The industry's practice of overbooking flights originated because of the significant number of booked customers who, for one reason or another, fail to show up for their flights. In the event of a flight having more passengers than seats available at departure time, we first seek volunteers who are prepared to stand down from the flight, subject to any security and/or operational constraints at the airport concerned.
Our customers who are denied boarding an Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air, Tyrolean Airways or Rheintalflug flight due to overbooking will be booked on the next flight with available seats. Also, we will provide our denied boarding customers with meal vouchers for airport restaurants. If unavoidable, customers who are denied boarding are provided with hotel accommodation and transportation to and from the airport.
Commitment 12
We Provide Information to Passengers Regarding our Commercial and Operational Conditions.
According to the increased desire of our passengers to receive precise and competent information concerning our products and services, we provide you with the following information relevant to your journey:
A. At the time of booking (if available):
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Planned scheduled time of departure and arrival of the flights
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Airport/terminal of departure and arrival
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The number of en-route stops
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Any change of aircraft, terminal or airport
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Any conditions attached to the fare to be paid
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Name of operating carrier and flight number
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If it is a smoking flight
In the event of a substitution of operating carrier which has not previously been disclosed and which is not acceptable to you, you are given the right to a refund, or you will be carried on the airline's next flight on which space is available in the same class.
B. With the confirmation invoice or with the ticket:
If, after purchase of the ticket, a significant change to the scheduled flight time is made which is not acceptable to our passenger, and we are unable to book the passenger on an alternative acceptable flight, he/she will be entitled to a refund.
C. On request: (for the Austrian Airlines Group's own services and where available for services operated by other carriers)
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The aircraft type scheduled to be operated on the route and seat pitch
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Services normally offered on board
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Facilities for passengers with special needs and any charge made for using them (except for passengers with reduced mobility as provided for under Article 8)
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Whether specific seats can be allocated or pre-booked
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Charges for excess baggage
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Conditions of Carriage
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Details of the frequent flyer programme
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Assistance programmes for baggage lost, damaged or delayed
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Details of the Airline Passenger Service Commitment and our own service plan.
Commitment 13
We Provide Information on the Operating Carrier.
In order to offer more frequent services to you the Austrian Airlines' Group often works in cooperation with other airlines. One example of this is codesharing. This occurs when two airlines combine to offer a service. Only one of the airlines may actually operate the flight, but both will sell seats on the flight. As we are aware how important it is for you to know the carrier you are actually flying with, we provide information in case of flights operated under code share, franchise or long term planned lease agreements.
We inform you of the name of the airline actually operating the flight. Details will be given to you: - upon reservation, whenever such reser-vation is made through a distribution channel under the direct control of the Austrian Airlines' Group, i.e. our own offices, our telephone reservation centre and our own websites; and - at the airport upon check in.
Regarding a reservation made through a channel which is not under the direct control of the Austrian Airlines Group, i.e. travel agencies and websites other than our own websites, we will remind travel agents and websites' operators to systematically inform our passengers at the time of reservation.
We make it clear through appropriate wording that your contract is with the marketing airline, i.e., the airline whose designator code appears on your flight coupon or routing slip next to the flight number.
We inform you when travelling on code share services that the level of service may be different and the Airline Passenger Service Commitment may not apply.
Commitment 14
We are Responsive to Our Passengers' Complaints.
At the Austrian Airlines' Group, our employees are constantly striving to provide our customers with top services and high quality products throughout the Customer Service Chain. However, if you should be dissatisfied with any part of our products and services rendered because we failed to meet your expectations, we want to know. We welcome your feedback, whether comments, concerns and/or suggestions in order to improve our products and services.
If we did not perform to your satisfaction, we normally provide a substantive response to your written complaint within 28 days of the date of receipt. When this does not permit sufficient time for the complaint to be properly investigated an interim response will be provided, giving the reason for the delay. We have designated a convenient point of passenger contact for all complaints. The address and/or phone number and departmental name of this customer service function is provided in timetables, on websites and any other public information source and will also be available at all travel agents accredited by airlines.