Any opinions on Austrian vs Swiss airlines?

[Quartercentury]

I am looking for flights from London to Bangkok and the least expensive options thus far have come up as Austrian and Swiss Airlines. Any experiences or opinions?

[emmjay]

I flew Austrian Air from Sydney, Australia to Malaysia (it was going to Vienna after that). It was fine - this is what I remember about the flight:

- best airline meal I've ever had
- lady sitting next to me had terrible breath
- the flight attendants were extremely nice, but had terrible uniforms
- only about 10 of us got off in Kuala Lumpur because it was during SARS

So, this might not be the most helpful information for you! Really, it was fine - not as nice as Singapore Airlines or anything, but equivalent to any of the major carriers like United or Delta. I've never flown Swiss Air.

[Mrs. M.]

When are you going?

Austrian and Lauda just merged but the Boeing flights (which would include Bangkog) are still almost only Lauda crew. I have never flown with Lauda but they are supposed to be very nice and the food is great (I know their caterer).

Swiss is also great. They are doing some restructuring right now, after being bought by Lufthansa. Don't know if this will affect their schedule.

Out of those 2 airlines, I would choose the one that offers the most convenient flight times for you, since both are good choices.

I would definitely rate both of them better than any airline from the USA.

[Vishenka69]

I've had very good experiences with both Swiss and Lufthansa. Never tried either Austrian or Lauda. I agree with Mrs. M that both airlines are good and you should pick whichever is most convinient.

[tenofcups]

I've flown both and don't really remember the details of either right now, except that both are good airlines and I had good experiences on both. I strongly feel that ANY international airline is better than any US airline in terms of food, service, and overall ambiance (the only exception being when it's a code share and it turns out to be an American in-flight crew--then the food is still better but the service tends to sink to American standards...)

[Quartercentury]

I strongly feel that ANY international airline is better than any US airline in terms of food, service, and overall ambiance
Yes, I totally agree. Being based in the UK over the past four years has really spoiled me in terms of airline/airport experiences.

[Quartercentury]

Just to update...

I booked this weekend. On Royal Jordanian. Ha! Layovers in Amman! Should be interesting...

(reasons were that the flights were the same price as those on Austrian/Swiss, but with the option to change dates if I need to)