Austrian Airlines extends free rebooking period for passengers

Monday, March 23, 2020

Austrian Airlines Due to the developments surrounding the spread of the coronavirus, Austrian Airlines is again extending its waiver policy and prolonging the free rebooking options for passengers. Tickets that were or will be booked up until March 31, 2020 can be suspended until August 31, 2020. The value of the ticket remains unchanged. Until this date, customers have time to announce a new departure date. The return flight must take place by December 31, 2020. The destination can also be changed free of charge as part of this waiver policy. In case of rebooking the ticket value increases by € 50,-. The regulation applies to existing and cancelled flights on the entire worldwide route network of Austrian Airlines.

Previously, passengers could suspend tickets with a confirmed travel date until April 30, 2020 that were booked by March 12, and had time until June 1, 2020 to set a new travel date. This period has been extended by 12 weeks. Likewise, the extended waiver policy now applies to all tickets booked by March 31, 2020 that have a confirmed travel date up until December 31, 2020. There are no rebooking fees, regardless of the respective booking tariff. If the originally booked fare is no longer available on the newly selected travel date, e.g. due to a change of destination (rebooking from short-haul to long-haul) or booking class, an additional payment may be necessary despite the discount and the cancellation of the rebooking fee. The waiver policy applies also to Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti.

Current developments are leading to a sharp increase in the number of customer requests at our Service Centres. This is currently resulting in longer waiting times for processing. Therefore, the rebooking does not have to be made before the original flight date; this is also possible after the planned flight has passed. Passengers who have booked through travel agencies are kindly asked to contact them for rebooking. Customers who have purchased their tickets directly at Austrian Airlines can contact the airline’s Service Center by telephone or via the contact form on the Austrian Airlines website. An online rebooking possibility in accordance with the new policy is currently under development.

To give passengers even more flexibility in booking travels in the current situation, the ticket regulations for light fares have been revised: Light Fares can thereby be rebooked free of charge even when the booking was made after March 31, 2020. A change of destination is not possible.

In general, Austrian Airlines kindly asks passengers whose planned flights are not scheduled during the next seven days to refrain from contacting the service hotline in the days ahead. In this way, they will give the service employees the possibility to first deal with passengers who would normally be departing in the next week.

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