Hi, everyone, and welcome to my short report on OS to Vienna, Bratislava, detailing the Do&Co meal available on OS flights.

Well, my mother had spent her summers as a kid in Vienna. Years later, she wanted to visit again; the last visit having been in 2008. Well, I don't refuse travel (often or ever). But, since it wouldn't be a new country or airport or aircraft... I “negociated” a few hours in Bratislava as well.

TAROM had pissed me off before my (then) latest flight with them, to LCA:
TAROM, OTP-LCA, B737-300, And Nicosia (by dc9northwest Aug 23 2012 in Trip Reports)

Austrian had just launched the possibility of ordering 15 EUR meals (even on their short-hauls). That's good; makes the choice rather easy. Even booking the flight a few weeks before the flight, the fares were quite decent. I forgot how much, exactly, but I believe around 175 EUR per person. The competition on the route is quite intense, between RO, OS and HG. The “low-cost” airline HG, however, had the biggest fares. Which is why I laugh at people who buy low-cost tickets without looking at the “legacy” airlines and considering all the extra costs. But I digress.

Anyway, a few weeks later, it was about time to leave for Vienna. We got to the airport, and used the self-service check-in kiosks at OTP (the fewer people you interact with, the better... especially at OTP). No hold luggage for us (for a couple of days trip... of course not), so off to security. Soon enough, we passed this hurdle as well. We headed to gate 12, where the Austrian flight (operated by Tyrolean—aren't they all?) would board in some time. Well, first we stopped by a cafe which offered internet access with purchase. Some pictures of the new OTP below. I can't stress enough how nice it is to have glass walls which permit picture-taking. Luckily OTP is waking up and cruising past CDG and Italian or Spanish airports (though personally I haven't had problems!), for instance, at photography-friendliness. Now if only we'd get rid of the old mentality at TAROM check-in desks as well.

OTP's new terminal:


FIDS:


Gate 10:


Across from Gate 9:


Well, at the gate, we didn't have long to wait. 10 minutes after we sat down, boarding started. This time, we waited until the boarding queue got shorter before lining up.

Flight: Austrian 790
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Reg: OE-LBV
STA/STD: 11:20-12:00
Take-off/Landing: 11:31-11:57
Seats: 05A/05B

Boarding went well, and Weinviertel was ready to depart back to homebase. The flight path was typical, overflying Deva, Arad and Szekesfehervar (?) on the way to Vienna. There's not much to say about this flight; please enjoy the pictures below.

OE-LBV:


Arrivals Hall, Control Tower, New Terminal:


Wizz and RO:


Snack service was another half-sandwich, like on my OSL-VIE-OTP flights earlier this year. This is likely the typical OS service—however, the sandwich was better—salami and pickles instead of mystery sauce. Drinks were served later than snacks. Much later. Thumbs down for this procedure.

This is OS's half-snack I've written about before (salami and pickle is better than red and yellow cremes though):


Romanian mountains:


Not sure what city this is:


On descent:


Schwechat and Vienna:


We arrived at VIE basically on-time. We disembarked via airstairs and were taken to the terminal for an ID check. We were through eventually. Land-side, we decided to take the CAT train to Wien-Mitte and walk to our hotel from there; Hotel Domizil is but a couple of blocks from Stephansdom. It cost 230 Euros for 2 nights. Overall, a good experience. Pleasant welcome and good breakfast. Maybe, the best hotel I've stayed at. Usually, I stay at cheaper hotels, but this was the best deal in Central Vienna with just a few weeks left before the trip.

Welcome (thanks!):


Neue Terminal:


Well, hey there, old friend:


Disembarkation:


Quite modern-looking inside:


CAT seats:


Afterwards, we decided to walk around Vienna. Here are some the sights seen on the first day.

Stephansdom:




Vienna Center:


Sights from around the city:






Group of tourists (probably came on one of those big tourist buses   )


Nice architecture:


Opera House:


On the second day, we went to Bratislava. There are two hourly trains, one to Hlavna Stanica and one to Petrzalka (the latter is quicker but leaves you in a less interesting area). We chose the latter for the way there, and the former for the way back. Since I don't think there are many reports of Bratislava, I added some pictures I took walking around this city.

Train from Sudbahnhof to Bratislava-Petrzalka:


Petrzalka:


Follow the yellow-brick road... Err, red-brick road?


It's easy to get from Petrzalka station to Bratislava's old town. Just follow the red bricks all the way to the bridge, and then cross the bridge. Once you've crossed the bridge... There you are. We headed east towards the theater before entering the proper old-town, which is seemingly a quite typical Austro-Hungarian town center, and very clean as well. Also, it's not completely chock full of restaurants and tables stretching all across every pedestrian street, leaving a 1-meter space for pedestrians, like in other places (Bucharest). It's quite pleasant for a stroll. After a while, we headed to St. Martin's Cathedral, and, then, up the hill to Bratislava's castle. Well, we ended up surrounding the castle before we found an entrance, but we finally succeeded. The view from up there was quite scenic, as could be seen below. Afterwards, we headed towards the main station via the Old Town, the Hodzovo Namestie (where I think the Presidential Palace(?) is) and the Summer Archbishop's Palace. Finally we arrived at the Hlavna Stanica and soon it was time to board the train to Vienna Sudbahnhof.

Yup, it's still Eastern Europe:


Crossing the Danube:


Nice:


Sights from around Bratislava:


Main pedestrian street:


Theater in the background:




Central streets:


Nice little building:


Typical Bratislava:


The Cathedral from before:


View towards the Old Town:


Bratislava Castle:


“the UFO”:


Castle:


Presidential Residence(?):


You can't be so close to Vienna without learning something!


Hlavna Stanica:


Err.... am I missing something?


After about 70 minutes, we were finally back in Vienna. We stopped by the Belvedere, visited the Palace and its gardens, although it was rainy, and was getting rainier and rainier. Exiting the Belvedere gates, we even saw a guy aiding the rain in wetting the pavement by taking a leisurely piss in the middle of the city. Great. Afterwards, we headed towards the hotel. Regarding food... we stopped at the WienerWald restaurant for some schnitzels. Another choice for me was a Rostbraten mit Zweibeln, IIRC, somewhere near the hotel.

Back in Vienna:


Belvedere:


That night, we went to a Mozart concert at the Musikverein Golden Saal. A nice concert, overall. The next day, it was time to leave. We didn't take much of a detour and headed towards the CAT at Wien/Mitte. We checked-in, and headed downstairs to catch the train. 16 minutes later we were at Schwechat Airport.

In a park:


Unsere Garten:


CAT:


Back to VIE:




It was time to pass through security and immigration-all went fast and without a hitch. I bought a present for my grade school math teacher whom I'd get to see after a few years. Afterwards, we went to the top level, which is reserved for non-Schengen destinations—finally, no more basements! A fair number of spotting opportunities at VIE...

Qatar A321:


LH A340 operating for OS:


New terminal:


Enfidha? Doesn't quite fit...


Little Fokkers:


OS retrojet:


Active:


Well, soon-ish, the F100 we were waiting for arrived. It looked like a more-or-less on-time departure. Well, in the end, we'd have about a 20-minute delay... no big deal. Also, according to FlightAware, this would be the longest VIE-OTP flight for OS791 (1h 25 minutes, compared to 1h 13 minutes average) during that time period.

Flight: Austrian 791
Aircraft: Fokker 100
Reg: OE-LVL
STD/STA: 1510-1750
Takeoff/Landing: 1535-1800
Seats: 20A/20B

I must mention the 50 second long safety briefings. I'll just assume they don't care at Tyrolean HQ. Never heard such short safety briefings at any other airline. In fact, it's confusing me.

Hello, F100:


Boarded:


F100 engine:


Taxi out:


For this flight, I'd ordered myself the Chicken Schnitzel from Do&Co's menu, to see just how it is. Well, after takeoff, I waited and waited—nothing. Finally, the F/As arrived to my row—I gave them the confirmation e-mail (I should NOT have to carry this around—in fact, I showed the e-version), and they brought me my pre-bought meal. I think that they should improve the system, and know for whom and for what seat the meal is for. On the positive side, quite a few choices to choose from. Good. This is unlike KL, from which 4 out of 5 feature some sort of seafood (thumbs down to KL for that). I won't pay 15EUR if I can't eat the whole thing. Again, there was a disparity between meal-service and snack/food service at OS. Another negative here... They should review their process... Luckily, the Do&Co set comes with a bottle of water.

And, yes, I do consider myself demanding—but I don't make a scandal out of it unless I'm treated like shit. Impolitely. And all things considered, I find that very rare. The F/A played no role in the Tyrolean/Austrian policy, so I did not complain to her at all. However, OS can do a fair bit to improve the service.

I did order a meal... the Schnitzel; what else?


The meal came with a salad, lots of bread, water and a dessert (chocolate mousse):




The Schnitzel was quite good, even though you may not expect perfection from such a dish at 30,000 feet. I can't complain about anything else from the tray either—the bread seemed quite fresh, and the dessert was acceptable—even if chocolate mousse isn't my favorite.

Afterwards, I visited the bathroom (not related to the above, I promise), since I'd missed the opportunity the last 2 flights I took on a F100 AFAIK.

F100 bathroom:


Soon, we were on descent, taking the typical path over Romania: Petrosani-Ramnicu Valcea-Pitesti-Otopeni.

Above Romania:


Petrosani/Petrila:


Transalpina:


Ranca winter resort:


Green interior of the F100:


Descending:


Ramnicu Valcea:


Pitesti:


Almost there:


Brakes:


RO and Wizz:


Retrojet:


OE-LVL:


We were now ready to land at OTP. We landed on runway 08L, and used the high-speed exit. A few minutes later we arrived at gate 13 (aka parking stand 7). Disembarkation was slow-ish as usual, and we were off to immigration. During the long walk, I pictured the desks that let us know that, no, Romania was not yet in the Schengen Area (pictured below). Immigration was quick as usual, even though my mother forgot where we'd been when asked by the officer. No baggage means we were through, and we took the 783 bus downtown.

They introduced a ticket-checker on these routes to the airport to reduce/eliminate fraudulent journeys. He validated the “e-tickets” (that electronic-card thing, that is) for everybody, to ensure everything was alright. On the order of 40 minutes later, we arrived in the center, and soon after, home.

Empty desks Sultanils was referring to in his “Flying Blue and Nonstop You” report:


Here's a link to Nils' report: Flying Blue And Nonstop You: DUS-OTP-BRU (by sultanils Nov 7 2012 in Trip Reports)

Thanks very much for reading—as always, questions and comments are appreciated  

Overall, OS was average for an European airline.

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