What is Austrian Airlines hand baggage allowance?

What you can bring with you in the cabin when flying with Austrian Airlines depends on your ticket type and destination.

Travellers flying in the cheapest class (Economy Basic) on short- and medium-haul flights are only entitled to a personal item, not a cabin bag, which means you need to fit everything for your trip into a handbag, laptop case or small backpack. Of course, you can always pay to add a cabin or checked bag to your flight.

Let’s take a closer look at Austrian Airlines hand baggage allowance:

*Certain Miles&More members can bring a cabin bag for free on short- and medium-haul Economy Basic flights.

What else do I need to know about Austrian Airlines cabin baggage allowance?

If you're hoping to pick up some bargain duty free shopping in the airport, or take a snazzy outfit on board your Austrian flight, take note! These items are welcome, but only as part of your existing allowance. If you've already used your allocation, you'll need to pay extra to take these in the cabin with you. This applies to: 

• A foldable garment bag measuring (mustn't measure more than 57cm x 54cm x 15cm) 

• One foldable children’s buggy

• Duty free purchases (unless you can fit it within your existing cabin baggage)

• Small musical instruments (not exceeding 125cm in total dimensions and 8kg in weight)

However, baby bassinets and mobility aids such as walkers prosthetics and medical equipment are permitted in addition to your allowance.

There are also some destinations which impose their own restrictions on cabin baggage, such as the USA and South Africa. Specifically:

• Flights to and from the US may require those with more than one piece of cabin baggage to check the additional item into the hold (for free).

• Flights to and within South Africa have different size and weight restrictions: cabin bags must weigh no more than 7kg and not exceed 56cm x 36cm x 23cm. 

Check the size and weight of your bags carefully before leaving for the airport; if any of your hand luggage exceeds Austrian Airlines’ policies, you might get hit with a nasty excess baggage fees.

What is Austrian Airlines checked baggage allowance?

Unfortunately, Austrian airlines do not detail their baggage allowances online in full, but ask you to consult their calculator. To find out what you're entitled to depends on factors including your ticket type and destination. However, as a general guideline, they state:

Can I buy extra bags for my Austrian Airlines flight?

Sure thing! If you wish to add additional bags to your flight, you can, though what they will cost depends on your flight route and ticket type. Austrian airlines don't provide a full breakdown of these costs online, instead directing you to their baggage calculator to see what the additional fees will be. It appears that fees begin at around €40 per bag for short-haul economy flights, and go up into the hundreds of euros for longer-haul flights. Factors affecting the cost include:

• The class you're travelling in

• Your destination

• Whether or not you're a Miles&More member, and what tier you are within that

The airline specifies that the displayed prices are the 'minimal' fee, and say that additional charges may apply depending on the time of booking and how you book i.e. over the phone, online etc.

This means that there's quite a lot of variability in what you could end up paying for extra bags with Austrian Airlines, so we'd suggest checking how much this will cost before booking your flights, so you know your total expenditure up front and can decide if it's the right option for you.

What are Austrian Airlines excess baggage fees?

No one really wants to pay excess baggage fees, but sometimes it's unavoidable. To work out what fees you may have to pay for your Austrian Airlines baggage allowance, you'll need to follow the same steps as with the additional bag calculations: use their baggage calculator. This will outline how much you'll be paying for excess baggage as per your ticket type and destination.

Things to keep in mind:

• Austrian Airlines considers any bags between 24kg to 32 kg (in flights below Business Class) or between 159cm to 292cm in total dimensions to be excess baggage. Anything weighing more than 32kg or exceeding 292cm will need to be shipped as freight

• How much you'll have to pay to take these bags with you depends on whether the bag is included in your free allowance and simply over the limits, or if it in addition to your free allowance and too big or heavy

• Fees are affected by how you pay: at the check-in desk, through a call centre or online

• Fees for excess baggage can be in the hundreds of euros. From a Frankfurt to Cape Town flight in Economy Light for example, an additional, overweight or oversized bag, costs €400 online. If it's within your free baggage allowance and you pay at the check-in desk, it's €150

To avoid this problem altogether, take a look at our tips for avoiding excess baggage fees, then make sure you know your limits and pack accordingly, weighing and measuring your pieces before heading to the airport. If you must exceed the limits, use the baggage calculator tool as soon as possible to find out which payment process offers the cheapest cost (i.e. paying online, at the airport, via the service centre etc).

Generally, the sooner you book and declare excess baggage, the cheaper it is.

Want to dig deeper?

• Flying with TAP Portugal? Swat up on their baggage rules with our complete guide

• Top tips to avoiding airport baggage fees

• Need to contact your airline? Find their number here