I booked my flights for my trip this spring. My return flight departs from Vienna at 6:10 am. I’ll be attending the opera the night before. I’m thinking with such an early flight I should just go to the airport after the opera. Are there any drawbacks to this plan?
Posted by
Chicago
7811 posts
Are there any drawbacks to this plan?
No, you are a responsible adult having fun; stay at the hotel at the airport would be something in that situation I'd do so I don't have far to commute. People live that all the time.
Posted by
Southeast US
3835 posts
I have had a 6 am flight out of Vienna following an evening concert a couple of times. Both times, I stayed at my city-center hotel for the night. I arranged for a driver/taxi to pick me up, aiming for arrival 1 hour before departure time. Zero traffic. Short trip to airport. No problem. And I avoided moving from one hotel to another.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23245 posts
Check to be sure the airport if open over night. Some are not. Will travel clothes and opera clothes be the same? It is most likely a domestic flight to another airport for the connection home. So -- if you are there by 5.30, 5.45 you should have plenty of time for departure procedures.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
5581 posts
I have had similar a few times now. Just this past September we had a 6am flight out of Warsaw. We hung out in Warsaw, including at the BnB we'd stayed at the previous 2 nights, and then took a train to the airport at about midnight. We slept some at the airport and noticed a lot of people doing the same. People were lining up at the counters at about 3:30am. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep worrying that we had to wake and leave at 3 am or so for the airport so we didn't care to spend the money for an additional night at the BnB.
You should check a few things. If you are going to take a train to the airport, see how late they run. Could you store your luggage at your hotel until 10pm-midnight, prior to leaving for the airport? See if the airport is open all night and what exactly is open/available. For us, there was plenty of seating and restrooms, but nothing in the way of food or drink was open. I would think you could have easily accessible clothes to change into after the opera either somewhere in Vienna, like the hotel where you are hopefully stashing your luggage, or at the airport.
Posted by
1896 posts
If you decide to stay the night at the airport, either in a hotel or a lounge, there is no problem to get to the airport by public transport after the opera, in case you don't want to spend €35 to €40 for a taxi.
You won't make it to catch the last express train to the airport from Vienna Main train station (at 10:12pm), so you have to take the fast commuter S7 from Rennweg station. Tram line 71 will bring you from the opera to Rennweg in about 8 minutes. From Rennweg station there is a S7 train to the airport every half an hour (the last one at 12:19am).
The last 71 tram departs from the opera at 11:35pm, arrives at 11:43pm at Rennweg, where the S7 departs at 11:49pm. The S7 ride to the airport is 11 minutes.
I guess it is possible to take your luggage to the opera, where you have to deposit it in a cloakroom, preferably at the lowest possible level, not necessarily at the level you watch the performance.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5372 posts
The Opera will probably be over around 10. As there are no direct flights from Vienna to the US at 6:10 am, I assume you are transiting through another EU airport. If that is true, then you’ll want to be at the airport by 4:45-5:00, as the check in counter definitely won’t open until 5:00, but probably later. For me, I’d really want to get six hours of hours in a hotel bed rather than sitting on gross chairs in an empty airport. Would also make no sense to stay in an airport hotel as it takes 20 minutes to walk from the hotel to the airport, which is the same amount of time as a taxi from the city to the airport.
Posted by
1896 posts
Would also make no sense to stay in an airport hotel as it takes 20 minutes to walk from the hotel to the airport ...
The NH Hotel is just across the street of the airport terminal, i.e. in a distance less than 200 yards. There are other hotels on the premises further away.
Posted by
Narberth, PA
1225 posts
What Emily says rings true in my experience: early flights out in Dec 2017 and 2019. Took a cab one time and the bus the next.
Posted by
22 posts
We thought we were smart getting to the Rome airport like at 10 PM the night before an early departure. It was not the best experience of our life. Nothing was open, squads of cleaning crew kept coming through, one couldn't stretch out on the chairs, lots of others with the same idea deciding to party and play music all night. Nope...not doing that again.