Does anyone else find it infuriating that the Austrian digital vignette (toll) can only be bought 2 weeks or more ahead of time... They claim its for some EU law which says online purchases can be receded during this period... Yet I'm able to buy online vignettes for places like Slovakia/Hungary/etc.. Does it mean they are breaking the law? So now I need to stop in the middle of the night just to buy a stupid sticker... Unlikely I can find one in Schaffhausen...
there are cameras on gantries everwhere in Austria plus the cops do check periodically....so I assume this was not recently?
next time you're on the Autobahn, look at the top of the gantries as they are checking for stickers. There are also cameras on the right side of those gantries too that take your picture. ASFiNAG is happy to send you a bill after the fact.
oh and the online Vignette is a complete waste of time unless you take an annual one.
If you also doing the Arlberg tunnel then just cross at Diepoldsau and they have e-vignette machines just over the border and you can buy a combine and that means you don't have to stop at the toll booths either
I did that but the gates refused to open for me. Not only the embarrassment of having all the cars behind me back up so I could go to another piste. When I wrote to them they said my e-vignette (based on my VD license plate) had been used the previous day (wtf the car was in a garage in Ishgl) and they refused to give me a refund.
If you cross the border at Höchst you'll pass a couple gas stations very shortly (I'd guess less than 200m) before the border. You can probably buy one there, or from the kiosk immediately after the border.
It’s basically consumer protection. This also means that if you tick the box that says you’re a business you can buy a vignette that it is valid immediately. All they are trying to do is prevent people abusing the right to cancel the transaction after driving through.
No, it's not. I always order Austrian vignette online with delivery per post ahead of my trip, this is much more convenient for me. We prefer not to lose time at the border, and if our son is asleep in the car he will definitely wake up if we park a car for a few minutes to buy a vignette.
Why is it a disaster? I've bought digital vignette registered for my license plate for the next week. No paid tunnels, just for the highways overall. Do I have to worry?
According to ASFINAG you can buy the digital version "any time" and "around the clock".
Let us assume the following situation. I am in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and drove there via Italy. Now, for what ever reason I have an emergency and I must go back ASAP to Zurich, Switzerland. The fastest route is via Austria and Munich (which is mind boggling in itself, but so be it). It is 3 am in the morning and all shops selling a vignette before I enter the highway are closed and I do not need to refill my tank, any stop would be a waste of time. So let us buy one online.
But there is an App for that as well. Unterwegs by Asfinag. Just some 32 MB to be downloaded. Done. Oops, earliest date on which vignette is valid is, at date of writing, January 3rd 2020.
In the same FAQ you can also find a list with places where there are vending machines which hopefully are accessible 24/7. The machines sell also digital versions which are valid from time of purchase.
Catch 22: some of these places are only reachable by an Austrian highway on which you need a vignette.
Well, for some urgent situation it might not work, but you always have an option to buy the normal one at the border. But if you are going to Austria for 1 week skiing/hiking holidays and know the dates of your stay in advance, the digital vignette saves your time and your windshield from unnecessary glueing and removing the stickers each year.