Hiking poles available to buy inexpensively in Austria?

First, not sure that you are aware, but the TSA does now allow blunt tip poles:

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/hiking-poles

Using google maps, "nearby" function, I see a bunch of sporting good/hiking stores in Salzburg. It looks like at least three in the old town area:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/hiking+sporting+goods+store/@47.799384,13.031367,2375m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sSalzburg,+Austria!3s0x47769adda908d4b1:0xc1e183a1412af73d!4m2!1d13.0448441!2d47.8014154!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Many hotels will supply them for free to use. You might try an IINTERSPORT shop, you would get top quality along with the top price. LEKI is probably the most sold. I have a older pair of ALTA VIA I am fond of. Honestly I think there is a lot of hype in the Trekking Poles business, so get what you need at a good price. I don't think you need an expensive folding carbnon fiber pair!

That was our first RS tour, and my plan was to buy poles there. I remember seeing them for a good price at an outdoor vendor in Hallstatt (where the tour doesn't go anymore) and thinking I would buy them at the next stop. I don't think I came across them again (without going into a shop) until Chamonix. At that point I didn't need them.

I think it is easier to check just your poles then spend time finding them once you get there. I have three pair, but I am unwillingly to lose any of them by trying to take them through security. I don't know what the TSA defines as a blunt end.

I know I wished I would have had them in the Dolomites.

It's a wonderful tour! Have fun!

Order a cheap pair on the Amazon Germany site and have them delivered to your hotel or a pickup point in either Vienna or Salzburg.

I would check out Decathlon, the French sporting goods chain that has spread to many other countries. There is a branch opening this week (!) on Mariahilfer Strasse (main everyday shopping street) in central Vienna and their own-brand outdoors stuff is priced competitively and usually of reasonable quality. Their hiking poles actually rated very well in the Swiss consumer tests, beating name brands that cost 2-3x more. You could probably pick something up for as little as 25-40 euros. Also a good place to pop in if you forgot to pack a rain jacket or need an emergency hat/fleece/tshirt/etc and don’t want to spend a fortune. Some of the cheapest clothing items are flimsy, but I have good experience with their outerwear and gear.