I've bought a one-week Vienna travel pass in advance, and then noticed on the website that if I get stopped by ticket inspectors I will have to produce official ID. The UK Foreign Office advises people travelling to Austria to carry a passport photocopy instead of their actual passport as ID. Does anyone have experience of whether Vienna ticket inspectors will accept this?
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
Any idea why the UK Foreign Office recommends this?
In light of this recent post:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tourist-scams/random-passport-checks-real-or-fake-police
Especially the response from the US Consulate regarding this incident.
"Thanks for your e-mail.
We are sorry for the unpleasant experience, but we can confirm that Austrian police in civil clothing make randomly checks especially near train stations. On the other hand, we can also confirm that we heard the Eastern European gangs are presenting as police officer and are fake scams.
We hope that the information helps.
Regards,
U.S. Consulate
American Citizen Services"
Posted by
pittsburgh
162 posts
Whatever photo ID you have will suffice--driver's license for instance. If you dont want to carry a real ID, I bet a photocopy will suffice. Its not like your trying to see the crown jewels, they just want to make sure youre not scamming free rides on the U Bahn :). When they stopped me on the U Bahn, my American drivers license with my travel pass was good enough. I was on and off the U-Bahn many times during three days in Vienna and was only asked to show this once.
Posted by
Longmont, CO, USA
527 posts
I have had the experience of the ticket inspectors in Vienna twice. On both occasions they were only interested if my ticket was properly validated. I was never asked for any identification. That being said, I always carry my passport with me, not for the ticket inspectors though.
Posted by
OP
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
The line about "same district" is not very reassuring, as if it's translated correctly a "district" in Vienna is a fairly small area, and I definitely won't just be staying in the same one as my hotel.
Posted by
San Francisco
14507 posts
Getting checked is all a matter of chance, hit and miss. This past May I spent a full week in Vienna staying in both a hotel and two nights in a hostel, used the U-Bahn, trams every day. I never was checked by a controller. This time I carried the passport on me everywhere. When I've been checked in the past riding the U-Bahn or tram, it's only the ticket or travel pass they want to see, never was asked to produce the passport..
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Alex is right. Ticket inspectors are only interested in your ticket. If you have some discount ticket like senior etc. then they ask for ID to verify your age. Or if you don't have a valid ticket and refuse to pay fine on the spot then they ask for ID. Most European countries have laws that you have to have ID with you. I was only asked for ID in hotels or pensions and on the borders outside Schengen countries, never randomly on the street, restaurants, etc. I never heard from anybody else that their ID would be checked. Sometimes they check ID of young people consuming alcohol if they don't look to be 18 year old.