A warning that there is a zero tolerance policy for fare evasion on the OBB train between Vienna and the airport. OBB is the Austrian train network. It runs the SBaan trains from Vienna airport to Vienna central. We had bought Vienna City Cards to travel from airport and around the city, which comes with a transit pass. That transit pass does not go all the way to the airport. Which is not clear on the transit map. Or the app. I am no stranger to riding public transit in Europe, so I would like to warn others.
If you want a transit pass that goes from the airport and includes city of Vienna, you have to go to an OBB ticket machine. Don't use the Wein app. It won't let you buy the correct ticket. You can get a one way CAT ticket (the nonstop train), but we wanted to ride the local (which is not that much slower). And we wanted to go back and forth from our airport hotel. I would advise double checking with the OBB ticket office because the website and app are not clear.
The reason that I know this is that my husband, son, and I were returning to our airport hotel when the fare enforcement team came on the train one stop before the airport. We showed them our passes, which we thought were perfectly valid, and got slapped with a €120 fine - each. What makes me upset is that we were not trying to evade fare paying. When I asked the enforcement agent what ticket I should have bought he just said I needed to use the machine and buy a different one. When my husband gave his credit card to the agent, I did notice that the team was taking fines from at least 6 other people.
We decided to cut out a second day of sightseeing because, even after checking with the OBB ticket booth at the airport the next day where the clerk just shook his head with mention of the City Card, I was still not confident that I knew what fare was necessary. I assume that a second offense would be much more.