Category: Austrian News

On Christmas Day, the friendly and sunny weather character will predominate in the west and south, and there will often only be high clouds in the sky; any early morning fog will soon dissipate. In the north and partly also in the east, there will still be some denser patches of cloud, but short showers will remain the exception here, too. The snow line will mostly be above 2000m above sea level. The wind will blow weakly to moderately from predominantly westerly directions, brisk in the country’s northern parts, sometimes…

Read More

On December 25 and 26, special opening hours apply for food retailers on public holidays. Food markets at major train stations and airports can open, but this is not everywhere. (The exact times of the locations can be found here: Sonderöffnungszeiten | BILLA). Another option on Sundays and public holidays is petrol station stores and unmanned vending machines. A third of Austrians buy presents in the last week before Christmas, some just before the festive season. Petrol stations and pharmaciesPetrol stations are open just as long as on other public…

Read More

Energy grid fees will be increased at the start of 2024. We already pay a lot for electricity and gas, but from January on, you will have to prepare for even higher costs. This is because the grid fees will be increased at the start of 2024. For electricity, the average increase across Austria will be around 11.25 percent, while gas network charges will rise by an average of three percent, the regulatory authority E-Control announced on Monday. For an average household with an annual consumption of 3,500 kilowatt hours…

Read More

The new vignette year started on December 1, 2023; this also marked the start of the validity period for the new adhesive vignette in sunny yellow and the 2024 digital vignette. This year, however, there are a number of innovations in addition to the color of the vignette, and these are also important if you either give the vignette as a gift or receive it as a present. “New to the offer for the first time is the 1-day vignette. Like the 10-day vignette, it is now valid immediately after…

Read More

The increase in the retirement age for women will take effect for the first time in 2024. Female insured persons born between January 1 and June 30, 1964, can only retire at the age of 60.5. For those born between July 1 and December 31, 1964, the standard retirement age increases to 61. This pattern continues in further half-yearly steps up to the 1968 birth cohort. For women born after June 30, 1968, the standard retirement age of 65 will apply, as for men. Substantial pension increasesAnd what else? Austria’s…

Read More

Interesting facts about Christmas: artificial Christmas trees, Christmas sweaters—on average, Austrians put on just under a kilo—and they are the money savers when it comes to wrapping paper Seventy percent of Austrians are certain that they will be experiencing a white Christmas. Nevertheless, one in two people dreams of spending the festive season in warmer climates. This was the result of a survey by Marketagent. In addition, fir, blue spruce, and the like are increasingly being replaced by artificial specimens. Whether real or not, tinsel on the Christmas tree is…

Read More

The trees collected by the 48ers at the Christmas tree collection points are used by Wien Energie at the Pfaffenau waste incineration plant in Simmering to generate electricity and district heating. A Christmas tree provides light and warmth—ideally twice at Christmas and after Christmas. First, it provides warmth in the heart and sparkle in the living room, and second,” it provides light and warmth in the home. 583 Christmas tree collection points open until 14 JanuaryFrom December 27, 2023, up to and including January 14, 2024, the 583 Christmas tree…

Read More

Anyone who has looked at the pumps recently will have noticed that fuel prices, whether diesel or gasoline, are suddenly below the magic €1.50 mark. At least at domestic filling stations, this year is coming to a conciliatory end from an inflation perspective. “While overall prices have risen by around eight percent this year, the prices for Eurosuper and diesel are almost nine percent lower on average this year than in the previous year,” calculates the VCÖ. What has remained the same: Eurosuper was again cheaper to fill up with…

Read More

Many people are familiar with the situation: Christmas presents are often only bought at the last minute on the last Saturday of shopping. Apparently, there are more deadline junkies in Austria than previously known: Because over a million climate bonus vouchers are set to expire at the end of the year. There is not much time left to redeem them. Between 250 (under 18-year-olds) and 500 euros (adults) in climate and anti-pollution bonuses were available in 2022. In most cases, the payment was made directly to the recipient’s account. However,…

Read More