I'm writing this blog post about canceling my Weiner Linen annual pass with the hope it saves someone a little hassle.
This blog post was written in October 2023 but this happened back in July.
When I moved to Vienna I wasn't eligible for the public transit student card because I was older than 25. The next cheapest option for riding daily is the annual ticket. Unfortunately, I was only staying in Vienna for a year so I just gotta cancel the ticket early to get a partial refund.
"Just" is the keyword here. When I ordered the annual pass the physical card never came in the mail but since I had it in my phone I didn't request a replacement.
Cancelling
As the date of my move out got closer I researched how to cancel the annual pass. Turns out you need to go to one of a few physical locations. My friend went to one location and said they were unhelpful and recommended I go to this one and be done in five minutes.
When I arrived they told me that since I don't have the physical card I have to file a lost request form, print it out, and bring it back. I asked them if it was possible to fill out the form at the counter. They insisted they couldn't print it and that it was not possible to do it with them because the form was too complicated and not available in English. They recommended going to a print shop but that wasn't an option before they closed. Turns out the form didn't take 5 minutes to fill out using Google Translate and only asked basic questions.
That day was my last day in the city that they were open and there wasn't time so I asked if a friend could do it.
They said my friend needs to bring:
A special doc (which they gave to me) that authorizes someone to act in your behalf
A printed copy of my ID
The report of the lost card
Maybe money to pay the lost card fee (turns out they never asked)
My friend brought these and canceled my card without a problem. However, she did mention that they were annoyed that the address I put on the form for the lost card didn't match the address in my account (since I moved after opening my account).
There you have it. Canceling the card isn't so bad and well worth the cost savings. But if you don't have the physical card just fill out the form ahead of time. Unfortunately, this info didn't seem easy to find online and even when I called them they couldn't tell me what the form to fill was. After publishing this blog Vienna started offering the "digital-only annual pass" so hopefully this won't be an issue for anyone else!