Vienna Master Thread

[Alexsei]

I've rented from hertz, Sixt and Europecar many times never had an issue, I've been pulled a couple times too and they all said was fine

I gave a first hand story.

[Naftuli19]

I gave a first hand story.

so am i

[Naftuli19]

From Sixt
Documents you need to rent a car in Vienna
We require a valid driver’s license and an ID or passport for car rental. Licenses having a non-Roman alphabet like Arabic or Chinese will also need an international driving permit.

You need a valid driver’s license held for at least 1 year, depending on the car category. You might also need an International Driving Permit or official translation of the license.

[Alexsei]

From Sixt
Documents you need to rent a car in Vienna
We require a valid driver’s license and an ID or passport for car rental. Licenses having a non-Roman alphabet like Arabic or Chinese will also need an international driving permit.

You need a valid driver’s license held for at least 1 year, depending on the car category. You might also need an International Driving Permit or official translation of the license.

From National
https://www.nationalcar.ca/en/car-rental/locations/at/vienna-international-airport-z6n2.html

All drivers (including renter and additional drivers) must present a full valid driver’s license issued by their native country or place of residence. All drivers/renters must have held their driving license for at least 1 year (12 months). A valid passport and/or ID card is required for further identification. For non-European Union (EU) or non-European driving licenses or those with non-Latin characters, an international driving permit is required and must be presented along with the driving license issued in the home/residence country when picking up the rental vehicle. Digital driving license and/or images of the driver’s license are not accepted. We reserve the right to refuse rental if we believe the renter to be under the influence by the use of narcotics, alcohol, intoxicants, or drugs, used with or without a prescription.

Please note: Local driving licenses issued in the following countries are not recognized as a valid driving license in Austria: Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Kosovo, Libya, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga and Yemen. Renter with such driving licenses cannot rent and drive a rental car in Austria.

From Hertz
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reservation/reviewmodifycancel/templates/rentalTerms.jsp?KEYWORD=LICENSE&EOAG=%20VIET50

At the time of rental, the driver must present a valid national driving license which has been held for at least 1 year.

 
For all Non-European Union renters an International Driving Permit (IDP) is highly recommended. For renters from the US and Canada it is required.

 

The IDP translates the national licence into various languages and is on its own, without the national licence, not acceptable.

 

Driver's licences issued by the People's Republic of China may be accepted provided you present an official Hertz Certification form. Hertz China will issue this form on Hertz notepaper and will incorporate the Hertz China Corporate seal. A scanned copy of the original licence will appear on the Certification form. The Certification form is valid until the expiry date of the Driver's Licence. BOTH the Certification and the original licence MUST be produced at the time of rental.

 

If you hold a Driver's Licence issued in Vietnam, you need to present the original licence together with an authorised translation issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport. If both documents are presented at time of rental these licences are acceptable worldwide.
 
Please also refer to "Passport/Identity Card Information”.

[Naftuli19]

From National
https://www.nationalcar.ca/en/car-rental/locations/at/vienna-international-airport-z6n2.html

From Hertz
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reservation/reviewmodifycancel/templates/rentalTerms.jsp?KEYWORD=LICENSE&EOAG=%20VIET50

So national is only if u have a non Latin charterers license, and hertz i guess YMMV cause i just rented (and many times b4) a 5 series with just us license

[Alexsei]

So national is only if u have a non Latin charterers license, and hertz i guess YMMV cause i just rented (and many times b4) a 5 series with just us license

National says, or, or, or
Either way this is a huge scam

[Naftuli19]

Either way this is a huge scam

I had the same thing in Poland once sixt wanted 1200 extra cause i dont have idl, after arguing for a while and telling them i have reservations elsewhere they "waived" it

[Dodgery]

Any know of any Jewish tour guides you'd recommend?

[lifetimedeals]

Can you carry from Hotel Stefanie to Alef Alef on shabbos? eruv is till there?

[lifetimedeals]

Best place to get heimishe shabbos takeout food?

[eve]

Does anyone know if the Chasam Sofer has a place for Kohanim?

[travel agent]

Does anyone know if the Chasam Sofer has a place for Kohanim?

yes, they can enter in the upper room.

[Gvann]

Anyone ever ubered from vienna to chasam sofer? Trying to figure out if it makes sense.
We are getting in 3pm, then have a full day in vienna next day, then the day after going to prague at some point. Not sure if flying or train, etc.. trying to map out when is best time to go over to chasam sofer. Also how much time to spend in bratislava and vienna in the day and a half we have

[Gvann]

Is the chasam sofer easily accessible by appointment or is it hard to arrange a time for them to open it?

[Gvann]

Is there a whatsapp for the chasam sofer kever?

[Gvann]

TR Chanukah 2023

Vienna was amazing! We flew Singapore JFK-FRA for 60k AC (couple and baby) and then Austrian Economy 6k united from FRA-VIE. if you do that you cannot get into any lounge in the termainl, only if you're *Gold or higher so consider booking business all the way through. It would be 70k air canada, 57.5k AA, and im sure there others that would maybe be good value such as Iberia.

Stayed at Park Hyatt, we booked the Diplomat Suite for 60k a night. That should have been 13k cash for a 4 night stay, so a nice value of about 5 or 6 cents per point. suite is beautiful and the service in the hotel is amazing. Anything we asked for was on its way in a few minutes without fail. We lit candles in the hotel on a high ledge that was next to the window and everything worked out ok, night staff came in several times and never said anything about the candles.

The Shul in the Judenplatz is seconds away from the hotel by foot, on the Wiki its the mizrachi shul. they Daven Shacharis every day at around 7am, depending on how long davening is (Rosh Chodesh was 6:50) I do not know if it is usually later but for Chanuka it was 7am. Someone will buzz you in and no official security there. They did not daven Mincha/Maariv there, that was at the big shul which is next to Alef Alef. That shul davens at the zman and there is security and you need a passport. Just a heads up, the guy was different every day and i had to go through full security check every day. We davened in the main shul which is gorgeous and you need to see once youre there, but seems on ordinary days davening is in the side room. So try and sneak in while you're there. That shul is about 8-10 minutes walk from Park Hyatt

For food, Alef Alef is Satmer hechsher and recommended by basically everyone there. The Rav of the judenplatz told me its great. They have very unique shnitzel and on Wednesday nights, the only option for eating is an all you can eat buffet for 40 euro a person and kids are 20 euro. but they have crazy good food at the buffet. however, we actually spent less than that a couple nights before with regular waiter service so its up to you what you want.

You will have to go to Shefa market at some point for food most likely, and they have a great cafe also good hechsher. good choices of food in the supermarket and the cafe is good food as well. about a 10 minute uber ride, which costed usually 11-12 euro each way.

We also went to Novelino which is dairy, quality food and very good prices. Also good hechsher. Will need to uber

One more restaurant that was told about is Meah Shearim which is also a good hechsher but is Sefardi so you have to ask your Rav what you are allowed to eat. We did not go there, but was recommended from the Rav of Judenplatz shul. Those are all the restaurants he said have a good hechsher. Again, AYLOR

Activities:
We went on an hour horse ride, the hotel arranged it. It was a lot of fun, and depending on your driver you may have a very entertaining tour, otherwise you'll have a very nice ride around the city. You can see everything in city center in that hour ride. the Park Hyatt is on the typical horse route, so they can arrage for it to pick you up right outside the hotel very easily. We loved it so much that the next night we did it again! I would recommend day time if you're actually using it to tour the city but at night (early night because after that the horses go to sleep) the lights are nice and its a fun time to do it, especially for a couple.

We used Motty Hammer (on the Wiki) to arrange a ride to the Chasam Sofer. It was 130 round trip. The Cafe seems to not be open now, but the owner is the owner of Alef Alef so you can ask him whats going on with it. Yosef meets you at the Kever, and gives a nice history about it. Listen because its fascinating. Its a HUGE nes that his kever is there for us to daven at, so let him tell you and appreciate where you are.

We walked around the stores a lot, there is great walking for day or night right next to the hotel.

We flew back BA-AA combo to JFK. 57.5k business plus some small fees (espcially compared to flying BA from LHR) and one thing I wish I knew beforehand was that the lounge is before passport control for non Austrian lounge access. its called the Vienna lounge.

We had hermolis meals the whole day. On the flight to LHR, in the BA F lounge, and on the AA flight for both meals. By Far the best day of food on an airplane. We were given a tray with our appetizer and then brought out an entire new tray with our main, as if we were being served a whole new meal. Food was excellent and the plane was very nice (777-300) We picked seats in the small section in front so felt really private as there were only two rows in that part of the cabin, and we got a nice view of first class that was basically just a nicer seat for an extra 30k miles and who knows how much cash.

Overall a great trip and a very nice way to spend Chanuka!

[Alexsei]

Thanks for the TR, although I don't think this part is accurate

For food, Alef Alef is Satmer hechsher

[Gvann]

Thanks for the TR, although I don't think this part is accurate

This is what the Rav told me and many Chassidim were eating there (not that the second part necessarily means its true)

[YesThatsMe]

Rav Schwartz “left” Satmar many many years ago, and is now Continental Europe’s second largest Rebbe in his own right. (He was a Chosid of the Toras Mordechai Vizhnitz for many years until his passing).

[Gvann]

Rav Schwartz “left” Satmar many many years ago, and is now Continental Europe’s second largest Rebbe in his own right. (He was a Chosid of the Toras Mordechai Vizhnitz for many years until his passing).

dont konw who rav schwartz is in regards to this, but the Rav told me very clearly those restaurants are the best and that alef alef and novelino are under the satmer hechsher. If you have facts to verify otherwise then you can post it but im trying to give over the best information i have for other people to be able to make an easy decision, not to confuse them based off of factless accusations otherwise.