From 8 April 2026, the British Home Office will increase the fee for its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from £16 to £20 (about €23). The Austrian motorists’ club ÖAMTC, which first flagged the change, warns that the higher price is part of a broader trend toward data-heavy, pay-to-enter border systems that business travellers can no longer ignore. The ETA has been mandatory for visa-exempt EU and EEA nationals, including Austrians, since late 2025. Although valid for multiple short stays over two years, the permit must be in place before boarding any flight, ferry or Eurostar service to the United Kingdom.
![UK raises Electronic Travel Authorisation fee by 25 %—Austrian travellers urged to budget and apply early]()
For those who prefer a guided approach, VisaHQ’s Austria portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) streamlines the entire ETA process, monitors fee updates and expiry dates, and lets travel coordinators manage multiple staff applications from a single dashboard—saving time and preventing costly errors.
ÖAMTC travel expert Dagmar Redel therefore advises corporate travel managers to build at least a 72-hour buffer—and preferably several weeks—into trip planning, because airlines will deny boarding if a traveller’s ETA has not cleared. In practice, Austrian companies sending consultants, engineers or sales teams to the UK should update their internal travel policies: cost centres will need to absorb the higher fee, and travellers must complete the ETA form themselves, because it includes security declarations that cannot legally be delegated. Procurement departments are also being told to steer staff away from unofficial websites that charge up to €100 for “assistance” yet often deliver invalid documents. Policy analysts note that the British increase mirrors moves elsewhere: the United States is updating ESTA questionnaires, Canada’s eTA is under review, and the EU will launch its own ETIAS scheme for third-country visitors later this year—raising the likelihood that reciprocal price hikes will follow. For Austrian passport holders whose work routinely spans multiple jurisdictions, digital entry permits are rapidly becoming a fixed, and growing, line item in mobility budgets. By anticipating the extra £4 per traveller and tightening lead-time controls, Austrian firms can minimise disruption. Failure to adapt, however, could see last-minute trips—and lucrative deals—derailed at the check-in desk.
For those who prefer a guided approach, VisaHQ’s Austria portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) streamlines the entire ETA process, monitors fee updates and expiry dates, and lets travel coordinators manage multiple staff applications from a single dashboard—saving time and preventing costly errors.
ÖAMTC travel expert Dagmar Redel therefore advises corporate travel managers to build at least a 72-hour buffer—and preferably several weeks—into trip planning, because airlines will deny boarding if a traveller’s ETA has not cleared. In practice, Austrian companies sending consultants, engineers or sales teams to the UK should update their internal travel policies: cost centres will need to absorb the higher fee, and travellers must complete the ETA form themselves, because it includes security declarations that cannot legally be delegated. Procurement departments are also being told to steer staff away from unofficial websites that charge up to €100 for “assistance” yet often deliver invalid documents. Policy analysts note that the British increase mirrors moves elsewhere: the United States is updating ESTA questionnaires, Canada’s eTA is under review, and the EU will launch its own ETIAS scheme for third-country visitors later this year—raising the likelihood that reciprocal price hikes will follow. For Austrian passport holders whose work routinely spans multiple jurisdictions, digital entry permits are rapidly becoming a fixed, and growing, line item in mobility budgets. By anticipating the extra £4 per traveller and tightening lead-time controls, Austrian firms can minimise disruption. Failure to adapt, however, could see last-minute trips—and lucrative deals—derailed at the check-in desk.
