Guest Card, Summer Card, Ötztal Card — which applies to you?

How you get the card from us

Before you arrive we send you the invitation to the online check-in. There you register everyone travelling — that is the legally required guest registration, and the card is tied to it. As soon as the data is in, the Ötztal Inside Guest Card arrives digitally. There is nothing to collect on arrival and nothing to sign.

Every person is recorded individually, children included — though under the age of seven they do not need their own card. If you forget the check-in, there is no card until the registration is done. That is the only stumbling block, and one message to us resolves it.

One point worth being clear about: what you receive is the Guest Card — not the Summer Card. Some businesses in the village advertise the Summer Card as included; with us it is not. Why we think that is the more honest arrangement is set out in the worked example below.

Three cards, three names — the overview

So if you read Ötztal Premium Card somewhere: that is not a separate product and nothing better, simply the former name of the Summer Card. Niederthai has an additional winter card of its own — relevant only if you are staying there.

Bus and ski bus — the difference almost everyone misses

This is the most important paragraph on the page, because nearly every source gets it wrong: in winter you travel free with the free Guest Card — ski bus and public buses, as single journeys. In summer that does not apply. Then the Guest Card gives you 30 per cent off single tickets; the bus only becomes free with the Summer Card.

Here in Oetz the ski bus matters most in winter: it stops right outside our door and takes you to the base station of the Acherkogelbahn. There is also the connection to Sautens and Piburg — handy if you want to reach the toboggan run without moving the car.

The exact lines and times are set anew each season, and for winter 2026/27 they have not been published yet. We leave the current timetable in your apartment, and it is in the digital guest folder too.

What the Summer Card adds

The Summer Card contains everything the Guest Card does and adds the cable cars: one ascent and descent per cable car per day. Right here that means the Acherkogelbahn in Oetz and the Ochsengarten lift — plus the cable cars throughout the valley as far as Sölden and Obergurgl.

On top of that come the AREA 47 at the valley entrance (one visit to the Water AREA, an hour of Wake AREA, two hours in the indoor bike park), pools and museums once daily, and the buses without extra payment. At the Aqua Dome the rule varies by season: in the shoulder months two three-hour visits without sauna are included, in July and August only a discount applies.

For the Glacier Road and the Timmelsjoch there is a restriction that is easily overlooked: the card covers one journey per day on the public bus, not the toll for your own car and no bike transport.

Is the Summer Card worth it for a family week?

Instead of a price table, a calculation. A family of two adults and two children, seven days in summer 2026:

Whether that pays off comes down to one question: will you really take a cable car every day? If you ride up daily for a week, plus one visit to AREA 47 and one to a pool, the card works out cheaper. If you stay in the valley, walk and swim, you lose money on it.

Our honest assessment: for families with older children who are out and about a lot, it usually pays off. For couples planning two or three trips up the mountain, almost never — single tickets are cheaper. That is why it is not included across the board with us: you should not pay for something you may not use.

What the card does not cover

No brochure writes this section, but it saves disappointment. The Guest Card includes no ski pass and not a single lift ride in winter. Hochoetz, Kühtai and Sölden all cost extra — our page on the ski areas around Oetz covers that.

It does not cover parking fees either. The claim that the guest card gets you free parking circulates stubbornly online — it goes back to a misread sentence about the buses. In Oetz, parking in the centre costs 50 cents per half hour, and a daily fee applies at Lake Piburg.

And in summer, as described above, it covers the buses only to 30 per cent. If you plan to use the bus a lot in summer, weigh that against the Summer Card.

Where to buy the Summer Card in Oetz

If you decide on the Summer Card, you do not need to leave the village for it. Oetz has several sales points — among them the Bergbahnen Oetz at the base station and the Ötztal Tourismus information office on the main road. Across the valley there are more than sixty.

Just say the word if you are unsure whether it is worth it for your stay. We will work it through with you — it usually takes two minutes, because it comes down to how often you want to go up the mountain.

Frequently asked questions about the guest card