When does a vignette start? Activation, validity and common mistakes

A vignette starts on the date you pick when you buy it, and if that date is today, it starts the minute your payment goes through, not at midnight. That is the rule almost everywhere on the vignette map. The big exception is Austria, where a 2-month or annual digital vignette bought online from ASFINAG as a consumer only wakes up on the 18th day. Get the timing wrong and you can hold a fully paid vignette that does not cover the road under your wheels.

When does a vignette start?

A vignette starts at the moment you pay if you set today as the start date, or at 00:00 on a later date you choose at checkout. The Czech eDalnice FAQ says it in one breath: an immediate vignette starts at the date and time of payment, a postponed one at midnight on the chosen day. Romania's CNAIR terms and Hungary's e-matrica terms agree, in their own legal dialect, on the part that matters most: a same-day vignette starts when the payment is confirmed. Nobody backdates a vignette.

So a trip comes down to two questions. Is the vignette running when you reach the first tolled road, and is it still running when you leave the last one?

Vignette start and end rules in all eight countries

The table shows when a vignette bought for today becomes valid, how far ahead you can set a start date and how the period ends, from each national operator's own pages. Where an operator states no rule, we say so instead of guessing. Prices sit on the country pages in the first column.

Checked on 1 October 2026 against each operator's own pages and terms, cars up to 3.5 tonnes. Download this table as CSV.

Why can an Austrian vignette start 18 days late?

An Austrian 2-month or annual digital vignette bought online from ASFINAG as a consumer becomes valid only on the 18th day after purchase. ASFINAG's explanation: 14 days to withdraw from an online purchase, plus three days for the post. On 1 October 2026 its shop banner put it bluntly: annual vignettes bought that day are valid from 19 October at the earliest.

The 1-day and 10-day digital vignettes are exempt and work straight away, and ASFINAG says the wait does not apply when you buy from its sales partners, a toll booth or a vending machine. So the trap is narrow. It catches the careful driver who orders an annual vignette online the night before a ski weekend, feeling organised. Eighteen days is the bureaucratic version of "are you sure?"

What happens if you buy a vignette on the day you drive?

A vignette bought for today starts the minute your payment is confirmed, so buy it before the first tolled slip road, not at the first rest area. ASFINAG's example is a 1-day vignette bought on 10 July at 15:07: valid from 15:07 until 23:59. Czechia works the same way.

How you pay matters too. BGTOLL's terms say a Bulgarian e-vignette becomes valid when the fee reaches the Road Infrastructure Agency, which for a bank transfer means on reconciliation, so on travel day pay by card. Switzerland is the easy one: BAZG says the e-vignette is valid immediately, because Swiss law gives no withdrawal right on online sales. Hungary has the only grace period we found: the NÚSZ information sheet gives good-faith drivers who joined a toll road by mistake up to 60 minutes from entry to buy. Treat it as a safety net, not a plan.

When does a vignette run out?

A short vignette runs in calendar days that include the start day, not in 24-hour blocks. An Austrian 10-day vignette starting on 10 July is valid up to and including 19 July, ASFINAG says. Hungary's 10-day e-matrica is the start day plus nine more, and Slovenia's weekly e-vinjeta is the start day plus six: the DARS example starts on 15 April and ends at midnight on 21 April.

Here is what that means on the road. A Czech 1-day vignette bought at 22:00 buys you two hours. Cross Czechia late in the evening and keep going past midnight, and you need a 10-day vignette or a second 1-day for tomorrow.

Annual vignettes split into two camps. Austria and Switzerland tie theirs to the calendar, 1 December to 31 January of the following year, and Hungary's annual e-matrica also ends on 31 January. Czechia, Slovakia and Slovenia count from your start date: the eDalnice example is an annual vignette bought on 2 June 2026 that lasts until 1 June 2027 at 23:59:59. Buy a calendar-tied annual vignette in August and you pay full price for about six months.

Which vignette mistakes cost drivers the most?

The costliest vignette mistakes are a wrong start date, a typo in the plate and the wrong country of registration, and how much you can fix afterwards depends entirely on the country. What each operator allows:

• Czechia, wrong start date. eDalnice allows one change before the vignette starts, within 30 days of purchase. After that, none.
• Czechia, wrong plate. One change of plate or country before the start; after it, one fix of up to two characters, and no refund.
• Switzerland, wrong foreign plate. BAZG allows one correction within 24 hours of purchase in the webshop ticket. Wrong hyphens or spaces do not matter.
• Bulgaria, wrong plate. BGTOLL fixes up to three wrong characters by written application, with the registration certificate and receipt.
• Slovenia, any change. DARS says an e-vinjeta cannot be moved to another registration number and its validity cannot be extended, so check before you pay.

Hire cars are their own puzzle, since you may not know the plate until the desk; see vignettes for a rental car. If a check finds you without cover, driving without a vignette lists each country's fine, without the drama.

A simple vignette timing plan for your trip

The simplest vignette plan is to order every vignette on your route a day or two before you leave, with each start date set to the day you actually reach that country. Copy the plate from the registration document, not from memory, and open the confirmation email before you set off, because a digital vignette leaves nothing on the glass. Count the days too: a 10-day vignette that starts on a Saturday covers you up to and including the Monday nine days later.

If your route crosses several countries, you can order your official digital vignettes through Vignettera in one go. We register each one against your plate with the start date you choose, and show the state fee and our service fee separately before you pay. Not sure which countries your route crosses? Start with our list of which European countries need a vignette.

Vignette start and validity FAQ