How to: Join the Austrian Alpine Club
UPDATED 11 JANUARY 2026.
As promised in this post, here are my step-by-step instructions for joining the Austrian Alpine Club. I’m sure it get’s you a lot more, but the two benefits I primarily rely upon it for are reduced hut fees and no-hassle rescue insurance in the Alps.*
Go to the Austrian Alpine Club’s UK Section: https://aacuk.org.uk/join https://www.alpenverein.at/britannia/
Select “Membership”, and “Join”.
Choose your membership type. Standard full membership is £65 for the calendar year. There are also discounts for spouse/partners of existing members, youth, Mountain Rescue and disabled. Fill out the online application. Easy as.
Acknowledge the insurance coverage.
Make payment by credit card - if you live in Europe you can also directly debit your bank account.
Receive your confirmation email. You can download your digital membership card immediately, but a paper one is coming in the mail. I’ve always package-tape laminated mine.
Download the Alpine Club’s app. Amongst other things, it enables you to make hut reservations with your membership number.
Just a reminder, membership covers January-December. My general practice is to sign up every February when I’m leaving Antarctica. It includes some of the best rescue insurance for everywhere except North America, but you can contact the OAV for add-on policies. It’s available to anyone living outside of Austria. Membership is recognized throughout the UIAA huts in the Alps, and lot of private-operated huts provide discounts too.
*I was doing some hut-fee number crunching, and hut fee discounts vary wildly from country to country and private huts to alpine club huts. For example, for the Silvretta Tour the huts discount 15% on average, so it would take 7 nights to recoup the cost. So the real benefit is the no-hassle rescue insurance that is recognized throught the Alps!
