Is Eurail Pass no longer valid on some Polish trains
Specifically I’m looking at the Katowice to Vienna (Wien) international route. This is one of the routes that is subject to “Oferta Super Promo International” - there are PDFs available that show this pricing applies to most, if not all international rail routes into Poland. It seems this was started in early 2022.
Normally on the PKP/Intercity booking site https://www.intercity.pl/en/ , when booking a domestic train you can select a Eurail “reservation only” from the Discount/reservation type dropdown list on the selected train. No problems, it works as far as I’m aware.
If I select almost any train a few days ahead from Katowice to Wien Hbf on the PKP/Intercity website, there is no option to select Eurail, I just get the message that it’s a special offer with a tick-box that cannot be deselected. I need to reserve two months ahead and cannot see any way around this.
Polrail say they can reserve a seat, but their pricing to buy a full ticket on this route bears no relation to the PKP published fares, it makes me think that the Polrail system may be out of date. If I look at prices a week ahead, Polrail is 387PLN for a full ticket, or 48PLN for a reservation. On the PKP website the price for a full ticket is 47 or 90PLN depending on the train selected, no reservations available. There are no refunds on the promotional tickets.
Hey, they can only sell international tickets but NO reservations AFAIK. Maybe via Czech Railways you are able to buy a reservation. Otherwise just buy them at the station.
Interrail reservations can be bought online via Polish railways only for domestic routes...
Indeed, booking via ÖBB and CD should be possible, both for €3. The PKP website can only sell reservations for domestic journeys, not for international ones, but that doesn't say anything about the pass validity.
Thanks for the replies all.
I reserved seats on that route over öbb:
Many thanks as I had discounted the OBB booking. When first looking at that option, I was looking for trains from Krakow to Vienna, but got the message “Please mind: ticket pick-up at self-service machines only within Austria!”, which as I live in New Zealand and going to Poland first, is likely to be a bit difficult. However, using Katowice as the starting point that message does not come up and it looks as though the purchase will go through. Thank goodness! I guess the self-service message was because the trip included a local Polish connection.
The PKP website can only sell reservations for domestic journeys, not for international ones, but that doesn't say anything about the pass validity.
(also noted by MartinM.) From what I know now, that makes sense, but it is not something that I’ve read anywhere - and I’ve done a lot of reading over the past month. I guess that Polrail will be using the OBB system for their reservations. It sure makes Eurail Pass travel difficult if you are planning ahead when little things like this crops. We only have a month in Europe, starting with a wedding in Gdansk, so we have a pretty tight schedule and the journey to Vienna was a critical link as there are only two daytime trains.
Currently I’m finding all the facts as we don’t travel until July (peak holiday time!), but I do want to get some of the bookings done when reservations open.
Out of interest, are they Polish or Austrian trains on the EC103 service?
Out of interest, are they Polish or Austrian trains on the EC103 service?
Many thanks as I had discounted the OBB booking. When first looking at that option, I was looking for trains from Krakow to Vienna, but got the message “Please mind: ticket pick-up at self-service machines only within Austria!”,
As far as I can see, ÖBB will send these reservations via email, for both day and night trains. They already did that a few years ago, and I don't see that message when I start a booking.
…..and I don't see that message when I start a booking.
That’s odd. I tried again both with and without running a vpn through Austria (just in case that was something to do with it.) The trip was Krakow Glowny to Wien and I chose a random date of 15th April. The 07:27, 10:45, 15:19 & 22:42 all gave the message, the 14:06 did not, but it is the only direct service. Not going to worry about is as I can book the Krakow - Katowice on the PKP site and Katowice - Wien on the OBB site.
runner on rails
Thanks, really interesting to see the mix between the different countries. Google translate helped me understand it a bit better.
…..and I don't see that message when I start a booking.
That’s odd. I tried again both with and without running a vpn through Austria (just in case that was something to do with it.) The trip was Krakow Glowny to Wien and I chose a random date of 15th April. The 07:27, 10:45, 15:19 & 22:42 all gave the message, the 14:06 did not, but it is the only direct service.
This reminds me again I should insist on getting date and departure time before looking up anything.
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