Night train passing through home country but not alighting

Hi,

thanks for your suggestion. The problem is the best part of the journey is through Germany, so it looks like this would cost a lot extra, and cancels out the value of using an Interrail pass. I did consider the journey via Linz, but there are warnings that due to construction work the train could be delayed/cancelled and looks like it might already have been rescheduled to leave at 00:30 (the OBB site is ambiguous). The train from Prague to Linz gets in around 22:00. I’m a female traveling alone and don’t really want to be spending late hours by myself in an unfamiliar train station waiting for a train that could potentially be delayed/cancelled. 
 

I still am not clear if the option I am considering would work. I.e. I purchase from cd.cz a point-to-point ticket from Prague to Bad Schandau (the German border stop). Then use the outbound day of my pass to travel from Bad Schandau to Zurich. On my return I use the inbound day of my pass to travel Zurich to Bad Schandau. And then I purchase another point-to-point ticket from Bad Schandau to Prague. But will I face a problem because my Interrail pass couchette reservation each way is for the full journey (Prague-Zurich-Prague)? If it makes a difference, both ways my Interrail pass will still be valid for the full journey so for the full time I am using the couchette reservation my Interrail pass will be active. 
 

I hope that makes sense! :)

There are in fact 2 night trains from Linz, one leaving at 23:10 and one at 0:30. The latter one is usually a bit cheaper but also leaves quite late so that's why I suggested the first one. Arrival time in Zurich is the same because the 2 trains are joined in Salzburg while you sleep.

Linz is a safe place to wait as far as I know. If you don't want to wait at the station, then I'd suggest to look for a café that's open.

As to the engineering works: what is your travel date?

As to your ticket option: why would you buy a ticket from Prague to Bad Schandau when you already have a pass and want to use your inbound/outbound journeys for Germany? There's no problem doing that. The mobile pass will just use 1 in/outbound for the outbound journey and 1 for the return journey.

Thanks again, you’ve helped a lot in clarifying why there are two night trains from Linz that both arrive at the same time! That does make it a bit more feasible, but there is still the question of whether it will run/run on time due to the construction work. :-/ My travels days would be May 31st and June 5th. 
 

That said, it would still be easier to simply take the direct train through Germany if possible, especially because on the return the alternative route would mean changing in Linz at 5:58AM (ugh!). The reason I was thinking I had to buy point-to-point tickets to Bad Schandau is that I have read on the forum and on the Interrail site that if you travel into and out of your home country in one day it counts as both an inbound AND outbound day. See here https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/what-is-interrail/travel-your-own-country where it states “Keep in mind that when you want to travel from one country to another, and you have to travel through your country of residence, the app will apply both the inbound and the outbound journey to this trip.” Presumably this info is correct, or is it not?

And if it is, and I were to purchase the tickets to Bad Schandau, any idea if my Interrail pass couchette reservation would be valid or not? 

Oh, unfortunately just saw that an Interrail couchette reservation on the 23:40 Linz-Zurich train costs an eye-watering 189,90 euro which cancels out the value of the Interrail pass. I only purchased it yesterday, so could still return it and just buy point-to-point tickets for the full journey if the pass doesn’t save me money or I can’t find a way to make it work. 

You could buy a single ticket from the border to the first station in Germany, but then again, the mobile pass will count this as only 1 inbound/outbound day, so why buy an extra ticket. You can test this by activating the mobile pass with a future(!) start date and adding the journeys to your pass. It should be possible to add both the outward and the return journey. Deactivate your pass again after any test, until the first travel day on your pass.

Not sure actually… but I wouldn't worry about that and just book a reservation for your pass.

On 31/5, Linz-Zurich does not have available couchettes anymore. The €189.90 you saw is for a bed in a 2-person sleeper compartment. Prague-Zurich has couchettes for €65.

Zurich-Prague on 5 June doesn’t have available couchettes anymore, but a bed in a 3-person sleeper compartment is €76. Zurich-Linz has a couchette for €79.90, so that's also an easy choice.

I'd simply book the direct night train Prague-Zurich, on nightjet.com or tickets.oebb.at. No extra tickets needed if you're using your inbound/outbounds for these journeys.

Thank you so much for all your advice. You have been supremely helpful. I still don’t understand why the Interrail website states that passing through one’s home country counts as both an in/outbound day, but if the mobile pass doesn’t recognise it this way that’s great. Would have saved me some headaches if I’d known. 😁 

By the way, I am tempted to test it out as you suggest in the app, but if I activate it to try it out, then presumably there would be no option to later return it if, in worst case scenario, I found it didn’t work? 

You don't loose anything by testing with future dates. Afterwards you can just cancel the activation of your pass.

Thank you! I wish you a lovely day!