Hi there,
I'm trying to book the following train journeys:
1. Zurich to Prague on 27 December 2023 - direct night train (2 people, private sleeper with shower and toilet)
2. Prague to Budapest on 29 December 2023 - direct night train (2 people, private sleeper with shower and toilet)
Both passengers have a 1st class Eurail Mobile Global pass.
Can you please advise how I can book both both these trains with our 1st class Eurail Global pass?
Thank you very much.
Answer
Help with December 2023 booking
Best answer by ralderton
You can book these trains on the ÖBB website. Add the second passenger + 2 Eurail discounts where it says ‘1 x adult’, and then search for ‘one way tickets and day tickets’. You should be able to see the night train prices in the results.
https://shop.oebbtickets.at/en/ticket
It looks like there’s availability for Zurich-Prague departing 2040 on that date for a 2-person shared sleeper, but not a deluxe one. There will be a shared toilet at shower at the end of the car. Reserve this ASAP if you want it - sleepers often sell out, and this is a busy time of year.
There's no availability at all on the Prague-Budapest sleeper. There are day trains taking about 7 hours. You could consider travelling to Brno (gorgeous city!) or Bratislava, and spending a night there, before continuing to Budapest in the morning.
+16Yes you can book both these trains with Eurail
Just note that the Nighttrain Prague - Budapest have no “Deluxe” Sleeper with privat WC/Shower. The train have “just” the Eco Sleeper.
Which Nighttrain Zürich to Prague are you looking for as there are 2 Routes one via Leipzig,Dresden with arrival arround 09.30 and one via Linz with arrival arround 10.30. ?
If you wanna have from Prague to Budapest a deluxe sleeper you may use the Nighttrain Prague - Kosice and connect in Kosice further to Budapest (i still prefer the direct sleeper Prague - Budapest)
+8You can book these trains on the ÖBB website. Add the second passenger + 2 Eurail discounts where it says ‘1 x adult’, and then search for ‘one way tickets and day tickets’. You should be able to see the night train prices in the results.
https://shop.oebbtickets.at/en/ticket
It looks like there’s availability for Zurich-Prague departing 2040 on that date for a 2-person shared sleeper, but not a deluxe one. There will be a shared toilet at shower at the end of the car. Reserve this ASAP if you want it - sleepers often sell out, and this is a busy time of year.
There's no availability at all on the Prague-Budapest sleeper. There are day trains taking about 7 hours. You could consider travelling to Brno (gorgeous city!) or Bratislava, and spending a night there, before continuing to Budapest in the morning.
+8Also note that the Prague-Budapest sleeper leaves after midnight.
So when you say 29th Dec. Do you mean you’ll check out of your hotel on Friday 29th, and spend the evening in Prague and want to depart at 0030 on Saturday morning?
Or do you mean you want to depart at 0030 on Friday morning, the 29th?
(No availability on either train, by the way, but just so we know which date we;’re talking about!)
Mmmm I guess there is some misunderstanding going on :
According to DB/CD the Euronight leaves Praha hl.n. at 22:03 and waits for 3h30 in Breclav. This has been the case for a few years. Now in addition the Berlin - Budapest night train (which currently runs through Poland) will stop at Praha-Holesovice after midnight. The 2 trains will be coupled in the middle of the night in Breclav.
MAV hasn't opened bookings after 10th December yet but looks like the Prague - Budapest night train is available on cd.cz (Czech Railways). At the moment only couchettes are available and not sleepers (which is a bit weird).
My advice would be to :
- book the Zurich - Prague night train right now on oebb.at (116€ with Eurail discount)
- wait a bit to see what happens with the Prague - Budapest or
- buy 2 couchettes right now (or even 4 so you get the whole compartment)
Thank you very much for your response 😊
I managed to book a direct night train (IC577) from Prague to Budapest leaving on Friday 29/12 night by calling the phone number on www.cd.cz so that is all done now.
For Zurich to Prague direct night train leaving on Wednesday 27/12 night, I’ve tried the following websites and am having these issues so cannot book:
- Website is showing no direct night trains
- Their phone team said they don’t have any direct night trains right now but might do sometime in November
-
Is showing 2 direct night trains (EN 40459 and EN50467) but both say ‘tickets not avaliable’ (please see screenshot below)
https://www.nightjet.com/#/home
-
Is showing 1 direct night train (EN50467) but at the Summary step I keep getting this error and its not letting me pay (please see screenshot below)
-
And for some reason I cannot call the +43 5 1717 phone line from Australia to book this ticket
Can someone please tell me how else I can book the Zurich to Prague direct night train leaving on Wednesday 27/12 night?
Thank you so much!
+8The 2040 departure on the 27th is definitely showing as available when I check on ÖBB.
+8Have you added the Eurail discount for each adult?
And then search for 'one way tickets and day tickets’ (not ‘seat reservation only’)?
Have you added the Eurail discount for each adult?
And then search for 'one way tickets and day tickets’ (not ‘seat reservation only’)?
Thanks so much for this!
I was selecting ‘seat reservation only’ instead of ‘one-way tickets and day tickets’.
But now I’ve a new problem 😫
After the payment screen I’m getting this error saying ‘reservation not possible’ (please see screenshot below) although tickets are showing on the search screen.
@alderton can you please remove this ticket from your base if you’ve it there and I’ll try again?
Or is there ashore reason why I might be getting this error?
Can't thank you enough for your help!
+8It’s definitely not in my basket - I made sure not to add it!
I don’t know what that error message could refer to, unless somehow there’s a mismatch with live availability. You could try again in a few minutes, and see if it’s available again.
Seat61 suggests you can also make the reservation at the Czech Railways website, so you might have better luck there?
Passholder reservations for the sleeper trains from Zurich or Basel to Prague can be made online at the Czech Railways website www.cd.cz, with no added booking fee. Before running the enquiry, click where it says 1 x Adult 26-64 No discount card then click on No discount card , click Interrail and Eurail Pass then select the one you have. You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone.
It’s definitely not in my basket - I made sure not to add it!
I don’t know what that error message could refer to, unless somehow there’s a mismatch with live availability. You could try again in a few minutes, and see if it’s available again.
Seat61 suggests you can also make the reservation at the Czech Railways website, so you might have better luck there?
Passholder reservations for the sleeper trains from Zurich or Basel to Prague can be made online at the Czech Railways website www.cd.cz, with no added booking fee. Before running the enquiry, click where it says 1 x Adult 26-64 No discount card then click on No discount card , click Interrail and Eurail Pass then select the one you have. You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone.
Ya not sure what is happening here…
I was also getting the following error message on https://www.nightjet.com/#/home. Its showing 1 direct night train (EN50467) but at the Summary step I keep getting this error and its not letting me pay (please see screenshot below).
And www.cd.cz website is showing no direct night trains right now. Also their phone team said they don’t have any direct night trains right now but might do sometime in November.
I guess I’ll check again tomorrow on both https://www.nightjet.com/#/home and www.cd.cz and see if I’ve better luck…
Thanks so very much again for all your help!
+8If that’s not working, then I guess you have to give ÖBB or ČD a call. I know you had some problems dialling from Australia. Maybe Skype or equivalent would work?
ČD: +420 221 111 122
ÖBB: +43 5 1717 - this works from my UK mobile, so it is accessible from outside the country
If that’s not working, then I guess you have to give ÖBB or ČD a call. I know you had some problems dialling from Australia. Maybe Skype or equivalent would work?
ČD: +420 221 111 122
ÖBB: +43 5 1717 - this works from my UK mobile, so it is accessible from outside the country
Thank you for the idea to call from Skype.
I called OBB via Skype and they said that for departures on on 27/12:
- Euronight 50467 - they don't have 2 tickets available together in any of the compartment types
- Euronight 40459 - is not open yet for bookings
- EC - reservations have not open yet
So I’m keeping an eye on tier website for Euronight 40459 booking or EC reservations to open. Hoping to book either of these as we really need to depart on 27/12.
Fingers crossed!
I've read on Twitter that bookings for EN40459 should be possible on Monday. Fingers crossed too !
I've read on Twitter that bookings for EN40459 should be possible on Monday. Fingers crossed too !
Thank you sooooooo much for letting me know!!!
Thank you everyone very much for all your input and help :)
I was able to make a booking on EN40459 today. Yay!
For those looking at booking this train, looks like all ticket types are now open to book
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