OEBB and Trainline.com

What are your travel dates?

OEBB is difficult to deal with online. When I was in Budapest, I went by the train station the day prior to leaving and bought our tickets to Bratislava.

I am considering going July 28 to approximately August 5. But I did try random dates in May and June as well to determine if the cause of this was that my dates are too far out; same result.

Because I am traveling with young kids, I just want to have all details worked out long before I go.

There is absolute no need to travel first class or business class (only a few seats per train). Economy (2nd class) is very comfortable as the RailJet trains are the most advanced cars currently available on OeBB's routes. You should book seats at a table if travelling with small children.

Compare the amenities:
https://www.oebb.at/en/reiseplanung-services/im-zug/abteile-komfortklassen.html

The issue appears to be that Trainline for whatever reason does not carry OBB train schedules and ticketing on its website. I always thought of of Trainline as an UK train site. I was able to find tickets on the OBB website for August, but not on Loco2.com or other sites. This has lot to do with when the company releases the schedule to third party sites. As for business class, 1st. class etc., some train makeups do not carry all classes of service on a specific route. Just keep looking you will find the train schedules and ticketing eventually, most of these sites work at their own pace.

Absolutely no reason to take first or business class - especially with kids as the area is meant to be quiet. The second class area will have a kids area as well. Second class is really looking like first class on a Railjet train. You just need seat reservations.

Here’s an article on buying the Budapest to Vienna leg - https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/vienna-to-budapest-by-train.htm

Here’s an article on the Vienna to Prague leg - https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-vienna-by-train.htm

According to their website, Trainline does sell tickets for ÖBB trains - https://www.thetrainline.com/en/train-companies/obb . The Bahn.de website shows lots of trains available on both the routes you mentioned, including some direct (no changes) trains.

In the same situation, I'd check out the options on the Bahn.de website, decide which trains I want to use and then buy the tickets when I arrive in each city.

But buying the tickets when you arrive in the city will be so much more expensive! Why do that?

I found OeBB fairly easy to use (I have struggled with other country's sites, like RENFRE) I do not try to get first class or business class tickets, since I find the regular seats to be very nice/comfortable. I purchased my tickets for Austria from home from OeBB for quite a savings. I use Trainline as a last resort. They do on occasion add fees to their tickets and they seem to not disclose when they do. It is my understanding that LOCO2 does not charge any fees. I used LOCO2 in Spain and there were some disadvantages to buying from a 3rd party. I was not provided some of the "perks" that purchasing directly from RENFRE provides, like free local train tickets. Another option in Austria is the relatively new Westbahn. From them you can buy fares at a budget price, the day of travel. I do not believe that they go to Prague or Budapest.

There is also the low cost Regiojet train service between Vienna and Prague. "Relax" and "Business" are upgraded services for just a little more. www.regiojet.com