Purchasing train tickets

If you know the date and time you want to travel, you can save about half on the price of a walk-up ticket if you can buy a non-refundable ticket now for future travel.
Check "TheTrainline.com" or "Omio.com" for user-friendly sites to buy your tix online. Look for “Sparschiene” tickets on the OEBB website and for Vienna Westbahnhof station on the Innsbruck to Vienna route. They’re usually the least expensive.
See Seat61.com for more details.

Avoid Trainline, Omio and other 3rd party sites. For Austria use www.oebb.at

I agree about not using 3rd party sites to book. Always go straight to the horse’s mouth. I’m in Germany right now and have been using the national DB site for all my long distance tickets. And almost all national train sites are very user-friendly and almost always have an option for using English, too.

The biggest advantage is that you will get updates about your trips. I was sitting in the train station when I got a notice on my phone that my gate had changed. There was an announcement but I wasn’t really paying attention since it was in German, and without the ticket being updated, I would not have known.

Never ever buy train tickets from a 3rd-party reseller. They will never give you the best price.

Book your tickets here: https://www.oebb.at/en/

The cheapest tickets are called "Sparschiene", bound to a specific train and non-refundable. Availability depends on the booking situation of that train. Generally, train tickets can be bought 6 months in advance.

I like to have a seat reservation, too. It is €3 per seat, and for RailJet trains you can select your seat using the layout of the cars. Note that there are quiet zones and kids zones besides the normal ones. The cars are modern and comfortable, so I always travel 2nd class, but if you want to splurge, go for 1st class or business class.

Hello, Sorry to add my question here! Is there anyway to know the direction of the train while booking the seats? I am particular about facing the direction of travel.
Thanks!

When you purchase a seat reservation (3 EUR) at www.oebb.at, it will ask you to first pick your type of area, (2nd class open seating, quiet area, family area, bike area), choose your seat and it will show you a diagram of the carriage with an arrow indicating "facing forward".

Thank you, I will try that