Train v.s. Car Advice - Vienna to St. Johanne im pongau

Best and easiest is to go by train to St. Johann im Pongau and rent (and return) the car there, and go back to Vienna by train again.

There are several RailJet trains per day directly from Vienna Airport to Salzburg, where you have to change trains for going to St. Johann im Pongau. (There is even one train in the morning at 8:30am which goes from the airport to St. Johann directly.)

Don't buy a rail pass, individual tickets are cheaper in most cases. (I don't know about group tickets with children, though.)
To get the cheap "Sparschiene" bargain tickets (down to €29 for your route) you must buy them as soon as possible, online only. The OeBB website is not the user friendliest, I have to say: [http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en?]

There you can rent a car: http://www.mietwagen-pongau.at/en
The company will bring the car to the train station in St. Johann im Pongau for free, if you give them your train number and arrival time.

Yes, as noted above, a rail pass would be an absolute waste of money.

As for the rental car, rent it in St. Johann and return it in St. Johann. Bringing a car back from a small rental agency into Vienna would be 1) expensive; 2) probably not possible as the small rental agency doesn't have a location in Vienna; 3) a major headache with parking and traffic.

Alternatively, renting in Salzburg and returning in Salzburg would also make sense. I hate the drive between Salzburg and Vienna.

Fantastic advice - thank you so much!!

There is a problem with Sparscheine tickets for the journey FROM the airport because they are fixed reservations, if the flight is delayed you can't change the train so would have to buy new full priced tickets if you missed the train. It's a gamble, if the price was a significant saving you could buy them and risk it but if you were only getting a small saving probably not. Or book a train so late you couldn't miss it - in which case your flight would probably land early! For getting back to Vienna, definately book Sparscheine as soon as possible.

Another thing to consider. You will arrive at St Johann station in the afternoon, probably the latter half, and still tired. Do you really need a car that evening? Why not get a taxi from the station and get the car next day. The company linked will deliver to hotels and the delivery fee + the taxi ought to be much less than the hire price for a day. Likewise the return day. If you don't have the car on the arrival and departure days you won't need luggage space so a cheaper car might work.

Many St Johann hotels are actually in Alpendorf, a couple of miles to the south.

Thank you - good point - so you are saying that we don't need to reserve in advance for trains leaving Vienna to St. Johann and buy the ticket at the station? I will take your advice if so.

One more question - When we train back to Vienna, I'm not sure what station to book because we are staying at the Marriott Hotel downtown that night and wanted some sightseeing time when we arrive.

Would we go to the international airport and then hop on the city-train to link from the airport to the hotel?
Or would we book our return to the City-Centre Airport Station which is 2 miles from the hotel according to the hotel site?

Also - some trains seem faster - can someone tell me how to interpret the different train-types as we'd like to take a faster one if possible.

Cheers

The Vienna Hbf is the closest to the Marriott. You can then either take a cab to the hotel or the S1 to Wien Mitte and then walk about 700 m to the hotel

Are you at the Alpenland Sport Hotel in St Johann? If so I would love to hear your inpression - we are booked there in Sept.

Thank you - I am struggling with knowing the code or name of the station.
Wien Hauptbahnhof is what the website itself says but it won't accept that as a valid station name
Vienna hbf does not work either.
Nor does Wien hbf or Vienna Main station.

Any suggestions?
I'm sure I'm missing something obvious
Thanks

Which website are you using? OEBB?

https://tickets.oebb.at/en/ticket/travel

OK - I see now - there are 4 stations... and I think you are suggesting the new central station (#1 below) which is the newly rennovated show-piece. And that #4 (Wien-Mitte) is the one closest to the hotel that we would use to take back to the airport (CAT).

1. Vienna Main Station (Wien Hauptbahnhof)
   
2. Wien-Meidling Station
3. Vienna Westbahnhof Station
4. Wien-Mitte Station

Thank you!

And yes, we are staying there! I'll comment for sure :)

I think the website I was on at the time was the train station website itself, but yes, that site (oebb) seems to be making more sense now that I'm clear on what station - it recognized the name.
Any recommendations for looking for first class vs. coach? It does not seem to come up as an option when checking prices, but I'll keep searching. Not inclined to pay a lot more though.

RailJets are rather comfortable, so I see no need for going first class. It is more important to buy seat reservations to avoid walking through the train with your luggage to search for vacant seats. You can choose the type of your seats online (aisle, window, at a table [what I prefer]).

Train stations 3, and 4 are minor stations and to get to them would require a change at Hauptbahnhof. All trains coming from Innsbruck will stop at Hauptbahnhof. They do not stop at the other stations on your list. Meidling is a stop in Vienna just before Hauptbahnhof. Pick Hauptbahnhof or just select Wien.

first class vs. coach

Coach is an airline term. On trains in Europe it is First and Second (in the UK it is First and Standard). Unless the company is paying I find Standard and Second just fine. On Railjets, Second is plain fancy and very comfortable. I've never seen First on a Railjet - my (British) staff pass won't allow me to even enter their carriages.

Railjet trains have Economy, Comfort and Business Class. The latter is basically Comfort with better Wifi and staff to bring food and drink to you (not free!). But the ticketing system may not have caught up with the branding! Economy is 2nd class and Comfort is 1st class, Business Class is €15 surcharge on Comfort - you don't need it!

For the outward journey from the airport compare the cheap prices at the time you expect to be ready to travel with the full fare. If it is a bargain then consider it, if not buy a flexible ticket. You don't need a reservation so could buy a full price ticket when you arrive. BUT you might arrive at the platform with just 30 seconds to board, without a ticket you'd still be at the ticekt desk and could face an hours delay (maybe 2 hours).

For the return buy the ticket to Vienna Main/Wien Hbf. and look for the Sparscheine prices - bear in mind these vary so the previous or next train could be cheaper.

Thanks so much for the great insights!