On the MAV site the 07:42 train on the 28th is 13 euro. But since you have to pick up international tickets in Budapest, it really doesn't work if you aren't starting in Budapest. So, off to the OBB site ..... where the same ticket is 47 euro. Surely I am missing something?
Posted by
California USA
4125 posts
You may be seeing this correctly. A few years ago we bought our tickets for a similar price on MAV and my brother’s family bought theirs from the OBB site for about double what we’d paid. We couldn’t believe the difference and were glad we’d stumbled upon this pricing oddity.
Posted by
OP
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20653 posts
I'm always reading here where people use OBB no matter where they are going. I checked OBB against the Budapest to Vienna fare and it costs over 30 euro more than MAV too. I use to say to use MAV cause there is something "right" about using the local carrier, but I guess the real reason is cost.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Just checked my Vienna>Budapest January tickets on ÖBB -- €19 each. Bought quite a while ago, though. (And I didn't notice until I pressed "buy" that there are no options to reserve seats.)
Posted by
OP
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20653 posts
Interesting. I was checking on the 28th of December, and for a morning train with no changes. €47.40
Cant be correct.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5518 posts
Popular time to travel. Cheap fares sold out a long time ago.
Posted by
OP
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20653 posts
I guess more Austrians want to go to Budapest, than the other way around (I sort of get that), cause the cheap fairs, in both directions, are available through MAV. Suprising.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2326 posts
@LauraB - I went back to the OBB site some time after I purchased my cheap tickets and was able to purchase just seat reservations for those tickets - my recollection is that it was 6 euros each for the reservations. You might look into it.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Thanks, Janet -- looks like I can do just that.
We took a Budapest to Vienna train once when I had to ask some people to vacate our reserved seats -- and they ended up standing in the corridor the whole trip!