Train from Bratislava to Budapest?

The Hungarian MAV and the Slovakian ZSSK won't let me book tickets
from Canada. In another thread, Mr. É advised using a VPN, which I do
not have, to fool sites into thinking I am in EU.

If thats what it sounded like I apologize and I need to go back and fix it. I meant if you wanted to buy a MAV ticket you would need a VPN. Personally I think using tools to circumnavigate a contract is ... well ... I am an old fart and i would rather buy the OBB ticket.

You have other less expensive options, like a RegioJet bus for as little as 9 euro or for 19 euro you get:

Enjoy unparalleled panoramic views and extra legroom that makes you
feel as comfortable as possible with plenty of space for your laptop.
Of course, there is Wi-Fi and power outlets for your mobile phones and
laptops.

Refreshments, Wi-Fi, Air conditioning, Touch screen, Headphones, Power
outlet, Free hot drink, Newspapers, Free water, Entertainment portal,
Free water from dispenser

OR if you return to Vienna you can take the RegioJet train for about 20 euro.

When travelling from Country A to Country B, is it recommended to use
the train booking site from Country A instead of Country B?

Conventional Internet Wisdom will say yes. But I dont think so, especially on discounted tickets that have no flexibility. No reason to ever talk to an agent. Its use it or lose it.

Mr. É

Here is a comparison of prices for 2 tickets on the 8:37am train RJ55 from Prague to Vienna (4 hrs 12 min).

On the Austrian booking site OBB, the tickets cost €42 plus €6 for seat reservation for total of €48.

On the Czech booking site cd.cz, the same tickets cost 918CZK = €38 and there is no charge for seat reservation.

I usually try to book with whoever is operating the train. But, like your example, the two main train companies sell each others tickets.

As for having trouble purchasing your ticket for May, it may be too early. Most train tickets don't go on sale until three months prior to the date of travel.

While I have great respect for the Man in Seat 61, he promotes a third party reseller because he gets a commission. Most of us here suggest buying tickets from the train company itself. If there is a problem, the train company has to deal with it. If you buy from someone else, they could say contact the reseller for changes, refunds, etc.

Buy tickets with whoever is operating the train indeed.

International trains are typically operated by all the railways involved. So for example the Bratislava - Budapest train is operated by the Slovakian railways till the border, and from there on by the Hungarian railways., So you can buy ticket with either. You can also often buy those tickets with other railways, as they do operated as agents for each other. And you can buy those tickets at the station. You could for example just go to the station in Berlin and book everything there. (That is how we did it before the internet...)
But in this case for example you can actually book this on the Czech Railways site as well (www.cd.cz). Especially handy if you intended to take the RJ service, as that uses a CD owned trainset, and you can select a seatr from the seat map there.

Note that none of those trains need to be booked far in advance. Trains do not "sell out". They would be useless if they did. Reserving seats is nevertheless a good idea. But you would still be able to do that even the day before...

Note that Vienna-Bratislava is a short commuter train ride. Just buy that in Vienna.

Mr. É Here is a comparison of prices for 2 tickets on the 8:37am train
RJ55 from Prague to Vienna (4 hrs 12 min). On the Austrian booking
site OBB, the tickets cost €42 plus €6 for seat reservation for total
of €48. On the Czech booking site cd.cz, the same tickets cost 918CZK
= €38 and there is no charge for seat reservation.

Thats why I said you have to look. Some days the ticket is less, some more on OBB. The seat reservation on OBB is only 3 euro so that makes it 45 euro vs 38 euro. Same train, same seats, same engineer, same platforms, same air ..... you buy the cheapest of course. I have never heard of a good excuse on discount ticket not to. Maybe, just maybe, possibly, but doubtful, on a full fare ticket there might be a reason to buy from the originating company.

Of course I would still think hard about RegioJet which starts at about 28 euro. Sorry, dont remember when you are traveling but they are only selling tickets to about 28 March right now.

Funpig, the only thing governments does well is fight wars and collect taxes. With that in mind, if not RegioJet the other option is LeoExpress. Nope, I have never heard of them either. But they do Prague to Bratislava starting at 10.80 euro or 31.20 euro in Business class. For this you change your plans a bit and you go Prague to Bratislava for a night, then to Vienna, then to Budapest.

Good Morning, All!

Thanks for all your replies. I am always learning so much in this forum.

In the last 10 years, my trips to Europe have always been to just a single country so it was pretty easy to learn how to deal with one booking site for each. Except for Renfe in Spain, which was so frustrating that I ended up using Trainline. I still think fondly of my 2-month backpacking trip more than 40 years ago. With a Youth Eurail pass, I used to just hop on any train on a whim without any prior thought to scheduling, etc.

This trip involves 5 countries and I am trying to figure how these different companies work, with all your help. I am learning something new from everybody. Thanks.

WengenK, I did not know that seat reservations could be made separately. That is useful to know. All these trains are just strange names and numbers on the screen. I haven't quite figured out what might be a slow regional train or a fast luxury one.

Frank II, the Bratislava-to-Budapest tickets are available for sale right now. I can buy them on the Czech cd.cz site or the Austrian OBB site or the Seat61 reseller site. It is just that I cannot buy them on the Hungarian MAV or the Slovakian ZSSK sites. Based on what Mr. É told me in another thread, it is probably because I am in Canada and those country sites only allow online booking in Europe. Because that train is not a short one, I will probably use one of the first three options to book. Seat61 says his reseller is linked to the Slovakian ZSSK, so that is probably why the cost is so much cheaper than OBB or cd.cz.

Mr. É, I appreciate all your advice, but I'm not going to change the hotels anymore. If you recall, we already had a discussion about Bratislava in my thread in General Europe. One of the advantages of traveling from Bratislava to Budapest is that I will end up at the Nyugati pályaudvar station very close to our next apartment. Traveling from Prague to Bratislava is a much longer train ride and would make for a much shorter one-night stay (which I usually try to avoid) almost useless. On the other hand, traveling from Vienna to Bratislava would make this an extended and much more enjoyable stay. Plus, the cost of our Vienna apartment would increase by €40 if I switch the days at this point. That is my logic.

Whew! I would like to believe that all of this mental exercise in travel planning is keeping my brain sharp as I get older. It is a lot harder than just clicking a tour and tapping a credit card (no offence to RS).

I was just tossing out the option. You said you like information

But you are correct, the extra 10 minutes from Keleti is a deal breaker. If you were into train stations I woukd say go visit Keleti. Its magnificent.

I do like old train stations. Keleti looks nicer than Nyugati. 2.3 km from the apartment? Wife will not want to be dragged to one of my photo shoots, unless there's something interesting along the way. If I still have the energy in the last 5 days of our trip, that is just about my tolerance for a morning one-way run to take a few photos. Or take transit.

If you are doing one way trips, you need to do a bit more planning as most every place can be on the way to someplace else.

Oktogon
NY Palace
Keleti
TimeOut for Lunch
Deak Fernec ter
Any place in town (Deak F. Is thr hub for most transportation)

The thing about Budapest is that you're very likely to encounter really good photo ops--at least of the architectural sort--as you walk from Point A to Point B. It doesn't much matter what is Point A and what is Point B.

Acraven for you https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=YQa89IHhga4znROp.

I reached out to the train operator via email and was told that tickets can only be booked 60 days in advance. I was trying to book a train on May 1 from Bratislava to Budapest. They emailed me back and told me to try again on March 1.

ellync, who was "the train operator" you reached out to? Could be OBB, could be MAV, could be ZSSK. But I get it. Buying train tickets is a pain. Just look at all of the questions on the forum. If not in quantity, then at least in complexity they out number the questions on buying plane tickets. Nothing 21st century about the process and often nothing logical about it either.

I just went to the website of:

• MAV (Hungarian) and went through the booking process for a Bratislava to Budapest train on 7 May, which is more than two months out, (rj271 at 8:05). I got to the point where I had to click “Buy”, the price was 10.800 ft with the seat reservation. That is about 28.50€.
• Then OBB (Austrian) and did the same. I got to the same time to buy button before I stopped. OBB wanted 44.60€ for the same seat on the same train.
• Then ZSSK (Slovak) site and, no they would not sell me a ticket for an unspecified reason. I tried again for 7 February and they offered me a ticket for 18.50€ with a seat.
• Then DB (German) and they were also unable to sell me a ticket for an unspecified reason. I tried again for 7 February same result.
• Then Trainline (3rd party seller - gag) and tried. They could sell the ticket on either 7 February or 7 May and wanted 45.10€ with a seat reservation. The site indicated it would be an OBB ticket. Apparently Trainline does not do business with ZSSK or MAV, so their promise of the cheapest ticket is not truthful.

So, the cheapest for buying more than 2 months in advance is MAV, but you can’t do that from the US, making OBB the cheapest for 16€ more. Trainline was the most expensive.

If you wait till within 2 months ZSSK is the cheapest at 18.50 or 26 euro less than OBB.

Trainline was the all-around most expensive and deceptive in that it does not show you all the options.

ellync, now I see you were the same with the question on the trip out of Prague. I hope you gave Regiojet real consideration, I really cant think of a reason not to use them. Nicer seats and conveniences at lower prices on that long trip. The reviews are very good. But again, I think you have to wait till two months prior. https://brn-web-strapi.sa.cz//uploads/business_1_320x200_5d020ec6d2.jpg

For the Bratislava, well, I am not a huge fan of Bratislava. Sure if you are in the neighborhood, you should take the time to see for yourself, but if you make it a day trip out of Vienna then you can take the train out of Vienna to Budapest and you can stop and see the Archabbey at Pannonhalma on the way and have lunch in Gyor. Not a side trip, Gyor is on the track to Budapest. Just an idea. https://youtu.be/1_MwUyHSBy4?si=kATMNc5HKLGX5uGk