I'll be traveling in August, and want to get train reservations for Oslo-Flåm for a specific day (to meet up with my ferry from Flåm-Gudvangen) but the train tickets aren't going to be available until sometime in May. I see that I can make an advance reservation on rail.ninja (for a $41 - $48 processing fee) and they will get the ticket for me when sales start. Has anyone used this, or can I risk waiting until mid-May to get the ticket myself?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7276 posts
Avoid Rail Ninja like the plague.
Posted by
Washington DC
28689 posts
Don't use Rail Ninja. It has a very bad reputation (Google for reviews). There is no need to pay extra money for that train ticket, especially not to a company like Rail Ninja.
If tickets don't go on sale until May (I don't know the schedule myself), no one else can buy them either. You don't need to worry about August tickets in February. If you're really confident your trip will not have to be cancelled or delayed, you can save some money on the tickets by buying them soon after they go on sale. At least for the Oslo-Myrdal segment of the trip, the fare varies. If you wait very, very late, you could find the train sold out, but that's not something that will happen quickly after tickets go on sale.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks so much for confirming what I supposed - I'll catch the early sales by myself in May!
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2349 posts
Use Norway’s National train company’s website ( www.Vy.no/en). to buy your train tickets online. The fastest trains from Oslo S train station to Myrdal/Flam depart at 6:25am and 8:25am. You might need to use PayPal if the site still will not process U.S. credit cards due to the 3% fee U S. banks clawback.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks for the Vy.no link - and for the info that they may only take PayPal. Good to know!
Posted by
Washington DC
28689 posts
I had to use PayPal for Norwegian train tickets in 2022. PayPal will want to charge you in dollars. Don't let it do that. Choose to pay in NOK so you don't get taken by the bad exchange rate PayPal will impose.