CNL Ticket Prices for Sleepers

The 350 euro price is for those traveling without a pass. For a private sleeper this is a typical price. Couchettes are much cheaper, but of course not as roomy and you have to share it with strangers.

Really I'd be fine with a reclining seat, but I'll be traveling with my wife who is probably not going to be happy with much less than a hotel room on wheels. :) I jest, but you know what I mean...

Is there any way to get a price quote from bahn.de for those who DO have a euro pass?

"Is there any way to get a price quote from bahn.de for those who DO have a euro pass?"

Yeah, call them. I think CNL's number is (49) 1805 14 15 14.

This is one of the dark secrets about railpasses that most people don't find out about until AFTER they buy them. How DO you get reservations. The national railroad are secretive about it. Apparently they don't want you to use them.

You can usually get reservations from RailEurope and pay more than the cost over there. Or, you can go to someone like Euraide and pay the real price (the price that is charged over there), and pay $50 for the service.

Usually, for German based trains like CNL, you can go to the Bahn website and get advance purchase of SparNight fares for little more than the cost of a "reservation", certainly, in most cases, less than a day of your railpass plus the reservation fee.

The price is the same for a deluxe compartment (with toilet and shower, and chairs) as a standard compartment (you really can't sit comfortably). So when you call try to get a deluxe room. All rooms (not couchette) are 120 euro total (supplement with railpass).

The number for CityNightLine in Germany is (49=country code) 1805 14 15 14. I previously posted in incorrectly as 15 14 15. But I looked it up on www.citynightline.ch. If you can't speak German, just say "English?", and they will put someone who speak English on the line shortly. The website says it is €0.14 per minute, but I have never been charged. I don't think they have a way of billing over here.

Thanks, youguys are very helpful. This is looking to be a lot of work to figure out.

I see a lot of debate about point to point tickets vs. a railpass; my itinerary covers Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy & France with about 15 total days in Europe plus a stay in London (so a eurostar trip to/from London also). I figure if I get a 15-day railpass it should save me a fair amount of money; I used the fare estimator map here and figured that my ticket costs would be in excess of $1K pp if I bought all of the tickets individually; and as far as I can tell most of my trips would be covered by the railpass except for my two planned overnights, Amsterdam-Zurich and Rome-Paris.

Has anyone here used Rick Steve's phone consultant service? I figure once I nail down my itinerary for sure I would like to reserve my train seats for all of my 'set in stone' routes. I'm quite concerned, however, about whether or not I'm going to get everything done correctly with the trains.

ETBD does not make reservations. For free, friendly, and expert advice call Budget Europe Travel Service (BETS) at 800-441-9413 or 800-441-2387. The URL for their Web site is www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

The "fare estimator" is more like a "fare guesser". The only substitute for doing the research and comparison is to pay more. Go to the sources, the national railroads, and find the LOWEST fares between points, and then compare it day by day to the cost of the railpass. Don't forget to include premium train (Italian EuroStar, TGV, Thalys, etc)supplement if you expect to ride any.

Jill,
By 120 euro total do you mean per person?