Hi! I am looking to book an overnight train from Venice to Munich on bahn.de for my boyfriend and I. He has a global Eurail pass (so only needs to book the extra charge) but I do not and will therefore need to book a full ticket. I have figured out how to do each of these separately but want to ensure that we can be in the same couchette. Any advice? In addition to this, when I book his extra charge can I use my credit card as the 'identification document' for his online ticket? I will, of course, be with him when he is travelling with the ticket. Advice and guidance are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Posted by
OP
St. Albert
2 posts
Hi Lee, Thanks for the response! I saw the number there as well. Two quick questions: I've never booked a train ticket before so I'm wondering if I will be able to select the couchette number (and then make them the same) if I just book the two tickets separately. And will it be okay to have my credit card be his identification document since we will be travelling on the same train? Thank you!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
There is only so much they can provide for online. Apparently your case in not something for which they provide. (The price is different for someone using a rail pass vs someone with a P to P ticket.) However, you can do a lot more with a phone call to the CNL (49-1805-141514). If you go to the page to book night trains, at the bottom it says "book only extra charge". When you click that, it takes you to a page where it gives you one choice between "normally priced ticket", "BahnCard 100", or "pass offer". Above that it says, "If all the travellers have different tickets, the offer cannot be online. In this case contact one of the DB travel centres or call the service telephone 01805-141514". Note: the leading '0' is for calls from in German (outside area code 1805) to indicate it's a long distance call (like our needing '1'). Calls from outside Germany are automatically assumed to be long distance, so the '0' is not needed. Another thing to consider is what kind of a Global pass he has. If it is a flexi-pass, and he can use it another day, it might be worthwhile just buying two Europa-Spezial tickets and saving the pass for another day. The full price for a Europa-Spezial couchette ticket is about €40 more than the extra charge for the couchette alone.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Pamela, The only time I've ever ridden in a night train was 25 years ago, in a private compartment (the company arranged and paid for it), so I can't tell you about making multi-person reservations online. Perhaps someone else has had the experience, although your situation, one pass and one P-P, is probably rare. However, going as far into the reservation process as I want to go (I don't actually need a ticket), I can't see anywhere where you can request a specific compartment. You might be able to request a certain compartment on Italian Rail. As for buying the ticket for your boyfriend and using your credit card as ID, it looks like the Bahn booking process allows for third party purchases (it didn't used to). However the name on the ticket and on the credit card will have to match and be yours.