Issues with sold out night trains?

Posted by Ali (Newton, MA, USA) on 11/26/08 06:17 AM

Hello -
Part of my itinerary for May 2009 includes a night train from Prague to Basel. We did it last year and loved it. Given I figured out there are limited numbers of deluxe and economy cabins I figured out the earliest I could make the reservation was yesterday. I tried to call Germany for an hour and could not get through so I gave up. Today I called and the only comparments left on this particular night train are couchettes and all deluxe and economy cabins are sold out (they were available yesterday). It's perplexing and even the person on the phone thought it was a technical mistake. I'm crossing my fingers it's a technical issue and am calling back tomorrow morning.

I have contacted all the hotels I already booked to attempt to shift my itinerary forward one day but I was wondering - has anyone seen any odd issues like this with Deutsche Bahn's website?

Posted by Michael Schneider

New Paltz, NY

11/26/08 06:50 AM

9110 posts

My guess is that it is indeed a technical issue. Just keep checking the DB/City Night Line site (www.citynightline.ch)everyday. I'm sure the private sleepers will eventually become available.

Posted by carl

dallas, tx, usa

11/26/08 07:00 AM

1358 posts

Use this webpage to ask for a phone call from the
provider of RR tickets:http://www.eurorailways.com/?source=y-aa-main&OVRAW=europe%20railroad%20tickets&OVKEY=europe%20rail%20cheap%20ticket&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=509123522&OVKWID=1876848022

Posted by Ali OP

Newton, MA, USA

11/27/08 05:15 AM

289 posts

Thanks for suggestions.

We looked on www.bahn.de today for yesterday's train and it's now sold out in all the economy and deluxe cabins. We looked back across May for each day on this route Prague to Basel and all the economy and deluxe cabins are sold out. We then looked randomly and even January 1 is sold out. Clearly something isn't right. The reservationists at Deutsche Bahn can't help - they see the same thing we do on the website. Yesterday they were convinced it was a website issue but I don't speak Germany so I don't know where to begin to even escalate such a question. The hotel reservations we booked will move a day if we need them to but at this point we are going to wait. I'm wondering if they are actually going to change the City Night Line that runs that route come December 14 when it should be updated.

Posted by Michael Schneider

New Paltz, NY

11/27/08 05:32 AM

9110 posts

Tim from ND mentioned in another post yesterday that there is some sort of problem with next years train schedules not showing up properly on the web sites. I'm sure it will be sorted out very soon, I wouldn't go into panic mode yet:)

Posted by Ali OP

Newton, MA, USA

11/27/08 05:53 AM

289 posts

Hi Michael - Thanks for letting me know. I'm behind in my forum reading the last couple days. :)- Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Ali OP

Newton, MA, USA

12/16/08 07:31 AM

289 posts

I wanted to follow up on this post given what I discovered.

I waited patiently for the websites to update on December 14 to revisit booking my night train for May 2009. Many nights were still showing up sold out and it was getting very frustrating. Also, the phone number I had been using (same one I used last year) for Deutsche Bahn created a menu (in german) so I couldn't get through. I decided to contact Euraide and just take the fee hit. They told me it was too early to book the night train reservation after I had read in numerous forums and told by Deutsche Bahn directly that I could book the reservation 6 months in advance. I replied to their email I had different information and it could be booked now and I just needed help and they came back again and told me it was too early.

This morning I got up early and called the phone number for Deutsche Bahn and made an educated guess after listening to the menu a few times in German (the "5th" option which had to be a "5" on my keypad included the words "Deutsche Bahn"). I got a live person who transferred me twice until I got an English speaking person. I got confirmation that May 24 2009 is totally sold out on the night train Prague to Basel - it's the end of their vacation week (oooops) so everyone is going home! Fortunately May 25 was totally available and I booked 2 deluxe cabins on it. Euraide was wrong and I could book it and I did today. Anyone else experience this kind of thing with Euraide?