Questions regarding Munich to Venice EC1289 train

1. The price difference is probably that some show discounted tickets (Sparpreis, Saver fare) and others only the normal tickets. The Sparpreis/Saver fare binds you to a specific train (day and hour), which is no problem if your itinerary is known. That EUR 95,10 price is for 1st class. You can have the same train for EUR 32,90 in 2nd class, which is comfortably enough for most mortals, saving EUR 350 for the six of you.
2. I always use the websites of the train companies themselves. On the Deutsche Bahn site you can choose your coach and seats. With choosing a coach with enough empty seats for the six of you, you can arrange you travelling together.
3. These trains have opposite seats, so you have to split up if all of you want to face forward. If I remember well, the seating plan shows the direction of the train. It can happen, however, that the train arrives in an inverse order, leaving all six of you in the »wrong« way. Choosing an opposite seat arrangement (preferably with a table) guarantees that half of you is travelling in the right direction.

Krislin, this is the internet. Once you have intermediaries involved, the price can be anything they want it to be. That can represent superb delivery and consultation services, or it can represent pure profit for an exploitative entrepreneur. Yeah, it's hard to tell. Have you bought anything online lately? These people are not your social-network friends, they're in a business!

Just like airlines, railroads change equipment due to breakdowns and availability. You don't have a 100% certainty that you will get the seat configuration you were originally sold. (But you do have a decent chance of it.) I would add that when you buy a ticket from, say, Trenitalia or Deutsche Bahn, they can't control or predict what will happen if you have to change to a train operated by another country. On a rather short trip from Cologne to Brussels, we all had to get off our DB train at the border and switch to an entirely different configuration train. I never figured out why. But my three-month in advance, non-refundable, non-exchangeable ticket was so cheap, I didn't care.

We've all had good and bad experiences in Italy. When we left Venice (to Milan, I think, some years ago), our Second or First Class train was the right, modern equipment. But the air conditioning in every single carriage was broken. The windows were mostly sealed. More recently, we had a fast, luxurious trip on a Frecciarossa from Naples to Rome.

I agree with the previous post that the best way to buy any rail ticket is from the national railroad company of the train involved. You also get the best exposure to seat information, but I would add that some rail companies don't let you select a seat at all. If this (motion sickness?) issue is that important, you might want to investigate discount airlines. It's a rather long train trip. Can you spare a whole day from your vacation for this jump?

It's a rather long train trip
But it is one of the most beautiful train trips in Europe, crossing the mountains between Austria and Italy!
And it's a train and not a plane. Comfortable. Cosy. Free movement. No getting to and from airports. No security checks. No endless waiting. No worrying about your luggage. No waste of time, but the pure joy of travelling.

ton, I made my point about motion sickness, not about tourism. I despise bargain airlines, and I like to pack "heavy", which they charge for. They also tend to use inconvenient, secondary airports, to save landing fees. But all the seats face forward.

It's pretty common for 50% of the seats on a train to face "the wrong way". (Actually, I remember in the 1950's, commuter trains in New Jersey had seat backs that the conductor tilted around at the terminal station, so every seat faced the right way, in both directions of travel. Of course, those would be unsafe in a short stop or collision, today. They were also covered with real woven wicker fabric. And that railroad went out of business, and is now subsidized by the government.)

All that said, I found Google pretty helpful. When I put in "EC1289 Deutsche Bahn", the first result was a non-DB site with the word "Composition of". For at least 40 years, that has been the title (when English happens to be used ... ) of the boards on the train platforms in Europe that show the carriages of the major trains.

http://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=OeBB&cislo=1289&nazev=DB-%C3%96BB-EuroCity&rok=2016&lang=en

If you click on the photo icon, the interior has very modern seats, but 50% of them face the wrong way. It's also interesting to note that it implies (OBB) that the cars are owned by Austria. See also:

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/other/seat-reservation.shtml

My remark was only about the length of the trip. I can't judge on the necessity of a certain seating arrangement. The only thing I know is that a reservation of certain seats doesn't give an absolute guarantee.

I had my travel agent through AAA purchase our train tickets for our Munich to Paris trip last summer. Glad I did since those in the USA can not pick their seats they are just assigned to you, we were assigned to two different first class cars and told to have the engineer straightened it out once we were on the train. Luckily she straightened it out before we left for Europe.

After posting this I was corrected in that seats assignments could be picked. On the train I took it was not an option. Check out the Man in Seat 61 website, it has great information on train travel in Europe.

Use the Deutsche Bahn directly, and you can choose your preferred seats. No problem using them. Payment by credit card and an emailed pdf for printing at home. First or second class is a must-debated issue. I don't see the advantage of first class. A little bit more room, but second class isn't cramped or otherwise uncomfortable.

interesting to note that it implies (OBB) that the cars are owned by Austria.

Because they are. The Austrian Federal Railway (Öbb) anyway.

Trains turn around from time to time during their journey, and from day to day. If seat 23 is facing east one day it may be facing west on another.

If you have three seats facing three seats (or two-two), can some of you just switch seats every so often? Or alternate spending some time in the restaurant car?

Flying might be an option, but getting into Venezia from the airport takes a lot longer than arriving by train.

On long train rides I would prefer sitting in the same direction as the train (Fahrtrichtung), but if you get a reservation that has you sitting the opposite way, I'll take it, or if I board without having first reserved and see a seat opposite of the train direction, I'll sit....no use to be picky, other travelers on the coach will be doing that. You can bet the train will change directions anyway esp after it stops at a major station.

You can bet the train will change directions anyway esp after it stops
at a major station.

We are talking about an EC from Munich to Venice. The only direct train, EC87, does not change directions in any major station between Munich and Venice, so whatever direction they are facing to begin with is the way they will face the entire trip.

Five of the six of us need to face forward.

I think you are confusing want to with need to. But anyway, the train starts in Munich so it will be brought empty to the track well before departure time. Get on early and find seats you like before everyone else gets there. There will probably be a lot of unreserved seats (as indicated by lights above the seats). Other than that, if you reserve seats you probably have a 50-50 chance of riding backwards. But that's really not so bad.

I don't know where WagonWEB gets there information, but I don't think EC1289 exists, or has existed for many years. I've been looking up rail schedule for over 15 years and as far back as I can remember, the trains from Munich to Verona have always been EC81-EC89. I checked with German, Austrian, and Italian Rail and with RailEurope, and nowhere could I find anything else but EC81-EC89. The EC that leaves Munich at 7:34, which coincides with WagonWEB's EC1289, is EC81, and it doesn't go to Venice, it goes to Bologna. You have to change in Verona for a train to Venice.

EC87, which leaves Munich at 11:34, goes direct to Venice Santa Lucia. It's the only EC that goes to Venice.

EC89, which leaves Munich at 13:34, only goes as far as Verona.

The 1st class fare from Munich to Venice is only available from German Rail for the direct EC, 87. The full fare is 157,50 €, but you can get a 1st class, advance purchase Savings Fare ticket from the Bahn for as low as 59,10 € and, that includes a seat reservation. German Rall allows you to specify more than 5 people and get a special group rate.

You said you got a fare of 186 (what currency?) from RS. RS doesn't show specific fares. He does have a map of approximate fare for 2nd class ($100) and says 1st class should be about 50%. That would make his approximation of the fare $150. The only place I found a $186 fare was from RailEurope (not RS), which is notorious for adding a big profit in their prices.

interesting to note that it implies (OBB) that the cars are owned by
Austria

I suspect those are Austrian Rail cars from Salzburg or Vienna added in Innsbruck. I watched one of the ECs going to Italy go through Muenchen Ost a few years ago. It had a mix of Italian Rail cars and German Rail cars but no Austrian Rail cars.

It's a rather long train trip. Can you spare a whole day from your
vacation for this jump?

By the time you take the S-Bahn from the Hbf, from where the EC leaves, to the MUC S-Bahn station and walk to your check in counter, you probably will spend an hour, and you should really get there 1½ hours before flight time to go through security and boarding time. The flight takes about an hour, so you'll have 3½ hours invested by the time you get to VCE. And you can't get off the airplane immediately, it takes time to deplane and find ground transportation, then it's 20 minutes into Venice. So I'm guessing you'll spend 4-4½ hours flying vs 6½ hours for the direct train. Neither way will take a whole day, but both take a significant portion of your day.

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Thank you to all for your responses. It was helpful. In the end, I decided to go directly to the Bahn.com site, as we are six persons and I would have had to split up the reservation on any ofthe other sites. We may have ended up split between two cars. After making my request for 6 persons on the EC1289 for May 6, I was directed to a GRUPPEN (group) site on Bahn....apparently it works differently for groups of travelers over 5. I filled out the information and then was instructed to wait for an email or call. A couple of days later I received an 'offer' from them that detailed the trip costs, etc. Next, I had to call them to confirm I would take it. That was was an ordeal in itself. In the end (and with much persistence) I was able to get through to someone who spoke English and give her my credit card information, etc.

Regarding the information from the last post, we are, in fact, taking the EC1289 on Saturday, May 6, 2017. That is the train number in the schedule. It departs Munich at 7:34 a.m. and goes directly to Venice at around 1:30 or so in the afternoon. This direct train (at 7:34 a.m.) only runs on Saturday, I believe. In any case, that is what we were looking for......not to have to get off the train in Verona and switch. Interestingly, I was told by the group reservations person I spoke with at Bahn that first class on this train is all compartments. Strange...because on other re-seller sites they ask if you prefer open saloon or compartment and I have seen pictures on some sites showing the train cars and it appeared that both were available. In any case, I've lowered my expectations all the way around from when I first posted my topic. Regarding the issue with facing forward, we'll just have to invest in some Dramamine and take turns sitting forward and backward...or go to the dining car. I'd have preferred open saloon, but if there are only compartments we'll sit there.....but if it turns out she was mistaken, we'll wander into open seats in the first class open saloon car. Thanks again.