sleeper fully booked for sept.- how?

September 22nd is during Oktoberfest. That may be why it is fully booked.

But I didn't think you were able to even buy tickets that far out.

I ran into a similar problem trying to book tickets for 1 July from Amsterdam to Munich. These tickets on the City Night Line service can be booked 180 days in advance, but that seems to be in advance of the day the train arrives, not the day it leaves. I found it to be a bit frustrating as it offered a deep discount for the sleeper 180 days before the departure date, but it would not allow me to complete the booking processes. The following day I tried it again, and I could complete the booking, only the deep discount was no longer there for the sleeper. We needed room for 4 people, and it turns out that the discount only is available for a limited number of tickets. It is like airlines here and the deeply discounted fares. I ended up getting 4 sleeper seats for 29 Euros each. After I booked mine, I checked again, and the price was now 59 Euros each, so there were only 4 of the really cheap seats. I just checked your dates, and 1 person can get a sleeper for 139 Euros, Cont'd

Susan and Monte, I have been following your continued struggle to get to Munich from Rome. Cheap airlines are booked on Oct 6. Can't get on the night train (I'm suspecting that the night train cannot be booked this far out and it just shows "full" although is is Octoberfest). This has to be very frustrating.

I don't know how your schedule is set up but I would like to suggest breaking the trip up into two different days with an overnight off the train somewhere in the journey. I would suggest Verona which is about 1/2 way and a beautiful scenic city. For example, Day 1 - Rome to Verona. 5hrs. with one train change in Milan. Tour Verona and stay overnight there. Day 2, Verona to Munich. 5.5hrs with no train changes.

This should be an easily bookable journey. Just a thought.

Two people the price jumps to it jumps to 175 each, and three to 465 for a three berth cabin and 565 for a double and a single.

If you make two separate bookins, you could book one single economy at 139 euros, and then the double economy at 350 euros, making the total 489 euros, just 24 euros more than the 3 berth room.

I am also in the Pacific time zone, so if you tried this before 4 pm today, you were still at the 180 days from departure and 181 days from arrival time. It is now almost 7 pm, and you are at the 179/180 date. I would try again and see if you can complete the booking now. There is an 8 hour time difference until this weekend when they go on DST in Europe. That is why if you tried before 4 it would not work, but it does now.

All of this information came from www.bahn.de on the top right corner is a small German Flag with a drop down menu to switch to English. You will have to register on the site to make the purchase.

Good Luck,

Kevin

Thank you all so much for your ideas and help. Maybe I'll wait until the 180 days and see what is available at what price. Then, if it is not what we want we can also do as Larry suggested and do it in two stages. Great idea Larry! We were actually hoping to see Munich some before we return on Wednesday to the US, but we can also try to schedule that when we arrive. I really appreciate the support you have given me when I'm so freaked out as to what to do. Thanks!

I misread your post, and I thought you were traveling on September 22nd, now I see that you are traveling on October 6th. That means you will want to try to make your booking after 3 pm pacific time on April 10th. That will be after midnight in Europe on April 11th, which will make it 180 days before the arrival of the train.

You should not need to break the trip into two parts if you book that day, but you may want to split the booking inorder to get the discounted fares.

Keep us posted on how this comes out for you.

Kevin

Do you mean that I should book two people for one sleeper at one time and then book a second time for one person in a sleeper car that would hold three people? Then we could all be in the same sleeper...is that what you mean?

Not exactly, if you all want to be in the same cabin, then you have to book all three at the same time. When you put the info in on the website it will give you various options including 3 people in a 3 berth cabin. An alternative that will be listed is to put two people in a double cabin, and one in a single cabin, in other words splitting you up. If this is your preference, i.e. for a couple traveling with a parent, then it is cheaper to make a single booking and a double booking separately if you can get one of the cheap fares. Otherwise, if you want all three of you in one cabin, without other people in the cabin, then the 465 euro triple is the best bet. Anything else will be more expensive, or you will be sharing with other people.

Does that explain better? If I am still not clear let me know, I tend to analyze costs to death using numerous excel spreadsheets in planning my families trips.

Kevin

Yes Kevin, that makes perfect sense. Thank you for the idea!