I am flying into Zurich on 6/29, staying the night and next day, then planning on taking a night train on 7/1 to Amsterdam. I already have my hostels book for Zurich and first two nights in Amsterdam. Since I will only have 36 hours' advance to make a night train reservation (I already have my eurail pass) I am very concerned that I will not get a seat (I was hoping to just do the cheapest reclining seat option). I looked into making reservations from the US through Rail Europe, but they want to charge me $97, and they have to run my CC before they even know if there is space. Should I pay the $97 dollars and hope to get a reservation? Or just risk not making one and hope they have an available seat, what are the chances that they will?
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
Be Very Concerned!!! Unfortunately, 7/01 is a Friday, and popular, and this is short notice; nevertheless, you can TODAY book a €69,00 'day couch' reclining seat ticket on Deutsche Bahn. If you want to be very conservative and call the Euro at $1.50/€1,00, that's about $103.50...but it's printed at your home or office, and in hand. I've heard of people who reserved trains through Rail Europe only to get an email from them later that they couldn't make a reservation for their customer for that train after all...not cool. You can book through DBahn because the train is actually a German CityNightLine train, and not Swiss or Dutch. This is for an actual seat purchase/reservation, not just a passholder reservation. If you choose to do this, don't wait; on the last Friday in July the same train seat is going for €129,00! Of course, it could've gone for €29,00 with another month or two advance notice... I STRONGLY ADVISE NOT WAITING until you get there!!!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Does that $97 include shipping or is that extra? Right this instant, a reclining seat on that train is available from the Bahn website for a SparNacht (Savings Night) fare of €69 ($101). As Eileen points out, you can order the ticket right now, online, pay with you credit card, and print the ticket out and have it in hand in a few minutes, today. http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de