ok, so I know you train guru's get asked this all the time, but I am trying to book a night train from Paris to Rome in May,eurorailways.com is 48 per person with a eurorail pass,total of 123.00 with fees, raileurope is 140 without shipping, and then euroaide of course has the 50 dollar one time fare, these prices seem high for a night train are they? Which website do you suggest booking with?
Thanks
Lindsay
The train is for May 10th.
Norm, the Aufpreis used to be one of the columns from which to select, with radio buttons, after you selected purchase, but they seemed to have discontinued online booking of passholder reservations a few years ago.
I don't remember if that ever appeared on the DB site or if it was only on the CNL and Nachtzugreise sites when they were separate from DB.
For day trains you can still select "seat reservations only".
RailEurope has a selection for night train reservations.
Do these sound like high prices? Unfortunately, from third-party providers, no, they're not high. One of the problems you're running into is booking reservations on a very popular overnight train less than 2 months before travelling. These trains are popular, and tend to book up very quickly.
According to euraide.com, the in-Europe supplement price for railpass holders for the Paris-Rome night train is €25 for a bunk in a 6-person couchette and €45 for a bunk in a 4-person couchette. German Rail sells reservations for night trains that either begin or end in Germany. I don't know if they'll do that for your route, but it might be worth a phone call to find out. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 49 (country code for Germany) + 1805 - 996633.
Actually, Tim, it is my understanding that if you call German Rail (at that number), they can sell, over the phone, any tickets or reservations that you can buy from a DB counter in Germany. I've never tried this personally, but I believe some people have reported that they have actually done this. If anyone has successfully done this, or tried it and it didn't work, please let us know.
I'm guessing that they have to manually access another data base to book tickets outside of Germany, and that is why there online system can mostly only sell only tickets for trains with one terminus in Germany.
I know of two exceptions to this "rule":
Connecting trains in Switzerland. For instance, you can purchase online a ticket from Munich to Interlaken with a change of trains in Zurich. From Basel, you can purchase online a ticket to Interlaken from the Basel Bad Bahnhof, which is actually in Switzerland but considered a DB "border station", but you cannot purchase online a ticket from the SBB (Swiss Rail) Bahnhof in Basel.
City Night Line (CNL) is a subsidiary of German Rail. They run night trains through Germany. A few CNL trains have both termini outside Germany (e.g. Amsterdam to Zürich or Vienna). You can buy tickets with reservations online for these trains.
Note: DB used to sell reservations only (passholder fare or supplement for accommodations, called Aufpreise) online for night trains, but I don't see them anymore.
If you do call German Rail, probably you will not immediately get someone who speaks English, but they will put you on hold a few minute for someone who does.
German Rail should sell you those couchette-6 reservations for €50 (2 x €25 pP, $69 @ exch. rate + 2% CC charge), plus a small amount for postage.
If you go through Euraide, it should be $69 plus $50 S&H, or $119. Euraide actually has a DB ticket terminal in their office in Munich, and they print your ticket just like any DB counter, then send it to the U.S. and charge $50 for the service.
Lee...did'nt the DB website also have, at one time, a check box if you only wanted a reservation?
lindsay, i've just booked db reservations, for my eurail select pass (1ST CLASS)using the 011 number above to reach germany db tickets direct. please press #9 after reaching the german language voice message which then goes to english speakers. used credit card to purchase three reservations which will be held within the computers of db, accessible at station ticket machines-my 1st stop, frankfurt airport, and will download all three reservations there. there is a security system which the agent will explain-it was really easy. good luck. larry from springfield.
lindsay, p.s. the cost for these reservations was 35 euros.
