We are doing just three legs in Austria--Vienna to Salzburg, Salzburg to Melk then Melk to Vienna, all on different days. Would we be better off with point to point using the Vortielscard or a eurail pass? When purchasing the Vorteilscard at the train station in Vienna, what type of I.D. will they want. Do they just want to see the passport or do they need a picture to keep. Also, will my USA drivers license be sufficient I.D.?
Kate
Not sure about the card you mentioned. Passport and DL should be plenty of ID.
Here is the link for the Austrian Rail Line. Check on the P-T-P fairs and compare to the card.
Passports are the preferred form of ID here, banks, ticketing, etc.
If you dont get better advice on this page, compute the cost of point2point tickets for your trips and compare with the cost of the RR pass you intend to buy. The number of days you use the pass will determine if it is the better buy. I usually find it cheaper to buy p2p.
The Vorteil card costs €100 per person and gives you a 50% discount on tickets, so unless you plan on spending more than €200 each on tickets, it would not pay. For instance, 1st class Wien to Salzburg is about €77, so you would save only €39. Salzburg to Melk is €58, 1st cl, so you would save only €29 more.
Yes, you would need a photograph.
Another thing to consider about a Vorteil card is that it automatically renews, and you will be billed for the next year unless you submit a written refusal. Make sure you get the form for that when you get the card!
Up to 5 people can travel all day long on any regional trains in Austria for €28 with an Einfach Raus Ticket, which is sort of like a Bayern-Ticket for Austria. Regional trains will stop more often and, therefore, take a little longer, but the savings would be substantial.
As a general rule a day on a eurail pass is going to cost more than point to point for your relatively short legs. I haven't used the Vorteilscard. If it's similar to the lander or beutiful weekend fares in Germany, it's only good on local trains after the normal commute time. If it's not, maybe you can find some similar fares. Since you are going in and out of Melk, a local train may be your choice anyway.
Kate,
who is 'we'?
If you are traveling with children the Family Vorteilscard is definitely an huge bargain, adults get 45 - 50 % discount, the children travel for free, adding up to huge savings.
If you are just adults, you'd be better off with tickets like 'Einfach Raus', as already mentioned, since the Vorteilscard is meant for savings within a period of a year, and therefore cost €100 a piece (passport as identification)
I hope this helps.
You will love Austria :-))
I also meant to mention that the Family Card only costs €20 per family.
Corinna, you should also mention that with the Vorteilscard familie, at least one of the family's children under 15 has to be traveling with the group.
Thank you for doing it for me, Lee :-))
If you have the time and haven't done it yet, I would recommend a river cruise from Melk to Krems through the Wachau Valley and then a cheap point-to-point train ticket from Krems to Wien.
In my experience a Eurorail pass does not generally save you money for train trave within a small country like Austria. But you need to do the arithmetic. Have fun!
