Hello! I am trying to purchase ticket for the night train that goes from Budapest to Munich. I notice that when it's time to select the preferred train, it shows "Check Availability" (in a gray box) instead of "Purchase" (in an orange box). I go through the process and enter all my information, but end up getting an error message: Dear Customer, An error occurred during the booking process for the night train. Please try again later. The error has been recorded. We apologise for any inconvenience. Does this mean that the train is fully booked already? If yes, is there any avenue I can take to secure a ticket to this specific train (other than booking on a different schedule, of course)? Thank you for any help!
C
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
It probably just means that DBs site is down for maintenance. Lots of sites do this on Sunday night/Monday morning. Try again tomorrow.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
I think the gray "Check Availability" message always (?) appears with night trains, because there are a variety of accommodations, some of which might still be available, some not. When I click that box, I get a table of types of accommodations and type of fares. It might help if you give us a date. I checked several dates over the next three months and did not get that message.
Posted by
OP
San Diego
3 posts
Thank you Michael and Lee for your quick responses! I plan to travel on 29.12.10 Also, the error message only appears after I go through the whole process of selecting seats, putting in my payment information and hitting purchase. I have been attempting to purchase the ticket since Saturday morning to no avail. I will continue to try and hopefully be successful tomorrow. I also checked raileurope.com and it seems I can secure a ticket there for a pretty penny, upwards of $200. And I suppose I can also purchase the tickets by phone and at least be made aware if the train is indeed fully booked.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
OK, I didn't go as far as putting in my payment information and hitting purchase (I didn't want to buy tickets). I really think that if you had made a selection on the page that says, "Your offers for the selected connection", and pressed "Check and book", it would have told you then if the particular accommodations were booked. The fact that you got beyond that, to putting in your payment info, indicates to be that the seats are not all booked and it's something with the payment system, and that's what the message you got implied. But, it it were just a problem like the link to the website to check your card info was down, I would think they would have that fixed by now. I'm wondering if it might be a problem with your credit card number, but I think there would have been a message for that. I think that you should call German Rail. There is a branch in UK and they speak English, but I don't have the number. If you call the number shown on the website, in Germany, you'll get a voice message in German, but if you stay on the line it will be answered by a person. That person probably won't speak English, but if you say, "Do you speak English", or just "English", they'll say "Moment" and an English speaking operator will be on the line in a few minutes.
Posted by
Kuala Lumpur, SELANGOR, Malaysia
2 posts
Hello, I am getting exactly the same message. An error occurred...... after i hit the 'Buy button'. I tried to book more than 10 times on 23/10/2012. Still received the error message. I booking from Malaysia. Plan to take a night train from Munich to Paris on 15/12/2012. Please help!
Thanks.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
Per Michael's post above, it might be that booking on the site was temporarily unavailable. I just looked up the night train leaving Munich on 15 Dec 2012 and got all the way in the booking process up to entering my CC# (not going to do that).
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32791 posts
be careful of information from the original thread, its over 2 years old
Posted by
Green Bay
20135 posts
CL, your credit card company may be blocking the transaction because of fraud detection. Have you notified your credit card about the purchase? That is the case in the US these days.
Posted by
OP
San Diego
3 posts
Yes, check with credit card company first. In my case, I ended up calling on a friend from Germany and he also had trouble purchasing the ticket online. He wound up walking to the nearest train station (through feets of snow!) and buying the ticket from the lady behind the counter, and then mailing it to me in California. Ah, good friends! I should give him a call one of these days... :-) Good luck! Paris and Munich are amazing cities.
Posted by
Kuala Lumpur, SELANGOR, Malaysia
2 posts
Dear all,
Rail consultant from DB UK booking Centre replied that the night train in December 2012 is blocked for booking due to time table change. i was asked to resubmit my booking in a week time. i cannot wait so i book the morning TGV train and the booking went through without problem. Thanks.
Posted by
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
1 posts
I am having the same problem for the Munich - Rome train on January 3rd. If anyone finds out how to get a ticket, let us know please.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
The only Munich to Rome connection you can book online on the German Rail website is the CNL night train. The day trains from Munich don't go all the way to Rome. The best you can do during the day is an EC from Munich to Bologna, which you can book online from the Bahn, and an Italian ES* from there. You can book the ES* from Italian Rail or just take your chances when you get to Bologna. You could also book the entire route with a phone call to German Rail.