Understanding my Train Ticket

It's probably correct. The numbering system is a "throwback" from when the trains had side aisle coaches and six person compartments.

But, who is "Euro Railways"? There is no such thing.

Eurail is a company formed by the national railroads of Europe to market railpasses. Eurail does not operate trains.

RailEurope is an arm of French Rail in the U.S., to sell railpasses, reservations, and point-point ticket (at an inflated price) to U.S. customers.

Thanks, Lee. Euro Railways is a ticket agency. I received my tickets in a folder with the Eurail logo on it (so I hope its real!). I have had the hardest time getting people there to talk to me. They don't list their phone number on their website so all you can do is e-mail and ask them to call me - which so far, doesn't work.

Thanks again!

OK, Emily, you're right. I found them. I didn't compare them to RailEurope, but their prices don't appear very good. Their website shows that they charged $266 for your two reservations, plus an additional $15 S&H.

Per Euraide, the same two reservtations would be available in Europe for €150 ($196 including CC curr conv). Euraide charges $50 to write the tickets over there and ship them to you. However, for that $50, you can get any number of reservations.

I also priced out full fare point-point tickets from Frankfurt to Munich for a family of 4 (parents, 1 child at 14 yo, 1 child at 11 yo). Euro Railways wanted $627 (3@$171, 1@$102, plus $12 premium train fee). Note: they charge adult fare for the 14 yo, $102 for the 11 yo, even though, on German Rail, children under 15 travel for free with a parent. The ticket price on Bahn.de was €182 incl a €4 family reservation. Thats $238 at today's exchange rate + a 2% CC fee. With a non-refundable Dauer-Spezial fare (which Euro RR doesn't offer, that family ticket would be only $209 w/ reserv.

Wow, Lee. That was a lot of work. Thanks so much! I found that their prices were good and a pass ended up being about $50 cheaper than point-to-point tickets.

I don't think you know this, but were you able to figure out if my tickets are a first class private cabin?

Thanks again!

Actually, Emily, it wasn't that much work. I do this all the time, and I know right where to get the information.

According to Euraide, the cost of that cabin is the same (€75) with either a first or second class railpass. Many stateside sellers (last I checked RailEurope was this way) only sell certain night train accommodations (sleepers, couchette 4) with a first class railpass, but according to Euraide, that is not the case for sales from ticket counters in Europe. As I remember, when CityNightLine had their own website they sold passholder reservations (Aufpreise) and the only one that required a first class pass was a single sleeper.

As for it being a "1st class cabin", Eurorailways calls it that, but says that "Each car features one shared wash cabin and a toilet" [my underlining]. That is usually the definition of a 2nd class sleeper.

The train you are taking is run by a company called Artesia. You may want to contact their customer service with your questions.

Emily, here (page 4) is the car layout for a CityNightLine coach. This, of course, is not Artesia, but maybe it is typical. Note, seats (beds) 31 and 35 are in the same compartment.

Wow, Lee. Thank you so much! You have been 100 times more helpful than the company I bought the tickets from.

Thank you for everything.

Have a great day!