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Using oebb.at to book night train Vienna to Venice with railpass

Hi there, I tried searching on this and didn't find it, so my question is, how do I choose a railpass reservation only fare when booking via oebb.at? I can't seem to find "Railpass" as a fare choice. We have 1 month Global passes. I have to book thru the Austrian site vs. Trenitalia, because we are leaving for Europe on Saturday, and there's no time to ship the tickets here. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance! -Dominica ETA: Also, on the Trenitalia site (different journey) where it says "Card Number" next to where you choose "Global Pass", which number from our railpass are we entering here?

Posted by
19052 posts

I looked for the "aufpreis" on the Austrian Rail website, but couldn't find it. When you pick a night train connection, it will show you available accommodations, with prices. You pick one and continue and it leads you through the booking process on the next three screens. I didn't see the resrevation option on any of those screens. On the third screen I would have had to input my name, email, and credit card number. Even though a note on the bottom of the screen indicated that I wouldn't be billed at that point, I stopped there. Possibly on the next screen, it gives you the option to pick a full ticket or the accomodation only (reservation) part. That's about the only way I can think of that you can do it. One other thing you could do, book the CNL night train from Venice to Rosenheim from the Bahn website. You can book just the reservation and have it sent to you by email. Get off in Rosenheim at 5:50 and take the next train, probably regional (no reservations) to Salzburg, and an express train from Salzburg to Vienna. You can purchase the Salzburg to Vienna reservation at the Hbf in Salzburg. You could book in Rosenheim a reservation for the next express train to Vienna. There is a RailJet at 8:02.

Posted by
32512 posts

just a note that Railjets do not require reservations but they are available. Also, as it is so late in the process would you stress less if you just dealt with it in Vienna when you get there this weekend?

Posted by
16 posts

I am actually going from Vienna to Venice, not the other way around, sorry for the confusion. We arrive in England this weekend, but don't get to Vienna until June 2nd, so I have some time to figure out how to buy tickets. Thank you for the Railjet suggestion. I will check out that option. I'm hoping someone who has bought these tickets under the same circumstances (online with a railpass) might see this post.

Posted by
19052 posts

Sorry, I've been dealing with several people who want to book Venice to Austria. The Munich to Venice night train is also bookable, starting in Rosenheim, for pass holders online from the Bahn. The difference here is that you will not be able to use the "7 PM rule" for the leg between Vienna and Rosenheim, so the trip will require two days of your rail pass. With that in mind, you might want to look at Vienna to Rosenheim as a point to point ticket, either Sparschiene from the Austrian Rail website or a Savings Fare from the Bahn. Alternatively, you might consider the entire trip, Vienna to Venice using the Salzburg to Venice EN night train with a discount ticket from Austrian Rail. Note, the CNL night train has been going from Munich to Innsbruck via Rosenheim and over Brenner Pass to Verona and Venice for years. According to the schedule, in early June it will be combined with the EN night train from Salzburg to Venice, and will go directly from Munich to Salzburg and no longer stop in Rosenheim. It also might not run every day. There will still be a night train from Munich to Italy, they just won't split out cars in Verona to go to Venice. And that train will get into Verona at 2:37 AM!

Posted by
16 posts

How do I buy a discount ticket (for Railpass holders) from Austrian Rail? Can I only do this in person, and not online? That was pretty much my original question. I'm concerned about waiting until we're in Austria to book the night train to Venice, as we are traveling with 2 toddlers, and I wouldn't want the sleeper compartments to be unavailable to us.

Posted by
19052 posts

I would not wait until I was in Europe to book the night train. A lot of night trains sell out well in advance, particularly for the desirable accommodations. However, I have not found a way to book the pass holder fares on Austrian Rail. The alternatives I gave you were to either use the Bahn website, which does allow pass holder booking, for their night train or to buy point-point tickets online from Austrian Rail and not use the rail pass.

Posted by
8700 posts

Here are two ways for you to buy your sleeping accommodations before you leave home: 1. Phone the Austrian Rail Call Centre and pick up your reservations in Vienna. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 43 (country code for Austria) + 5-1717. 2. Go to raileurope.com. Click on "Contact us" and send them an e-mail explaining that you want to buy your sleeping accommodation supplement from them and you need it sent to you by overnight express mail.

Posted by
16 posts

Okay, good advice. Thank you. I sent Austrian Rail an email yesterday. Will call them by Friday if they don't respond. If we can't get a sleeper, we'll just take the Railjet and try not to worry about it.