I'm brain dead! I thought I knew how to do this but I can't. I'm looking for couchette and sleeper prices for a specific train, EN477, from Prague to Budapest, Apr. 14, 2012. I'll have a Eurail Global pass so all I need is the cost to sleep. bahn.de doesn't give prices for trains that don't start in Germany, even though in this case one leg of EN477 does. But I'll be boarding in Prague, not Germany. The Czech rail site does not give prices for trains that are not entirely in the Czech Republic either. When I checked Raileurope, which I prefer not to use in general, all they gave me were seat prices on a different train, even when I specified exactly which train I wanted and exactly the departure time from Prague. No help there... I've posted this to the rail department, but I'm also asking the board in general, since I know many of you know how to do what I'm having trouble doing! Thanks.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
This isn't exactly an elegant solution; there must be something better, but... You can book the supplement for a cochette or sleeper on the Bahn for Dresden to Budapest. Couchettes are €14 or €17,50 for a single person in a C6 or C4 respectively. One person in a double sleeper is €39, in a single sleeper, €91. They won't hold your accommodation from Dresden all the way to Prague. But, you can get a Europa-Spezial ticket from Prague to Dresden (about 2 hrs) online from the Bahn for €19 up.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I used bahn.de, but entered Berlin rather than Prague as the departure point. 6-bunk couchette: €14.00 4-bunk couchette: €17.50 3-berth cabin: €26.00 Double cabin: €39.00
Single cabin: €91.00 I imagine that the price will be the same for Prague-Budapest. Be sure you buy your supplement as soon as you arrive in Prague.
Posted by
OP
Easley, SC, USA
306 posts
Aha. Good idea to fake the boarding point. I didn't realize the sleeping cost would be more or less the same regardless of where I board! Thx!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
"I didn't realize the sleeping cost would be more or less the same regardless of where I board!" You are paying a supplement for use of the accommodations for the night. For that part, it doesn't matter where you get on. It's like paying the same for a hotel room whether you arrive at 4 pm or 10 pm. The rail part, which could vary by the distance, is covered by your pass. But the question still remains, "where do you get the reservations in advance, and is there a difference between getting them from German Rail or Czech Rail.
Posted by
Toronto, Canada
4 posts
Hi Tim, how did you find the reservation fees on the Bahn.DE website? Whenever I tried, it said that I can't reserve the seats (and therefore cannot see the fees) without booking a real ticket. Thanks!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
On the opening Query page, do not check the reservation box for "Seat only". When you input the departure and arrival towns, the date, and the time, you get a list of connections. Pick the night train connection, and you should see two column of fares - one Europa-Spezial and one Nomalpreis. Those are full fares, without a pass, but at the bottom of that price is a link that says "Book only extra charge". Clicking that takes you to a page where you choose "Pass offer" and click Continue. That takes you to the prices for "reservations" for the various accommodation options.
Posted by
OP
Easley, SC, USA
306 posts
Lee, This is great stuff. Thx for explaining how to navigate bahn.de in such detail. I have 2 questions: 1. Apparently, you're saying that I can book a sleeper on the Berlin-Prague-Budapest EN477 as if I'm going to board in Germany, even though in fact I will not board till Prague, and it won't be given away before the train gets to Prague since I'd look like a "no show" till then? It did not occur to me that it would work that way. That's cool; a flexibility I didn't realize existed! 2. Not a big deal, but as I plowed through the actual
booking pages, just to see how the process really worked, I eventually got to a page that said, in a banner above one frame of data about what I was investigating, "Extra charge 2nd class". I had previously specified that I would be traveling on a 1st class ticket. Is bahn.de more or less saying "sleepers are sleepers" whether your underlying ticket is 1st or 2nd class? Just curious. Thx again