Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Posted 1 year ago
I am trying to book overnight sleeper train from Prague to Zurick 21.06.23 sleeper for 2 people with toilet and shower. However if these have gone a sleeper with just hand basin will do. I have not purchased a euro rail ticket because this is the only train trip I will do until I get to Zurich. There I will use my Swiss travel pass.
Am I too early to book From Prague to Zurick overnight sleeper 21.06.23??
I have booked all my swiss train travel without any problems. But I have read a few blogs etc and can not find out what I am doing wrong.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hi!
Where have you been trying to book your sleeper ticket?
There might be issues with scheduled track works etc - but will have to check.
Flo
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
Firstly, there is no such thing as a "euro rail ticket" - avoid any site that suggests otherwise. A Eurail Pass is something else and you seem to have made the right decision not to buy one if it's just this and Switzerland.
You don't say where you have tried booking, the best place if you don't speak Czech will be www.nightjet.com owned by Austrian state railways (although the Prag-Zurich cars are run as a sort of franchise arrangement by Czech state railways).
My guess is that this is a problem we came across about a few weeks ago. This service is a victory of marketing over fleet engineering. A lot of mdeia noise was made to announce that it would run but at a time when they didn't have the cars for it! They then did a deal to lease cars from a company that "refurbished" some old cars that were sat doing nothing. The service launched in mid December and within weeks it had all gone wrong because of faults and the cheaper couchette cars with withdrawn - which will put pressure on the sleeping car (singular, there is only one with between 12 and 34 beds depending on how people book)
The train is EN40458, any other faster itinery will involve change of trains and may affect whether you can reserve beds. Nightjet show availablity of compartments for 2 with shower and toilet on your date but only at fully flexible prices. That's €478 for two people.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
I would recommend to take the through car via Austria anyway ...
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
The problem with EN50466 via Austria is that it hasn't run yet and who knows whether they will have the car ready for it in June. It's supposed to do a few trips next week (school holidays??) and around easter but doesn't start daily service until summer. Only one car goes through to Zurich. So far there is a big gap in the schedule on bahn.de If there is a compartment available now on EN40458 I'd book it (especially if you have to book it at flexible prices) because if EN50466 turns out to be a non-runner you could find miss out completely.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
??? It hasn't run yet ???
What is the source of this information?
CD would sell me a ticket for tomorrow though.
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
slight correction, according to the bahn.de database the train that will run in June has the dates I gave - but other versions run on other dates. They are selling tickets with sleeper reservations for tomorrow - but not for the June date in the enquiry and the alternative directtrain is on sale and won't last long. It would always be possible to get a ticket for the overall journey because EN50466 isn't a real train, it's just 1 (or possibly 2 according to DB) through cars that leave Prague as part of the regular evening train to Linz, then wait there for about 3 hours to couple on to the the regular Budapest-Zurich EN train. If you had to change you could avoid the wait by getting a different EN from Linz (which couples up to the original plan at Salzburg!). Nightjet aren't selling 50466 on the night requested but are selling the other trains from Linz.
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Thank you for your reply. So from what I understand from all replies. There is no direct sleeper train from Prague to Zurich.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
@MisterSteve: you said that 50466 (or: the direct sleeper via Austria - it is just one car) hasnt run yet. What is the source of that information? The sleeper is running daily, why should it be a "non-runner" I dont understand.
I am aware of the problems with the new train via Germany.
The sleeper (50466, this is the "commercial" train number) is carried by trains 337 - 462 - 466.
@Eve: there are actually two; the train via Germany and the train via Austria.
If you look at cd.cz/en (website of Czech Railways, of course available in english and my preferred way to book this train) you will find both trains for your travel date - but booking is not available yet.
Booking is currently possible up until May 23, so 3 months/90 days in advance - I would check the website every other day to check if booking for future days will open accordingly.
There is no evidence
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Thank you. Today when I looked both trains were visible with sleepers. However when I tried to get a price. The message came up.that there trains are not available for bookiks on line only buy phone. I do not know if the phone link works. I did not try because of the time difference. I will.try around 8pm Queensland time. The link I am using was given to me buy the Prague tourist information center. Thank you for you help. It is the same link you have given me. I have registered and I log on everyday to have a look.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
cd.cz is the website of Ceske Drahy, the national railway company of Czechia so thats fine.
However, I have just found an announcement on ÖBB website (Austrian Railways) that says that the train via Austria (50466) wont run between June 15 and 29, sorry. :\
This is obviously not yet integrated in the online schedule planners which still show this train.
So your option remains to take 40458 via Germany - check availability via cd.cz
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Thank you I had decided to book the 40458 train. I have checked again. Guess I should be more patient and wait till 90 days prior and it will.work out. Do I book and pay a reservation fee for sleeper then pay for train ticket or can I get the sleeper in the one purchase?
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Everything will be in one purchase - ticket and reservation.
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
for 40458 use www.nightjet.com - it will lead you through to chossing sleeper compartments and add the reservation fee into the ticket price as you select options.
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Thank.you all very much for your help. I think I have enough info now to get my tickets when they becaome available to purchase on line.
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Hey MisterSteve. This is what happened...I made my choices. I was so excited it was going threw. The last step was payment. It gave 2 choices credit card or Pay Pal. I tried both pay Pal and Credit card options and it said not available.. My friend took over and tried tried several times to no avail.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
At what website did you try to book? Did you also check cd.cz?
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
what do you mean by it said not available? Nightjet checks availablity and quotes a price, and then asks for passnger details before you get to the payment page. It might sell to someone else if you delayed (but what you wanted is still shown as available) or it might just be refusing your payment. This is a common problem with foreign transactions because the third party card handling companies might refuse cards from some areas due to them not having EU standard online security, Paypal may also require verification to EU standards (does your Paypal account have your contact details for verification?) . You may have used the card to buy air tickets but that could have gone through a payment process outside EU. I don't know whether Aus has the correct standards in place, Americans get caught out because a lot of their card companies haven't caught up. And sometimes card handling companies just get it wrong, the one used by Swiss railways once blocked all foreign cards for a while!
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
No my card was not refused. When I choose payment methods it did not ask for card number or any details. I message came up.that this method of payment was not available and when I choose pay Pal the other method offered the same happened. There is nothing wrong with my card and it has no money owing. I have been using it with all.other transactions on this holiday. Swiss rail, etc. My card is well known and I always use it when I travel.
MisterSteve
Traveller
909 comments
I didn't think it had anything to do with money owing, but PSD2 security rules. If it took your details at the stage between choosing train and selecting payment method, and presumably you selected Australia in the phone contact code list, it may have a blanket ban on transactions from Aus (and various other countries). Try www.cd.cz instead or www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
Eve
Traveller
7 comments
Ok thanks, I will try the other sights you gave me. I Think my travel friend has already tried the cd.cz. No harm in trying again.
argon
Traveller
347 comments
From other peoples they took the EuroNight trough Germany , i know that he booked his tickets on a ticket maschine on Germany , maybe you could book your ticket on a czech (or in Swiss / Austria)ticket-machine . Best regards
argon
Traveller
347 comments
Oh i see , at the website from the German Railway you could book your tickets now , with a price from 278 € to 358 € (two person , second class) , the offer named "Sparschiene" . Link : https://www.international-bahn.de/en/upsale/1544891178/0/1?token=c6fbb313037a25ca0033b5a7