Berlin-Warsaw Express

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi,

the BWE has compulsory reservation for travel within Poland and international journeys. Within Germany you dont need a reservation. Reservation fee for international journeys is 4,50€.


Flo 8)

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

Thanks! Still wondering why the ticket office lady was insisting on 23 €. Later today I'll ask at a different station. Perhaps I have to explicitly specify that I want the reservation only for Warsaw-Frankfurt(Oder). I'll let you know how it went :)

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

So, the people at the bigger station in Austria were insisting on 23 €, too. I now asked a Polish friend of mine to buy the reservation for me directly at Warsaw main station, because they told me it might be 4,50 € only when you buy it in Poland or Germany. Let's see how it works out...

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Very strange indeed. I'll be at my station this weekend and try it as well. ;)

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

What's even stranger is the people in Warsaw told my friend that a reservation was not possible but that you could still buy a normal ticket.

Well, this has to be nonsense, right? (Or at least I strongly hope so.) Which leaves me with the question how I'll get that famed 4,50 € reservation if the Austrians charge more for it and the Poles don't want to sell it. I'd rather not check out things in Warsaw myself at my arrival, because the Berlin-Warsaw Express may already be fully booked by then (it's a Sunday). I'll try to get a friend in Germany to buy the reservation and send it to me by mail. Man, this is needlessly compicated! :'(

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

I was at the station yesterday and was quoted the 23€ reservation for passholders (tariff code 44). Very strange.

I again all official documents of DB and the always mention the 4,50€ supplement/reservation for travellers with tickets like InterRail. Unforunately there also seems to be no possibility to get it online, only at ticket counters; so the option of sending the reservation by mail could be an option.

Anyway...I doubt the train will be fully booked, but then, there is no guarantee. If that really happens you could still go with other, slower trains to get to Berlin, but that would require at least 2h more in the train and changing trains in Poznan and Frankfurt/Oder. But at least you would get to Berlin the same day.


Flo 8)

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

Thank you! :)

Berlin is just an intermediate stop for me, so unfortunately I have to use the fastest option. I'll let you know if getting it by mail from Germany for 4,50 € actually worked out.

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

Here's an update. I had a friend of mine ask at the Deutsche Bahn counter in Salzburg, and unfortunately they were telling her the same price stated before by the ÖBB people (23 €). This sucks... I'll give it another try in Breclav on my way from Vienna to Warsaw and then try directly at Warsaw main station :(

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Thanks for the update. :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hum... :(

I again checked the official tariffs of both DB and PKP Intercity and both documents (valid from last december) still quote the 4,50€ for the reservation (5,50€ in 1st class). It seems very strange that this might have been changed silently to 23€ in the meantime... But I fear I cant help you otherwise...

EDIT: Well, I just stumbled upon the bord pass tariff that obviously applied if you just enter the train without having a reservation. It seems that this is 4€ only...probably worth a try.. ;)


Flo 8)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

OK, I have confirmation that a reservation with InterRail should be 4,50€/5,50€. No idea what's the matter with the 23€ reservation... :((

EDIT: Try to get the reservation without entering the tariff code (44) for InterRail, then it should work to get the 4,50€ reservation. :)

nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments

this was-by expert Ralway bookers-all explaiend on a german forum for train-fans
it meant that for GERMANS-who cannot use IR in home-country, the fare is 23€-as they pay half fare for the egrman part+ RES. The clerk quoting the 23 has hit the wrong code.
And VERY strange this is not at all-when I now read various Qs on this forum, i get same impresion as explanation for amny other queries. For these people it is also impossible to know all prices and methods-they see them maybe once in every 2 or 3 years

christianmilano
Traveller
8 comments

OK, so, I've been to Warsaw main station and got the reservation for 4 EUR (or the equivalent in Polish currency) without any fuss at the counter, except for the fact that the lady did not really speak English and another Polish friend of mine had to interpret :) I got the reservation one and a half days before going, but the train was quite full on Sunday, so I guess I was a bit lucky and I recommend others to get it earlier.

The DB/OEBB thing remains a bit of a mystery.

Cheers! :)

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi. Thanks for this final real-time information. Have a sunny tour. Peter :)

Kisi1992
Traveller
1 comments

I found this Topic on Google because i had the same problem.

The man at the ÖBB-Station says, the ticket cost 27€, because it is an Express-Train.

After that, i found this Topic. So, i went back to the ÖBB-Station and the friendly man says, he found something about that, he used a other discount-code and sold me the Ticket for 4€.

I think, first he used the discount-code for a german interrail-passenger. (The Train cost from Berlin to Frankfurt-Oder ca. 26€)

When anyone other find this topic, i hope this help him.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

Thanks for your post! :)
I had the same issue in 2013. In the end it turned out that if you use the regular code for an Interrail reservation (44) you will get the 23€ reservation which is needed if you have a German Interrail pass and you need to pay extra for travel in Germany.
To get just the reservation it is sufficient to book a regular reservation without the Interrail code. When we found out about that in 2013 the clerk at the ÖBB counter told me that he would inform the responsible office about that but apparently nothing has changed since. :D


Flo 8)