Anyone have experience with train options from Vienna to Budapest?
Looking for the cheapest places to book online.

Four of us are travelling, two will be coming from Canada: I've heard
that European rail tickets are cheaper if bought beforehand outside
Europe, might it make sense for our Canadian companions to buy all 4
tickets from there?

"Timmy D" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > Anyone have experience with train options from Vienna to Budapest?
    > Looking for the cheapest places to book online.
    > Four of us are travelling, two will be coming from Canada: I've heard
    > that European rail tickets are cheaper if bought beforehand outside
    > Europe, might it make sense for our Canadian companions to buy all 4
    > tickets from there?

When I did this in 2003 I booked at one of the Vienna train stations a few
days before - it was good value and I got a ticket that gave me "free"
travel on Budapest public transport as well. The trains were almost empty
(this was in September).

Michael <[email protected]> wrote:

    > "Timmy D" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > > Anyone have experience with train options from Vienna to Budapest?
    > > Looking for the cheapest places to book online.
    > >
    > > Four of us are travelling, two will be coming from Canada: I've heard
    > > that European rail tickets are cheaper if bought beforehand outside
    > > Europe, might it make sense for our Canadian companions to buy all 4
    > > tickets from there?
    > >
    >
    > When I did this in 2003 I booked at one of the Vienna train stations a few
    > days before - it was good value and I got a ticket that gave me "free"
    > travel on Budapest public transport as well. The trains were almost empty
    > (this was in September).

Do you remember roughly how much it cost?

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Interesting. I'll be making the time at a slightly busier time, a
weekend at the start of July.

I wouldn't mind more detail (as the other poster asked) if you can
recall price, name/type of ticket, etc. Thanks.

"Timmy D" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > Interesting. I'll be making the time at a slightly busier time, a
    > weekend at the start of July.
    > I wouldn't mind more detail (as the other poster asked) if you can
    > recall price, name/type of ticket, etc. Thanks.

I'm sorry, but I don't recall much of the details now. I'm pretty sure that
the return fare was less than about 40-50 GBP, the ticket was some sort of
special
excursion where I had to specify the travel days out and back (I was in
Budapest 4 days). I didn't
actually ask for that particular ticket - the ticket clerk at the station in
Vienna asked me my travel
dates and then said that this ticket was the best value. The inclusive
Budapest public transport was very helpful - the ticketing system seemed to
be extremely complicated!

"Michael" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected]
    > "Timmy D" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ups.com...
    >> Interesting. I'll be making the time at a slightly
    >> busier time, a weekend at the start of July.
    >> I wouldn't mind more detail (as the other poster asked)
    >> if you can recall price, name/type of ticket, etc.
    >> Thanks.
    > I'm sorry, but I don't recall much of the details now.
    > I'm pretty sure that the return fare was less than about
    > 40-50 GBP, the ticket was some sort of special
    > excursion where I had to specify the travel days out and
    > back (I was in Budapest 4 days). I didn't
    > actually ask for that particular ticket - the ticket
    > clerk at the station in Vienna asked me my travel
    > dates and then said that this ticket was the best value.

Unfortunately this ticket doesn't exist anymore.


A full fare one way ticket costs 38,2 EUR if bought in Austria,
32,4 EUR if bought in Hungary (so it's better to buy the ticket
for the return trip in Budapest).

You can buy a Rail-Special ticket at
https://ticket.oebb.at/bin/iticket.pl?FPLFILE=#xmlid
(unfortunately the booking site is in German only...). It costs
EUR 19 (one-way). Note: This isn't a flexible ticket, so you have
to specify the train you'll take. No refund or changes are
possible after you buy the ticket.




--
Helmut Uttenthaler,
Graz

That's helpful, thanks. I'm only going one-way anyway.

The 19 euro one-way ticket isn't just available online: we got it from
the booking office in the Vienna railway station a few days before
travelling to Budapest. This was a few months ago. When we got on
the train we were slightly confused to find that our allocated
carriage didn't exist and the train was actually going to Belgrade,
but we reckoned that it probably had to go through Budapest first, so
we just got on :-) The journey itself was fine and the border check
not very onerous.
--
-- Chris.

We'll only be in Vienna a day or two before leaving, so I'll probably
buy our tickets online first...providing I can find someone whose
German is better than mine, to read the fine print. :-)

<[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected]
    > The 19 euro one-way ticket isn't just available online:
    > we got it from the booking office in the Vienna railway
    > station a few days before travelling to Budapest.

However, it's better to buy the ticket in advance. Only few places
in each train are sold at that fare so it might be possible, that
this fare isn't available at short notice...


    > This
    > was a few months ago. When we got on the train we were
    > slightly confused to find that our allocated carriage
    > didn't exist and the train was actually going to
    > Belgrade, but we reckoned that it probably had to go
    > through Budapest first, so we just got on :-)

There are some trains continuing beyond Budapest to Bucuresti,
Beograd or Timisoara.



--
Helmut Uttenthaler,
Graz

"Timmy D" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected] oups.com
    > We'll only be in Vienna a day or two before leaving, so
    > I'll probably buy our tickets online first...providing I
    > can find someone whose German is better than mine, to
    > read the fine print. :-)



It's not very difficult:


1st page:

Abfahrts-Ankunftsbahnhof: Choose 'Wien West - Budapest via
Hegyes.'

Datum der Hinfagrt: Choose the date of your trip. You can buy
online tickets 1 month in advance.

Datum der Rückfahrt: Choose "Keine Rückfahrt" if you want to buy a
one-way ticket only.

Klasse: Choose '2. Klasse' (2nd class)

Sitzplatz-Reservierung: Choose 'ohne Reservierung'

Reiseteilnehmer: Choose the age of the first passenger (aälter als
14 = older than 14)
Add additional passengers by clicking 'Reiseteilnehmer hinzufügen'

Ermässigung: Choose 'keine Ermässigung'

Zahlungsart: Choose way of payment

-> Click 'Weiter im Bestellvorgang'





2nd page:

Choose 'Railspecial' and select your departure time (Abfahrt um
hh:mm, train)

Kundendaten (passenger data):
Anrede/Titel: not required
Nachmame: second name of one passenger
Vorname: first name of that passenger
Email: your email-address (recommended, you'll get a copy of your
ticket)


Zahlungsdaten (payment data):
Kreditkarte - Nummer: number of your CC
Gültig bis - expiry date

Tarifbestimmungen: accept conditions.

-> Click 'Weiter im Bestellvorgang'


3rd page:

Check data and then click "Bestellen" to definitely buy the
ticket.



After some seconds you will see the ticket on your screen and you
can print it. The link to the ticket will be sent to you also via
email. The ticket will be available at that link untill the
departure date.

You can board the train with the printed ticket (you need not to
get to the ticket counter)




HTH,


Helmut

Danke, Helmut! I could figure most of it out, but was worried about
missing the fine print.

If I can only buy 1 month in advance, then I'll have to wait a bit,
since I'm not travelling until July.

One thing I just noticed: it seemed to give me the same price (€19)
whether I selected with (mit) or without (ohne) reservation. Don't they
usually charge for this?

"Timmy D" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected] oups.com
    > One thing I just noticed: it seemed to give me the same
    > price (?19) whether I selected with (mit) or without
    > (ohne) reservation. Don't they usually charge for this?

Usually they do. But if the price is really the same, I'd make a
reservation. If you don't like the reserved place you can choose
another (free) one. But a reservation isn't necessary, I don't
think that trains are very full on that route.



--
Helmut Uttenthaler,
Graz