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How to buy train ticket from Vienna to Prague from USA!

How to buy train ticket from Vienna to Prague from USA!

Old May 9th, 2011, 01:39 PM
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How to buy train ticket from Vienna to Prague from USA!

Thanks!

My wife and I need to travel from Vienna to Prague on Saturday, May 28. One way. We need to be in Prague by approximately 1:30pm because we have to meet a guide at our hotel at 2:30pm. We are staying at the Steigenberger Hotel in Vienna and the Golden Well Hotel in Prague. This is the only train we will be taking on this trip to Europe.

With this background, please........................
Easiest website to use to purchase tickets? Prefer simple even if have to pay premium.
Do you just pay with credit card?
Do you reserve seats at the same time?
Do they email tickets?

Don't know why this is confusing to me but it could be because it is over my pay grade.
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Old May 9th, 2011, 09:33 PM
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Try www.oebb.at, Austrian railways.

A bit fiddly - you have to hit 'English' again when it switches back to German half way through - but it works.

Tickets are either self-print or collection at any OBB station.
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Old May 9th, 2011, 09:45 PM
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BudgetEuropeTravel.com.

Call the 800 number. Very knowledgeable and helpful.
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Old May 9th, 2011, 09:58 PM
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There are several different train stations in Vienna. I believe direct trains to Prague depart from the Vienna (Wien) Meidling station.

Train to Prague takes about 5 hrs, so you'd need to see if there is a train about 8am to get you there by 13:30.
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Old May 9th, 2011, 11:39 PM
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On teh 28th of May, the 08.25 train, (Gustav Klimt) from Vienna Meidling will get you to Prague main station at 13.19. No stops on the way - should be a pleasant ride, particularly in the section north of Brno.
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/prague_photos.html
Hope it helps
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Old May 9th, 2011, 11:45 PM
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Try www.eurail.com or www.raileurope.co.in

Advisable to make reservations in advance. Since this is the only train journey you will be taking you can buy point to point tickets online.
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Old May 10th, 2011, 12:40 AM
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options of www.trainticket.com or wwww.raileurope.com, both are very easy to use. Yes you pay by credit. You dont have to reserve seats once you buy the ticket. Tickets are normally sent out
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Old May 10th, 2011, 04:21 AM
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The train station Wien Simmering ( Vienna Simmering ) may be more convenient for you to use than Wien Meidling .

Just 1 minute walk from the Steigenberger Herrenhof.
This UBahn line U-3 takes you directly with out a change to the Simmering station - you simply then just take the lift to the train tracks located above.
single ride ticket is 1,80 euro.

for vienna transport info

www.wienerlinien.at

Meidling station is a longer ride via public transport or taxi.

depending the time you wish to leave a special discount ticket purchased in advnce costs just 29 euro to Prague- 2nd class .

These known as Sparschiene tickets are restricted to certain trains.
Regular ticket can be bought on day of travel without worry.

Do not use such ticket agencies as Raileurope - almost always a considerable mark up on tickets when compared to dealing direct with the national carrier.

Ticket as mentioned above casn be purchased on line
www.oebb.at
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Old May 10th, 2011, 11:36 AM
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As always I recommend first class for folks like the OP - the only train trip they will take - in my decades of European train travel I have learnt the significant benefits of first over 2nd class - especially if you have luggage. Don't scimp a few bucks and go in the most relaxed way IMO.
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Old May 10th, 2011, 03:36 PM
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Thanks for asking this question Phillip, as I am doing nearly the exact thing...including staying at the Golden Well Hotel!

Any chance you can tell us about the hotel upon return? Trip report? Or just return to this thread? FB?

Hope you have a WONDERFUL trip!

thereyet
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Old May 10th, 2011, 03:37 PM
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Duly noted PalenQ.
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Old May 11th, 2011, 06:17 AM
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I very much appreciate everybody's excellent advice. Based on the fact that we were looking for simplicity/expediency over price, I called Budget Europe Travel @ 800.441.9413.

The total price for 2 first class with seat reservations came to approximately USD360. It was higher than normal in that I waited too long and they had to overnight the tickets. They were extremely helpful. They actually told me that this train is not normally full so I could purchase tickets at the station. He checked several times to get us seats at the window facing each other. He explained why the train was not leaving from the main Vienna station. He gave us train number, platform, car number and seats. Because time was of the essence, we decided to pay the premium and buy via telephone. They called me last night about 6:30 and gave me the FedEx tracking number.

Several months ago we tried to find plane tickets. No service. Yesterday, we started out looking at Rail Europe. We actually almost completed the purchase process but we could not find where they explained how to get the actual tickets before our departure.

"thereyet" I tend to be too lazy to do trip reports but will be delighted to return to this posting and give you our impressions. We will be back in USA on May 31st. We have private guides in Nuremberg, Vienna, Salzburg and Prague. We are making a day trip to Salzburg from Vienna. I noticed that the prices at Golden Well Hotel are up substantially since we made our reservations. We have reservations for dinner one night at the Golden Well. These arrangements are post river cruise. When are ya'll leaving?
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Old May 11th, 2011, 06:34 AM
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That's too bad they charged you $360, when the price to book at www.oebb.at online and print out your own ticket at home would have been 59 euro, or about $160 total for two first class tickets.

Thanks for the heads up to the rest of us on how to save $200 in the future.
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Old May 11th, 2011, 06:35 AM
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That was 59 euro each ticket, 118 euro total for 2x first class tickets.
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Old May 11th, 2011, 11:32 AM
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Ouch. A $200 markup on a $160 tickets sounds steep.

I think I'll follow Man_in_seat_61's advice to use the Austrian rail website www.oebb.at and not BudgetEuropeTravel.com.
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Old May 11th, 2011, 01:09 PM
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HI Phillip, we will be there first week of August. We will spend the last week of July in Vienna.

Looking forward to hear about your impressions. Have a blast.
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Old May 12th, 2011, 12:40 PM
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That was 59 euro each ticket, 118 euro total for 2x first class tickets.>

Well you are comparing apples to oranges IMO by comparing 2nd class tickets to first class tickets - IME of decades of European rail travel I adamantly anyone who is not on a starvation budget and staying in hostels to go first class - there is a world of difference, esp if you have luggage.

You can eat perfectly well in Europe in McDonalds but I wager you go to fancy restaurants instead. Double standard IMO - valaue your train trips - esp those of 4-5 hours as much as you do your choice of hotels and restaurants. And not everyone is nickle and diming it.

What would the cost of first class tickets be from Austrian Railways - that is what you should compare it to.

And ipod robbie did you read what phil posted the folks at Budget Europe told him he could buy tickets there cheaper - gave him that info, rare IMO for any travel agent to do - RailEurope would not have and by the way Man in Seat 61's web site has a commercial link to RailEurope and he sells the same tickets on his web site at same prices - I am assuming Budget europe used Raileurope as most agents do - so the same thing both agents seem to have said cheaper to buy there. And I have used Budget Europe myself many times to buy railpasses and not individual tickets and can attest to the uncanny great service where they advised they could buy cheaper there and would find no problem doing so.
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Old May 12th, 2011, 12:48 PM
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There is nothing whatsoever wrong with second class on Western and Central European trains. (Eastern Europe, maybe.) If you travel with too much luggage I suppose you could make a case for first class, but otherwise the carriages all arrive at the same time, and second isn't noticeably dirtier. 180 euro per ticket for Vienna to Prague is crazy high, no wonder I keep reading about it being cheaper to fly. For that part of the world I usually buy on arrival in a city for departure, certainly for day travel.
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Old May 12th, 2011, 01:06 PM
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I'm sorry PalenQ, but I don't understand your post. The price for 1st class tickets on www.oebb.at is 59 euro ticket. I don't get your apples to oranges analogy here, but maybe it's me. Please tell me what I'm missing.
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Old May 13th, 2011, 12:54 PM
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That was 59 euro each ticket, 118 euro total for 2x first class tickets.>

J62 I misread that as 2nd class and do deeply apologize for that - the 2 x - so stupid not to see the first class and thus retract all I said - good info - usually folks are indeed comparing 2nd class to 1st class so I read too quickly and am chagrined by doing so.

My apologies.
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