For the last month, we've been trying to get train tickets, including sleeper reservations, from Vienna to Krakow, but so far we haven't made much progress. From what we can tell, the leading U.S. source is RailEurope, which was recommended by the Austrian Tourist Office. We called them, but they said they have had lots of problem getting these tickets. So they suggested buying the tickets locally, i.e., in Vienna. All of which is fine, except that the sleeping compartments may well be sold out by the time we get to Vienna, all of two days before we need the tickets. So we called the Austrian tourist office again and they put us in touch with the ticket office at Vienna's Subbahnhof. We sent a message and got an answer within an hour. They needed additional information, which we sent immediately. That was five days ago and we haven't had an answer even though we sent two follow up messages. Seems quite strange. So we sent a message to the Austrian Tourist Office again. We also sent a message to our hotel in Vienna, requesting their help if we would need it. At the same time, we called several U.S. companies who claimed to be able to get European train tickets, but they declined to help, saying that "Eastern Europe" is a problem. We also called the concierge service for our credit card. We've had two phone calls from them and the information they provided gave no indication that they had any idea what we were looking for. I cannot believe that what appears to be simple is proving so difficult. So I'm asking for ideas on how to get this taken care. Many thanks for your assistance.

You can ask by e mail for estimates from other agents, whom I list below, who know how to book on your train, and who will book you by e mail. I suggest you re-mail all of them with the same message, and compare offers.

Euraide in Florida, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...e/homepage.htm, telephone 1 941-480-1555 fax 1 941-480-1522 [email protected]). Also they can book through four firms in Britain:

European Rail Ltd Tavistock House North Tavistock Square London WC1H 3HR England Phone: +44 (0) 20 7387 0444 fax: +44 (0) 20 7387 088
Home page http://www.europeanrail.com/fs_home.htm
e-mail via http://www.europeanrail.com/fs_contact.htm

Trainseurope Ltd, of Cambridgeshire and London, take credit card bookings by phone and mail tickets to any address. Have the widest access in Britain to rail systems and tickets. http://www.trainseurope.co.uk/ - E-mail [email protected]. Phone 00 44 900 195 0101 - calls from Britain cost 60p per minute, maximum 5, but if the enquiry results in a booking, the cost of the call is deducted from the final invoice. Phone Mon to Fri 10 to 5 British time

German Rail UK: www.deutsche-bahn.co.uk/ Phone : 00 44 870 243 53 63 then 6. Fax : 00 44 208 339 4700. E-mail : [email protected]
Ffestiniog Travel, site http://www.festtravel.co.uk, e-mail [email protected], phone 00 44 176 651 2400

For international tickets, berths and seats Trainseurope are ten percent cheaper than German Rail UK or Ffestiniog Travel. For domestic Italian trains they are cheaper
again. German Rail UK are cheaper than Trainseurope or Ffestiniog Travel for domestic trains within Germany and may be competitive with Firm for international trips with a big proportion of miles in Germany. Trainseurope take Visa and MasterCard, but not Amex or Diners.

Please would you tell us in this forum names of agents who said they could not book you a sleeper out of Vienna. They are living 15 years in the past.

You can tell them you want a 3 berth or a 2 berth sleeper on a date you give, to leave Vienna South at 2157 and reach Krakow Glowny at 0548. Or for about 25 euros extra you can leave Vienna South 2157, reach Warsaw Central 0650, change, take the 0715, wash and shave on the train, breakfast in the restaurant car, snooze, and reach Krakow well slept at 0955.

Krakow Glowny station has pickpockets in gangs of three, so ten minutes before you get there your husband should put a credit or debit card and a little cash in a front pocket, and all other valuables in a packet in your biggest suitcase. At the station it is convenient to step from the train, take a luggage trolley, take the lift up to the station roof, there find the taxi rank, hire a cab with a phone number painted on the side, ask for a stop at an ATM (bankautomat) and drive to your hotel.

My thoughts exactly: I cannot believe that what appears to be simple is proving so difficult. If you kindly tell me what estimate each agent gives I shall use that info when advising enquirers in future. Welcome to Europe, despite the palaver.

[email protected]

Many thanks, Ben. Here's where we stand now:
I received a message from the Reiseburo at Wien Sudbahnhof telling me that I should book online. Then I called the Austrian tourist office in NYC for assistance with the German. They said to contact the Reiseburo again and request that they issue the tickets directly since the online form is intended for Austrians. So I sent a message back to the Reiseburo with all the details including a request for their fax number so I could fax my credit card information. I have had no response to that.
The agents who were unwilling to make reservations and get the tickets for us were:
Rail Europe
Europe Railways
All Europe Rail
Within the next few minutes, I will send messages to several of the sources you provided and will post the results once received. I find it incredible that such a simple task has proved to be so byzantine.

Thanks again,
Russell

I have just sent messages to TrainsEurope (London), European Rail (London), Euraide (Florida) and await their reply.

Although I am aware of the alternative via Warsaw, we prefer the earlier arriving train to Krakow since we plan to have breakfast at the Metropolitan and then drive to Zakopane. I believe the Metropolitan opens at 7 a.m., which will give us time to deposit our baggage at Left Luggage in Krakow Glowny. We are hoping to be ready to drive from Krakow Glowny by 8:30 and arrive at Zakopane about two hours later.
I'm wondering how much of a problem, if any, there will be leaving luggage at that hour. I believe they are open 24 hours. Also, how much concern should we have about pickpockets that early in the morning? We've been to numerous airports and train stations without incident so far and I'd like to think that reasonable precaution should be sufficient.

Russell

I was in Vienna about a month ago and saw a train that was leaving Vienna for Krakow. Is it possible to purchase tickets for a train from Vienna to somewhere between Krakow and then get tickets from that place to Krakow? For example, Budapest is only a few hours by train from Vienna. Maybe you could take a train to Budapest and then try to get a night train from Budapest to Krakow? Or check Bratislava, which is less than an hour by train from Vienna, and get a night train from there? I know it would be an extra step but it may be easier than dealing with trying to get there from Vienna.

I understand your frustration. We went through a similar ordeal when purchasing sleeper car tickets/reservations from Vienna to Florence. We had our selectpass purchased but not our reserations for the sleeper car. It took several phone calls before we could get it taken care of.

Best of luck!
Tracy

Tracy

Thank you for your suggestion. There is little question that the connection from Vienna to Krakow is anything but unusual. The problem, from what I can tell, is that U.S.-based travel agents tend to get nervous about reservations that are slightly out of the mainstream. If this were nothing more than a plane ticket from JFK to Heathrow, even the least experienced travel agent could probably handle it. But now we're talking about a train arriving in Krakow, which until 15 years ago was behind the "Iron Curtain." For travel professionals who are reasonably up to date, this is no big deal. For all others, it may appear scary. What seems puzzling is that the travel agent at Vienna's Suedbahnhof is either too lazy or too inexperienced to get me a prompt and proper answer. My Vienna hotel, however, happily agreed to assist, if need be. The good news is that Ben Haines, who I believe is based in London, has referred me to several travel agencies who have competence in these kinds of things and who, I would hope, will be able to respond completely and without deley to my request. I would expect to hear from one or more of them within the next day. At that point, the task should be nothing more than comparing the details of their offers and selecting the most appropriate package of knowledge and service. Once I have more information in hand, I will post same.

Note to Ben Haines:
A day has passed since I sent messages requesting train reservation information from TrainsEurope, European Railway, Euraide, and Deutsche Bahn UK. So far, only DB has answered, indicating that these tickets can only be issued by local authorities. I await a response from the other three and remain hopeful that at least one can take care of this for me. That aside, I am appalled at the lack of responsiveness from the Reiseburo at Wien Suedbahnhof. They certainly are in a position to take care of this for me, but have been extraordinarily lax in providing assistance.

Russell

Hi,
Why don't you check out:
http://www.intercity.com.pl/en/main

and specifically:

http://www.intercity.com.pl/scripts/...0G?ówny

Train called, Eurocity "Sobieski" connects stations Wien Sudbahnhof with Krakow Glowny. It's not a night train but it is a direct connection. The train leaves early in the morning and arrives in Krakow around 1PM (trip takes around 6.5 hours). First class is about 66 Euros, 2nd class is about 43 Euros. You have to add 3 Euros for seat reservation (required).

Have fun!

Just a suggestion, but why not call the place in Florida? I believe it's a small, home based business, so it may take some time for e-mail response, but if you talk to them, I have heard they are very helpful in procurring a ticket, and if they can't they will direct you the right way. Person to person conversation is always better in situations like this.

Good luck!

Hi Russell,

I wish you the best of luck! Suedbahnhof is definitely the smaller and older train station in Vienna so I'm not surprised by the lack of help! How long will you be in Vienna before you leave for Krakow? I doubt you will have much problems getting a sleeper car (they seem to be filled mostly by tourists only), so if you can't get it reserved in advance, get to Suedbanhof as soon as you can once you arrive in Vienna and purchase a reservation. Its aggravating I know because who wants to plan their vacation with the chance of not being able to get somewhere? If you do get anymore responses, please post them. I am interested to find out what will happen. Good luck!!

Tracy

Here's today's update:
Both the Deutsche Bahn UK and TrainsEurope have indicated that they will be unable to get tickets for us. We are still awaiting responses from Euraide and Ffestiniog Travel. I am disappointed that these people are so unresponsive. Whether a large operation or small home-based service, responsiveness has an important bearing on reputation.
The only significant positive development was the arrival of the fax number for the Reiseburo (travel agency) at Wien Suedbahnholf, which certainly is in a position to take care of this. So I have faxed my request with complete details to my contact there and can only speculate as to whether that will make any difference.
At this point, I tend to doubt that I will have any luck with agencies outside of Austria. If the Reiseburo comes through, it should take place within a few days, if at all. If not, I will contact my hotel, which I believe will get it done.
We are committed to the overnight train since we are planning to leave Krakow directly upon arrival in the early morning for several days in the Tatras and Slovakia. And, of course, we would much prefer the chance to sleep for a few hours to the thought of attempting to do so while sitting up. The alternative of waitinng until arrival to make the reservations does not sit well with any of us. We are quite sure that the proper reservations can be made in advance. The question is: Who is going to get it done for us. With all due respect to the travel agencies who claim expertise and experience in handling these kinds of things, it has become increasingly clear that what really should be a no-brainer is, even at this date, a substantial challenge.
I'll post more if and when there are new developments. Stay tuned.

Latest development:
In response to my message to TrainsEurope expressing my disappointment at their inability to get the tickets for us, they reversed course and said that they could indeed get the tickets. The problem they now point to is the "difficulty" in shipping tickets to the US. I found that a bit much. Even so, they said that if I would be willing to pay 7GBP (not exactly a big deal) for their delivery service they would be willing to make the reservations, issue the tickets, and send them to me. In the midst of this, I had faxed the complete reservation request to the Reiseburo at Wien Suedbahnhaf and await their reply. In the past, with one exception, they have been very slow to respond. Even so, I cannot take the chance of accidentally having two sets of reservations. So I sent a message to TrainsEurope requesting the fare details and specifically directed them not to make the reservations until I tell them to do so. I have no idea whether the Reiseburo will actually do something in response to my fax or will ignore it. I will contact them again tomorrow to attempt to get the answer to that. As far as TrainsEurope is concerned, it will be interesting to see if they bother to get the fare information or drop the matter since I have not given them a green light on completing the transaction.
This whole effort boggles the mind. How did we ever manage to land a man on the moon?

Apparently, we have finally made some progress. I sent a message this morning to "our" ticket agent in Vienna requesting answers to the following questions: Are you going to get the tickets for us? When will we receive the tickets? I also sent a message to the Director General of the OEBB stating that I planned to file a formal complaint against the ticket agent for failing to assist us. Within one hour, I received a response from the ticket agent stating that reservations had been made and the tickets would be mailed at the beginning of May.
Based upon one earlier message, I estimate that the cost per person was $67. That includes the ticket charge as well as a berth in a T3 compartment. I understand that we received a group discount since there are six people in our party. When I finally receive the tickets, perhaps a month from now, I will update the details.
Aside from the OEBB ticket agent, who was very lacking in responsiveness, I will pass on the following:

TrainsEurope: not particularly cooperative, but when pressed they indicated they would be able to issue the tickets. Those who might want to use their services should specify that they would be willing to pay a small additional delivery charge to ensure arrival of the tickets.

DeutscheBahnUK: They won't help you unless you have a UK address.

European Rail and Euraide: No service. Don't waste your time.

RailEurope: Quite responsive and generally helpful (but costly). Their ability and interest in helping you will depend upon which agent answers your phone call. They answer phone calls, not e-mails.

Overall, this has been a very disappointing experience. My sense is that the service personnel generally will avoid transactions that require any extra effort or communication. It's easier for them to handle mainstream matters and ignore others since few people will persist in moving things along to completion. I might have accepted this as "the way things are" if it had to do with one of the more backward parts of the planet. But in Vienna? I don't think so.

Problem is this. The railways in continental Europe are government owned. There's no competition until low-fare airlines start to appear in the last few years. The work force is highly unionized. There's simply no incentives for them to be consumer-friendly.

Looking at the various national rail websites, I can say that there's already a lot of progress.

Yes, and there's also a matter of common courtesy. Or in this case, lack thereof. Which was compounded by outright stupidity on the part of the ticket agent, who should have known that the online ticketing was intended for Austrian nationals, not folks from the States. She also should have known that some of us might not have had sufficient grasp of German to fill out the form properly. That aside, she was extremely prompt in responding to my initial contact and then moved into The Twilight Zone. When I relayed the series of events to my contact at the Austrian Tourist Office, he found them incredible. What seems to have gotten the job done was a call from my hotel inquiring about the status of my request. In response to a telephone call from a local contact, the ticket agent miraculously woke up and e-mailed me with a message stating that the bookings had been made and the tickets would be sent in early May. Shortly thereafter, I got a message from the concierge at my hotel confirming the same details.
I'm fully aware of the foibles of government and quasi-government employees, but they do not preclude the possibility of a response, however brief, to reasonable inquiries, especially if they are followed by fax and phone calls.
Going forward, I would strongly recommend that anyone finding themselves in this position either contact the agency directly (if language is no problem) or enlist the aid of a local (usually a hotel) to find out what's going on. It's easy to ignore e-mail, but telephone calls tend to be more productive in getting responses.

Yesterday and today I phoned eazch of the gour agents in Britain. Each re-=affirned that the are glad to book north Americans, like anybody else. German Rail need an address in Britain to post tickets to. Two of them said that they can book some berths and berths out of Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, and Budapest, but only those which the national rail company has put online to internationally accessible software. That does not stop enquirers asking them.

I have still to find advice from window number 8 at Charing Cross.

Ben Haines, London

Ben Haines, thank you for your continuing interest. Here is the reply I received from Deutsche Bahn UK:
"I have checked it but unfortunately we are unable to provide you with tickets for this service as it is run by local train authorities.

Thomas Huber, Rail Consultant, DB UK"

Here is the latest message I received from TrainsEurope:

"Sorry about that - I'm only the boss and nobody tells me anything! We'll do better next time.

David Gunning"

I believe one would be best advised to book these kinds of tickets locally, i.e., at the place of embarkation. For my party, that would be Vienna. In furtherance of that thought, I contacted Vienna Tourism and received a lengthy file containing complete contact information on several dozen travel agencies in Vienna. I believe one would be best served by making requests through one of these. This would eliminate the apparent hurdle that one might face by seeking to make these arrangements through "other than local" providers. In this situation, the only other material consideration was the "no more than 60 days" in advance provision for issuing tickets. A knowledgeable and cooperative travel agency should have been aware of these issues and presented them for my edification in a timely fashion. In fact, none did. Even so, there are usually various ways to get the needed information and act upon it. At this point, I have received reasonable assurances that my request has been satisfied and hope that my postman will deliver hard evidence of same in early May.
I thank you again for your concern and suggestions. As always, it has been a learning process.