Anna1013

I posted another thread a few days ago needing help for a friend who was traveling from Zurich-Munich. I just got in contact with her today, and she said it would actually be better if their family took the train from Zurich-Bad Reichenhall instead.

Everyone who offered there tips were a great help, but I did want to just double check that I'm doing the fares correctly with the bahn.de site.

There real journey is 10-07-08, but since bahn.de doesn't accept dates for far in advance, we decided to use a date in September(09-10-08) instead.

I was hoping for the 19 euro fares that the Zurich-Munich trains had, but I'm sure those are only for major destinations. The best we could come up with was a fare of 195 euros(39 each) for there party of 5. However, once we clicked on that selection, the website stated that "the single ride is no longer avaliable" - does this mean that we can no longer get this fare for this rate since it is sold out?

Underneath that was a 245 euro fare(49 euros each), which said was avaliable for purchase.

I'm guessing that these are the best prices my friend can purchase for this journey - are there any other ways that I can get them a better deal? Should I try plugging in a different time for the same day? I have selected 9am as a departure time - would a later time offer better prices?

I forgot to tell my friend that once you purchase these saver fares, you cannot change the date or the time. Anything else I should let her know?

Anna1013

Ok - I just tried plugging in all kinds of dates from either July, August, or September and either Bad Reichenhall is the new hip, happening destination in Europe or I am really, really doing something wrong.

On all the dates I selected(and at various times of the day) I could never get the 195 saver fare - every time I selected it I got the "single ride no longer avaliable"...what am I doing wrong?

ira

HI A,

I doubt that you are doing anything wrong.

A: Those cheap rates can sell out very quickly, since there are so few tickets available.

B: They aren't available at all.

I tried getting a 19E discount fare at 00:01 of the day they went on sale - no luck.

They appeared 2 weeks later for a few days.

Cowboy1968

I had no problems with a dummy booking of one €39 connection for Sep 10 and the 7.16am departure from Zurich with transfers in Munich and Freilassing.
€19 fares are somewhat rare, and often only available between major cities.

Anna1013

Ira - thanks for your help. I sort of figured these saver fares sold out quickly, but hopefully my friend can purchase them quickly enough.

Cowboy1968 - what time did you pick for your departure? Do you think it's a cheaper fare since it's so early in the morning? I'm glad that some 39 euro fares are still avaliable.

I forgot to ask - can you pick your seats when you purchase your tickets? Also, does my friend need to print out some sort of ticket? I just want to let her know all of this before she makes her purchase.

Cowboy1968

Actually, I used a departure time around 8am or so, and then clicked on earlier and later trains, until I had the whole a.m. on display.
At more "comfortable" times only the €49 were available, as you mentioned.
Once you book the tickets, you will be able to make reservations (but you can't pick specific seats), and eventually this type of ticket will be mailed (no online print-out possible).
I would not care about reservations anyway since your friends will be traveling off-season and not on a weekend. Most trains will commence in Zürich, so they should have enough seats to choose from...

Anna1013

Thanks Cowboy - I've never heard of a company mailing the tickets to you...does that mean you can pick them up at the train station?

So as far as seating, is it just on a first come basis? You just decide where you want to sit when you get there?

Anna1013

Another question that just popped into my head - would the bayern ticket be applicable for this journey?

Anna1013

topping