Night Trains
 

Hi:

I'm planning a trip for 4 to Europe this summer. We're flying into Amsterdam and then taking the night train into Prague.

I'm trying to figure out the different classes of accommodations.

bahd.de lists the following as available:

day couch - 4 persons in compartment
couchette - 4 in 6 berth
couchette - 4 in 4 berth
sleeper - various combinations

What's a day couch? Is that the open coach seating?

ISTR that the various night trains had a convertible compartment from seating to beds intended for families with kids. There was even a picture of it on the bahn.de website which I can't find.

And one last question:

We're leaving in July. The prices I'm seeing on bahn.de right now don't show sparpreis discounts. Are those only available within 90 days of trip completion?

Lots of questions, I know....

Thanks,

--Yan

I've been all over Europe by train, but I don't know what a "day couch" is - it's obviously a poor translation of some sort of seating compartment.
A compartment that converts from seats into bunks for four or six people is a couchette compartment ("liegewagen" in German). If you book four berths in a six-berth compartment, you might be sharing with two strangers.
Sleeping compartments have more comfortable bunks and wash basins (or sometimes a shower and WC), but usuually have two or three bunks.
www.seat61.com has descriptions of trains and pictures of the different types of accommodation.

Hi, Geoff was right. day couch is a seating compartment and cant be converted into sleepers.
bahn.de will allow internet bookings 89 days in advance only, i.e. before you start the journey. So it should be possible soon if you are planning to go in July.

Thanks folks. I knew about the 89 day thing; I start on July 1 and return on July 21. What has me confused is that I can now buy non-discount tickets for the trip.

I am wondering if that's because the return trip is more than 90 days out. And so... Do I wait and risk it being sold out? Or do I buy non-discount tickets (700 Euro - Ouch!)

Decisions, decisions....

Night trains aren't normally fully booked a long time in advance. I've rarely booked a night train more than a week or two in advance, and often booked berths a day or two ahead.