Hollie Krantz

My wife and I will be traveling with another couple on October 31st from Munich to Prague and would like any information you can give us. I have checked http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/detect.exe/bin/query.exe/e and found an overnight trip. <BR> <BR>Here are our questions: <BR> <BR>Do we reserve online? <BR>How do you find out what the cost will be? <BR>How do you know what to reserve? i,e sleepers vs couchettes, windows vs table seats, compartments vs berths, first class vs second class. <BR> <BR>If you have any resources where I can locate this information, I will be greatful <BR> <BR>Thank you in advance for your time <BR>

Bob Brown

Hi Hollie. I keep hoping Ben Haines will pick up on this one; he is our resident train guru. <BR>I can add a little information, but not much. The national rail web sites do not usually give ticket price information for trains that cross international borders. Why? I don't know. <BR>You can get an approximation of the cost if you consult Rail Europe, but I have found its prices to be about 20% higher than the same ticket bought in Europe. (I priced TGV tickets a couple of times and bought in France for a cheaper price.) <BR>Given that the train leaves at night, I am not sure you would profit from a window seat. First class to me is more comfortable than second, but there is not the dramatic difference that you find on airlines between cattle class and business class. (I rode the TGV first class in France twice, and we took the Maria Theresia from Zürich to Vienna first class. In both instances we had a little more comfort and, on the Austrian train, there were fewer people in the compartments, so we could stretch out as much as we wanted to.)Window seats versus table seats are not mutually exclusive categories. The table seats I have seen had the seats facing each other with a table in the middle. The compartments I have seen give you a little more privacy than a berth; and hopefully a little more security if such is needed. <BR>I do not know if you could find a compartment for four; or even if that would be something you would want. Ben described the couchettes to me and they sound like what I rode on once when I was on an American military train. Not the best for sleeping in my experience, but I have not tried them in the last few years. <BR>Given that the shortest run time during the day from Munich to Prague is something like 6 hours versus 9 hours at night, I think I would opt for the daylight trip and sleep in a hotel and have the opportunity to watch the countryside go by. <BR>Of course I can understand that some people feel that they can get double the benefit by taking the sleeper -- you sleep anyhow and might as well be moving to your next destination while you do it. But you cannot see the countryside. <BR>On the assumption that you are staying in hotels, there is for me one distinct disadvantage. You will have to check out of your hotel around 1 PM, which means you will be "homeless" until the train leaves about 11 PM. After arrival, you probably will not be able to occupy your hotel room until after 12 noon. <BR>I can see advantages and disadvantages both ways. But you might want to think through the day you leave as to what you will see and do while waiting for the train. Perhaps a long dinner of 3 hours or so!! <BR>Well those are my thoughts. I hope Ben has the time to comment on this one.

Ben Haines

Dear Mr Kranz, <BR> <BR>No: in October you've no need to book anything, seats nor beds, as few people travel from now until mid December. Instead, you can plan now (if you want) and book your tickets at the rail desk in Frankfurt airport, or in the station under the airport. They take credit cards and speak English. <BR> <BR>I keepthe January issiue of the Thomas Cook Europoean Timetable, which is no longer on sale, and look up fsares. You can find one way fares under "point2point" in http://www.railfares.com. <BR> <BR>Sleepers vs couchettes is a study of itself, and I am attaching my note on this point. You'll see that couchettes are cheerful, crowded, and cheap. If yours are German then you can book just four of the six couchettes, at about 20 US dollars each, and have the compartment to yourselves. Second class sleepers take three people in beach cabin, so the boldest of you can opt to travel with strangers, while the other three travel as a group. In fact, if you book second class sleepers and ask the sleeping car conductor he or she is likely to find you two 3-berth compartments to yourselves. Your judgement on this determines whether to pay first class by night: I'd pay second. By day first class is pointless. <BR> <BR>On day trains saloons have better views through larger windows, while compartments have more privacy for snoozing. The tables are just little shelves under the windows, so those are the best seats. And in fact I imagine the two of you will sit side by side, one at the window and the other on the corridor, of a saloon, or side by side at the wndiw end of a compartment. May I add that whatever seat you book you are not bound to use it. If you see a better seat, with no reservation label, you can go to it. <BR> <BR>I'm afraid I don't understand "compartments vs berths". Berths are themselves in compartments. But I take it that the technical terminology of train travel has tricked you. <BR> <BR>After reading all this (if you do) you'll have further questions: please feel very welcome to put them. Welcome to Europe. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>

Bob Brown

Well, Hollie, Ben did respond. Each time he talks trains, I learn something. <BR>I always read his opinions carefully for that reason. He has ridden on European trains a lot more in recent years than I have. <BR>I will however differ with Ben on one issue -- first versus second class. <BR>Having ridden in both first and second class coaches the last 3 years for several hours per trip, I find that in first class the extra leg room I get and the extra "plushness" of the seats on a long trip are worth the few extra dollars I pay. For the many short trips I have taken, under 3 hours, I can do just fine in 2nd class. But my long legs and arthritic joints appreciate the extra "stretching" space that I can get in first class. As a result, I arrive rested, in a good mood, and ready for the next adventure. <BR>Besides, after putting up with the gosh awful seating conditions in cattle class on trans Atlantic flights, I feel like my anatomy needs a break!! And in France on the TGV, I get a 25% discount for age that helps defray the extra cost! (Wish I could afford $4,000 per person for business class to fly from Atlanta to Paris, but I find $8,000 prohibitive. So I suffer and go.) <BR>I know first class is only marginally better, but for me that margin is enough that it enhances the pleasure of the trip. So I have found it an investment in my well being. Besides my very tall wife gets to sleep on the way so she is alert and ready to drive us when we get to our destination and rent a car. (I am in charge of map reading, route finding, and moral support.) <BR>

Dave

Bob Brown - <BR> <BR>If you can afford $4000 for 2 to Europe, I suggest that you investigate the American Express Platinum card. I never leave home, er, go to Europe without it.