clueless20

hi everyone,
i've been trying to book a promotional 29 euro fare from vienna to prague in early june on the oebb website for the last few days without much success. i get to the very last step and then an error message. any thoughts on what i should be doing differently? thanks in advance!

kakijalan

Could it be your internet connection? I did the same thing (for trip in May) and all went well.

beachnana

The same thing happened to me when I was trying to get the 19 euro fare from Vienna to Budapest. I'd enter all the information and at the last step, it would tell me it couldn't process the ticket. I tried almost every day for a couple of weeks. Lo and behold, one day, for no reason I can think of, the tickets were processed. Just keep trying.

molker

If you have any trouble booking - why not call Austrian Rail directly.
Their call/ information center - someone will speak english

43 05 1717

clueless20

thanks so much everyone for all the helpful replies! will try again a few more times online then try calling them by phone!

clueless20

i'm so silly! apparently oebb's customer service had responded to my email the day after i'd sent it, but it had somehow gotten lost in my mailbox (i think because the subject was in german). i had selected compartment coach with window (if possible) and there are apparently only 2 such seats and more than 2 of us, which is why i had gotten the error message! i have now successfully booked my tickets and fortunately the euro has only climbed from ~1.3 to 1.35 in the days since the email was received so happy to have finally gotten the tickets. i printed out the pdf confirmation, do i need to bring anything else with me to the train station? thanks!

yk

clueless, was it a SparSchiene ticket you booked? So you were able to book it via email? I'm just on the OBB website and was able to sort of get through the webpages without an error message, but everything was in german, and I couldn't tell if it's a ticket I can print out at home or it needed to mail to me by post.

clueless20

hi yk,
i think it's a SparSchiene ticket (Vienna to Prague promotional ticket)? i was able to book it online - on the page where you list your dates (destinations already selected the page before) and types of passengers, there's an option for english on the top left side (w/little circles). after i entered my credit card information, a pdf w/ the ticket popped up. i think that this might be my ticket (or maybe it's just a confirmation page)? there was no where to enter my address so i dont think they will be mailing the tickets to me. hth!

yk

DOH! Thanks clueless! For some reason I didn't see the "english" option on the booking page before, but now I see it. I guess i need to get on booking the tix soon as they are running out fast. (I'm looking for Vienna to Budapest, but it's the same special fare.)

clueless20

hi yk, happy to help, especially as you were so kind to help me with my paris/brugge/brussels trip hope you snag one of those special fares (they're such great deals)! btw, does this itinerary look better?

Day 1-3 Paris

Day 4 late PM train to Brugge

Day 5 day in Brugge
Day 6 morning in Brugge, afternoon and evening in Brussels
Day 7 early AM flight to US

thanks so much for all your help!

yk

Looks good to me. Depending on how much you want to see in Brugge vs Brussels, you may want to spend most of your Day 6 in Brussels instead of the AM in Brugge. I can't recall what your interests are, but if you like Flemish art, another option is a quick half-day stop on Day 6 in Ghent. Ghent is on the way between Brugge and Brussels, and if there's only ONE THING to see in Ghent, it is the Ghent Altarpiece by the van Eyck brothers. It's one of the most famous painting among the Flemish Primitives.

clueless20

wow, yk, thanks so much for your very helpful response as always! ghent sounds like a great day trip but i think w/suitcases in hand it might be a little trickier. i'll ask my friend and let them decide. just realized it'll be their bday that day, so we might just take it easy that day (beer and waffles anyone? ). thanks again for all your help!

yk

There are luggage lockers at the Ghent train station, just so you know. Here's my Ghent portion from my trip report to Belgium (and France) from last fall:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-2585611

clueless20

thanks yk! may look into the luggage locker option, and look forward to reading your about your recent trip!