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Hi - I'm a little bit confused by something. I will be traveling to Prague soon (2 of us) and I was wondering which is cheapest (if indeed there is any difference).

1. Buy a City Star (its about 34 Euro for one person I believe?) - for two?

2. Just buy a normal return ticket (there is quite a big international discount)

I have a feeling they work out the same, but maybe I'm wrong?

Thanks

Alex

Actually CityStar and interstate tariff ZSSK-CD are rather different things. Interstate "preprava ZSSK-CD" it is 50% off standard SCIC-NRT/TCV tariff for Czech part and 60% off Slovak part (when purchasing in Slovakia) or 50% and 55% respectively (when purchasing in Czech Republic).
CityStar is much more tricky, it gives 30% off "preprava ZSSK-CD" for the first person and 20% off fare of the first person's fare for second, third etc. That is why CityStar Bratislava-Prague for one person cost 34.6 EUR (for two passengers 34.6+34.6*0.8 ), while same return ticket Bratislava-Prague with regular "preprava ZSSK-CD" will cost roughly 30% more.
As a rule ticket cashiers in Czech Republic/Slovakia simply issue cheapest option by default (in this case CityStar) without even asking, so most of the passengers might not even know that they using CityStar instead of regular ticket.

Thanks tUt, most helpful. I think I've just asked for a 'return' in the past, and they gave me a City Star (it was 33 Euro last year I think).

But don't you need to specify which train you will take with a City Star? I know which trains I want to take, but I'm just wondering for the future.

Also, I'm planning to return on the SC train (for which I need a 8 Euro reservation). My question is, can I buy this return reservation in Bratislava, or will I have to wait until I'm in Prague?

I think I've just asked for a 'return' in the past, and they gave me a City Star.

Yes, this is exactly how it usually goes - CityStar by default.

But don't you need to specify which train you will take with a City Star? I know which trains I want to take, but I'm just wondering for the future.

No, no need to specify the train. Moreover SC is the only one with compulsory reservation, others are just hop-in/hop-off. The only thing you need to specify is the starting day of validity. Usually cashiers do issue from the day of purchase, but upon request they can make it valid from any day in near future. CityStar, as same as standard international tickets, is valid for one month

Also, I'm planning to return on the SC train (for which I need a 8 Euro reservation). My question is, can I buy this return reservation in Bratislava, or will I have to wait until I'm in Prague?

You can do it in Bratislava without any problems or purchase it online from CD eShop (will cost 174 CZK)

Hi tUt

Just got back from my trip to Prague and I wanted to let you know that I got my SC reservation for free - did they make a mistake? I know that it is free for some tickets - but when I read it (bearing in mind that I don't really speak Slovak) it seemed to say that it was for 1st class, discounted cards, etc, etc.

I bought my City Star at Bratislava station, then asked for two reservations for the SC from Prague to BA. The lady was very confused, and tried to convince me the train didn't exist! Eventually she gave me the reservations, which cost 0 Euro.

p.s - the train is super - well worth getting.

I wanted to let you know that I got my SC reservation for free - did they make a mistake? I know that it is free for some tickets - but when I read it (bearing in mind that I don't really speak Slovak) it seemed to say that it was for 1st class, discounted cards, etc, etc.

That is actually a tricky question, since ZSSK on there own website (http://www.slovakrail.sk/index.php?id=zalohy0) lists 'CityStar' under '7 EUR reservation', but on the other hand we can read under '0 EUR' the following: "vydáva sa len na 2. vozňovú triedu a len k priamym cestovným lístkom v susedskej preprave ZSSK – ČD (vrátane zľavnených cestovných lístkov, CityStar ZSSK – ČD a traťového spiatočného mesačného cestovného lístka Bratislava – Břeclav a Bratislava - Brno)...". Thus obviously they do distinguish CityStar ZSSK–ČD and simple/other CityStars, our guess that this probably the reason for your 0 EUR. Czech railways on the contrary don't bother to make such detailed overview and simply say that (http://www.cd.cz/mezinarodni-cestovani/jizdenka/slevy-evropa/-9329/) passengers need to pay for reservation only with domestic tickets, tickets not purchased from CD or ZSSK and passes. As you can see, with Czech explanation it is more obvious that you don't need to pay for reservation, while with Slovak it is a bit more complicated.
Anyway it turned out to be a good thing that you didn't purchase reservation online