Domestic border-to-border tickets for internatinal trains.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

...if I'm lucky and I still get the 19eur Budapest-Praha

Unless such tickets are sold out due to the limited number, you can purchase them at >3 days in advance online from MAV website. Thus you won't need to purchase it really in advance when you still not sure about your date, but try to do it like 5-4-3 days before departure, then you probably already will know the exact date and still have some chances to catch discounted 19 EUR ticket.

...so 51% ISIC always works for me perfectly both in PKP-IC and PKP-PR

Hmm... recently friend tried to buy PKP-PR ticket with ISIC discount, but didn't succeed. Cashier offered only to sell with discount for PKP-IC and noted that no discount is offered with ISIC for PKP-PR 

So many times I was buying this ticket for my foreign friends (just visiting Poland) and really really rarely anyone wanted anything more than just the ISIC and it was ok.

Well, the main problem here is the knowledge of Polish on level enough to "trick" personnel and pretend to be student from Poland Much easier if you have a polish person buying it for you, but if not, then you might get an issue.

Mhmm, strange...

In both cases (IC and PR), I was simply buying a student ticket, then showing the ISIC. In most cases talk wasn't really necessary (my French friends did it once on their own). But the truth is that the ISIC looks really similar to Polish student card, so maybe the personnel doesn't often waste time on checking details. (non-ISIC international student cards were usually automatically rejected)

By the way, any student discount on PKP is valid only until 25 years old. I'm 27 now, and only once someone checked the birth date on my ID. Illegal? Right, but saving 51% of the price while crossing large distances... After all, I've paid the difference (+1,5eur for any in-train ticket operation, except if there is no counter at the station) and said I just didn't know (which was actually true back then :-) )

Following up the topic I'd like to ask if anyone tried to buy border-to-border ticket for Kelebia-Subotica in Budapest-Beograd train?

I have OSShD ticked for Warsaw-Budapest-Kelebia stretch and simply no special offer is cheaper.
Due to the schedule stop in Subotica it should be no problem with buying Subotica-Beograd ticket there.

Following up the topic I'd like to ask if anyone tried to buy border-to-border ticket for Kelebia-Subotica in Budapest-Beograd train?

As far as we know, you can't purchase such ticket on board of a train. But that is not that big of a problem, since a) you can always buy it in Budapest during change from Warsawa train to Beograd train (or during long stop of 'Avala', in case you choose to catch Beograd train somewhere in Czech Republic). Cashiers at Wasteels agency or international ticket counter without any problem will sell it to you; b) that is not very correct thing to advise, but MAV conductors in any case will get off all the trains in Kelebia, while ZS officials will board it only in Subotica and check tickets already after departure, thus on segment Kelebia-Subotica there would simply be no one to check your ticket

Due to the schedule stop in Subotica it should be no problem with buying Subotica-Beograd ticket there.

Hmm... but you need to account border control and customs. Those relatively long stops are kind of designed for that purpose, so if checks will be longer than usual you might not be able to visit ticket counter in Subotica. Plus trains towards Serbia often tend be a bit late, for instance today Avala is 20 min. late on arrival to Kelebia.

I have OSShD ticked for Warsaw-Budapest-Kelebia stretch and simply no special offer is cheaper.

Just for the sake of interest, maybe you can share the exact numbers of the ticket fare?

OK. So I will buy Kelebia-Subotica ticket or consider the latter advice
and also try to do so with Subotica-Beograd ticket at international counter in Budapest.

I just thought the stop in Subotica is a technical (not for border control) one.

What do you mean in "OSShD ticket fare"?
It is free of charge ticket under conditions of OSShD.



PS. Sorry but I can not deal with selective quotations tags.
PS. 2 Basically I go to Tirana via Bar so it seems to have this Forum useful

So I will buy Kelebia-Subotica ticket or consider the latter advice and also try to do so with Subotica-Beograd ticket at international counter in Budapest.

Well, there is no point at all buying two separate tickets Kelebia-Subotica and then Subotica-Beograd in Budapest. Cheaper will be just purchase Kelebia-Beograd (there is 30% off SCIC-NRT for one way tickets MAV-ZS, so it will cost you app. 14 EUR). But still that is already extreme measure.
ZS used to sell tickets online, but now this system seems not working, at list if entering from the link on ZS website. Also, if we recall correctly, you can buy domestic tickets from conductors (so you can just purchase dinars in advance in Budapest and not deboard train in Subotica or spend a fortune on Kelebia-Beograd international ticket), but better recheck by emailing ZS directly. At least we have this picture of somebody buying tickets on board stuck in the head.

I just thought the stop in Subotica is a technical (not for border control) one.

Serbia is yet rather far from Schengen zone, thus there are still all the border procedures, maybe not that bad as they used to be, but still. Last time we were there, train just stopped like 1km from the station, Serbian officials entered and did their job, and only then we arrived to the actual station platform.

What do you mean in "OSShD ticket fare"? It is free of charge ticket under conditions of OSShD.

Aha... we just were a bit confused, since OSShD it is organization, which itself deals with many issues, so we thought you just mentioned it since both Poland and Hungary are members etc., for us just phrase 'OSShD' didn't click anything in concern with actual tariff, thus we thought you just had standard SCIC-NRT ticket issued for route between OSShD member railways.

Basically I go to Tirana via Bar so it seems to have this Forum useful

We are always glad to help (if we can), especially with such interesting route. Domestic trains in Albania, imho, is one of the most exotic rail experience you can get in Europe 

We've just come back from "Around Serbia and Montenegro" holiday. Main route to get there was Wroclaw-Pardubice-Budapest-Subotica two-way.

Tickets -  we managed to get the Prague-Budapest Sparscheine (19 eur one way) and Pardubice-Wroclaw we did on local tickets: (all prices one way per person: 51% Regio -  Polish student discount Wroclaw-miedzylesie (2.5eur) + Cross border (1eur) + Group ticket for 2 Lichkov-Pardubice (2.5 eur)  +  Budapest-Subotica we did on TCV return 60% off. (15eur per person return). ZS/ZCG local tickets only (Serbia/Montenegro borders we're crossed hitchhiking both ways). I believe that was the best deal.

Just some remarks:

1. ISIC student card DOES NOT give any discount anymore both on ZS znd ZCG. This is replaced with new cards, available only for Serbian/Montenegrin students. (confirmed by various offcials and rulebooks)

2. Except trains departing from their starting point, All the trains (ZS/ZCG) except one were late. Extreme cases were Beograd-Bar, which we wanted to take in Mojkowac - 5h. Zvecan-Kraljevo - 4h, as around 11pm the diesel broke in the woods of Ibar Valley and we arrived in Kraljevo around 3am (another loco came long way to haul us).

3. Some trains from online timetables which we had printed both for ZS and ZCG were rescheudled or cancelled and they were only corrected by handwriting or stickers at the stations but not online :-( On ZS website they are now correct, but still not on the ZCG Bijelo Polje - Bar full line timetable.

3. In Serbia, when buying tickets on board , in all cases except one, the inspectors did not sell any form of ticket, just charged 50-75% of the ticket price. No such case occured at ZCG.

4. That beograd-Bar railway is beautiful, everyone knows. I can absolutely recommend the aforementioned Ibar Valley on the Kraljevo-Zvecan branch. Trains are slow so there's a lot of time to watch :-)

After all,those timetable/punctuality related problems did not really affected our trip, and we're still in love of train travelling

Thanks for any help :-)

Just come back and a few remarks:

that is not very correct thing to advise, but MAV conductors in any case will get off all the trains in Kelebia, while ZS officials will board it only in Subotica and check tickets already after departure, thus on segment Kelebia-Subotica there would simply be no one to check your ticket

Tickets was checked both ways by Hungarian inspectors (they get off/enter the train in Subotica).

Cross-border ticket Kelebia-Subotica bought in Warsaw was EUR 2.
We have a very serious problem with Hungarian inspector in Ivo Andric train:
first - claimed OSShD ticket as unvalid (passed after couple of calls to his "supervisor")
second - claimed cross-border ticket as unvalid (he repeated magically "one train - one ticket").

Basically Hungarian inspectors seem to undersand English only when they claim they are right.
What you give serious reasons for your right they suddenly start not to understand any foreign language.

Eventually for return journey we bought Budapest Special for EUR 15 to have a rest.

To have the best views off-season on Belgrade-Bar-Belgrade I do recommend to get night train from Beograd or/and day train from Bar. They cross the most scenic section during the day.

Albanian trains are to some extent much more better than Serbian and Hungarian ones .
But this in another topic quite later.

------------
One more think - we bought Subotica-Beograd ticket from the Serbian inspector for ~ 850 dinars
(whith a receipt) when according to ZS website it should be 480 dinars. Do you thing it was some
on-board surcharge or we were simply cheated?

Tickets was checked both ways by Hungarian inspectors (they get off/enter the train in Subotica).

Hmm... sorry we mislead earlier about it. Last time we were there MAV conductors get off/boarded in Kelebia. 

We have a very serious problem with Hungarian inspector in Ivo Andric train

Well, Hungarian conductors are known for behaving in such way, including language skills etc. And phrase "one train - one ticket" also very well reminds us those days when MAV tried to fight tricks with 'breaking' tickets via border stations. 
Imho, good chance that conductors just wanted some money (basically a bribe) from you, so that they will leave you alone. Foreign tourists not speaking Hungarian are exactly the type of passengers they try to play such games with.

... we bought Subotica-Beograd ticket from the Serbian inspector for ~ 850 dinars (whith a receipt) when according to ZS website it should be 480 dinars. Do you thing it was some
on-board surcharge or we were simply cheated?

Was the receipt printed or written by hand? The thing is that 560 RSD (480 RSD listed on ZS website is an outdated fare) it's basic fare (for the slowest category of trains - "Puntnicki"), for international train on domestic routes ZS charges special surcharge (either 100 or 200 RSD depending on whether train considered as "Express" or "InterCity"), so you need to add this surcharge to 560 RSD, while the rest is probably the extra charge for buying on board.

Yes, the price ŽS conductor sold you is right. Basic price Subotica - Beograd costs 560 din + fast train surcharge 100 din + 30% surcharge for issuing ticket onboard = 858 din.

Ok, I'd like to kinda come back to my former question in this subject, as we're heading to Bosnia again, but this time we get there a bit different way... (We don't know the exact date so unfortunately I don't rely on any SPAR offers).

My girlfriend (<26, without railplus) starts in Gdansk in the morning and gets with Polish TLK to Bohumin via Warsaw and Katowice (she's <26 Polish student so she pays only around 10 eur to the Czech border + TCV Zebrzydowice(Gr)- Bohumin for 1,80... Analogically on the way back.

Me (>26, with railplus) travelling from Strasbourg (!!) meeting her in Poland (most probably Katowice as I want to stop for a moment in Wroclaw). Timetables related to Quer-Durch-Land or Shoenes Wochenende ticket are not good for me (I want to board her train in Katowice at 0:00 and I don't want to take another day off from work in Strasbourg). Thus, unfortunately, with no days fixed enough to get nice sparpreis, I'm thinking about buying INTERRAIL GLOBAL (I can buy it as a French resident, and I live just at the border) 5/10 days, 270 eur.

Return trip technically the same route.

Then starting from Bohumin, I guess we'll buy these tickets for her:

In Bohumin:
Bohumin Sturovo (TCV two-way) ca 46 eur
Sturovo Budapest (Mnohostranna -26) ca 12 eur

In Budapest:
Budapest Sarajevo* (TCV two way with large discount) ca 53* eur

*We're planning to stay for couple of days in Mostar, not in Sarajevo, and get to Ploce just for one day just to see our colleague and the sea (arr at noon, dep in the evening). So in fact it's Budapest-Sarejevo(1night)-Ploce(5h)-Mostar(longer)-Budapest) Should we buy our tickets from Budapest only to Sarajevo or directly to Mostar or Ploce or break them somewhere? Will it be cheaper? Are the breaks allowed in this case?

Please correct me if I'm wrong or it's not the best way, what I've described above

Thanks in advance and have a very nice day :-)

...TCV Zebrzydowice(Gr)- Bohumin for 1,80

1.8 EUR it's fare with 50% discount, while full fare (which you'll pay in case of purchase in Poland) is 3.6 EUR

...I'm thinking about buying INTERRAIL GLOBAL (I can buy it as a French resident, and I live just at the border) 5/10 days, 270 eur.

Well, in case you plan to come back to Strasbourg afterward, then obviously Interrail seems to be reasonable option, since just full fare one way Kehl-Wroclav itself cost roughly >150 EUR
Other partially reasonable option is just to wait until you know the exact date (guess it will happen at least a week or so in advance) and then just count on some offers (rail/low-cost flights) left for needed connection. Obviously it's risky and you need to be very lucky to get something good, but, hey, you can always go to the station and buy your pass if it doesn't work out.

Bohumin Sturovo (TCV two-way) ca 46 eur

Purchase CityStar CD-ZSSK here, it is sold for one passenger and cost only 40 EUR

Sturovo Budapest (Mnohostranna -26) ca 12 eur

Kind of forced choice in cases when you can't hop off somewhere in Slovakia and buy it there.

Should we buy our tickets from Budapest only to Sarajevo or directly to Mostar or Ploce or break them somewhere? Will it be cheaper? Are the breaks allowed in this case?

Yes, 'breaks' allowed, but it doesn't really makes sense to buy the ticket further than Sarajevo since domestic tariff will be cheaper than SCIC-NRT (even counting 20/25% discount you get for BiH segment). If ZFBH website doesn't lie much, then one-way Sarajevo-Mostar cost 9.9 BAM (return is 20% off, but it's valid for 2 days in case of <400 km journey), while difference between Slav.Samac(gr)-Sarajevo r/t and Slav.Samac(gr)-Mostar r/t is 19 EUR in case of SCIC-NRT (or around 16 EUR with mentioned discount).
While with segments Sarajevo-Mostar-Ploce you just need to count. Straight forward Sarajevo-Ploce r/t should cost around 23 EUR (which is full SCIC-NRT fare 29.6 EUR - 20% discount for HZ-ZFBH connections), while domestic Sarajevo to the border (Capljina) should be around 12-13 BAM one-way + something like 5.5 EUR for Capljina-Ploce r/t

First question:

Quote from: filu on December 11, 2011, 06:09:53 pm
Sturovo Budapest (Mnohostranna -26) ca 12 eur
Kind of forced choice in cases when you can't hop off somewhere in Slovakia and buy it there.

---> Can't we buy this ticket also directly in Bohumin? Jizdenka cz gives this option... And it's You who suggested earlier in this topic to buy this ticket in Bohumin :-) Even the priintscreen is attached :-)

Second:

Quote from: filu on December 11, 2011, 06:09:53 pm
Bohumin Sturovo (TCV two-way) ca 46 eur
Purchase CityStar CD-ZSSK here, it is sold for one passenger and cost only 40 EUR

---> Jizdenka says CityStar for this connection (one person) is 34 eur :-) What is the real price then? :-)

---> Can't we buy this ticket also directly in Bohumin? Jizdenka cz gives this option... And it's You who suggested earlier in this topic to buy this ticket in Bohumin :-) Even the priintscreen is attached :-)

Sorry, it seems there is a small misunderstanding. You definitely can purchase r/t Sturovo-Budapest ticket in Bohumin (or even in Poland) for 12.4 EUR. While by the phrase "forced choice..." we meant that such 12.4 EUR ticket is basically the only option in case you don't have time to get off train somewhere in Slovakia and get the same ticket for 6.5 EUR (according to discount for ZSSK-MAV connections and not multilateral agreement discount as with 12.4 EUR ticket)

---> Jizdenka says CityStar for this connection (one person) is 34 eur :-) What is the real price then? :-)

34 EUR it's the fare for the shortest route via Nemsova(gr), while via Breclav-Kuty(gr), route of the direct carriages Poland-Budapest, it is 40 EUR

It's clear now, thanks :-)

You definitely can purchase r/t Sturovo-Budapest ticket in Bohumin (or even in Poland) for 12.4 EUR.

Even the <26 version?

Can I also buy the Citystar Bohumin-Sturovo in Poland to avoid waking up in Bohumin at all?