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1

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: October 04, 2013, 03:34:40 am »

Hi tUt,
Currently the Bahn website cannot allow booking beyond 14 Dec 2013 which probably is due to their annual schedule alignment/changes.  When will itl be reverted to the normal 90-day out booking?  Thanks mate.

2

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: August 22, 2013, 08:34:48 am »

Hi tUt,
Played around with the booking.  Share with you and other users some funny discoveries:
1.  Berlin-Cologne special fare @ €29 for 1 adult but if you book for 4 adults together it will cost €13 more at €129; and for 2 adults together at €69.  Is there some surcharge for booking as a group?  Reckon (mathematically at least) there is a fixed surcharge of €10 + €1 for every additional person in group.
2.  On the Berlin-BruxellesMidi with stopover in Cologne - it is cheaper to book separately the same train and connection independently.  It is €79 vs €63 (29+34).  One can also get the Cologne-BruxellesMidi cheaper from Thalys at €25 instead of €34 from Bahn, this worked out to be saving 30% (€25 per adult) for the entire Berlin-BruxellesMidi sector.

3

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: August 21, 2013, 07:37:15 am »

You are a beauty tUt.  Will be checking out the booking site again.   

4

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: August 20, 2013, 11:55:00 am »

1. Are there better deals than those above?  I have yet to come across EUR29 or EUR49 as promoted on that page. Are they a myth as seat supply is so limited that they are gone within mins/hours of availability?

Well, SparPreis tickets for journeys within Germany start from 19 euro (<250 km routes) or 29 euro, but obviously number of tickets at such bargain fares are really limited, so once cheapest once get sold out, then next price level kicks in - 35 euro-->39 euro-->45-->49 etc. With peak dates or time it's indeed quite difficult to catch the cheapest ones

Hi tUt - it has been a couple of months since last post.
On this particular topic I have been trying today for the Prague-Munich and Munich-Berlin trains for 19 Nov 2013 which should be the first day ticket available for booking. However unable to find EUR29 or anything near there. What I see is EUR67.40 and EUR49.00 for those trains respectively.

Think I am not doing it right, appreciate if you can tell how to get to those special prices.
Thanks.

5

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: July 03, 2013, 12:03:41 pm »

Hi,

Fiddling with the routes within Germany on DE site under Sparpreis with 90days out.
Munich to Berlin = EUR 129 or 169
Berlin to Koln   = EUR 179
Koln to Brussels = EUR 76 or 85
Brussels to Paris= EUR 116

1. Are there better deals than those above?  I have yet to come across EUR29 or EUR49 as promoted on that page. Are they a myth as seat supply is so limited that they are gone within mins/hours of availability?

2. Any other arrangement like the Bavarian-Bohemia + Pilsen-Praha that you mentioned earlier for  these inter-regional routes?

3. Plan to spend 3 days each in Munich and Berlin. Reckon respective  Lander-Tickets is the way to go when in the city if I were to travel out of city to say Dacha, Fussen, Sachsenhausen. Is my thinking for Lander on the right track?

4. For the Koln to Brussels leg, there is a funny 5min transfer  to another train at Bruxelles-Nord. Am I realistic with this schedule? Because was just thinking by the time I drag the luggages, figure out direction of next platform in foreign language, which compartment to embark - well the Bruxelles-Central train would have left.

5. Actually do not intend to stay overnight in Koln. We can leave Berline early and arrive Koln at around 10am, spend half a day in the city before catch a train to Brussels say around 6pm. Is there any other ticket arrangement (international?) for Berlin-Brussels that allow a stopover in Koln for 7-8hrs?

6. For Brussels to Paris leg, is it more beneficial to book from Brussels or France site rather than DE?

7. Any other useful advice appreciated - they should provide a university course for booking of trains in europe.

Thanks again.

6

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: July 02, 2013, 02:41:00 am »

One more question.
Is the route between Prague and Munich scenic (ie picturesque) that will keep you excited? 
Does the bus option offer better sightseeing than train in winter in this regard?

7

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: July 02, 2013, 02:19:39 am »

Thanks mate for all your advice. They are really helpful and appreciate it. 

8

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: July 01, 2013, 03:58:10 pm »

Thank you so much tUt for the informative and helpful reply.
I tried using 15.8.2013 as Praha-Munich departure date for booking at their websites and encountered a few hiccups that I hope you can help me to clarify.
CZ - http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t398/asdfjunky/Praha-Munich__D_Page_1.jpg
DE - http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t398/asdfjunky/Bahn01.jpg
1.  The DB prices of 4 tickets for the 09:15 train is 269.60EUR is 3.5 times more expensive than CZ's 1999CZK - all standard prices (except for 2 tickets for 18-25 years under CZ). There must be something that I missed and not comparing apples to apples as the difference is simply too significant.
2.  Appreciate if you determine if it is worth the reduction in prices to get any of those special passes under DE site. http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t398/asdfjunky/Bahn02.jpg
3.  Similarly is it worth the while for those discount in CZ http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t398/asdfjunky/Praha-Munich__D_Page_2.jpg
4.  There are 2 more direct (no connection) departures shown in CZ namely 13:15 and 17:15.  Is this info reliable?
5.  Notice that there is a direct bus departure at 10:30 and surprising faster than train by 1hr 11mins. How comfortable are this bus and will luggages post a problem in traveling?  Apparently no booking in CZ except by phone?

Thank you.

9

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Need Some Help - Train from Prague to Munich and Train Travel in Germany

« on: June 29, 2013, 05:28:39 am »

Planning for 2-week Europe family holidays this year end Dec/Jan. Provided 3 days for Prague and Paris at the start and end of trip respectively. Intend to visit places in Germany by train in between. Things are still very much in the air except for our in/out flights with arrival in Prague (from Paris) by air on 29 Jan 2014; fly to Paris from Berlin on 11 Jan 2014.

Read a fair bit on various travel sites on traveling Europe by rail. Appears Eurail is not necessarily apt, and perhaps better to book trains directly with individual local/national operators. Tried booking Prague to Munich on www.cd.cz  (with a hypothetical date as no booking beyond 90days) and found that it is that easy with a number of terminology and parameters. On a learning curve, so appreciate some guidance on booking site:
1.  What do they mean by ticket with possible reservation? My assumption is that the seats should be reserved when I booked and paid for it online, but seems this is not correct?  If so, how do I get those seats reserved at the time of booking/payment online for them to be cast in concrete so as to avoid last minute schedule nightmare.
2.  What is the difference between 2nd class and 1st class for this train route?  Read somewhere that there is a 4-passenger couchette which can offer privacy and luggage space. Is this a different category altogether?
3.  It does not allow me to proceed with 1st class booking with some possible error messages, so it is difficult to do a price differential comparison.  Any info will be helpful.
4.  We are both age 55, and 2 sons traveling with us are university students age 20 and 22; and we unfortunately can only speak English <not German nor French>. Read about special cheaper train fare for group. Is it something to do with the parameter "separate ticket for each passenger"??
5.  Noting the Christmas hols and in particular traveling on train on 1 Jan public holiday, what are the special consideration we have to keep in mind?
5.  Is there a better way to travel by train from Prague to Munich?

We like to explore and understand some Germany history with the 10days in between, ending with Berlin 'cos of budget flight back to Paris. At the moment only have Cologne in mind. So appreciate some help on:
a.  Any suggestion of places to visit during winter. The places we should not miss.
b.  How to select appropriate train tickets scheme available for the travel.

Thank you in advance.
Gary