Hungary-MAV
Step by step Guide to Buying Tickets via Hungarian Railways (MAV) website
It's been a while since Hungarian Railways (MAV) introduced a possibility of purchasing international and domestic tickets (including discounted SparDay, SparNight, Fortuna, etc.) online via official MAV website. For a long time the interface was entirely in Hungarian language, later it was finally translated into English, but we still decided to share with fellow travelers step by step guide designed to help you purchase discounted (and regular) tickets from Budapest to Vienna, Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Warsaw and many other European and Hungarian destinations.
1) Open MAV timetable page, then enter destinations you need (keep in mind that unless you are sure about the particular departure/arrival station, it's usually better to choose just generic "Budapest", "Vienna", "Prague", etc., this way the system will search connections to/from all the available stations) and travel date, push 'Timetable' button -->
2) Fill in the 'Journey' and 'Passengers' information (type of seat/sleeper, number of passengers and passenger's dates of birth), push 'Ticket and Prices' button -->
3) Next you will be redirected to a webpage where you can choose 'Fare' and 'Connection', to do so click on the orange 'futher information'(will appear next to the fare(s) offered) and then, after a new small window appears click 'open' (just below the shown price), make your choice regarding a connection you want to take and push 'Ticket to the Cart' button -->
4) Now you will be redirected to a 'Sign-In' and 'Registration' page -->
In case you didn't register on MAV website earlier, then you will need to register now. First (a) enter your email, then (b) password (at least 6 characters), repeat the password and click 'Registration' button. Registration is easy and fast (though you'll have to validate your account by clicking on the link sent to you by email).
4b) Next will appear long page with MAV's 'Conditions of Use' in regards to the ticket purchase -->
bla bla bla...
Read it & tick the box 'I accept Terms and Conditions of Use' and click orange button 'Next'
4c) Further you'll see 'Privacy Policy' page -->
And again 'I accept the Privacy Policy' rules and click 'Registration'. Afterward you should recieve a confirmation email to finalize your registration at the Hungarian Railways (MAV) website
5) But coming back to the actual ticket purchase. After a successful log-in you will see 'Order details' page: a) check Dep./Arr. Station, Time, Date; b) check Ticket fare (it will be in EUR and HUF according to today's exchange rate) c) tick the boxes next to the information regarding the purchase & 'I have read the Terms and Condition and I accept them" and push 'Pay' button -->
NB: There is a limited amount of time given for finalizing your ticket purchase, so watch out for the time left (countdown will be on your upper right corner). Also remember that home printing of MAV international tickets IS NOT POSSIBLE, you can home-print only domestic (within Hungary) tickets. International tickets booked online must be collected before the journey at one of the MAV e-Ticket machines located at all the major railways stations in Hungary.
6) And finally you will be redirected to the Hungarian OTP Bank web-page (OTP Direct), where you can make the actual payment for your ticket -->
a) again check the sum you are about to pay; b) from a drop down list choose a bank card type (Visa, MasterCard, etc.); c) fill in 'bank name' d) 'bank card number'; e) fill in 'card holder's name' (as written on the card); f) card validity date (month/year); g) card CVV code (can be found on the back of the card) and finally push 'Next' button to proceed with the payment
7) Hope everything went ok with the bank transaction and you received your 10 digit code using which it will be possible to print your ticket via MAV ticket machines (will look like this (newer fancy version) or this (old & simple) and can be found at all the major Hungarian stations).Good luck with your journey :)