Booking Tickets for European night trains

Overnight train tickets differ from daytime train tickets because there are two elements to how the price is calculated:
(1) the charge for making the journey AND
(2) a reservation charge for the type of accommodation you will be travelling by.
The accommodation types are explained in detail on the general guide to taking a night train.

This journey price is usually the price of travelling in a seat.
What percentage of the total cost is covered by the reservation charge can vary; it tends to be lower in Eastern Europe.

Each ticket agent will apply its own booking path for purchasing journeys by night trains and there also differences in the types of accommodation on offer on each train / route.
Hence much of the content on this guide will focus on commonly encountered scenarios, but they many not apply to all experiencing of booking tickets.

(1) On many booking services this cheapest seat price will be the first price displayed, you will only see the prices of travelling in a couchette or sleeping cabins, after you have initially clicked on this seat price.

(2) Most ticket booking services including DB and now OBB combine the journey and reservation fees into one total price.

(3) If you will be travelling in Eastern Europe there may be no difference in price between booking online, or at the station; or the price difference can be the equivalent of only a few euros.

(4) Tickets to travel on most overnight trains, including all those in Western Europe, can now be booked online

There are two big pluses for booking in advance;

1. You can increase your chances of travelling in your first choice of accommodation.
   Some types of accommodation can sell out days (even weeks) in advance, particularly in the summer months.
   So if you want to travel in a couchette or a particular type of sleeping cabin, try to avoid booking last minute at the station.
   (Though the full choice of additional fees for single occupancy etc can be hard to track down on some online ticket sites).

2. On many routes, limited numbers of advance discounted tickets are available, as they are on day trains, so when these tickets have sold out the price rises.

What can be less clear cut is whether taking an overnight train will save you money compared to spending a night in a hotel or hostel?
A broad answer is that the ticket price (journey + reservation fee) of travelling in a couchette is usually more expensive than a shared room in a hostel, and a 1 bed sleeping cabin is more expensive than a typical 3-4* hotel room

These nine things are particularly worth knowing:

(1) On international routes avoid gambling on booking a bed in a multi-occupancy sleeping cabin and assuming that you may have it to yourself.
This scenario is very unlikely as it is in the train operator’s interest, to ensure that those who have paid for the privilege to have a cabin to themselves, are then the only people on the train who have that luxury.

(2) There is USUALLY a big price difference (€40+) between a two bed sleeping cabin and a single bed/occupancy cabin.
Unsurprisingly most solo travellers don’t relish the prospect of sharing a ‘bedroom’ for the night with a stranger.

However, book a single cabin and you will be primarily paying a premium for your privacy.
The bed and cabin won’t usually be any larger or any more luxurious.
More often than not, single bed cabins are no different to other sleeping cabins, the other beds in the cabin will usually be stowed away or left vacant.

However, yet again the Caledonian Sleeper trains are an exception to this, none of its sleeping cabins have more than two beds, but its Club Rooms (cabins) are more luxurious than its Classic Rooms, partially because the Club Rooms have an en-suite shower.

Also on the Nightjet new generation trains, Mini Pods are available with private individual beds,

(3) As you’d expect when sleeping cabins with a shower are an option, they’re more expensive than standard sleeping cabins, but you will be primarily be paying this premium price in order to have a shower.
The Deluxe/1st class/’Premium cabins aren’t usually otherwise more luxurious than the standard sleeping cabins.
Though the Nightjet new generation trains have Comfort Plus cabins which are larger than the other sleeping cabins on these trains.

(4) Though if you will be travelling solo and want a one-bed cabin, or will be travelling as a pair and want a two-bed cabin, don't assume that one or two bed Deluxe cabins with showers will be available for booking - unless you will be taking a Nightjet New Generation train.

Having looked up numerous journeys, the Deluxe cabins with showers were more often than not, only available in three bed cabins
On all of these departures a one or two bed cabin with a shower could have been offered, as they're the same cabins with the unoccupied beds folded out of use - but they weren't.

(5) Even when booking more than two months ahead, some of the sleeping cabin options typically offered on a route may not be available.
This can seem random, particularly in terms of the availability of one or two bed cabins.

But on most routes and services, there aren't special sleeping cabins on the train, which are permanently set up for solo or double occupancy.
The majority of sleeping cabins are equipped with three beds, one or two of which are folded out of use for single or double occupancy.
Hence fewer places are ever made available for one and two bed occupancy, or the operator may look at the demand for that departure and decide to only offer three bed occupancy.

Also take note if you will be travelling solo with an Interrail or Eurail pass - Don't assume that because, before you booked your pass, you saw a one bed reservation fee price, that a one bed cabin will actually be available on the train you want to take.

(6) If you generally fall asleep when travelling long distance on a daytime train, there are coaches with ‘day’ seats attached to many overnight trains.
You may have as much sleep as you would in a couchette and you will typically save around €25, by only paying a reservation fee for the seat, rather than a couchette

(7) When booking tickets at a station booking office be clear whether you want to travel in sleeping cabin, couchette or ordinary seat.
If you don't specify the type of ticket you require, the default tickets that you may be sold may only be valid for travel in ordinary seats.

(8) On many routes, the overnight trains are much slower than daytime trains, they make longer, less direct journeys and they can’t travel on the high speed lines etc.

(9) If you want to travel as a group take care when booking online - hence the separate guides, which you'll find below

If you want to share your sleeping accommodation with a partner / friend / family member = on a European night train, there a are a couple of things worth being aware of when making a booking.
Plus the steps you take can vary across ticket agents, hence the specific examples below.

Though the key things to be aware of are:

• Some trains have sleeping cabins / compartments with 3 beds / places and 2 beds / places
• Though on many of these trains, including virtually all EuroNight services, these are the same cabin - two people in a cabin means greater privacy etc, so the cost per person will be higher
• Though at busy travel periods, these 3 bed sleeping cabins / compartments can seemingly only be offered as three bed / place cabins, so it may not be possible to reserve a place(s) in a 2 bed cabin when you book.
• On some trains, including the newer type of Nightjet train, sleeping cabins / compartments aren't offered with 3 beds/ places, so this isn't something that those who want to occupy as a pair, need to be concerned with when making journeys by these trains

On some train services which only have a maximum of two beds / places in a sleeping cabin, including Caledonian Sleeper and Treno Notte trains, when you book you are in effect purchasing the cabin / compartment.
Hence in this scenario one booking for two people means that you will be sharing and you can split the cost between you, post-payment if that suits you.

However, on other trains, including the Nightjets, you will instead be booking two places in the train's sleeping cabins.
You may asked if the two travelers on the booking want to share, which is a likely scenario on Euronight trains, but you won't be asked if you want to share when booking a journey on a a Nightjet.

**Booking for travel on a Nightjet

How the sleeping cabins on the Nightjet trains are segregated has recently changed, it used to be male or female - meaning that couples who wanted to 'break this rule' would be asked when booking, if they wanted to share.
However, now the accommodation is split into mixed sex and Ladies Only compartments, with a probable factor being that it now makes it easier for the sleeping cabin/compartment to be assigned to a couple / pair.

You selected a 2 bed compartment when making a booking for two people and haven't selected Ladies Only, so you might assume that you will be assigned both of the places in one cabin, so that the two people on the booking can can share it.

However, solo travellers also need to be accommodated on the train, but they may have not been given the option to book a single occupancy cabin, or wanted to pay a premium for a 1 person cabin.
So in a scenario when second beds are available in cabins in which one bed has been booked by another traveller - and these are the only option at the time when a pair book together, then the beds you will be assigned may be in separate cabins.
If this is the situation, you won't be made aware of it when you book.

Which is why, as shown above, the DB website flags the possibility of not being accommodated together, when two people are making a booking for sleeping cabin accommodation on a Nightjet.

For this reason two women travelling together who want to share, should still take care to select 'Ladies Only' when booking on the OBB website.

If you will be travelling on a Nightjet service and use the Nightjet website - when you enter 2 travellers as a male and female, on the trains which have 3 bed sleeping cabins, you will automatically be given an option to book it for the sole use of the two of you = the 'double' cabin option.
So if you choose this and pay an additional cost, you will be in the cabin together with no other travellers.

OBB operates the Nightjets, so all routes by these trains can be booked on its website, regardless of whether the journey will be from or to Austria.

Having added a passenger on the booking steps, before you look up a journey, you won't have been given an opportunity to inform OBB that a male and female will be travelling together.
Therefore OBB will present you with all of the available accommodation options, from which you can make a choice.

This journey is by a New Generation Nightjet train

What has been pointed out above is:

1. A mixed gender compartment / cabin which can be shared by female / male travellers is now the default!
2. It's particularly worth clicking the 'Services included' link so that you can see what you are paying for
3. If you see 'single seat' ignore it, as it anything to do with single occupancy or where you will be sleeping (what it's pointing out, is that when you use the table, one person can sit on a seat. but the other person will be sat on the bed).
4. No matter which of the sleeper options you want to travel by, you will need to click one of these 'Pick this service' buttons in order to move on to the next stage of the booking process.
5. There's usually more than one sleeping compartment option / type to choose from, so it can be worth checking them out too, you can't change your mind and switch to another option after you have booked.

When booking on the DB website, if you select 'Economy Comfort' or 'Standard' tickets you will be able to select the type of cabin which suits you.
Though note that DB also makes it clear that you will be selecting 'spaces' and not cabins compartments.
At the next stage of the process you will be asked to enter the names and 'sex' of the travellers, but if you let DB know that a male / female will be travelling together, you can't assume that you will be placed in a cabin together, because you have 'told' DB that you are couple.

SBB takes a different approach to DB and OBB because it asks ticket bookers whether they are male or female prior to offering the ticket booking options.

What has been pointed out on the above screen is:

1. When booking a sleeping cabin, it makes no difference to the options you are offered if you choose first or second class.
2. Use this to assign male or female to the first traveller; the person who will be making the booking.
3. Add the second passenger here; and repeat the gender assignment

Then because you have already assigned the gender of each passenger, you will then only be offered the most logical accomodation options, which correspond to who will be travelling.

What has been pointed out on the above screen is:

1. You can check that the booking options are for two travellers.
2. You will be given the opportunity to book a berth in a couchette which you will share with two or four other travellers.
3. The sleeping cabin options will include 'two passengers in a double compartment', so if you choose this you will be sharing the compartment (So when a male and a female are travelling together and you don't want to share, you will have to book two single compartments).

When CD is one of the ticketing agents selling night train tickets for a route, using it is a good option if you want to share a two bed sleeping cabin as a couple.

As can be seen above, the accommodation selection step of its booking path, includes the following;

• an easily understood selection of a sleeping cabin (sleeper)
• the number of people in the cabin; double = 2 beds
• the opportunity to inform CD that a female and a male will be travelling together.
• and most crucially you are given the opportunity to explicitly inform CD that you want to share the cabin (when a male and female don't want to share, they can avoid ticking this box; and will then be assigned places in male only and female only cabins).

On most international EuroNight routes / services and the older Nightjet trains, when all of the accommodation options are still available, there will be a choice of travelling in:

• seats
• a berth in a couchette compartments with four bunks
• a berth in a couchette compartments with six bunks
• a place in a sleeping cabin to be shared by up to three people
• a place in a sleeping cabin to be shared by up to two people
• solo occupancy of a sleeping cabin
  with some trains also offering places in Plus/Deluxe versions of sleeping cabins, which also house showers

On the newer type of Nightjet train, there will be a choice of travelling in:

• a berth in a couchette compartments with four bunks
• booking an entire compartment for 'private' use by 3 or 4 people
• a Mini-Cabin, which in effect is a small couchette for private use by one person
• a place in a sleeping cabin to be shared by up to two people
• a place in a Plus sleeping cabin with a shower, to be shared by two people.

However, as a group you'll need to decide which of these accommodation types will suit you, because when you book you will tell the website how many people will be travelling together, but you can only then choose the one type of accommodation per booking.
In effect you will be saying to the ticket agent, we will be travelling together on this train and we all want to travel in seats, or couchettes or sleeping cabins.

So, for example, if;

• two members of the party will be happy to pay a cheaper price to travel in the seats,
• two people will be happy to share a couchette with other people outside of the group,
• one person wants to travel in a Mini-Cabin
• one person want to travel in a sleeping cabin
  You will need to make four separate bookings, taking care to ensure that you are all selecting the same train.

Booking berths in a couchette is typically simpler than booking sleeping cabins when a small group want to travel together.
A group of four travellers can choose a couchette with 4 berths, or a group of six travellers can choose a couchette with 6 berths (when available) and you often won't have to share it with anybody else.
Male and females can travel together in couchettes, so that isn't an issue if a mixed sex group wants to share.

Travelling in a couchette in in a group of five is a tad trickier, because when a 6 berth compartment is available, that remaining sixth berth may be offered to another solo traveller - if booking a private compartment isn't an option.
Plus more obviously, when only a 4 berth compartment is available, the fifth (and sixth) person in the party, will have to sleep in a separate compartment.

A party of three will almost certainly be sharing the compartment with another passenger (s).

Though what can't be guaranteed is that you will be sharing together, despite the multiple people all being included together on the one booking.
Particularly on popular trains, it's likely that places are assigned front to back along the length of the coach car; Compartments are left vacant on the system in case a party of four or six ultimately wants to make a booking.

Which is why on Nightjet trains, when it's available you will now need to pay a higher cost specifically book a 'private compartment,' to ensure that you won't be sharing 'your' compartment with anybody else.

On any European night train a sleeping cabin has a maximum number of three beds - though the sleeping cabins / compartments on many trains, including the New Generation Nightjet trains, have a maximum of two beds.

Therefore logic suggests that when a small group will be travelling together on the same train; And they all want to travel in the same type of sleeping cabin, that it should be possible for the travellers to assign the cabins into whatever configuration suits the group.

And this is more likely when travelling on a Nightjet, because when booking you can choose between places in;

• two or three bed compartments (no 3 bed compartments on the new Nightjets)
• two or three bed compartments with showers (only 2 bed compartments are available with showers on the new Nightjets
• Ladies Only versions of the types of shared compartments
• all travellers in a solo compartment
  IF all of the travellers on the one booking want to travel on the same compartments.

Logic suggests that if, for example, a party of six wants to travel in two bed compartments / cabins, that three cabins will be assigned to the group - and then on boarding you can decided who will share each compartment.
However, this scenario can't be guaranteed, and if it isn't, you may not be aware of the situation until you board.

Because there will be a possibility that when you booked there were 4 x two bed compartments / cabins on the train, in which places were available.
However, only two of them may be wholly unassigned, one of them may have one place already reserved by a male solo traveller; and the fourth may have once place assigned to a a female who has selected a place in a 'Ladies Only' compartment.
So if your party of six has a female traveller, they will be assigned the second place in the Ladies Only compartment; One of the men will be assigned the other place in the cabin already booked by the solo traveller - with the remaining two compartments, left to be split between the other four members of the group.

The following broad terms and conditions CAN apply to accommodating children in sleeping cabins (not couchettes) on other night trains, but confirm when booking.

• Child up to 4 years without separate bed = free
• Children aged 5-10 without separate bed = no reservation charge, but the ordinary child rate for the journey is charged.
• Children aged 1-10 travelling in a separate bed = full reservation cost for the bed, plus the child rate for the journey.
• Children aged more than 10 years must travel in a separate bed = full reservation cost for the bed charged plus the child rate* for the journey.

*The upper age range for the child ticket will usually be same as applied to child tickets, for journeys in the country in which your journey is commencing.
So the upper age limit for child tickets can vary between 12 and 16.

• Children up to 4 yrs sharing a bed with each other = full reservation fee cost for the bed, plus one half fare for the journey.
• Children aged 4-10 yrs sharing a bed = full reservation fee cost for the bed, plus a minimum of one half fare for the journey - though many operators will apply child rate journey fares to both children.

Think twice if you're considering sharing a bed with your child or having two children share, the beds in sleeping cabins are much smaller than a typical single bed in a hotel.

The older Nightjet trains have family couchette compartments with 6 berths, which are sold at flat rate price - so are particularly good value if you will occupying 4 or more berths.

The newer Nightjet trains have 4 berth couchette compartments, which can be booked for 'private' / exclusive use by a family group.

Children also travel at discounted rates in sleeping cabins on Nightjets, but the price per bed isn't particularly cheaper - but there are savings to be made if up to two children share a bed.