eagle Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Hello everyone, I just want to let you know of a bad experience using the Austrian Railway website. As I was travelling from Austria to Belgium recently, I was looking for the cheapest train. The official website of the ÖBB (Austrian railway company) indicates a night-trip from Salzburg to Namur for 25 € for those who have a RAILPLUS-card (which is my case). There was just one little disadvantage : no registration via the website possible. Why not ? Well, I was going to find out... When I arrived at the station in Salzburg, I was told that it was not 25, but 160€ !!! But what about the price indicated on the official website ? Well, that's only in case you reserve several days in advance, as indicated... When coming back home, I checked again, but nothing like that was indicated... Anyway, standing there at 9:00 p.m., I found I had no other choice... So it all looked like the information on the website (without web-reservation possible) looked like a trick to get people to the station, and then to let them pay much more than indicated. However, that's not all. To make a long story short : instead of arriving at Namur around 8:46 in the morning, I arrived at 6:46 in the evening, 10 hours later ! My conclusion is simple : next time I'll avoid Austria and discover other places in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriela Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Also: Europeans are godless heathens. You've been warned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) How did you get all the way across the ocean to Belgium by train? Must be a long ride. :| Edited August 19, 2013 by Nihil Obstat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 They say at least Hitler made the trains run on time. Apparently not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Hello everyone, I just want to let you know of a bad experience using the Austrian Railway website. As I was travelling from Austria to Belgium recently, I was looking for the cheapest train. The official website of the ÖBB (Austrian railway company) indicates a night-trip from Salzburg to Namur for 25 € for those who have a RAILPLUS-card (which is my case). There was just one little disadvantage : no registration via the website possible. Why not ? Well, I was going to find out... When I arrived at the station in Salzburg, I was told that it was not 25, but 160€ !!! But what about the price indicated on the official website ? Well, that's only in case you reserve several days in advance, as indicated... When coming back home, I checked again, but nothing like that was indicated... Anyway, standing there at 9:00 p.m., I found I had no other choice... So it all looked like the information on the website (without web-reservation possible) looked like a trick to get people to the station, and then to let them pay much more than indicated. However, that's not all. To make a long story short : instead of arriving at Namur around 8:46 in the morning, I arrived at 6:46 in the evening, 10 hours later ! My conclusion is simple : next time I'll avoid Austria and discover other places in Europe. Cool story bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 How did you get all the way across the ocean to Belgium by train? Must be a long ride. :| I didn't cross the Ocean; I live in Europe. If ever you'd want to cross the ocean, I don't recommend the train; you might never arrive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 [mod]:spam: -dUSt[/mod] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 (edited) That's weird, because when I bought a ticket at the Salzburg station a few years ago, and had no problems, the person I talked to in person was really helpful. Granted, my group had tickets to Vienna, but it was really economical. Did you try calling? I only ask because you only mentioned looking at the website and talking to someone in person. Austria's a beautiful country, it seems a shame to avoid it completely because you had a bad experience on the train. Edited August 22, 2013 by Basilisa Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I didn't cross the Ocean; I live in Europe. If ever you'd want to cross the ocean, I don't recommend the train; you might never arrive... So where did you leave from? Sydney? Melbourne? :bounce: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 So where did you leave from? Sydney? Melbourne? :bounce: I first flew from Cologne to Split, took the bus to Bosnia Herzegovina, stayed there for a week, then travelled with 3 Austrians by car to a monastery in the mountains, quite a long distance away from the next station. That's why I did not reserve my ticket in advance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 That's weird, because when I bought a ticket at the Salzburg station a few years ago, and had no problems, the person I talked to in person was really helpful. Granted, my group had tickets to Vienna, but it was really economical. Did you try calling? No, it was to late when I found out about the trap... I only ask because you only mentioned looking at the website and talking to someone in person. Austria's a beautiful country, it seems a shame to avoid it completely because you had a bad experience on the train. Well yes, but there are so many beautiful places in Europe that you never have enough with one lifetime to visit them all; so I prefer visiting those where they don't trap people in such a way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 [mod] :spam: -dUSt[/mod] Does anybody know what this means ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I first flew from Cologne to Split, took the bus to Bosnia Herzegovina, stayed there for a week, then travelled with 3 Austrians by car to a monastery in the mountains, quite a long distance away from the next station. That's why I did not reserve my ticket in advance... Where is Cologne in relation to Sydney? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotpink Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) Does anybody know what this means ? It means you said something against the rules. And why should we avoid Austria because you thought pre-registation was only on the interenet and not by phone? American Amtrack has the same policy. Edited August 30, 2013 by hotpink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klarisse Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 So where did you leave from? Sydney? Melbourne? :bounce: Where is Cologne in relation to Sydney? You're talking about Australia, whereas this thread is about an Austrian railway. The English names are pretty similar in appearance, so to clarify by proximity: Austria - a central European country Australia - the country and continent you're thinking of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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