European Rail Travel - OBB overnight Vienna-Zurich

First of all, this is a great forum with a ton of information. I really appreciate everyone providing their input here, it's great to be able to learn from other people's experiences. My wife and I are going to be traveling around Europe this time next month and I was looking at booking an overnight train from Vienna to Zurich. From the research that I have done, I was expecting to have the option to book the following seating/sleeping arrangements: 2nd class seat, 6 person sleeper, 4 person sleeper, 3 person sleeper, 2 sleeper, 1, etc. When I did a search on OBB's website, it gave me the option for a 1st class seat for the trip. Has anyone seen this before? It's considerable cheaper than a 2 person sleeper (which is what we were expecting to get), but I don't want to buy something and then have it be different when we get to the station.

Thanks for your help!

I was looking at booking an overnight train from Vienna to Zurich. From the research that I have done, I was expecting to have the option to book the following seating/sleeping arrangements: 2nd class seat, 6 person sleeper, 4 person sleeper, 3 person sleeper, 2 sleeper, 1, etc. When I did a search on OBB's website, it gave me the option for a 1st class seat for the trip. Has anyone seen this before? It's considerable cheaper than a 2 person sleeper (which is what we were expecting to get), but I don't want to buy something and then have it be different when we get to the station.

Looking at oebb.at for EN466 for Vienna to Zurich (0 connections), I can see options for:
- 2nd class seat
- 6 berth couchette
- 4 berth couchette
- 4 berth sleeper
- 3 berth sleeper
- 2 berth sleeper
- 2 berth sleeper with shower & WC
- 1 berth sleeper
- 1 berth sleeper with shower & WC

I can't see any option for a 1st class seat. Which train were you looking at, and how exactly was the 1st class seat described?

For an overnight journey, a 1st class seat (if it existed) would be much less comfortable (and less secure) than even a 6 berth couchette compartment (in which you can lie down flat to sleep, and can lock the compartment door). Personally, I would always recommend to use at least a couchette - and a sleeper is even better, if you can possibly afford it.

That's what it says on the first page of the order process, but when I selected a 2 berth sleeper and selected the number of passengers, the next page gave me different options. I'm attaching a couple of screenshots to show what I'm seeing. Thanks for your help!


http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr300/Bled_man/th_oebbvienna-zurich.png (http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/rr300/Bled_man/?action=view&current=oebbvienna-zurich.png)
http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr300/Bled_man/th_oebbvienna-zurich-2.png (http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/rr300/Bled_man/?action=view&current=oebbvienna-zurich-2.png)

That's what it says on the first page of the order process, but when I selected a 2 berth sleeper and selected the number of passengers, the next page gave me different options. I'm attaching a couple of screenshots to show what I'm seeing. Thanks for your help!


That is very strange... I am fairly sure the EN466 does not have any 1st class seats. On the initial 'Selection Outward Journey' page, oebb.at (http://oebb.at) says "2nd class only seated accommodation" (which means "for seats, only 2nd class is available"), and I don't recall seeing any 1st class seats when I took that train a couple of years ago.

If you try to select one of the 1st class seats options on the page of options you showed, it says "Sollte die gewählte Buchungsklasse nicht mehr verfügbar sein, erhalten Sie im Laufe des Buchungsvorganges einen entsprechenden Hinweis" ("If the selected booking class should no longer be available, you will receive a notification during the booking process".)

I suspect this means that if you did try to book a 1st class seat, towards the end of the booking process you would get a sudden (and possibly unexplained) error message - because these '1st class seats' probably aren't actually available. (However, I can't test this without risking making an actual booking, which of course I don't want to do).

To clarify whether these 1st class seats really exist, and if so, what they are like, it would probably be best to call ÖBB.

However, as mentioned before, my personal recommendation would be to take a sleeper compartment, or at least a couchette.

If you want I can call for you.
I live in Austria unfortunately speak a little English.

There is no first-class seat in this train. According to page 35
http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/resue_sbb_2012-2.pdf
the train has the following carriages
2. Kl ¦ 2nd class
Bc 4/6 ¦ Couchette coaches, 4 or 6 berths
Bc 4/6 Damen ¦ Couchette coaches, 4 or 6 berths
WL S/D/T3 (1) ¦ Sleeping car, Single, Double, Tourist 3 Person
WL S/SG/D/DG/T4 (2) ¦ Sleeping car, Single, Single Grand Class, Double Grand Class, Tourist 4 Person
Vel bicycles (3)

An even if it would be possible, I would definitly recomend at least Couchette