European Rail Travel - CNL Munich to Venice; Where to purchase

I would like to purchase three tickets for a deluxe sleeping compartment on the CNL from Munich to Venice in July. The listed price on Rail Europe is $345 per person. That seems high. Is there a better place to purchase the tickets? What should I expect to pay? Any other advice or information would be appreciated. As always, thank you FTers!

I would like to purchase three tickets for a deluxe sleeping compartment on the CNL from Munich to Venice in July. The listed price on Rail Europe is $345 per person. That seems high. Is there a better place to purchase the tickets? What should I expect to pay? Any other advice or information would be appreciated. As always, thank you FTers!

CNL is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, so the best place to book is generally bahn.de (http://bahn.de). The starting price for 1 person should be €129 (~$170) in a 2-berth deluxe sleeper, or €109 (~$145) in a 3-berth deluxe sleeper. (Note that these are buy-in-advance Europa-Spezial fares, so price increases as availability decreases, no changes allowed, and cancellations are at a fee (of I think ~€45)). Self-print online tickets should be available for this journey (but note that, unlike airline e-tickets, you must have an A4 print-out of the ticket with you).

The full-fare price is €234 for 1 person in a 2-berth, which seems to be roughly what RailEurope is charging.

Although it seems that 3-berth compartments should be available on this train, for some reason bahn.de (http://bahn.de) won't sell these, so if you want a 3-berth, you'd need to call DB (+49 (0) 180 5 996633). They would then either post you the tickets, or give you a reference number to pick up the tickets from any DB self-service ticket machine (of which there are plenty at Munich Hbf, so you could pick the tickets up shortly before departure). However, if you want a combination of 2-berth or 1-berth compartments, then this can be booked online.

Note that ticket sales only open 92 days before departure. (You can actually make reservations on the CNL 180 days before departure, but not online, and this would presumably work out more expensive, as you'd have to purchase the sleeper reservation and the ticket separately).

For more information about the CNL trains are actually like, see Seat61.com (http://www.seat61.com/citynightline.htm).

(Note that these are buy-in-advance Europa-Spezial fares, so price increases as availability decreases, no changes allowed, and cancellations are at a fee (of I think ~€45)).

You can cancel up to the day before departure, and the cancellation charge is €15. I believe this is per booking, not per person.

Just checked a couple of random dates, and some 3-berth options were shown as available.

You can cancel up to the day before departure, and the cancellation charge is €15. I believe this is per booking, not per person.

It's €15 to cancel the ticket part of the Europa-Spezial fare (I'd assumed this was per person, but I might be wrong).

However, there's also a cancellation fee for the sleeper reservation part of the fare - see details here (http://www.bahn.de/hilfe/view/pk/de/angebotsuebersicht.shtml). It's "10% of the supplement, at least €5 minimum", if you cancel at least one day in advance. The supplement for 3-berth deluxe sleeper is €40 per person, so the cancellation fee would be €5 per person; the supplement for a 2-berth deluxe sleeper is €60 per person, so the cancellation fee would be €6 per person. (My previous figure was a miscalculation, based on the cancellation fee on day of departure, which is 50%, and hence €30 per person for a 2-berth deluxe sleeper).


Just checked a couple of random dates, and some 3-berth options were shown as available.
Strange.

A single passenger can book online for one berth in a shared 2-berth compartment, and in theory, can also travel in a shared 3-berth compartment. I was originally searching for one person, and no 3-berth options showed up (indeed, I've never seen bahn.de offer a 3-berth option for a single passenger on a CNL train, although it will offer them for EN-trains operated by ÖBB, etc).

However, when I searched for 3 passengers, some 3-berth options did appear. So, the OP should be able to book online.

It's €15 to cancel the ticket part of the Europa-Spezial fare (I'd assumed this was per person, but I might be wrong).

However, there's also a cancellation fee for the sleeper reservation part of the fare - see details here (http://www.bahn.de/hilfe/view/pk/de/angebotsuebersicht.shtml). It's "10% of the supplement, at least €5 minimum", if you cancel at least one day in advance. The supplement for 3-berth deluxe sleeper is €40 per person, so the cancellation fee would be €5 per person; the supplement for a 2-berth deluxe sleeper is €60 per person, so the cancellation fee would be €6 per person. (My previous figure was a miscalculation, based on the cancellation fee on day of departure, which is 50%, and hence €30 per person for a 2-berth deluxe sleeper).

You missed the following in your link: "In den Nachtreisezügen nach Frankreich und Belgien sowie nach Italien gelten weitere Globalpreisangebote."

The Europa Spezial fare is an inclusive fare and the fare and sleeper elements are not separated. The €15 cancellation charge relates to the whole fare - I've done it once.

If you buy the sleeper supplement separately, the cancellation charge is 10% of the sleeper supplement.

I'm also pretty sure the cancellation cost is per reservation - so if you book a sleeping compartment for 3 people, and cancel, you only pay one cancellation charge. If you try a dummy booking for several people, it will show the total cost of the reservation, and underneath, the cancellation charge of €15.

The Europa Spezial fare is an inclusive fare and the fare and sleeper elements are not separated.
Hmmm. Admittedly, I've never used a Europa-Spezial fare to/from Italy. However, I've used Europa-Spezial fares, combined with CNL/EN travel, on numerous occasions to other destinations (including France). Although bahn.de has always quoted a combined price when purchasing a ticket (and of course, there's no way of buying the two items separately), in every case, when the ticket was actually issued the fare and sleeper element have been shown separately.

For self-print, online tickets, the price is broken down between 'Fahrkarte' (ie: for the journey) and 'Reservierung' (ie: the 'Aufpreis' for the sleeper). For 'traditional' tickets, I've always received 2 different pieces of paper - one the ticket for the journey, and one for the sleeper reservation - and each one shows a separated-out price.


The €15 cancellation charge relates to the whole fare - I've done it once.

I've also only had to cancel once - and on that occasion, I was charged €20 (ie: €15 for cancelling the Europa-Spezial part, and €5 for cancelling the sleeper supplement). Admittedly, that was a couple of years ago, so maybe the system has changed since then.


I'm also pretty sure the cancellation cost is per reservation
I have no direct experience of this (as I've never had to cancel for more than one person), but I'd always assumed it was per person. However, looking at DB's t&cs for international tickets (http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/agb/international2012/MDB103567-scic-sonderbestimmungen_bek4u5_02_04_12.pdf), I can't see any mention of the €15 fee applying 'per person' - so it could well be just 'per booking'.

For self-print, online tickets, the price is broken down between 'Fahrkarte' (ie: for the journey) and 'Reservierung' (ie: the 'Aufpreis' for the sleeper).

For Europa-Spezial tickets? I find this very strange. If so, why isn't it shown during the booking process?

Additionally, DB would be very naughty not to show the additional cancellation fee that you claim exists, during the booking process.

Anyway, if you don't believe it, I suggest you e-mail DB and ask.

I knew I could count on finding an FTer who could answer my questions. And KQ321, you have gone above and beyond. All of the information was very helpful and I now feel more confident about the process. I'm still not within the 92 day window, but when I am, I'll be ready to book. Thank you KQ321 and railways for all the information. ^