Thanks so much for the help KQ321! Would you advise checking the Inconveniences page daily? Or does bahn.de have an email alert system that would let me know when new schedules have been finalized?
http://www.citynightline.de/citynigh...ungen_en.shtml
Don't want to miss out on the special prices when they do (hopefully) appear. Many folks say they sell out quickly. Can anyone here quantify "quickly"? Is this hours, days, or weeks after being released?
UPDATE: Took your advice and tried a mock earlier booking. I see a new column named "Savings Fares" preceding "Standard Fare".
Indeed. See this page on the DB/CityNightLine website for more information and updates: Information on inconveniences for City Night Line customers
Anyhow, I suspect this is the reason that only the 'Normalpreis' fares are being shown for early May, rather than the discounted 'Europa-Spezial Italien' fares. Look at a date before 7th April, to see how the two fare options should be presented.
As the schedule after 7th April isn't finalised yet, I am slightly surprised that any fares are being shown for early May at all - and I would not be surprised that even if you tried to purchase a full fare ticket, the system crashed out before completing the booking....