Originally Posted by
greggarious
Thanks a ton, that's useful.
One other question: Do you know if there's a difference between a savings fare and a
"
Europa-Spezial Österreich" (Europe Special Austria, I think is the correct translation?)
My first guess is that the Austrian rail operator offers the fare at that price, but the mention of a surcharge made me pause.
These fares are all issued by DB (not ÖBB, although ÖBB will probably offer very similar fares).
I assume you're referring to the difference between a 'Global Fare (1 Saving-Night)' and a 'Europa-Spezial Österreich (incl 1 Surcharge)'?
If you click on any one of those, you should get a pop-up explaining the different fare types. Basically, both are advance-purchase discounted fares. However, the 'Savings Night' is a 'global price' structure, where you pay a single price which includes the cost of both travel and accommodation. Meanwhile, the 'Europa-Spezial' is structured as a fare for the ticket, plus a surcharge for the accommodation. However, both the fare and the surcharge are included in the price shown (so you won't be charged anything else on top of this). For example, the price of €65 for 3-berth sleeper as a Europa-Spezial is probably structured as a discounted ticket price of €39, plus a standard 3-berth sleeper supplement of €26.
As far as you are probably concerned, the only difference between the two options is a) the price, and b) the cancellation conditions. The 'Savings Night' is completely non-refundable, while the Europa-Spezial is refundable up to the day before departure, for a fee.
However, there are a few other difference as well. The 'Savings Night' is only offered for itineraries involving a single overnight train, but won't show up on an itinerary that requires a connection. Meanwhile, the 'Europa-Spezial' ticket can include connecting trains (pretty much anything on a reasonable route in Germany, and some but not all trains on a reasonable route in Austria). So, if for example, you wanted to go Stralsund - Berlin - Vienna, you could book it all as a single Europa-Spezial ticket. However, Europa-Spezials are only offered for journeys that start or end in Germany - so if you asked
bahn.de for the Zurich - Amsterdam Citynightline, it wouldn't offer a Europa-Spezial fare, but it would offer the 'Global Fare' options. Also, if you have a
BahnCard, you can get a 25% discount on the fare-component of a Europa-Spezial ticket - but you can't get any discount on the 'Savings Night' price.