STBCypriot

Is it necessary or advisable to buy an advance ticket from BRU to Ostende Brussels? Are the prices the same if you buy online in advance or if you buy on arrival at BRU?

I ask because I am flying into BRU from one destination and a friend is flying in from another destination and we are going to Ostende together, so if either one of us gets delayed we could have a ticket problem if I buy our tickets in advance.

Thanks oh wise FT peoples.

Giggleswick

Domestic train tickets in Belgium are fixed-price (and relatively cheap, at that) and seats are non-reservable. So there's no real reason to buy in advance. Once you do buy, one-way tickets are good for any train on the day that you specify at purchase. Return tickets (round-trips) cost 2X one-way and also valid for any train on the days you specify at purchase. Exception: weekend returns cost less than 2 one-ways, and are valid from Friday evening--sorry, I forget what time--through Sunday.

der_saeufer

^^ exactly. No reservations, no price changes except for seniors or kids and the weekend round-trip discount, which starts at 1900 on Friday--the outbound has to be on the day you buy but the return can be anytime through the end of service Sunday night. Should you be traveling on the weekend, you have to choose "weekend ticket" on the machine--it will happily sell you a full-fare ticket. You can also break your journey at any point en route (e.g. headed to Oostende you can stop for a beer in Ghent and/or to see the alcoves in Bruges).

The only reason to buy in 'advance' is to avoid waiting in line for the vending machine at the airport station. If I'm taking the train from the airport, I usually buy the ticket in the NMBS/SNCB app while taxiing to the gate.

Koby

This is good advice. Lines in the station can be long at peak arrival time in the morning.
But personally I would buy before departure on their website (selecting the correct date). I have had some bad experiences lately with their app, with the purchase process being interrupted several times which resulted in being charged twice or three times for the same ticket.

If you have luggage, you can also buy your train ticket from the machine in the luggage retrieval area while you wait there.

STBCypriot

Great. thanks. What age is a "senior"? 65?

der_saeufer

Forgot about the vending machines near the bag belts. That's a much better idea because there are rarely lines there; I just got hosed by the app the other day too. Eventually the system does issue refunds for the payments that didn't result in a ticket, at least in my case. But it's annoying.

Yep, 65. "Senior" tickets are fixed-fare, but they're so cheap (€7.20 return, plus airport surcharge if applicable) that they're always the cheapest option other than on super-short trips.