Nightjet interrail tickets jump in price

[SeanG]

I have noticed that Nightjet prices have appeared to suddenly jump dramatically in price when booking with an interrail pass.
What was working out at around £200 for two people to travel in February/March from Zurich - Vienna in a double deluxe sleeper berth with interrail passes last week is now showing as around £500. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Nunners]

I have noticed that Nightjet prices have appeared to suddenly jump dramatically in price when booking with an interrail pass.
What was working out at around £200 for two people to travel in February/March from Zurich - Vienna in a double deluxe sleeper berth with interrail passes last week is now showing as around £500. Has anyone else experienced this?

They do seem to have gone up in price. Before it was a fixed reservation price, but these now seem to change depending on the night. Worryingly, the new "mini cabins" seem to be 100 euros around Easter! It's a great shame if these changes are permanent

 

[SeanG]

From running a few enquiries, it appears that the prices may have become dynamic, but have generally gone up across the board. I suppose someone has to pay for the new trains

 

[Nunners]

he minimum prices seem to be:

Internal Austrian services:

Seat = 4.9 euro
Mini Cabin = 24.9 euro
4 bed couchette = 24.9 euro

International:

Seat = 9.9 euro (but 14.9 euro more common)
6 bed couchette = 34.9 euro
4 bed couchette = 39.9 euro
3 bed cabin = 89.9 euro
2 bed cabin = 119.9 euro
single cabin = 284.9 euro

These do seem to vary a lot by route, e.g. much higher prices on Vienna-Hamburg trains than Vienna-Paris trains

 

[SeanG]

Thanks - a real shame and not sure if this will encourage more people to take the train

 

[30907]

From running a few enquiries, it appears that the prices may have become dynamic, but have generally gone up across the board. I suppose someone has to pay for the new trains

Comparing different days/dates (including the Friday before Palm Sunday) I haven't noticed much dynamic pricing for Interrail; the Comfort price has been hiked by pushing EUR 100 but a Comfort Plus cabin now costs twice as much as Comfort, whereas last week the difference was about EUR40 IIRC. On routes like Wien-Zurich these sell out very fast!

 

[rvdborgt]

From today, ÖBB are using yield management for all Nightjet fares, including pass reservations. The cheapest pass reservations seem to be slightly cheaper than previously but most are now more expensive than previously. The regular fares also seem to be higher but I'll have to find a fare table of the old fares first to be able to tell for sure.

 

[Austriantrain]

Thanks - a real shame and not sure if this will encourage more people to take the train

Considering especially the higher-price options usually sell out, not sure if that is true. I suppose they will rapidly „down-yield manage“ the prices if they do not sell.

 

[rvdborgt]

It looks to me ÖBB are using the fact that supply can't keep up with demand and they're putting up the prices to maximise income. A bit like SNCF on Paris-Barcelona (although I'm not sure that SNCF can't increase supply).

 

[SeanG]

Considering especially the higher-price options usually sell out, not sure if that is true. I suppose they will rapidly „down-yield manage“ the prices if they do not sell.

That's a very fair point - I suppose the business mantra is to sell things for as high a price that people will buy them for. However I feel that prices are now up there with business class flights across Europe and so there is really only one winner in such a scenario

 

[mad_rich]

From today, ÖBB are using yield management for all Nightjet fares, including pass reservations. The cheapest pass reservations seem to be slightly cheaper than previously but most are now more expensive than previously. The regular fares also seem to be higher but I'll have to find a fare table of the old fares first to be able to tell for sure.

How are they getting away with this?

Passholders have already paid our fare. This is just the bed/ room cost.

 

[rvdborgt]

How are they getting away with this?

We'll see how much people will still be interested to travel on Nightjet.

Passholders have already paid our fare. This is just the bed/ room cost.

They're free to set their prices.

 

[mad_rich]

We'll see how much people will still be interested to travel on Nightjet.

They're free to set their prices.

I suppose they are, but I don't think varying the price of what should be a fixed supplement is a good look. Eurail should have fought for a fixed price.

It might give Eurostar and SNCF ideas that they can start dynamic pricing too, and it all erodes the value of a pass.

 

[30907]

How are they getting away with this?

Passholders have already paid our fare. This is just the bed/ room cost.

So long as there is no discrimination for/against passholders (and I don't think there is), they are free to amend them up (or even down).

It might give Eurostar and SNCF ideas that they can start dynamic pricing too, and it all erodes the value of a pass.

SNCF already do (EUR10 vs 20) and ES simply don't offer Passholder supplements when fare reach a certain point.

 

[mad_rich]

I guess I just see this like the 'passholder fares' - which is far more than a fair rate for a seat reservation. It's a "screw you. You bought a pass but we reckon we can get some extra money out of you if you dare to use it on our service", which leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Sounds like I'm in the minority though!

 

[rvdborgt]

I guess I just see this like the 'passholder fares' - which is far more than a fair rate for a seat reservation. It's a "screw you. You bought a pass but we reckon we can get some extra money out of you if you dare to use it on our service", which leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Sounds like I'm in the minority though!

Well, I'm not happy either, and am also starting to get a bad taste in my mouth, but the reality is that operators are free to set the prices of pass reservations.

 

[SeanG]

I am also not happy, it's scuppered a couple of trips that we had planned as it's now a price that I'm not willing to pay. So looks like I'll miss the double decker sleeper
But, it's their business so they can run it the way that they want to.

 

[John R]

I guess the issue is that, unlike daytime trains, when there are typically thousands of seats available on any route on a given date, there are an extremely small number of berths available. So every seat occupied by an Interrailer paying a highly discounted fare clearly results in the operator missing out on revenue it would otherwise easily sell. Thus, I can quite easily rationalise the decision to increase fares to something more commercial.

 

[Flying Snail]

I guess I just see this like the 'passholder fares' - which is far more than a fair rate for a seat reservation. It's a "screw you. You bought a pass but we reckon we can get some extra money out of you if you dare to use it on our service", which leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Sounds like I'm in the minority though!

What you are ignoring is the differential in price between normal fares and passholder fares is still there but the prices are now much, much higher.

Looking at a random train,

(fare flex bands: non flex, semi flex, flex with no non flex for sleeper)

Seat:

Regular-----€60, €70, €80
Passholder--€60, €14, €55

Couchette in 6:

Regular-----€110, €115, €135
Passholder--€110, €45, €95

Sleeper:

1 in 3
Regular-----€190, €215
Passholder--€104, €149

Solo

Regular-----€480, €530
Passholder--€315, €370

Deluxe solo

Regular-----€720, €750
Passholder--€560, €525

There is still a decent reduction for passholders but I expect this will be largely academic as sleepers are now well out of most people's budget.

 

[mad_rich]

I don't see it as a 'reduction' on the normal fare.

I've already paid the 'fare' element of the journey through buying the pass - the price of which goes up every year. All I should be paying for is the accommodation portion.

 

[SeanG]

I don't see it as a 'reduction' on the normal fare.

I've already paid the 'fare' element of the journey through buying the pass - the price of which goes up every year. All I should be paying for is the accommodation portion.

Which effectively you are, albeit with a "small" additional reservation cost. It's just that such prices have dramatically increased

 

[dutchflyer]

About these pass´fares´: bought a 2-MO pass in the last black friday sale for a little over 500€-senior discount too. That means less as 10€/day, I really do not plan to even use it every day, but I could. Could use a passday all day and then still do an overnight trip on 1 day. Thats grossly below even promotional low total fares with the needed supplmt.
But with those figures now really cannot say ´ I save a hotel night´-a normal not that fancy but OK HTL, f.e. an Ibis or the like,or now in DE even the for Brits well-known Premier; in DE/AT etc can easily be had for 50/60€/N and will offer FAR more comfort as this train. A couchette/Liege can only best be compared with a bed in a hoStel-same comparison.
As a aside-about sleeping space in overnight trains available with IR-etc. Passes: where would one consider to get best value on that?
(Ask this as I had a horrendous night in a SNCF couchette last spring-so bad that IMHO even a seat would have been better-quite used to overnight sleeps in planes). MY guess is likely the CZ-into SK or perhaps HU ones.

 

[mad_rich]

As a aside-about sleeping space in overnight trains available with IR-etc. Passes: where would one consider to get best value on that?
(Ask this as I had a horrendous night in a SNCF couchette last spring-so bad that IMHO even a seat would have been better-quite used to overnight sleeps in planes). MY guess is likely the CZ-into SK or perhaps HU ones.

I think the Intercités de Nuit are very good value, albeit clearly not in the same league as Nightjet. I tend to agree with you that a night in a hotel + a high speed train is often a better proposition. Although I would like to try out the new mini-cabin.

The further south or east you go in Europe, the cheaper the supplements get. (But the cheaper the fares get, too, to Interrail seems less good value there.)

 

[Krokodil]

How far ahead do NJ trains (and other sleepers for that matter) become available for booking?

If I add an Interrail pass when booking via the NJ website for a Euronight train (Stuttgart-Budapest) no fares are shown. Surely if there are no discounted fares available the website should just show the standard price instead. That's how UK booking engines handle railcards when searching for journeys outside of their validty.

 

[JustPassingBy]

Not sure what's going on with the NJ site just now. I've done a couple of sample searches (e.g. Amsterdam/Brussels to Vienna and Berlin to Brussels) and no available tickets are showing on any date, even without an Interrail pass. Have they disabled booking temporarily?

 

[rvdborgt]

How far ahead do NJ trains (and other sleepers for that matter) become available for booking?

180 days, although not for all NJ.

If I add an Interrail pass when booking via the NJ website for a Euronight train (Stuttgart-Budapest) no fares are shown.

That's indeed an EN, not a NJ, not sure if bookings open 180 days in advance too. What date are you looking at?
Edit: I'm seeing prices until 8 June on tickets.oebb.at. The NJ website doesn't always work well for EN services.

 

[RT4038]

I don't see it as a 'reduction' on the normal fare.

I've already paid the 'fare' element of the journey through buying the pass - the price of which goes up every year. All I should be paying for is the accommodation portion.

You might like to think so, but the operators are not happy with the reimbursement level for their service from the pass - so either the passes must go up in price (so you'll pay for a higher reimbursement value whether you use those services or not) or you pay a supplement to use the service or the operator doesn't accept the pass at all. The middle option is the least worst, I suggest.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2023 ==

From running a few enquiries, it appears that the prices may have become dynamic, but have generally gone up across the board. I suppose someone has to pay for the new trains

Perhaps the so called 'renaissance' of Night trains is not going so well financially........

 

[rvdborgt]

Perhaps the so called 'renaissance' of Night trains is not going so well financially........

ÖBB have repeatedly claimed that they're around break-even with their NJ network.

 

[RT4038]

ÖBB have repeatedly claimed that they're around break-even with their NJ network.

So they have. But I doubt they would admit their project which has had millions invested in was in a financial problem at this stage, either.

 

[railfan99]

ÖBB have repeatedly claimed that they're around break-even with their NJ network.

Yes, it has.

While the European practice of combining and splitting trains en route adds a lot of interest, isn't it so that many of these night trains (when considered for one destination) are of fairly small sleeping/couchette car capacity i.e. relatively low passenger numbers?

They're no 'The Canadian', or in past years in Australia, 'The Overland' when it ran overnight, or 'Southern Aurora.'

In September 2022 when we travelled from Salzburg to Rome on the Munich - Rome NightJet that added cars from another origin en route, our original train was only about four cars.

I'm not critical, but it's not as if each overnight train can convey 500 passengers concurrently.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2023 ==

What you are ignoring is the differential in price between normal fares and passholder fares is still there but the prices are now much, much higher.

Looking at a random train,

(fare flex bands: non flex, semi flex, flex with no non flex for sleeper)

Seat:

Regular-----€60, €70, €80
Passholder--€60, €14, €55

Couchette in 6:

Regular-----€110, €115, €135
Passholder--€110, €45, €95

Sleeper:

1 in 3
Regular-----€190, €215
Passholder--€104, €149

Solo

Regular-----€480, €530
Passholder--€315, €370

Deluxe solo

Regular-----€720, €750
Passholder--€560, €525

There is still a decent reduction for passholders but I expect this will be largely academic as sleepers are now well out of most people's budget.

In Italy for a 20 hour October 2023 overnight journey from Milano to Palermo via the last remaining train ferry, the supplement for my Global 1st class Eurailpass for sole occupancy of a deluxe (non Excelsior) compartment (no ensuite, but handbasin, and included breakfast served to the compartment) was just 100 Euro.

A stark difference.

So you can still experience a sleeper for what might be considered a very reasonable price (although in Oz, the supplement for a NSW TrainLink berth Sydney to Melbourne is only A$88 if one has a Discovery Pass, and we're a nation with higher median incomes than any nation of size in Europe bar Switzerland).