Railjet reservation issues

[FlyingPotato]

Hi all,
I've got an interrail pass and want to book seats on a railjet between Budapest and Vienna on the 6th of September. The train I want is the 9.55 from Kelenfoeld (destination Munich) Number RJX62.

For some reason I can't book seats, I tried through interrail and OBB themselves

The train is saying booking not possible, however I managed to get seats to Budapest two days before with railjet.


Before anyone says it's sold out, it's all railjets on that day and for a few days after then seats are available if that makes sense.


I can book the EC train but it doesn't fit in with my plans.
There is no information about why I can't book seats for that day.


Does anyone know what's up?

 

[Peterthegreat]

I suspect it is not on sale yet.

 

[Mag_seven]

Before anyone says it's sold out, it's all railjets on that day and for a few days after then seats are available if that makes sense.

It could be sold out for Interrail reservations? Normal tickets are available to purchase on the DB website.

 

[FlyingPotato]

I suspect it is not on sale yet.

I thought that but I got a ticket with obb from Vienna to Innsbruck for the date 12th September

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 May 2023 ==

It could be sold out for Interrail reservations? Normal tickets are available to purchase on the DB website.

Standard seat reservations weren't available either on OBB.

And it's all trains for like a week so I think there's something else happening

 

[superalbs]

It could be sold out for Interrail reservations? Normal tickets are available to purchase on the DB website.

Not possible, that's only a thing on trains that operate in France.

 

[rvdborgt]

Not possible, that's only a thing on trains that operate in France.

Domestic journeys in France can be booked for pass holders until they're full. Only the cheaper €10 reservations have a limited quota. Quotas exist on Thalys, Eurostar, TGV Brussels-France, TGV Paris-Milan, TGV/ICE France-Germany and EC Switzerland-Italy.

 

[superalbs]

Domestic journeys in France can be booked for pass holders until they're full. Only the cheaper €10 reservations have a limited quota. Quotas exist on Thalys, Eurostar, TGV Brussels-France, TGV Paris-Milan, TGV/ICE France-Germany and EC Switzerland-Italy.

Didn't know about Switzerland to Italy. Shame.

 

[rvdborgt]

Didn't know about Switzerland to Italy. Shame.

You can circumvent it by booking from/to Domodossola. Should also work from/to Chiasso but that can't be done online.

 

[Austriantrain]

Hi all,
I've got an interrail pass and want to book seats on a railjet between Budapest and Vienna on the 6th of September. The train I want is the 9.55 from Kelenfoeld (destination Munich) Number RJX62.

For some reason I can't book seats, I tried through interrail and OBB themselves

The train is saying booking not possible, however I managed to get seats to Budapest two days before with railjet.


Before anyone says it's sold out, it's all railjets on that day and for a few days after then seats are available if that makes sense.


I can book the EC train but it doesn't fit in with my plans.
There is no information about why I can't book seats for that day.


Does anyone know what's up?

I suspect either a technical glitch or a block in the system because there might be short-term scheduling changes planned (e.g. construction works between Wien and Salzburg, which have happened often recently, will affect the RJ timetable from Budapest, but not the EC one). I suspect the latter since RJ trains on these dates are not open for reservation within Austria either.

The trains are certainly not fully booked at this point - and you will surely be able to reserve a seat at some later date, these trains don’t sell out early. So if I were you I would check again in a month.

 

[peteb]

Maybe log in to bahn.de full site and see if you can just reserve seats (no ticket) for their usual fee. They will (if it works) email you pdf seat reservations with the QR code you can show to ticket/gate staff.

 

[blackfive460]

You could always call ÖBB. +43 (0)5 1717
Based on my own experience, they speak excellent English and couldn't be more helpful.

 

[dutchflyer]

Back to original: now too early anyway. Dont sweat-really, unbelievable as it seems for many pass-holders, but no, trains are not full many monthes ahead-much the same as it would be in GB.
Better site to check: community.eurail.com, also works for, in fact the major half are, INTERrail. It also lists in about any Q a long list of ways to RES alternative ways. I kind of recall from following it, that its simply not possible at all for trains starting in HU.
I had a (half price from last yr) 2-MO IR just finished now and made some 10 RES in its use-except for 1-2 for nightspace all were done in person at counter or machine locally and all worked out OK-1 in PL even when train was already moving for boarding it the next 2 hrs. (cost 1 PLN=22 p.)
I travel regularly in HU (taking profit of its free EU-senior policy) and always just RES the day before or same day some hrs before.

 

[FlyingPotato]

Thing is, I never selected that I had a pass with RJ, I just used the seat booking tool in the search engine, and like I said there's this weird period for a week when all railjets have nothing available, and after that week seats are available again

So I don't think it's a selling out thing

 

[Austriantrain]

Thing is, I never selected that I had a pass with RJ, I just used the seat booking tool in the search engine, and like I said there's this weird period for a week when all railjets have nothing available, and after that week seats are available again

So I don't think it's a selling out thing

I am sure it is not, no train on that route is sold out so long ahead.

As I suggested above, you have plenty of time left to reserve; best to try again in some weeks.

 

[FlyingPotato]

Alright, thanks, I shall return if the woes of railjet persists

 

[30907]

Thing is, I never selected that I had a pass with RJ, I just used the seat booking tool in the search engine, and like I said there's this weird period for a week when all railjets have nothing available, and after that week seats are available again

So I don't think it's a selling out thing

I have no problem choosing this.

You do know that you have to do this by (1) selecting your discount (2) selecting Ticket not Reservation? Not intuitive, but that's how it works, as seat61 et al have told me.

 

[rvdborgt]

You do know that you have to do this by (1) selecting your discount (2) selecting Ticket not Reservation? Not intuitive, but that's how it works, as seat61 et al have told me.

For day trains the end result is the same in 2nd class, but in 1st class the discount method results in free reservations. Not just for RJ but also in Germany and other trains ÖBB can book.

 

[Stephen Lee]

ÖBB is going to order Railjet KISS, hopefully the reservation issues will be solved…..

Third generation of railjet

ÖBB is now planning a major change to its railjet trains.

www.railvolution.net

 

[Austriantrain]

ÖBB is going to order Railjet KISS, hopefully the reservation issues will be solved…..

Third generation of railjet

ÖBB is now planning a major change to its railjet trains.

www.railvolution.net

Absolutely *nothing* to do with the reservation issues mentioned in this thread. *No* train that runs in or into Austria is already fully reserved for September 2023.

 

[FlyingPotato]

Another question, does railjet run a non reservation carriage and does anyone have any experience with it

 

[Austriantrain]

Another question, does railjet run a non reservation carriage and does anyone have any experience with it

No, it doesn’t, all seats are reservable. And from Budapest, AFAIK reservation is mandatory (within Austria it is not).

 

[Peterthegreat]

No, it doesn’t, all seats are reservable. And from Budapest, AFAIK reservation is mandatory (within Austria it is not).

Reservation is only compulsory for domestic journeys.

 

[FlyingPotato]

No, it doesn’t, all seats are reservable. And from Budapest, AFAIK reservation is mandatory (within Austria it is not).

On OBB it said I didn't need one, same goes for the interrail rail planner app

 

[Segedunum]

Budapest to Wien and points west is fine without reservation.

Domestically (so to Tatabanya, Győr, Hegyeshalom) you need to pay the usual InterCity supplement/reservation

 

[Austriantrain]

On OBB it said I didn't need one, same goes for the interrail rail planner app

Yes, has been confirmed by other posters, I wasn’t aware of it. Depending on when you travel, all seats might be reserved; usually, if you board at the train‘s origin and arrive in time, you will find unreserved seats though.

In my experience, the second class coach next to the loco is the most likely one to have unreserved seats.

 

[Segedunum]

In my experience, the second class coach next to the loco is the most likely one to have unreserved seats.

Same here. IIRC this is the "family coach" or similar.

I was using RJX services last year, daily for a week, between Zürich HB and Bludenz and it was noticeably quieter than all other carriages.

 

[NeilH]

I have the same problem just over a week earlier (28/8). I’ve just checked on bahn.de and, according to that, RJX 62 is running 30 minutes earlier on both dates: 0910 from Keleti and 0924 from Kelenföld. It seems to then run 30 minutes early throughout, but takes 30 minutes extra between Hegyeshalom and Wien to arrive at Wien Hbf at the normal time. The MÁV website (jegy.mav.hu) has the same information, but the ÖBB website is still showing the normal times.

I suspect either a technical glitch or a block in the system because there might be short-term scheduling changes planned (e.g. construction works between Wien and Salzburg, which have happened often recently, will affect the RJ timetable from Budapest, but not the EC one). I suspect the latter since RJ trains on these dates are not open for reservation within Austria either.

The trains are certainly not fully booked at this point - and you will surely be able to reserve a seat at some later date, these trains don’t sell out early. So if I were you I would check again in a month.

I suspect you are correct: engineering works mean that the timetable has not been finalised yet, and therefore ÖBB have not opened reservations for the Railjets yet. I’ll check again in a few weeks time.

 

[Austriantrain]

I have the same problem just over a week earlier (28/8). I’ve just checked on bahn.de and, according to that, RJX 62 is running 30 minutes earlier on both dates: 0910 from Keleti and 0924 from Kelenföld. It seems to then run 30 minutes early throughout, but takes 30 minutes extra between Hegyeshalom and Wien to arrive at Wien Hbf at the normal time. The MÁV website (jegy.mav.hu) has the same information, but the ÖBB website is still showing the normal times.

I suspect you are correct: engineering works

Thank you!… engineering works between Hegyeshalom and Vienna with a 30 minutes time penalty could mean a diversion, depending on where the works actually take place. However, equally or probably more likely, it could mean a RRB - quite common in Austria.