Introducing www.cd.cz...

If you want to buy cheap online tickets for trains within the Czech Republic or between Prague & neighbouring cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Budapest, Bratislava, Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden - the Czech Railways (CD) website www.cd.cz is the place.

No third party ticketing agency has yet connected to CD's ticketing system, so these cheap fares are only available direct from CD (or in some cases for international routes, also from CD's partner railway).  They are not available from any of the well-advertised ticket reselling agencies such as Rail Europe who may therefore charge up to 3 times the price for exactly the same train.

www.cd.cz has a few quirks, so here's a brief run-down to stop you getting stuck.  Incidentally, CD revamped their site in March 2017, this page refers to the post-2017 system.

I won't give a blow by blow account of how to use it as it's largely self-explanatory, but here are the main sticking points that people have trouble with:

Can anyone use it?

• Yes.  You could live in the middle of the Gobi desert, if you have a computer, tablet or phone that's connected to the internet then you can buy cheap tickets from www.cd.cz, it accepts overseas credit cards and you print your own ticket.  Prague to Budapest or Vienna or Krakow from €19 = £18 or $23?  Yes!!!

Is it in English?.

• Of course, just change the Czech flag to the UK flag at top right...

When does booking open?

• Booking usually opens 90 days ahead, or 60 days for some routes. 

• This can shorten to as little as 20 days for dates immediately after the Europe-wide timetable changes in mid-June and mid-December.

• You can't book before bookings open, but nor can anyone else.  And don't worry, you can often get cheap fares at cd.cz even booking just a week or two ahead, a whole month ahead is usually more than enough.  More about when European train bookings open.

How do I select 1st class?  And what is business class?

• If you want first class, change 2. Class to 1. Class before running the enquiry.

• Business class is premium 1st class, it only exists on Railjet trains between Prague & Vienna plus a few other routes including Railjets within Austria.  If you select business class it'll default to 1st class on routes where business class doesn't exist.  On journeys between Prague and (say) Innsbruck or Salzburg it'll deny the existence of business class if you try to select business class up front, but if you book 1st class you can click + Add seat reservation then click the edit pencil logo against the Linz-Salzburg or Linz-Innsbruck RJ train then change undefined to business for that sector.  The extra €15 for Business class over regular 1st class is an extravagance, but a good one!

How do I book a couchette or sleeper?

• Run the enquiry, leaving 2. Class selected whatever type of couchette or sleeper you want.

  Tip:  If you know the train you're after is direct, it helps to click More options then Connection parameters then Connections and tick the Direct connections only box.  That eliminates all the multi-change dross from the search results.

• In the search results, find the overnight train & click on the green button showing the price or Price in the next step.

• If you now see a 2nd class First Minute fare click Continue.

• Now scroll down to Reservation and click Change.  Change Seat - automatically to Couchette - automatically, Sleeper - automatically or Deluxe sleeper - automatically.  Then change the type of sleeper from 3-berth to double (2-berth) or single (1-berth), or the type of couchette from berths in a 6-berth compartment to berths in a 4-berth compartment.  The price will change accordingly.  More about sleepers & couchettes including how berths are numbered.

I just want a reservation for my Interrail or Eurail pass...

• Their website usually lets you make a reservation-only booking for seats, couchettes or sleepers to go with a ticket which you have already bought (or are going to buy), or a railpass such as an Interrail or Eurail pass.  It doesn't matter which of these it is, nor where or how you bought it.

• First run an enquiry for the route you want, remembering to change 2. Class to 1. Class if you want a first class reservation.

• Then simply find the train you want in the search results, click the green Purchase a ticket button and select Purchase reservations only.

• If you want a couchette or sleeper, change Seat - automatically to Sleeper - automatically or Couchette - automatically.  Then change the type of sleeper from 3-berth to double or single, or the type of couchette from ones in a 6-berth compartment to ones in a 4-berth compartment.  Only a 2nd class ticket or pass is necessary with regular sleepers on most routes, whether single, double or 3-berth.  More about sleepers & couchettes including how berths are numbered.

What is First Minute?  What is International Ticket?

• First Minute is the Czech Railways brand name for their cheap advance-purchase fares, just as the Germans have their Sparpreis fares and the Austrians their Sparschiene fares.  First Minute fares are only valid on the specific train you book, no changes to travel plans allowed, no stopovers, and limited or no refunds.  There's limited availability at each price level, so book early for the cheapest prices.  If you want a cheap fare and can commit to a specific date & train, go with a First Minute ticket.

• International Ticket means a full-price full-flex international ticket.  It's what you'd pay at the station on the day, fixed price, unlimited availability.  You can use it to make the journey in question on any train you like usually for two days between 00:00 on the date date you book it for and 24:00 on the day after, stopovers allowed during this validity.  It's refundable less a service fee.  Exact terms may vary by route, so check online.  Normally you'd only buy a full-price International Ticket if you were booking at very short notice when First Minutes were sold out or if you really couldn't commit to a specific train ahead of time.

Do I have to print my ticket or can I show it on my phone?

• For journeys to or from Austria, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia or Switzerland you can print out your ticket or show it on your phone, tablet or laptop as long as the conductor can scan the barcode.  Tickets to or from these countries can be issued in either direction, inwards to Prague or outwards from Prague.  That's because foreign conductors in these countries have access to CD's system so can verify a CD ticket.

• For journeys to some countries you must print your ticket.  Read the instructions in the confirmation.

It says to print on A4 paper, I'm American so is Letter size OK?

• Yes, no worries!  American 'Letter' size is pretty similar to normal A4 paper used everywhere else.  The barcode will scan just fine.  They just mean don't print it out half size or double size as that will indeed mess up barcode readability.

I'm worried, we're 2 passengers but it only asked me for one name!

• Stop worrying, one ticket only needs one passenger name even if it covers several passengers!!!!

• I get emails about this from worried travellers all the time.  One ticket covers all passengers by default, unless you specifically choose to give each passenger their own independent ticket.  Only one lead passenger name is needed to support one print at home ticket, however many passengers are covered by the ticket.  The railways are not Big Brother and could not care less about the intimate details of your fellow travellers.

• The only reason a name is needed at all is that you could in principle buy a ticket for 3 people, print out 5 copies and turn up with 15 people on the same train.  In which case the ticket barcode would of course scan as genuine, so they'd then need to use the passenger name as a sort of 'tie breaker' to decide who was the real ticket holder and who should be thrown off the train.  One name is sufficient for that.

Minor points worth knowing...

• Discount card must be provided...  You may see this message when booking an infant (although infants don't need a ticket, the system allows you to enter them, but then tells you this).  Ignore this warning, it is just a reminder you need proof of age (passport!) for the infant.  It has confused several people!

• www.cd.cz shows prices in Czech Koruna (CZK).  European international tickets are often set in euros, which cd.cz converts into CZK at their current rate.  That's why you see apparently random prices such as 568 CZK which may change from week to week, it's whatever happens to equate to €19 in the week in question.  It's also why I usually quote fares in euros on my site, even for tickets from Prague which you'd buy from cd.cz in koruna.

• Ignore the +10 points which you often see under a fare.  This is just the CD loyalty scheme which probably won't interest you.

• Registering is optional.  But a good idea, it saves time booking and you can easily log in to see & reprint tickets.

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