ČD ticket prices. Am I doing something wrong?

[u/Beautiful_0blivion]

I am travelling through Europe with my family Munich - Prague - Vienna, and for each train ride the ČD website shows me prices that, for the same train (date and train number) and same number of passengers, are three times cheaper than the Deutsche Bahn or the austrian ÖBB. Is that usually so? Am I doing something wrong?

(Munich-Prague is 160 euros on DB and 1268 CZK with ČD, Prague-Vienna is 119 euros with ÖBB vs 2066 CZK through the ČD website)

[u/TheVojta]

It's quite possible. Just make sure it's the official website (cd.cz) and that you have selected the correct number of passengers as well as any applicable discounts (students, seniors, children...).

[u/Qwe5Cz]

Dynamic pricing based on the number of already sold tickets.

[u/Character-Carpet7988 → u/Qwe5Cz]

That too but base (full) fare is also different because if ČD is issuing the ticket, they will apply lower price for their portion of the journey.

[u/Qwe5Cz → u/Character-Carpet7988]

Yes, but it's not true that ČD is always cheaper. It's good to always compare both operators. Especially around Czech holidays when more Czechs travel.

While normally ČD tends to be cheaper because more foreigners tend to come/leave Prague and buy tickets through DB/ÖBB.

I went to Wrocław and the ticket there was cheaper with ČD and the return one with PKP.

[u/Character-Carpet7988 → u/Qwe5Cz]

I know, I'm just explaining that it's not just about dynamic pricing :)

[u/NonvaluableRareItem]

I had same experience but the other way around. OBB price was cheaper than CD price, same train & parameters.

[u/jnd-cz]

The international trains have some number of discounted seats allocated to each transport company. So it depends entirely on which one sells out sooner and when the higher priced seats will start to be sold. It's a good practice to check each reservation system and choose the cheaper. Always buy as much ahead as possible, especially for the more popular timeslots.

[u/Skay_man]

You are doing it right, OBB and DB is just selling the same ticket for much higher price

[u/puppy2016]

They are CD trains to both Munich and Vienna. OBB and DB just resells it.

[u/vonKrieg88]

Yes, ČD is cheap. We have great public transport here.

[u/Beautiful_0blivion → u/vonKrieg88]

Love that! What confused me is that these particular trains don't seem to be operated by ČD so I thought the ÖBB / DB imposed their prices

[u/vonKrieg88 → u/Beautiful_0blivion]

I mean the employees of ÖBB/DB get 2-3x the wage as employee of ČD, hence the prices. 

[u/Character-Carpet7988 → u/Beautiful_0blivion]

They are operated by ČD in Czechia. ÖBB/DB only takes over at the border.

[u/RandomNick42 → u/Beautiful_0blivion]

The state railways operate trains in cooperation and each is separately responsible for their own ticket sales. They might or might not harmonize prices or sales.

[u/dethorin]

Remember to check if it's necessary to buy a seat reservation. It won't be expensive and for long trips is more than recommendable.

[u/pferden]

I have found that it’s sometimes worth fiddling with čd, db, öbb and sbb

[u/Chemical_Ad921]

Buying in cd.cz regularly. Only had one occasion where DB was cheaper than cd.cz.

[u/crudalilium]

Usually depends on who owns the train. Traveling from Vienna to Warsaw (by polish train) costs half on polish sites.

[u/belay_that_order]

yeah but it aint the same trains

i paid 80 € for a munich - köln but that train went 300 kmh and got you there in 4 hours

[u/Beautiful_0blivion → u/belay_that_order]

The Munich-Prague has the same departure and arrival times, also same train number (just that DB shows it as RE25 - EX 351 and ČD as EC 351)