Have you tried the Austrian and Italian rail sites? http://www.eurotrip….

With the Austrian Rail site, I found Euro Night tickets here https://ticket.oebb…. Unfortunately, it does not show tickets (yet) for Sep. 24. I don’t know that this route is ending; perhaps it’s seasonal? My best guess would be you probably just can’t book quite that far in advance on line yet. Checking Sept. 4, for example, I see seats available starting at 29 Euros. Playing with the online booking, I see seats for sale until Sep. 20th. You can either wait several more days to see if prices and booking become available online, or start digging around to find out if this service does indeed end earlier that week. I’d try to find a timetable for this train/route and look for seasonality.

The 29 Euros price you saw is for the other time (Gültige Verbindung: ab 00d01:38:00 an 00d10:27:00 Changes 3). It completely omits out the CNL train that I was looking at getting prices for. I want the CNL train for it’s convenience because I can just get a couchette or sleeper, and not have to worry about switching trains, getting on a bus, and walking between stations. This particular route runs until November 2010.
Do you know if there is a 1-800 number that I could call for CNL to get prices? Maybe even a 1-800 number for OBB? I am in the process of sending OBB an e-mail through their contact page on their website.

You may not be able to price or buy this exact ticket on-line. You could try to price it at raileurope.com or one of the travel agency websites and figure your cost will be 35% less. You can also get a reasonable estimate of the price from a day train on the same route plus 20-30 euros for couchette and supplement. Pricing an overnight train from Munich on the German or Italian website or from Vienna on the Austrian website will also give you a pretty close estimate. If you can get a price for the reverse route on the Italian website it should be the same.

What site(s) do you recommend for purchasing CNL tickets?
When I go to raileurope.com it only shows me the schedule of the 2 CNL trains that night, then when I go to check fares they both don’t show up. I don’t get it.
So it will be cheaper for me to purchase this ticket ahead of time online rather than when I land in Europe on Sept 22?

I looked up the price on the French site and it’s 135 euros for a 2nd class couchette berth.
You’re only likely to get a discount from the websites of the destination/origin countries, and it is pretty much impossible to purchase tickets from the Tren Italia site from the U.S., so not sure what to tell you about where to purchase.

Cheapest would be if you found a special fare on-line at the Austrian or Italian website. Since the Austrian rail website sells this ticket (as cheap as 29 euros as Don found) for dates as late as September 6, I think the issue is how far out you’re trying to purchase the ticket. While they normally sell tickets 60 days in advance the change from summer to winter schedules in early to mid September may mean the schedules aren’t set yet and tickets won’t be available until later. It is also possible that the Austrian website doesn’t sell tickets for this train after September 6 because this specific train only runs in the summer….. You could call the phone number that comes up when you try to purchase this ticket on the Austrian website or just wait a few days and try again. I’d keep trying up until right before you leave.

Second cheapest would be regular fare which you will pay at the train station or if no specials are available on-line at the national rail company websites. Since this is a Wednesday in late September, I don’t think you’ll have a problem buying it in Europe — although Oktoberfest in Munich may cause crowding on all trains in a fairly wide area. Buy it as soon as you arrive in Munch.

Most expensive would be to buy from raileurope.com, railpass.com, eurail.com or any of the other travel agency websites. Raileruope is usually more expensive for tickets, but cheaper for reservations than railpass — it’s generally about a wash between the two for a ticket with reservation. Buying this way will probably cost 35 to 50% more than buying at the station as it will include a more expensive “global” ticket plus an inflated charge for the reservation plus shipping fees and maybe a handling charge on the reservation. It will probably be a paper ticket so you’ll need to order at least a week in advance to receive it in time. — 2 weeks would be more comfortable.

Since 1st class seldom sells out and costs about 150% of 2nd class, I’d seriously consider taking my chances and waiting to buy the ticket in Munich. If you can’t get a 2nd class seat, you won’t pay much more for 1st class than you’ll pay if you buy in advance from a travel agency. Also, there are other options on this route. While the CNL is the best choice, it isn’t the only way to get from Innsbruk to Venice.

Well I think I’ll take my chances on purchasing the ticket when I arrive in Munich.
What other choices were you referring to? The $29 Euros that Don had mentioned?
Seeing as how I am trying to keep my travel expenses to a minimum, I may just have to deal with the change overs in the middle of the night.

Since you seem pretty knowledgeable about traveling throughout Europe I have one other question…
I will be taking about 4 flights with Ryanair and Easy Jet, but I have heard they can really stick their fees to you when it comes to checking in your backpack. I will obviously be backpacking and this will be the only thing I am taking with me. I am looking at taking a backpack with a volume of 3660 cubic inches / 60 L.
What is your advice on this situation?

I greatly appreciate your help since this is my first backpacking adventure to Europe!

You should measure and weigh your pack to avoid surprise (shocking?) charges and fees. Ryanair especially can be very strict, and charge per kilo over their limit! http://www.ryanair.c… The (first) checked bag costs 25 EUR booked online up to 20kg. Max dimensions 81×119×119cm. http://www.ryanair.c… Also 1 carryon up to 10kg allowed, max 55×40×20cm. 1inch=2.54cm, 1kg=2.2lb so 20kg ~ 44lb.

Since it appears your pack will be too big for carry-on, do pre-pay it when you buy your ticket. It costs more to check it if you don’t pre-pay.

I checked this morning — I still get the “call our booking center” page instead of a price for the CNL on September 24. I don’t see another option that doesn’t have connections.
Another option with 1 connection still seems to have the 29 euro price available. Regular price for this ticket is about 100 euros….

Isn’t Sept 24 a Friday — perhaps all the specials, and perhaps the whole train are already sold out for a Friday during the heart of Oktoberfest? CNL 363 is actually the overnight from Munich to Venice and all of the specials are sold out for that date from Munich. Regular fare tickets (Seats for 93 euros and couchettes for 107 euros) are still available from Munich.

If I read it correctly your carry on can not exceed 32 kilos (70 lbs) or with combined dimensions of more than 81cm (31 in) in height, 119cms (46in) in width and 119cms (46in) in depth.
So shouldn’t by backpack that will weight roughly 30 lbs (I read that anything over 30 lbs would be a hassle to have to carry around. I’m 5’7’‘ and 140 lbs) with dimensions of 27 inches high x 13 inches wide x 8.5 inches deep be OK to carry on the plane?

Cabin bag = Carry-on, and that bag allowed up to 10kg: http://www.ryanair.c… 55×40×20cm

Checked bags are allowed up to 32kg max—beyond that, they can refuse to carry it. You pay per kilo for each kg over the limit you pre-booked. Mind the limits because it can quickly become ridiculously expensive!

Also note that if you do not check-in for your flight online, you must pay 40 Euros at the airport to check in.

If that helps, the Czech railways (a completely unconcerned party) sell the BASIC SECOND CLASS FARE for the route Innsbruck Hbf – Venezia S.Lucia via San Candido for 88 EUR. The Austrians won’t sell it more expensively. But that fare only covers the cost of transporting yourself from A to B, doesn’t buy you a bed or a couchette or a CNL surcharge, if there is any surcharge on CNLs anyway.