Hungary Travel Answers

I emailed them...waiting for a response. I'll call if I need to. Yeah the friend I'm traveling with insisted on ordering the tickets online and ahead of time even though I knew it'd be easier to get them in person when we got there. Oh well. I've posted this message on every travel forum I could think of so hopefully someone can help me in case MAV doesn't get back to me.

Hopefully they'll let me cancel, although the instructions for the ticketing machines didn't mention anything about credit cards. If I have to I'll dispute the charge with my bank since they never told me while I was buying that I'd need to be in Hungary to get the tickets.

It's a one way ticket from Brasov to Budapest on the Istar 472 overnight train. I don't know what the set up is like there, and am wondering if there are any MAV ticket booths/offices anywhere in Romania.

I've already emailed MAV and I'll try calling them too. If I can't get a refund or they can't send me my tickets in the mail, then I'm going to dispute the order with my bank. They didn't tell me I had to print/pick-up the tickets in Hungary until after the order was placed. Not sure if this will help, but I'm flying into Bucharest, so not sure if there's somewhere there that can help.

Someone on another forum told me to PM him and that he might be able to help. Fingers-crossed...I'd hate to have to go through the hassle of disputing the transaction with my bank. Wasteels wasn't much help either.

According to the ticketing machine instructions on the MAV website, all you need is the confirmation number, no id or credit card. I think I might just dispute it. Seems to be the most fail-safe method to get a refund. For 2 sleeper tickets it was 95 euro, so that's120.

It was actually on special. Apparently it costs more. Oh well. Live and learn. We'll see what happens.

I'm sending him a message now, I'll mention you recommended I get in touch with him. Many thanks.

Yeah I don't think I'll be able to get that promo price anywhere but online. Doesn't bahn.de handle international train tickets too? Can't I call them and order the tickets?

Alright--duly noted!! I'll try to get someone to get my tickets if possible; then if not I have 60 days to dispute the transaction with my bank. I'm not worried about them refusing my dispute. After all, it was never advertised anywhere that I could only pick up my tickets in Hungary until they gave me the confirmation number at the end! Thanks for all that help. I'll wait to get my tickets in Romania. Will I be able to get them in Brasov or am I better off buying them in Bucharest. I'll only be in Romania a couple days (flying into Bucharest, spending a couple days driving around the countryside/mountains, and then spending last day and night in Brasov before heading off to Budapest.

No way I'm taking a bus. Leaving Brasov at 9pm and arriving in Budapest at 9am and getting a good nights sleep in the interim sounds very appealing. What Romanian site were you checking about the Ister tickets?

Can I buy the tickets from CFR? Last time I checked a couple months ago I couldn't get Budapest to even be a choice for a destination. It only had Romanian locations.

Right--lesson learned. No online booking. I got an email back from MAV--they can't mail my tickets and suggested I have a friend pick them up and mail them to me, as they won't need ID or a credit card, just the confirmation number. Then I asked for a refund and they said no refunds on discounted rates. Looks like I'm going to the bank then.

I'm trying to get someone here to pick up my ticket---anyone in Hungary near a MAV location? That was the intent of my original post :-)

I'm arriving in Romania on July 20 around 4pm local and the train ride is for the night of July 22 (overnight to July 23).

No problem, we'll see if someone else can help! Thanks for offering!

I just spoke with MÁV customer service. I don't think there is a problem in this case. ;) All I need is the 10-digit confirmation code you got as you bought the tickets. With that I go to the closest major station (in my case Déli) and print the tickets out the ticket machine using that code. Than I mail to you the tickets. Priority registered mail is ca. five Bucks to the States so you will buy me a cake if we ever meet. But even without the cake I can afford the loss. :-P But of course I will need your name and your address and probably the phone number. And please do not fail to mention all this to the VT management, VT NEEDS to have the ticket service. The business in that is not the (minimal if any) profit, the business are the drastically increased visitor numbers and of course much better / easier / whatever journeys.

Sent you a message--thanks!!!!! If VT were to operate a ticketing an online ticketing agency, they would generate lots of traffic and therefore more advertising revenue.

Well done George you are a total star :-))

Wait and see, it's not done yet. Actually - my wife will pick up the tickets, she travels on the tram to the work and passes the Déli station, so she will get the tickets tomorrow.

Fingers crossed!

Facts. 1) between Romania and Bulgaria as well as Romania and Hungary: - one has to give the tickets to the sleeping car attendant so the TICKET INSPECTOR will not wake you up. - one has to be prepared on the JOINT passport control with Romanian and Hungarian team being together and they would knock on EVERY door of the car. Sleeping car attendant will not be of help, he does not collect the passports. 2) Just FYI, not related to the original topic but interesting to know. On the Swiss corridor if one goes from Italy to France by train the situation is different. - one has to give BOTH the tickets and the passport to the sleeping car attendant so the TICKET INSPECTOR will not wake you up and the Swiss police would in SECRET (you are sleeping!) control the passports, even that Italy, Switzerland and France are in Schengen. - I did wake up by coincident and did observe the Swiss being all over the train and checking EVERY SINGLE STAMP in passports, with magnifying glass. Schengen violators get fined 800 Franks, so they have clear incentive. Do not expect Swiss procedure even on Hungarian - Ukrainian border, save Hungarian - Romanian or Hungarian - Serbian. Even that UA, RO and SR are on the "other" side of the Schengen border.

At least with HU ticket inspectors it did change lately for better. Locking the sleeper compartments for the night is a must. Since the border is now in early morning and since the most critical part of the journey is between Lökösháza and Szolnok - things are better now from the safety point of view as well, that section is in the morning. Romanian sleepers used in that train are pretty good, ex-DB and well maintained. In general, Romanian domestic train prices aren't cheap by comparison with Hungarian or Serbian but the service is not much different. The Romanian sleepers except the Bucharest - Belgrade route are pretty good but also pretty expensive. The best bang for the Buck are always Russian sleepers, that was in the past as well and now not much different. Reserving them for inner-European trips like Budapest - Split or Budapest - Bar does require some persistence because in 90% of cases the Hungarian personal at the MÁV ticket counter won't know how to do that.

So when do I show my passport on the train from Romania to Hungary? Before I go to sleep? Or do I show the sleeping car attendant my ticket before going to sleep, then wake up and be ready to show my passport? Thanks for all the helpful information. Believe it or not, there doesn't seem to be much info out there on going west from Romania. Most information seems to be about getting to Romania rather than leaving it.

If it were France they'd wake us up since we're Americans :-) How are American tourists generally treated in Eastern Europe?

Great success!!! George's wife was able to print the tickets and will be mailing them tomorrow. Special thanks to George and everyone here on helping me sort out this issue. Next step is to start specific planning on where to go and what to see once I land in Bucharest :-)

1) My wife got the tickets today, we will send them out tomorrow. They will be sint by registered mail with priority, someone will have to sign the envelope as it arrives. There will be a standard postal tracking number but the tracking for registered priority mail is less detailed than for EMS. On the other hand EMS costs significantly more - most likely not worth it for that letter. 2) You show your passport in the morning as train passes Curtici (first) than Lökösháza. As far as I know, now the Romanian and Hungarian control is joint and there is no customs (it's E.U.). So it will be hopefully only once. 3) Romania is one hour "ahead" of Hungary, just after the passport controll adjust your watch one hour BEHIND the Romanian time. 4) Most likely the attendant does not need your passport, you give the tickets to the attendant in the evening and passport to the border police in the morning. There is NO customs, only border control - but they control everyone individuaslly in all cases. 5) The treatment is different! But... it's not according the passport. Few month ago was experiencing what happens if a North Korean - Russian tripple citizen with Polish passport crosses the border (Slovakia) versus if an American of Indian ethnic background crosses the Croatian / Hungarian border. One was told one single word: "dobrze" (in Polish!) and got a smile. The other got a full-scale search, "just in case". But just the opposite you wold think. Why? Simple. There are millions of North Koreans living in Russia. Many went further "west" during the Cold War, their children inter-married Poles, Slovaks and so on. They speak usually three - four languages just because how the life happened with them. The train I was on was the Moscow - Bratislava / Moscow - Budapest. The Koreans were an elderly couple and just returned home (to Poland) from visiting relatives all across Eurasia. Obviously, they understood every single word the customs / border guards told them in Slovak. Even if they were Polish-Russian-Korans. That's the way it is. Now, the number of Americans with Indian background on the Hungarian - Croatian border is limited to say the least. An other problem with Croatians is that they pronounce English words very "soft" ("ijekavian", like Russians would do) and an American-Indain has zero chance to understand their English. So Croatians just freaked out. Besides, the guy was looking like some local minority (Roma) and that did not make things better. I was with my kid in the next compartment. We, too, produced American passports. Before doing so (by intent!) I told my kid loudly: "hey, say 'dobar dan' - 'lijepa nashe is coming' " Croatians laughed loudly, said 'dobar dan' and that was it. ' Dobar dan' is 'good day' in Serbo-Croatian language and 'lijepa nashe' are the first two words of the Croatian anthem ('our homeland is beautiful' = 'lijepa nashe domovino' if I am correct), that is the local nickname of Croatians. After that the control was so fast, they did not even stamp the passport. Arguably, the most "anti-American" place in the region supposed to be Serbia. Three weeks ago I was there, going back the Serbian guards did not even OPEN my passport, so I could have the photo of, say, this guy inside. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4... I still don't recommend to have that picture in your passport tough, they may open it in some cases. youtube.com/watch?v=0CWA5rvr...

George, Registered mail is fine. If I miss the delivery I can just pick it up from my post office. Again, thanks for the help. I'm not too worried about the train travel. It's just hard to find concrete information about traveling via train in Eastern Europe. I guess its this mysterious quality that has attracted me to traveling through the region :-)

My wife just returned from her shopping tour at Auchan, www.auchan.hu They have a post office in the mall and she sent the tickets to you. I e-mailed you the tracking number. You should get the tickets within 10 days. The entire expense was well under five Bucks, so it's a "huge" one, exactly 1000 Forint, now 235 Forint is one Dollar. So that's not even4.50

George, Many thanks! Once I get the tickets I'll send you the4.50 plus enough to get a couple beers for the trouble. I really appreciate your help and you've ended up helping me save a lot of money!