Since December 2016 railway tickets for all trains are sold 60 days before the departure date. As a rule, the principle works: the earlier, the cheaper. Almost all RZD trains are subject to dynamic pricing - the ticket price varies depending on the season, day of the week and traffic volumes. That is, you can pay less by buying a ticket not on Friday, weekend or Monday morning, but on Thursday or Wednesday. 

The cost of railway tickets is affected by discounts and promotions for a particular type of car. There are situations when a ticket in a compartment is cheaper than a reserved seat, and CB is cheaper than a coupe. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze prices in higher classes. Very often tickets to the top seats in the compartment from the beginning of sales and up to 11 days before departure can be bought 20 percent cheaper, and on Tuesdays discounts reach up to 35 percent.

A guide to buying train tickets

1. Buy tickets in advance

This method is especially good for buying tickets in the compartment. With advance purchase (up to 45 days for long-distance and up to 60 days for international routes), the cost of the ticket is significantly reduced. The rule here is simple - the closer the train departure date is, the more expensive the ticket becomes, so plan the trip well in advance and buy tickets after they go on sale.

 

However, don’t buy tickets on the day of the start of sales: the price  will be higher than that set on the second or third day. Experienced travelers know that the highest demand is on the day of sales opening. 

Book Tours to Russia

Discounts can appear due  to different reasons (seasonality, lack of demand, etc.). First of all, we recommend you to subscribe for news. You can do this on the official website of the RZD company, and all current offers are also available at the website: pass.rzd.ru.

 

Often there are discounts that only apply to the whole route. And the ticket to the terminal station can cost you less than  the intermediate, where you go. 

4. When traveling abroad

Going abroad? Ask beforehand how much it will cost for two tickets - to the station on the border, the last in Russia, and from the same station to the destination. So it can turn out cheaper than taking one ticket for the whole trip, because travel across the border is calculated at higher interstate tariffs.

Book air tickets to Russia

 

Russian Railways has its own loyalty program: register on the RZD Bonus website, get the card number, specify its number at each purchase of the ticket on the site - and save bonus points, which you can then use and order a ticket.

 

 

Sources: https://myrussianland.ru https://railway.tripinsider.club