train4you Vertriebs GmbH Reviews 

It started well before the first departure, troubles all the way. They cancelled our outward journey and shortened the home journey. Refunds and the difference in price could not be paid out until months later, but new trips had to be paid outright, which meant we were left with large sums of money paid. When we arrived at our destination, we literally had to wait for hours to get our car. It continued, while we were driving around, we got another message that the journey home was cut even further - we still haven't been compensated for that.
Then when we were about to start the journey home, we were refused boarding because of a broken side window. It was approved for driving on motorways with, but they claimed that the train would go faster than driving on motorways - so stupid. We had to drive all the way from northern Italy to southern Sweden, tiring!
Add to that the journey we made south, incredibly old and worn wagons. In addition, most things were out of stock, not much toilet paper, the breakfast was poor.
Try them again – never!

This summer we took a trip with Urlaub Express (Lörrach - Hamburg). It was a really bad experience for everyone on the train (the poor staff included since they had to confront the angry passengers).

- There were no sheets for the beds, so we had to sleep directly on the very very dirty beds.
- There were some pillow cases, but they were dirty and bloody!!
- There was no breakfast (which we had paid extra for!!).
- The safety harness for one of the top beds was broken, meaning that the person sleeping in that bed would have fallen down if the train had to brake suddenly. Really dangerous.

On top of that, we had gotten a verbal confirmation over the phone that we could have a roof box. However, when the tickets came (late) there was no mention of a roof box and they refused to let us bring one.

We were also promised compensation for this, but they haven't gotten back to us, and will not respond to our emails.

Contact The German railway federation/Eisenbahn-Bundesamt for help reclaiming money from cancelled trips with Urlaubs express. This will speed up the process for sure, as it did for us. Very good service from Eisenbahn-Bundesamt.

(Cancelled, prepayed leg from Verona to Hamburg.)

I have tried to send a complaint 3 times, without any answer from Train4you. Here is what I send:
We have travelled with the Urlabs Express to Lörrach from Hamburg on the 21.07.2022 with the booking number 2205422
And back from Lörrach to Hamburg on the 05.08.2022 with the booking reference 2205422

I can ensure you this was the worst experience ever with the Auto-Zug, which we have travelled with several times.

First of all, we decided to travel with the Urlabs Express in a sleeping Wagon (1 st. class), as we didn’t have any children with us this time. Already at the station in Hamburg I was worried. It looked like wagons from a SantaFe express from the 1950’s. Getting inside, confirmed my fears. It did not in any respect live up to fair expectations, comparing to what you have on your homepage. The compartment was very hot, as air-conditioning did not work before the train was running. And what do you think about, that you cannot lower your bed, and get to sleep, before it suits the staff. Not to mention that some toilets was out of order.

This was just towards Lörrach. It was even worse on the home tour. Again no aircondition before the train was running, 1 hour delayed. We thought that the staff have been kind because of the high temperature to place an extra 2 liters of water in our compartment. But later we were told by the staff of this “historic” wagon, that it was because, there would be no water for the journey for washing or toth brushing. This is completely unacceptable. Furthermore the toilets was closed (out of order), leaving two wagons (app. 50 passenters) with only one toilet. I expect, that you have your own toilet in a sleeping wagon. You can look at ÖBB homepage showing your the standard of sleeping wagons.

Therefore I claim or rather request to get my full expenses in return from my travel with Urlabs Express, as it is similar to bying some good, that are defective, close to not functioning.

On the positive side, we arrived at our destination on time, for both the outward journey (Dusseldorf - Innsbruck) and the return journey (Villach - Dusseldorf).
The motorbike survived both journeys.
On the negative side: Very poor communication from train staff. Very old train cabins. Uncomfortable beds. Noisey. No air conditioning. Poor quality breakfast. No running water to wash hands. Only one toilet available.
Very poor signposting to the departure platform. Very expensive for the generally poor service you receive.
I would definitely NOT recommend the Urlaub Express as a means of travel. Next time we will just ride to our destination.

We have booked expensive car train with suite accommodation and make a payment of abt. EUR 1.500,-. Afterwards they have cancelled the trip. We have called several times / sent e-mails several times, but they are not refunding the paid amount back to us. We will proceed with the legal assistance now.
WARNING: please do not use this company!

Train never showed up leaving us to drive from Innsbruck to Dusseldorf to catch ferry home.
Chasing refund but no reply and this company seems to be struggling with debt.

Good service from Düsseldorf to Villach on August 9th. We arrived a little early at the check-in, but the motorail area was already open. The boarding process started half an hour later, so we had plenty of time to have dinner at Düsseldorf Hbf before the train left.

If you expect a state-of-the-art 21st century experience, you will have to look for another option. Carriages are old, but our sleeping car was clean. Staff was very friendly, Anja introduced herself personally as the person we could reach out to if we had any questions. Later that night we found out that a mattress was missing in one of our bunk beds, which was quickly resolved.

We travelled with our kids of 6 and 4 years old, for whom it was a great adventure. They slept very well, we needed more time to fall asleep. The AC didn't start working properly until after midnight. We arrived at Villach with a half hour delay. Our car got off the train very quickly, we arrived at our holiday address well before lunch. And avoided a long drive with small kids on the Autobahn.

Definitely worth repeating!

We have chosen this travel option because more environmentally friendly. It is sad that these night trains are operated by a company using old wagons from the Eighties, dirty and uncomfortable, overheated at departure and freezing at night, loud, with dirty toilets and unacceptable delays. Don't get me started on their website and booking system. The only positive mention goes to the friendly crew. I will rather drive in the future and will never use this again until a new company gets on the market using decent wagons, efficient service and reasonably customer-oriented service. I confirm the other reviews: stay away from Urlaubs-express

I booked this trip before reading the reviews. BIG MISTAKE!
I was charged over €1600 for a return trip with my car from Düsseldorf to Villach, returning from Verona to Düsseldorf.
What sort of company requires you to pay by Bank transfer ??? Then does not send a confirmation?
When I got my tickets, the outward trip had departure time, carriage number and cabin number. The return part of the ticket from Verona had no information. Did they already know that it would be cancelled? Because that's what happened.
I had trouble finding where to load my car at Düsseldorf Station because the company were so vague about its location and there is no signage near the station.
When I eventually got my car loaded, my wife and I went to the Schlafwagen where our cabin was not very clean. The bed sheets however were clean, even though the quilt was just a blanket loosely inside the quilt cover. There was no water in the wash basin. No showers. Both toilets in our carriage were out of order so we had to go the full length of two carriages to visit the toilet. Not pleasant in the middle of the night.
The rolling stock is at least 40 years old and had previously been operated by Deutsche Bahn. DB were probably about to scrap the carriages when Trains4you bought them. Even the very old looking locomotive still had the DB logo on it, but it had been painted over a dirty red colour.
We found it difficult to sleep, but I eventually dropped off while we we stopped in a station. I woke up some time later to find we were still the same station. Then a steward told us that we could not continue our journey because a land slip had blocked the line and we had to go back to München because that was the nearest place to unload the cars. We received no instructions or help from the company and we had to drive to Villach incurring hotel and fuel costs.

The return journey from Verona was cancelled but we only found out after I emailed them for departure times etc.
We had to drive to Innsbruck, once again incurring hotel and fuel costs.
I have sent two emails asking for compensation and I have sent by post the claims form for delayed/cancelled trains. No reply so far.
This company should not be allowed to do business, because they are at best amateurish, and at worst, con merchants. I will never travel with them again. I only gave them one star because you can't give zero stars.

Fraud company - They take you money and then cancel your trip.
After travelling with them for several years they have now stopped doing proper business.
They cancelled our return trip and shorted our trip to Verona (leaving us in Innsbruck).
They have promised to refund but after MANY MANY mails I have gotten no respond to when/IF I will get my money back.
DON'T book with them

I suggest you stay away from this company! Here’s a detailed review:

GOOD:
— The IDEA is great per se.
— The train crew was very friendly!
— They did refund my return trip (you’ll see why).

ANNOYING
— To pay, you have to wire money to their account, and you get no receipt.
— The website is very confusing.
— Supposedly, they send you your ticket about two weeks before departure, but this is not the case.

BAD!
— I only got my tickets a few day before departure. I was panicking a bit and contacted them several times to no avail, and finally got a reply shortly before the trip. This caused me a lot of stress as I was wondering if I should cancel my hotel.
— The destination was changed! The train only got to Hamburg instead of Rostock. To be fair, the company offered to pay for the remaining bit of journey, but with my bicycle the trip was very stressful and the train was full.
— The Urlaubs Express train departure was 2 hours late. Families were waiting and starting to freak out. We were lucky the weather was o.k. and not too cold.
— They state on their website that you can load bicycles at any station. This was NOT the case. The train crew was very surprised and had to dismantle a bit of my bicycle to make it fit in a crew cabin (!). During this process, they broke one of my brakes.
— On my bunk bed, there was nothing. No bedsheets, no pillow, no blanket. I used my jacket as a pillow.
— When I got my return ticket, it was even worse. It changed again, and the town of departure was 6 hours away! I asked for a refund.

In short, I’m extremely disappointed. The concept of going straight from Switzerland to the Baltic Sea was very appealing to me, but the organisation and communication was a disaster. I really hope they do get their act together!

Very slow and poor communication!
Trainride was ok - but all communication has been slow and not pro-active at all.
After 1 month Im still waiting for a re-payment of a cancelled train. Not at all good customer service.

DO NOT BOOK any trip whit this Train Company! They cancelled our trip and are not paying back our money! They do not answer on mails on info@ mail adress and they do not answer on the phone at customer service, We have tried to reach they over 1 month, still no answer!

Customer support is really bad, a scandal. No answers to the emails, phone number don't work. Waiting 2 weeks to get answers to change booking. In their website says that they are having problem with the phone system. Every day there is the same message. Then they suggest to write an email. But no answers after 2 weeks. A total scandal. If I had known before I had planned my trip to drive by car, better to be assisted by this terrible company.

Very slow and diffuse communication.
To book you will need a lot of time and patience. Once you have got through the booking process, which is kinda messy, you don't get any confirmation. I.e. if the booking is accepted. On top of that they do not accept Visa nor Mastercard. This way the Visa/MC insurance cannot be used.

If your booking is accepted you will not know until after almost a week. So spontanous travelling by car is like a roulette. If your booking is declined you will never know.

Trying to contact the support centre is a joke. E-mails are not being replied, endless waitin on the phone. So many hours spent for nothing.

This way as you do bot receive a confitmation nor mail, means that you are in the siruation not to book any ticket with an other provider. Unless you could end up with a ticket you have to pay for but nevver use. It is truly an aqward system.

It is really sad that the Autozug DB concept has been so badly handled. In those days you knew instantly the price, if there was place avaliable and easy to pay by credit card.

Not like today, a terrible process. Too bad there is no other actor or service.

Carriers from the eighties, reused from an old provider of a similar services (in the eighties).
Loud, uncomfortable, poor conditions and not exactly clean. To be fair I think the sheets where cleaned. The attendant was very friendly and was trying his beste but that does not change that it seems that someone wants to make a quick buck from old outdated trains. Next time I’ll just drive the route and change drivers. Way more comfortable and faster.
In addition the initial connection from Verona was canceled and we had to drive to Innsbruck. In compensation ca. 100€ where offered. This doesn’t even cut the fuel costs. Not even speaking of the whole day which was lost.
Never again.

WARNING WARNING WARNING TO BOOK THIS CAR TRAIN

I advise NOBODY to book a car trip on Train4You UrlaubExpress!

Never in my life have I been on such a horrible journey as with UrlaubExpress. The check-in for the cars was between 20:00 and 21:00. The train should leave at 22.14. We arrive on time at 20 o'clock. At 20.30 we drive the car on to the train, where you then need to leave your car.

Then I ask the employees of UrlaubExpress where we should wait while the train arrives. Especially when it was minus degrees outside and we had three small children with us. The response I got was that the train is expected to arrive at 22:00 and that we can sit in a smal barack (!), BUT THEY CANNOT GUARANTEE A SEAT IN THE WARM BARACK FOR EVERYONE THAT IS GOING ON THE TRAIN!? They are therefore of the opinion that a large part of their guests, including small children, should stand and wait outside in minus degrees for hours before the train arrives!

We were "lucky" to get a seat in this small barack, actually the last seat after we had ran there! Other travelers wanted to also come in, but got no seat and had to stand outside and wait for several hours in minus degrees. In addition, there is no toilet near this small barrack and everyone is standing outside and peeing directly on the ground next to the barack!

After we were "trapped" in this small barrack between 2030 and 2130 a clock, the employee of UrlaubExpress said that we have to leave the barrack and go to the train. I then ask: "Have the train arrived at the railway station?". The answer I got is "it's coming soon". It was not "soon" at all !! With minus degrees, all guests stand on the platform between 2130 to 2215 a clock and waited for the arrival of the train. All the small children were freezing outside and most of them started to cry. When the train arrived, I asked the staff of UrlaubsExpress "where is our carriage number 125?". Then the staff replies that it has NOT come yet !!! So we have to wait another 30 minutes up to 22:45 until our carriage 125 arrives. This means that in minus degrees between 21:30 and 22:45 a clock we had to wait on the train platform, WITH THREE SMALL CHILDREN! It doesn't end there...When our carriage 125 finally arrives
then it is ICE COLD, as it has not been turned on and heated.

Unfortunately, it does not end with further problems. When we arrive in Hamburg, after a long delay, I ask the employees of UrlaubExpress when we can drive off the car from the train. The answer we get is "in 30minutes". It really did not take "30min"! It took 2.5 hours !!!!

When I got home, I wrote a complaint to the complaints department of UrlaubExpress. I wrote that this is not acceptable etc. Above all, that the explicitly lie to their customers regarding the departure and arrival of their trains. Of course, they are sitting on this information. The answer I received from the complaints department of UrlaubExpress was: "We do not take any responsibility for delays, as we only rent by Deutsche Bahn. We will therefore not compensate any of our travelers. "

AGAIN, WARNING TO BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!

We wrote Urlaubsexpress after our outward journey 13 august 2021:
"Checked in 3.30.u;departure 7.45pm. instead of 6.00pm.without any information or allowed oppertunity to buy some eat or drinks. On board no restoration.
The reserved car 212 compartment 9 was in use bu the crew. After much hassle eventually dropped in car 211 compartment 9. Toilets closed due to defect, no running water in compartment 9. Totally outdated train that did not correspond at all to the discriptione in the brochure: old junk (meuk). Gastronomy:in to the night with an empty stomach. Hygiene:no water, no toilets in car 211. Beastly mess in the only toilet car 212."
The response was that the message was forwarded to the management. One week later, before the booked returntrip Urlaubsexpress we sent again a memorymessage: no answer.
11 September 2012 the return by Urlaubsexpress from Verona to Düsseldorf: the loading went more smootly and there was water in the compartment. Buth otherwise all the same. Irresponsible was the open front door while driving. Livethreatening for two little children sometimes walking in the hallway.
All togeher: ter-ri-bi-le and for the €1960,80 we paid:
swindle.

Not in any way value-for money.. The cabins were old, dirt and not functioning..

Electricity for charging phones were useless. The restrains for the beds were broken. One of the beds couldn't be pulled all the way down, and others were broken so they couldn't be taken down without tools.

Employees on the train didn't seem to care and the company didn't seem to care either.

Even though being a VERY expensive travelform, the trip was VERY unpleasent.