Plane and Train Comparison: What Is the Better Way to Travel?

Since the sleeper wagon would be detached from the Muntenia train during the stop in Timișoara (only couchette and seat wagons make the entire trip from Romania to Hungary), I simply switched to a 2nd class carriage on the same train for the remainder of the journey to Budapest.

Although I was traveling with just a small bag, I couldn’t help but notice that many other passengers had taken a considerable amount of luggage with them.

This is where the train can have an advantage over the plane, as on trains you can bring as much baggage as you want, while on a plane there are strict hand luggage restrictions, and taking additional bags might incur significant extra costs.

However, I also encountered my first problem with the train: Delays.

When we entered Hungary, the delay of my train was already approaching 90 minutes, and I had just 2 hours and 40 minutes between my arrival at Budapest Keleti station and the departure of my onward train from Nyugati station across town.

As much as I love train travel, I know very well that connections and delays can cause stress, and while ensuring you have a sufficient buffer between trains is vital, it does add up in travel time too.

However, even though it was a bit stressful, I do have to point out that in a comparison between the train and plane, a similar situation can also occur at an airport if you have connecting flights and your first flight is delayed.

Change in Budapest

With a final delay of 90 minutes, I arrived at the magnificent train station of Budapest Keleti Pályaudvar, which simply translates to ‘Eastern Railway Station’.

With 1 hour and 10 minutes to catch my onward train from Budapest Nyugati Pályaudvar (Western Railway Station), I knew that I would make the connection and even had the luxury to walk between the two stations instead of taking the metro or a taxi.

Although the 30-minute walk may sound lengthy, there are airports where you might have to walk the same distance between gates when connecting between flights if you are unlucky (Istanbul Airport being the most notorious in this regard), and this time I could at least admire the beautiful surroundings of Budapest.

Train stations

Budapest Nyugati station is another gorgeous European railway cathedral and a reminder why train stations simply look better than airports in my honest opinion.

Some more advantages of train stations over airports: The shops and food outlets are cheaper.

If you take the plane you might have to shell out 10 euro or even more for a coffee and a small snack at the airport, while in comparison this would only cost you the normal street price at a train station.

Another obvious advantage of the train when you make a comparison with the plane: You have to check-in for your flight, pass through security and then have to go through a lengthy boarding procedure, while none of this is necessary to catch a train.

Although there are some exceptions (Eurostar, high-speed trains in Spain) you can simply walk into a train station and board your train, a process which rarely takes longer than 5 minutes.

Budapest to Bratislava

With its fine views over the Danube, the Budapest to Bratislava railway offers one of Europe’s classic train journeys.

Although a plane will offer you fine views upon take-off and landing, travelling by train allows you to fully absorb the gradually changing landscape throughout the entire trip.

This way, you get a much better grasp of the geography, culture and history of the places you visit.

The Budapest-Bratislava-Prague Metropolitan EuroCity train features a Czech dining car where you can enjoy freshly prepared food and quality drinks, including draught beer.

A goulash soup, some delicious svíčková, apple strudel, a couple of beers and a coffee only set me back €20.

Needless to say, it’s a far better offer than what you can purchase when flying economy class in Europe, and the food is of higher quality and more substantial compared to the complimentary meals served in business class on most intra-European flights.

Travelling by train also gives you the opportunity to bring your own food and drinks – including alcohol – on board, which is a bit more complicated when flying.

My Metropolitan EuroCity train eventually arrived on-time in Bratislava after a highly pleasant journey.

The way back

In order to make a full comparison between the train and plane I took a flight back to my home in Romania.

To be precise, I had a flight booked on Monday at 3.35pm from Vienna, which would get me into Bucharest Otopeni Airport at 6.10pm.

The flight was reasonably priced, costing me only €55 for an ‘economy light’ ticket, which included only hand luggage.

Since seats are automatically assigned during online check-in when booking an economy light ticket, I paid an extra €20 for advanced seat assignment in one of the front rows of the plane to avoid the risk of getting a middle seat.

Considering that most passengers pay for at least one add-on, like seat assignment, checked luggage, or a large cabin bag, I thought including the extra costs I paid for my front row seat would make for a more realistic price comparison between the plane and train.

Reaching Vienna Airport

In order to reach Vienna Airport from Bratislava, I first had to take a train to Vienna’s main railway station (Wien Hbf) and change there for a train to the airport.

Ideally, I would only arrive at Vienna Airport two hours before my flight.

However, since I didn’t want to risk missing my flight due to a train delay or misconnection, I departed from Bratislava one hour earlier than planned to have an additional buffer in case things didn’t go as expected.

I departed on a regional express train from Bratislava’s main station at 10.37am, and I arrived spot on time in Wien Hbf one hour later at 11.44am, with plenty of time left to connect to the Vienna airport train.

From Vienna’s main railway station, I then boarded the 12.12 pm Railjet train to the airport, and I arrived on time at 12.27pm with three hours to spare until the departure of my flight.

Status benefits

My flight back from Vienna to Bucharest was on Austrian in economy class.

Since I have Star Alliance gold status, I could take advantage of priority check-in and fast track security, and I also had access to the business lounge.

Indeed, if you fly in business class or have a high enough frequent flyer status, the entire airport experience will be significantly better than that of the average person.

All the usual airport hassles will be brought back to a minimum and you can enjoy some complimentary food and drinks in the lounge while you wait for boarding to commence.

Business travellers will undoubtedly appreciate the quiet surroundings of a business lounge with dedicated work spots, while business and leisure travellers alike will find the option to freshen up during their trip by taking a shower to be highly appealing.

With a few exceptions, such luxury cannot be found at a train station, but then again you don’t need to arrive at least 2 hours before your train departure at the station.

However, the fact that you can take advantage of frequent flyer programmes is a big advantage of the plane over the train as you can earn all kinds of benefits and collect miles and points that can be redeemed towards free flights.

This is particularly appealing for frequent travellers, but even casual travellers can still earn some benefits over time.

On trains, your loyalty isn’t particularly rewarded at all.

At the airport

During boarding, one of the disadvantages of flying became clear.

As the flight from Vienna to Bucharest was fully booked and the overhead storage compartment space was limited, the gate agents were searching for passengers with trolley bags as hand luggage, and they had to gate check them to be placed in the hold of the plane.

The struggle for storage space in the overhead compartments and the additional fees some low-cost airlines impose for carrying a trolley bag as hand luggage are not the most pleasant aspects of air travel.

Once a sufficient number of bags were tagged for gate checking, the boarding process finally began.

On the plane

For this afternoon flight to Bucharest, I had assigned myself a window seat in the first row of economy class on my Austrian Airlines Airbus A321.

The seat itself was perfectly fine for a short intra-European hop and had a decent amount of legroom.

While an economy class plane seat in a row of 3 is certainly not as comfortable as a seat on a long-distance train, I only had to endure it for one-and-a-half hours, so it was bearable.

Despite a slight delay upon departure caused by the lengthy boarding procedure, we managed to make up for lost time during the flight.

A small piece of chocolate and a glass of water were complimentarily distributed in economy class during flight, with more substantial snacks and other drinks being sold for a premium.

Arrival

My plane arrived on time at Bucharest Airport, but it took an additional 30 minutes before I finally managed to get through the long queue at passport control on arrival.

However, my journey wasn’t over yet, as Otopeni Airport is located approximately 17 kilometres north of downtown Bucharest.

I therefore had to take a bus to the city and walk for a bit to my apartment, adding another one-and-a-half hours to my travel time.

However, I was quite happy with my decision to take the plane on the return journey as it allowed me to have some evening hours to spare and to sleep in my own bed.

If I had chosen to take the train back, I would have arrived home only on Tuesday morning and would have had to immediately begin my workday.

When flight schedules align perfectly with your needs, there’s no denying that the plane is by far the fastest option.

Plane and train comparison

However, some of these aren’t as clear-cut.

On the outbound journey the train turned out to be as time-convenient as the plane would have been, while on the inbound the plane was clearly the better option.

Indeed, whether the train or plane is the best will be highly dependent on the exact cities you need to travel between, as well as on the train and flight schedules.

A too early or late departure can make a travel mode to be highly desired or an absolute no-go.

This is particularly true as most people don’t have the luxury of flexibility when planning their holidays, especially for weekend trips when they must adhere to strict departure and return times due to work commitments.

Costs

However, we can make a factual comparison between the train and plane on my Bucharest to Bratislava journey when it comes to the costs and travel duration.

Let’s start with a cost breakdown.

This is what I spent on the train journey from Bucharest to Bratislava:

– Private sleeper compartment Bucharest-Timișoara: €72
– 2nd class train ticket Timișoara-Budapest: €14
– 2nd class train ticket Budapest-Bratislava: €11

As I could walk from my home to the train station in Bucharest and my accommodation in Bratislava was walking distance too, there were no additional transport costs.

So how does the plane compare in costs?

– Austrian Airlines flight Vienna-Bucharest: €55
– Advanced seat assignment: €20
– Train Bratislava-Wien Hbf: €14.50
– Train Wien Hbf-Vienna Airport: €4.40
– Bus Bucharest Airport: €0.62

In total, I spent €97 for the train and €94.52 for the plane – so let’s call that a draw!

Family travel

Travel time

Now, let’s make a comparison in travel time between the train and the plane.

I departed from my home in Bucharest half an hour before the 9.46pm train departure, and I arrived at my accommodation in Bratislava half an hour after reaching the city by train at 6.03pm the following day.

This means it took me 21 hours and 17 minutes to travel from Bucharest to Bratislava by train (the calculation includes the one-hour time difference between the two cities).

On the return journey, I left my Bratislava accommodation half an hour before the 10.37am train departure to Vienna and eventually arrived at my Bucharest home at 8.10pm.

This totals an actual travel time of 8 hours and 33 minutes (again including the time difference, as the clock is put one hour forward due to a time zone change if you fly from Vienna to Bucharest).

The plane is clearly the winner here, although I already demonstrated earlier that this doesn’t always have to be the case as sometimes the train can be highly competitive here as well.

Example

I’m the first to admit that this is just one example and that depending on the journey the outcome of the train versus plane comparison can be entirely different.

For example, if I would have taken a trip in Western Europe, the train would have likely been more expensive.

However, in Western Europe, the travel time would likely be much faster due to the better track conditions and the availability of high-speed trains, which was not the case in Romania, where poor track conditions result in significantly slower average speeds.

There are however some key takeaways that I believe hold true regardless of the country you travel in.

Advantages of the train

Train stations are generally much easier to navigate and more beautiful than airports, with much cheaper shops, bars and food outlets to buy drinks and snacks.

You certainly don’t need to arrive two hours before your train departure either, as there are no security checks or check-in cut-offs to worry about.

Advantages of the plane

The train has some obvious disadvantages too when you compare it to a plane.

Booking a train itinerary can be much more complicated, often involving navigating through websites of different railway operators to check timetables and prices for each leg of the journey.

Booking a flight? Easiest thing ever!

Then there is the issue of potential delays and misconnections, which can cause a lot of stress and uncertainty during the train journey.

This is all much better arranged when you travel by plane, as there are clear passenger rights and you will be put on the next available plane if you misconnect on a single itinerary.

If my Bucharest to Budapest night train had experienced an even bigger delay causing me to miss my train to Bratislava, I would have had no choice but to buy a new ticket for the next departure at a much higher fare than my advance saver ticket.

Conclusion

It won’t come as a surprise if you have read the entire text, but the answer to the question whether the plane or the train is the best option cannot really be answered as this is highly dependent on lots of different factors.

The exact city pair you wish to travel between, your flexibility in departure and arrival times, how much luggage you need to take and how many people there are travelling all play a role when trying to decide whether the plane or the train is best.

Although the plane is usually much faster, trains can be highly competitive too, especially if your journey involves a high-speed train or sleeper service.